I am SO excited for Starfinder the new tabletop roleplaying game from Paizo.  The game released at Gen Con and I was lucky enough to grab some merch.  While I won’t be able to write about my experience with the game until after this coming up Sunday when I’ll be playing for the first time, I thought I’d break down the different items in the set and what they look like all unwrapped and naked.  This will serve more as an unboxing with lots of photos and less of an actual review.

The Core Rulebook

Of course we can’t start talking about the game without talking about the gorgeously stunning Core book which is filled to the brim with stats, colorful photos and so much character customization my eyes bleed just reading it!

The artwork in the book is phenomenal and really helps to get the juices flowing as far as creating a campaign from scratch!

Combat Pad

The Combat Pad is a handy magnetic tool to help track initiative and combat.

It comes with several magnets and both they and the board itself can be written on and erased easily in order to move things around and take notes on the fly.  As a GM I find this tool to not be a necessity but to certainly be a luxury.

You’ll also find an entire side of the pad to be built for tracking space combat which seems to be the trickiest aspect of this new game.

I tried out a couple of the magnets and found them to hold very nicely and to sit in their lines perfectly.

Incident At Absalom Station

The first mini book in a larger campaign, Dead Suns Adventure Path, this book will get you and your group started down the path of Starfinding.

The book is fairly thin which makes sense as it is only the first chapter of the campaign, but skimming it gave me the impression that it would have at least a good chunk of content to tide us over until the next chapter hits shelves.

And here we have the back of the book.

Flip Mats

Two flip mats work with the game in order to track combat.  One is hexagonal for space.  The other is a normal grid for ground combat.

Each flip mat has two sides.  The space one, though, really only differentiates by how colorful you want space to look.

The ground one still keeps things simple but differentiates whether you are inside or outside quite nicely.

GM Screen

I really love that GM Screens often have a lot of helpful text inside them for the GM.  I use mine frequently when playing Mouse Guard and D&D so I usually invest in one for the game of the week.

The exterior art is all for show, but I think it does a great job of getting everyone into the feel of the game.

As I had hoped, the interior is loaded with hints for the GM to reference during play.

On the left, you’ll find a quick reference for Skills as well as Environment.

The right side is dedicated to combat, both ground and space.

Core Rulebook Pawn Collection

This little gem is packed floor to ceiling with pawns for play and if a piece of art is in the core book, you can pretty much guarantee that it is represented here.

Below is every sheet of pawns for your viewing pleasure.

And that’s it!  As I said before, I’ll post my thoughts on gameplay after my first session this weekend.  Are you guys excited to play?  Have you already played and loved it?  Hated it?  Let me know in the comments below!

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