Starfinder Player Character Folio [RPG]

The Starfinder Player Character Folio is just chock-full of detailed sheets to record all sorts of information about your character, interspersed with handy summaries of common rules and game mechanics.  I used this for B'rrlb'lub, my late, lamented Dead Suns PC, and I found it a useful way to keep track of everything about him and the campaign.  The folio consists of 16 pages bound by glossy, full-colour covers, with the front cover folding out to pack more information and the back cover containing a pocket to store handouts and so forth.  The most accurate way to give a full account of what it includes is (I'm sorry to say) a page-by-page breakdown.

The inside flap of that cool cover features some more awesome artwork, a list of what type each action in combat is (i.e., a standard, a move, a swift, etc.), and the table that shows how many experience points it takes to level up and at what levels PCs get ability increases, feats, and theme bonuses.  That flap then folds out for a two-page interior.  The left side is the first part of the character sheet, with space for ability scores, armor class, saving throws, senses, speed, and initiative.  There's a lot of space provided here, so things will be easy to read.  The right side has a pocket for papers and a very useful summary of common combat actions and maneuvers, what different types of cover and concealment provide, and the effects of common conditions.  The general idea is that people don't have to pause the game to flip through the Core Rulebook to find out the effects of being fatigued, for example.

Page 1 ("Skill Checks") lists the tables of skill DCs from that section of the Core Rulebook.  There's not a description of the skills themselves, and usually the DCs would be something the GM would determine, so this may be of less usefulness to many players.

Page 2 ("Defense") contains a lot of space to record armor, defensive abilities, and any other pieces of equipment that contribute to armor class and saving throws.

Page 3 ("Offense") is basically the same thing in the other direction.  There's space to record full details for six different types of attacks, so if you're packing the veritable golf-bag of weapons, you will be all set here.

Page 4 ("Skills") is where you record everything skill-related about your character, including conditional modifiers and special skill abilities.  I appreciated having the extra space that traditional character sheets don't provide.

Page 5 ("Feats") has lines for *29* different feats, which tells me they maybe should have sectioned things off better--perhaps by leaving more room for descriptions of Racial Traits and Theme Benefits (also on this page).

Pages 6-7 (Equipment") has a really nice way to visually keep track of which augmentations are in what body parts, along with space to record weapons, armor, regular gear, money, and even "other valuables" and holdings".  I would have preferred more lines for regular gear (I came close to filling that up around Level 6) and a better section on Carrying Capacity.

Pages 8 ("Spells") and 9 ("Drone") are ones that you may or may not have any use for, depending on what class you're playing.  But if you are playing a Mystic, Technomancer, or Mechanic, you'll be glad they're there.

Pages 10-11 ("Background") are really important, and something that regular character sheets rarely have room for.  There's extensive place to record descriptions, personality, history, family members, homes, affiliation, and more.  Being asked to describe B'rrlb'lub's "Quirks", "Phobias," and "Catchphrases" really helped me flesh out the character before I even started playing him.

Pages 12-13 ("Adventure Log") contains a section to track the advancement of your PC as they level up, a section to list allies and foes ("What's that guy's name again?"), a full page to record brief notes about each session in the campaign, and (I guess just for fun) a section on "Achievements" where you can keep track of trivia like "Number of times hit by a crit", "Greatest number of foes in one fight", or "New Sentient Species Contacted".

Pages 14 ("Starship") and 15 ("Starship Combat") contain a starship character sheet and a summary of starship combat.  The character sheet is the same one from the Core Rulebook, but it's useful to have it here.  The summary of starship combat is more GM-oriented, and doesn't have what players would really need: summaries of common actions depending on crew role and their DCs.

Page 16 ("Notes") contains only a half-page space for miscellaneous notes, and I very quickly filled it up.  The bottom half of the page is for Starfinder Society information, including which boons are being slotted.

The inside back cover is just credits and license information, but the pocket continues the summaries of common conditions.

I do have two criticisms of the folio.  The first is there's no space specifically devoted to class features.  With B'rrlb'lub, for example, I had to squeeze the list and description of his envoy improvisations into the "Other Valuables" section of the equipment page.  Every class has their own special features that they'll have to find room to record.  Second, the layout of the pages wasn't always intuitive, and I often found myself flipping back and forth trying to find where something was located.

Still, even with those complaints taken into account, I found this a worthwhile and useful way to record information about my character, and being able to keep little things like handouts and post-it notes in one place was an added bonus.  When starting a new campaign, one could certainly do worse than forking over $ 10 to play in style.