Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Starfinder RPG Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition)

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Chapter 1: Overview / Getting Started / What's a Roleplaying Game?

The Players

Source Starfinder Core Rulebook pg. 6
Before the game begins, players typically invent their own player characters’ backgrounds and personalities. While it’s possible to play multiple characters at once, it’s generally the most fun to have one character per player, so players can really get into their roles. In addition to coming up with character concepts, players use the game’s rules to build their characters’ numerical statistics, which determine the characters’ abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Chapter 2 provides in-depth instructions for how to create a character, pointing you toward relevant rules in other chapters. One of the reasons this book is so big is that there are tons of optional rules to help you customize an infinite variety of characters!

During the game, the players describe the actions their characters take. Some players particularly enjoy play-acting (or “roleplaying”) the game’s events as if they were their characters, while others describe their characters’ actions as if narrating a story. Do whatever feels best!

Many in-game situations in Starfinder have rules that govern how they’re resolved. When a fight breaks out, for example, the rules in Chapter 8 explain how to attack, defend, move, and so on. All the rules players need to play Starfinder can be found in this book.