Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Starfinder Core Rulebook Pawn Collection [RPG]

The Core Rulebook Pawn Collection was the first set of pawns released for Starfinder.  If you're new to the pawns concept, they're thick flat double-sided cardboard tokens that slot into plastic bases that are sized appropriately for the size of the creature in tactical combat on a 5-inch grid.  This collection relies on images from the Core Rulebook and includes about 100 different creature pawns and 15 different starship pawns.  Multiples of most pawns are included--usually 2 of each, though some creatures only get 1 and one (space goblins) get 4.  Starships tend to come in groups of 3 or 4.  I've used the set for about a year now, and I'm happy with the coverage of options it provides for PCs and NPCs of the core races; there's eight different Lashuntas, for example, and sixteen different humans.  Beyond the core races, however, coverage drops significantly: there's only one type of elf, one type of dwarf, and a few others like a single haan, sarcesian, etc.  Some other drawbacks:

* The set does not come in a box; once you punch out the pawns, you'll have to come up with a custom storage solution to keep them organized.

*  The set does not include bases; you'll need to purchase those separately or use the ones included with another set.

*  Inexplicably (and unlike the Pathfinder pawn sets), there is no set indicator symbol.  This means that once you start bringing in Starfinder pawns from other sets, separating what belongs to any given set can get very time-consuming.

The drawbacks aren't so major that I regret buying the set; I use it more than any other, as it's the default product I put out when players need to choose tokens for their characters.  But I would suggest going in with your eyes open about the pros and cons here.

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