As part of the company keynote presentation for Gen Con 2023, Paizo Inc. announced Starfinder Second Edition. The new edition will be published under the ORC License and implements the three-action economy, making it fully compatible with Pathfinder Second Edition and the Remaster Project.

The announcement featured a short panel with the Starfinder team – Thurston Hillman, Jenny Jarzabski, Dustin Knight, and Jessica Catalan. The roundtable discussion highlighted some key elements of the upcoming Starfinder Playtest and the new edition:

• This is the most open playtest Paizo has ever launched, with deeper looks into the development process.
• Pathfinder Second Edition and Starfinder Second Edition rulesets will be completely cross-compatible, allowing for cross-system porting of classes, creatures, and more — provided your GM allows it.
• The first four classes announced for the Starfinder Playtest are:o   Mystic, represented by the iconic shirren mystic Chk Chk – son of the previous iconic mystic, Keskodai.o   Soldier, represented by the returning iconic vesk soldier Obozaya.o   Envoy, represented by the returning iconic human envoy Navasi.o   Solarion, represented by a new iconic pahtra solarian — also opening up the feline pahtra as a core ancestry for Starfinder Second Edition.
• As part of the ‘open playtest’ model, the Starfinder team will be keeping players updated and involved with “Field Tests” — the first of which released today alongside the announcement at starfinderplaytest.como   Content for this first Field Test includes the Soldier Class (Levels 1-5), new equipment, and new creatures (the Computer Glitch Gremlin and Laser Wolf).

The Starfinder Playtest Rulebook will be available in summer 2024 as a softcover rulebook. As Starfinder Second Edition will be using the Pathfinder Second Edition ruleset, base system rules will not be a part of the playtest. Rather, the playtest will focus on the core elements of gameplay, including new classes, a scaling equipment system, new skills, and more.