The second edition of Starfinder is here!
Starfinder, for those who don't know, is the sci-fi counterpart of Pathfinder, and one of the few superheroic tactical fighting games in space. Now, I tend to like me some superheroic action, and these games fill that space just right. Funnily enough, Pathfinder 2e was the first game I got after discovering there were other games besides D&D 5e.
This new edition of Starfinder has been in the making for quite a while now, highly anticipated by fans. It features the same crazy amount of character feats, powers, and items, but also follows the same play and combat structure as Pathfinder 2e now.
While that is generally a good thing (since it makes the game easier to learn and run), it can also be seen as a point of criticism. With the new game playing the same as its fantasy counterpart, Starfinder ends up feeling more like an expansion than a different game. Still, it's a pretty fun system in its own right if you like kicking (shooting?) alien butts and feeling badass.
And if you’ve never heard of any of them, this is a d20 system, built upon the chassis of D&D back in the OGL era. You have your usual 6 attributes and a list of skills derived from them. Saves are different here, however: you have Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. Another core difference from 5e is the 3-action system and the way critical successes are calculated.
During combat, you may perform up to 3 different actions on your turn, such as walking and attacking twice, or standing and attacking thrice (not recommended because of the cumulative multiple attack penalty), or walking, attacking, and taunting someone.
When performing skill checks and attacks, you roll your d20 and add any relevant modifiers, then compare the result to a target number. Pretty simple. If you beat the target number by 10, you have scored a critical success. Similarly, failing a roll by 10 points counts as a critical failure. This makes every little bonus matter and encourages tactical thinking and teamplay during combat.
And yes, combat is a crucial aspect of the game. While games like Mork Borg expect you to run away from the monsters, Path/Star-finder expect you to defeat the monsters in a drawn-out combat. Of course, there are exceptions to that, and clever solutions are rewarded, too.
Playing Solo
I will start by saying that I have not attempted to solo Starfinder 2e yet, but I did solo Pathfinder 2e, and I think I can offer some good insights anyway, given that the games play very similarly now.
My Pathfinder 2 solo experience was... pretty rough, to say the least. Controlling just one character made it impossible to fight more than 2 creatures at once, while trying to command a whole party felt extremely complex, as the list of abilities and feats you gain is always growing and expanding.
The bookkeeping is also more on the complex side, as you need to track your resources, the enemy resources, ongoing conditions for both sides, multiple attack penalties, etc. This made the game feel more like a clunky spreadsheet tracker and less like a fun monster-kicking experience.
If you do, however, want to go ahead and try your hand at soloing either of these two games, I do have some general tips that might help you (and I sure hope they do):
Play a gestalt character.
Gestalt characters are characters that gain the benefits of two different classes at the same time. The original Gamemastery Guide book for Pathfinder 2e has an optional rule for this on page 192 with all the information you need.
Playing gestalt/dual-class characters gives you more versatility both in and out of combat without sacrificing anything. It also leads to more interesting characters – think raging barbarian casting fireball on his foes.
Use Scarlet Heroes rules.
Scarlet Heroes is a pretty popular d20 solo game by Kevin Crawford, which was made mostly as a guide for soloing B/X DnD.
Most of its rules can be easily taken out and applied to other d20 games. For example, any die of damage dealt to you gets converted as such:
Results of 1 - No damage dealt
Results of 2-5 - One point of damage
Results of 6-9 - Two points of damage
Results of 10+ - Four points of damage
Two dice of damage landing on 6 and 3 will deal only two and one points of damage, respectively. If there are any bonuses to damage, apply the bonus to one die and convert the total value as above.
Another useful rule from Scarlet Hero is the Fray Die, which allows you to roll and instantly apply damage to any creature you see. This is harder to apply in Star/Path-finder since the fray die is small (at most d8 for a fighter) and will not do much against monsters with hundreds of hit points. You could instead roll the damage of one of your basic attacks for free. Talking about hit points...
Convert hit points to hit dice.
Hit dice are not actually a thing in either of these two games. All creatures have a flat hit point number only, but there is still a very simple way to convert them.
Simply divide the number of hit points by 4.5 and round down. We divide by 4.5 because that's the average roll of a d8, which was the die commonly used to roll the hit points of a D&D monster. This way, a 150 HP monster goes down to just 33 HD (hit dice).
Of course, it would be better to also convert your damage as per the Scarlet Hero rules mentioned above, but if you could also just keep your normal damage, if you want to mow through a lot of monsters.
Roll to end conditions quickly (or ignore them altogether).
These games feature a plethora of conditions, and, as mentioned before, they are a pain to track and resolve.
One option here would be to pick a relevant Save and roll it every turn (once/action). If it succeeds, you shake off all active conditions (except for the Dying condition, of course).
Another option would be to ignore conditions completely. Normally, I would be somewhat against this as it ignores a core rule of the game, but I know how painful it is to track all of this in a solo game.
Consider taking/dealing extra damage instead of gaining/giving a condition. It's far from a perfect solution, but if it makes your solo game easier to run, it's worth considering.
Use NPCs as hirelings.
Why NPCs specifically? Well, there are no official hirelings in either game, as far as I'm aware. Thankfully, though, you don't need an official rule for this, as any NPC should do.
Simply crack open the NPC Core book and grab any fitting NPC of an appropriate level. Or, you could manually level them by following the advancement rules of the game. Either way, it should be easier to run than an actual PC with its myriad of powers and feats.
Final Notes and Alternatives
While Star/Path-finder 2e can work solo if you put the right amount of work in, I still think it's a bulky system that doesn't lend itself very well to this type of play. If you do want to play something similar, I have some options for you.
For fantasy:
Worlds Without Number
Using the Heroic Characters variant rule from the deluxe book. WWN does not quite match the super high-fantasy vibes of Pathfinder, but changing this shouldn’t be too hard. Using heroic characters already solves half the problem.
Scarlet Heroes
As with WWN, Scarlet Heroes uses most of the same rules for characters and damage conversion. It's a simpler ruleset, but it does the job just as well.
Riftbreakers 1e or 2e
A beautiful solo game by BlackOath. Riftbreakers is made to emulate MMORPGs like WoW, and thus, you get a lot of cool magic items, epic fights, and tons of adventures. It's the closest thing to a solo Pathfinder game, as far as I know.
Daggerheart
Recently released by Darrington Press, Daggerheart is a part simulationist, part gamist system of high fantasy and adventure. The game does not have any solo options by default, but the encounter rules can be used successfully with just one character. All you need now is a GM Emulator.
Savage Pathfinder
Savage Worlds Adventure Edition is a brilliant game that manages to capture a multitude of genres with just its core rulebook. But if you prefer something more specific, you're in luck because they released Savage Pathfinder - a collaboration with Paizo that brings the classes, monsters, and locations of Pathfinder within Savage Worlds. The bestiary book that comes with it is one of the best fantasy bestiaries for SWADE.
And for Sci-Fi:
Stars Without Number
Using the Heroic Characters variant rule from the deluxe book. Just like with Worlds and Scarlet Heroes, the heroic rules in SWN are almost the same. You could easily emulate Starfinder with something like this. Converting creatures and items between the two games should not be too hard, as both are based on good old D&D.
Savage Worlds
Savage Worlds is really fun, full of pulp action, and can emulate a lot of genres with just the core book. It also has a Science Fiction companion if you need more material for your games.
Finally, remember that whatever system you use or changes you make should serve one and only one purpose: making your game fun for yourself. I am a strong believer that solo games should be fun for you first and foremost.
And if you have to ignore or change some rules along the way, who cares? It's your fun. Until the next time, stay cool.
Great rundown of Starfinder 2e with some great solo tips and alternatives. Your article definitely has a lot of value packed in it.
Nice rundown of the game. I really appreciate the detailed solo tips (seems like they could fit other games too!) and the alternatives - helped me get a feel for what this game has to offer.