These are the general rules for Starfinder Society Playtests. See each playtest announcement for any rules specific to that playtest.
Playtest Period
Each playtest runs for a specified period. Once this period has expired, players can no longer use the options being playtested until their publication in a future Paizo product.
Playtest Characters
Playtest options can be accessed by creating a custom character using the rules presented in the playtest document. This character functions as a pregenerated character.
Creating a playtest character: Depending on the level range of the adventure, the player can use a 1st-, 4th-, or 8th-level character created using the eligible playtest options and the following guidelines:
Class: The character can only take levels in a single class being actively playtested. Although multiclassing ramifications are important for playtests as a whole, the Organized Play portions of playtests use single classes for simplicity.
- 1st Level: The character can be made using the character creation rules in the Character Creation section.
- 4th Level: This character follows the same rules as above, except that instead of the starting 1,000 credits, they can select one 4th-level armor or weapon and one 3rd-level armor or weapon. In addition, the player can spend up to 4,000 credits on other available equipment.
- 8th Level: This character follows the same rules as above, except that instead of the starting 1,000 credits, they can select one 8th-level armor or weapon and one 7th-level armor or weapon. In addition, the player can spend up to 18,000 credits on other available equipment.
Credit: Choose which of your characters will receive the credit at the beginning of the adventure. Chronicles earned for playing a playtest character follow the same rules as for Chronicles earned by playing a pregenerated character.
To encourage play of higher-level characters in playtest classes, the rules for applying credit when playing a playtest character are more open. A player using a non-1st-level playtest character may choose to apply the earned Chronicle to an existing Organized Play character immediately. To do so, simply replace the credits earned on the Chronicle with credits from the table below that match the level range of the existing player character.
| Level Range | Scenario Credits | Adventure Path Volume Credits |
| Levels 1-2 | 720 | 2,160 |
| Levels 3-4 | 1,460 | 4,380 |
| Levels 5-6 | 4,085 | 12,255 |
| Levels 7-8 | 5,835 | 17,505 |
This follows all the other rules for applying a Chronicle early.
Boons and Other Character Options: For the playtest character to take a character option that would normally require a Boon, the playtest character must have all of their credit assigned to a character that has access to that character option.
GM Opt In
Because playtests use additional rules that some GMs might not be comfortable with, each GM must opt-in for playtest characters to be used at their tables. Please consult your GM prior to the game!
Current and Past Playtests
This list contains all previous playtests. Make sure to check the dates to see if a playtest is still ongoing.
Evolutionist Playtest
August 2 to September 24, 2021
This playtest included the evolutionist class, published in Interstellar Species .
Precog Playtest
November 16 to December 25, 2020
This playtest included the precog class, published in Galactic Magic .
Tech Revolution Playtest
July 27 to September 18th, 2020
This playtest included the nanocyte class and mech rules , both published in Tech Revolution .
Character Operations Manual Playtest
December 3, 2018 to January 16, 2019
This playtest included the three classes in the Character Operations Manual : biohacker, vanguard, and witchwarper.