Just a note on the GM screen. The Starship combat DC's have been changed/lowered officially by paizo, and can be found on the F.A.Q. section of their website. If you plan on purchasing the screen or own it, I suggest taping an index card on there for the correct values.
Thanks Cody. I'm watching this in July 2019. I bought the core book,basic pawns, and first dead suns adventure path when the game released. have yet to play. I just purchased the newer begginer box and I would say for new players it is worth the money.
This is so very helpful for me right now. Not too experienced with tabletop games, but have had an itch to DM a Doctor Who skinned Startfinder game for a minute.
I've got the Combat Pad and I love it. Since I do almost all of my GM'ing from digital format (PDFs, using Roll20 as the tabletop), it rarely gets in the way and I find it much easier to manage than scribbling on a spare sheet of paper all the time. We even use it for our Pathfinder and other initiative-based games, so it gets a lot of use from my group and I.
Been thinking about pulling the trigger on Starfinder. I know this video is older but I'm happy about it. Thank you for all the info. And I really like that starmap. I get the lack of versatility but it looks awesome. I love space stuff.
I have the Alien Archive Pawns, and I have to say they are really great. They provide a large variety of pawns for the monsters we run across. They've really added to the visual aspect of the game.
One product you did not mention is the player folio. I would put it under the useful category if for no other reason that it’s almost like a mini GM screen for players. And even though I’ve never actually written in one ( I have both the Starfinder and Pathfinder versions) the pages can copy fairly well. And as a plus, it includes a nice folder pocket.
Bought the pocket edition core rulebook on a whim and then managed get pick up a cheap beginners set for about £15 so looking forward to getting them through the mail. This is a good guide to what else might be useful.....as I know nothing about the game just thought it looked cool 🤣
Chessex are good, but for those who are not artistically inclined the flip maps can be very useful. My recommendation is to us plexi-glass over the flip map and draw upon that. That is what we do in the Game shop I go to. additionally i will use 3-d Terrain to extend the Flip map. or to replace items in rooms etc. As for versatility I use them fro multiple games. (Full disclosure - We use Chessex at the shop as well.
Just stumbled across your channel while randomly browsing for videos on Starfinder after finally pulling the trigger on the Starfinder starter set. You get an instant like from me for mentioning that the core rulebook can be downloaded, that was useful info to know. I have to agree with your assessment of Miniatures Market, back when Monsterpocalypse was a blind-buy product I would buy cases of product from them, really really good people to buy product from!
Great reviews and tips but I'm most impressed how well you kept up the flow and pacing throughout the whole video in what seemed like one take!! Great job!
Coming in a bit late to this one I see, but something to add. The magnetic tokens more or less saved our game. With how easy they are to move around when order shuffles, add or remove as lives come and go at a table with six players, pets and monsters our game just wouldn't function with out it. We went in on some small (8.5" x 11") white boards and they stick to them perfectly.
The second AP, "Against the Aeon Throne", starting in August, has been announced as three books on the Paizo site. ETA: The Paizo mats will take nearly any kind of marker without damage. Try silver Sharpies for drawing on the black mat.
Just for reference, the starfield map can be written down and drawn on using chalkola pens. They're not the typical sharpie pens, they are what you would use to draw art on glass. They wash off with water and soap and we've been using them in our starship combat for years now.
I disagree with you about the Chessex mat, Cody. I originally got a Chessex mat when I started playing D&D 4e and it took all of three sessions to become stained and gross despite following the care instructions and using wet erase markers like suggested. I also hate carring a big rolled up mat around. The Paizo mats fold up so I can just put them in the same bag as my books, you can use pretty much any type of marker, even sharpies to draw your maps in advance, and are cheap enough that you can collects a few to cover different types of terrain. Despite not having any interest in Paizo's games I love their flip-mats.
Hey Cody another really fun game is rifts. All you need is dice the first book and character sheets and a pencil. But with the expanded books you can pretty much play any class race or whatever you can think of. It's pretty great for that and has books and tables to convert anything over. So you can play a high fantasy sci-fi or just fantasy or even low magic world's. Check it out and tell me your thoughts. Either way great video and thanks for the tips you can never have enough games to play with friends.
I know this video is like 3 years old but if you're trying to be frugal I'd reccomend buying the pocket edition of the Core Rulebook. It's literally the same book just paperback and sized down, and it only cost like $20 as opposed to the $60 the hardcover costs
I have found that, at lest for me personally, PDFs are great for planning your game but if you are playing a game with people around a table it is much nicer to have the physical books
Though with the PDF, if you have book marks to jump to pages rapidly. the Physical books are nice to have but they can, and have been, a distraction and table hog.
Being able to use a search function and copy paste is super helpful. I tend to buy both. Wish Paizo could include a voucher in the physical book for money off the PDF.
Hey everyone ! I'm looking for a bit of advice ! I'm planning on starting Starfinder pretty soon (got the starter box ordered already), and after i'm done readin the Core Rulebook and stuff, i'd like to have my group play through a prewritten adventure, in order to familiarize myself with how Starfinder adventures are written. Now, only two adventures were published in my language : "Dead Suns" and "Attack of the Swarm". Which one would you suggest I'd play ? (I am a slightly experienced DM on D&D 5e so while the system will be more complex, i am not new to DMing as a whole)
When I play at the table I always use plexiglass or acrylic if you want to be technical or non trademark over any Maps or chessex Mondo Map or whatever. So much easier
I use my stands for my buff decks and conditions card decks. the stands can hold a playing card up without locking the card in place in front of your character sheet for all to see and remember. in any game system. a good reminder for haste buffs, and bless buffs. maps are all printable from PDFs by using Adobe products to remove the pictures from the PDFs then going to a printer to have it printed on a plotter, many print shops can also coat your maps to be able to reuse them and write/erase on them.
CRB, yes, definitely. GM screen, sure, why not. Monster Manual, eh, debatable. Pawns, only if you really have cash to blow. Adventure Paths, depends on your gaming style. I loved Starfinder when it first came out, but, since then, it feels like they are focusing on making us spend our money on things we don't need, rather than making solid essentials that we really want.
Huh.. I can't speak to SFS (none near me sadly. wish there was in this tiny town) but in my games in general... I've never needed to pull a rule book out for myself or the players. GM? sure. but what are the players using it for? Or do most players not have all their stuff memorized and the general rules (skillse etc) ?
or buy the pdf, have everyone bring there phone and download the pdf on the phone and bam instant core book with out needing to pay a bunch. I personally use a tablet for all my books now days since its just faster and more convenient rather then lugging 200lbs of books around. and the search function makes finding stuff 10,000x's faster.
Question: I have an Alien Archive book but not the Alien Archive Box. Can I still use the monsters from the Alien Archive with just blank pawns, or is there another way to use these monsters in my adventures?
I bought a $1 bag of multicolored gemstones at dollar general and use those for players, npcs, and enemies. Each category gets a color. After buying the mat and the rulebook, I really can't afford another $20 to $50 in pawns...
SF isn't crunchy (though I am a PF/3.5e person, so what do I know?) I'd call it clumsy. SF's rules are... if you like 'em, fine, but SF made me appreciate 4 and 5e for what they are.
Do you have any insight on how StarFinder will be supported on fantasy grounds? I've drank the Kool-Aid I cannot run a game without it. I'll play the game without it. But that doesn't have much for me.
Moved over from Traveller to Starfinder. I would still play Traveller if there was a decent player base either locally (where I've found no-one) or online on Fantasy Grounds where already Starfinder has about 5x the players of Traveller MG2. Shame. I don;t like magic in space or "space monsters". But I also much prefer Sci fi to fantasy so Starfinder it is.
Agreed, I feel like that's what's keeping me reluctant to jumping into starfinder. I much prefer traveller too. I want something more similar to star trek, Space magic is better left to star wars.
He is talking about playing a game in-person I believe and physical books are much easier to use in this kind of setting, PDFs are GREAT for preparing your game but in the actual play session not so much, imo.
