Starfinder: "Beginner Box" [RPG]

 

After the (first edition) Pathfinder Beginner Box went over so well, I bought my son the Starfinder Beginner Box.  Although it hasn't seen quite as much use, it's an excellent product and he gives it "5 out of 5".  It's very similar in concept and contents to the Pathfinder Beginner Box, and is intended to give a group that is brand new to role-playing everything they need to get started and have months of adventure before (eventually) transitioning to the full game that has some added complexity.  The product comes in a board game-style cardboard box with really cool artwork, and includes two 96-page books (one for players, one for GMs), a flip-mat to draw maps on, a set of dice, cardboard pawns and bases, character sheets, and more.  I'll go through everything in more detail below.

PAWNS & BASES

Instead of plastic or metal miniatures, which are expensive and break easy, a lot of gamers rely on Paizo's double-sided cardboard pawns to represent the heroes and villains in a battle.  Each colourful pawn slots into a little plastic base, and they come in different sizes to represent bigger and smaller characters.  The Starfinder Beginner Box includes an excellent assortment of pawns that includes all of the pre-generated "Iconics" (hero characters), allies, and villains/monsters that are detailed in the GM's book.  The box includes around 80 different pawns, and I especially like that some are only available in this set (on more than one occasion, I've swiped some to use in my regular Starfinder games--but I'm a good dad and always put them back after!).  The box includes more than enough bases for any encounter.

FLIP-MAT

The box includes a double-sided "flip-mat".  This is a specially-laminated map that unfolds and has gridlines to indicate where the pawns can stand and how far away they are from each other during combat encounters.  One side of the flip-mat is blank (apart from the gridlines) so the GM can draw any sort of layout or terrain they want using a dry or wet erase marker.  The other side has a cool, detailed futuristic complex on it that is also used for the included sample adventure I'll talk about later.  The complex could make a fun headquarters for the group after they complete that adventure.

CHARACTER SHEETS

The box comes with two different types of character sheets.  The first type is for the pre-made hero characters that can be used right out of the box.  These are gorgeous four-page character sheets with full colour artwork of the character, some background and personality for role-playing purposes, and lots of extra reminders/explanations about what the different elements of the character sheet mean.  The box includes six (all of the classes in the Starfinder Core Rulebook except for the solarian). If I were a new player, this would make getting familiar with the game ten times easier.  The second type of character sheet are for original creations.  The box comes with a handful of these double-sided sheets, though I'd recommend the owner photocopy extras (or print them off from the Paizo website).  

DICE

The box comes with a standard set of RPG dice; these have white numbers on black backgrounds and are quite readable.

PLAYER AID CARDS

This is a nice new feature: a laminated, double-sided card for each player.  On one side is "What can I do on my turn?" while on the other is a summary of the conditions (effects) that a character might be under.  It's a great way for a new player to be able to remind themselves of the options they have in combat.

HEROES HANDBOOK

This is the book for players, and my kid's copy is falling apart because he's taken it in his school backpack so often.  It walks a player through character creation.  The beginner version of the game has six available races, six classes, and six themes--enough for plenty of unique character concepts.  It includes a "choose your own adventure" type of solo adventure, which is a fun way to learn a little bit about the Starfinder setting and learn some rules while you go.  The adventure, "Scoundrels in the Spike", is a pretty basic maze with space goblins and gang toughs, so it's not exactly high art, but it gets the job done and gives someone who just bought the box something to do while they assemble a group.  The book's layout is attractive, and there's a lot of new interior art, a good glossary and index, and some cute pictures of goblins to illustrate the effects of different conditions.

The book has a reduced selection of skills, feats, and equipment from the full game, but still plenty for players to work with.  I especially like how the book suggests "packages" of options based on class/concept, which is really good for players who are easily overwhelmed by too many choices.  The book has options and levelling information for characters up to level 4.  It's worth mentioning that although the book has a couple of pages on general space travel, there are no rules for space combat in the beginner version of the game--I'm guessing it just added too much complexity.  Still, I do worry that players who expect a sci-fi game to have starship battles like in Star Wars or Guardians of the Galaxy will be disappointed.

Users familiar with the Starfinder Core Rulebook will notice a lot of differences from the main game.  Characters in the Beginner Box rules don't have stamina points (only hit points), there's only one type of armor class (instead of the EAC/KAC distinction), skills have been consolidated in several cases, themes provide somewhat different effects, there's no need to keep track of ammo, and more.  Some of these changes are pretty big.  Perhaps the thing that stands out to me as the biggest difference between the way this box and the Pathfinder Beginner Box simplified the rules is that the Pathfinder box left some of the complex rules out so they could be learned later and layered in, whereas this Starfinder box actually changes the rules from the full game in several ways, forcing a player to un-learn some things when/if they move on to the "real" thing.  I like the Pathfinder model better in that respect, though I of course sympathise with any game designers who need to make a complex ruleset accessible to a general audience.

GAME MASTER'S GUIDE

This is also 96 pages, and includes everything the GM needs in order to run a session.  There are very clear instructions for a first-time GM on how to do everything from setting up the table to drawing maps to rolling initiative checks.  The font is large and there are lots of pictures and illustrations--this is far from the dense walls of text that scare a lot of people away from RPGs.  The book has rules and guidance for a GM who wants to make up their own adventures, use published adventures, make up their own alien creatures, and so forth.  There's also information on traps, terrain, atmospheres, creatures (stats for 40+ different ones are included), and some basic setting info (a nice review even for me, though my son says the book needs more).

The most important thing in the guide is "Steel Talon's Lair", an introductory adventure that the GM can run right out of the book.  Everything is very clearly explained, and because the adventure uses the included flip-mat and pawns, the GM doesn't have any extra work to do.  Although the adventure itself is something of a "space dungeon crawl", there are a couple of different opportunities for role-playing with NPCs and a mix of different types of encounters (hazards, traps, and combat).  The big battle at the end is pretty cinematic and exciting, and (win or lose) I'm sure first-time players will find it memorable.  An excellent addition in the book are tips and ideas for how a GM can use the adventure as a springboard to make their own in order to continue the campaign in future sessions.

OVERALL

Although I might quibble with how some of the rules were simplified, overall this is a fantastic product.  Twenty-five years ago, when I first got into gaming, it was with a D&d beginner box set like this one.  But this Starfinder version is better in every way, and I can't imagine someone opening it and not being excited by what they find inside.  There's hours of adventure waiting, and the only thing players need to bring is a pencil and their imagination.