Not gonna lie, if there's something that I think this setting - at least the first edition - did very good, was the natural blending of sci-fi technology with fantastical magic.UltraFan123 wrote: ↑ January 15th, 2026, 03:13I downloaded the Core Rulebook of Starfinder 1e to familiarize myself a bit with the setting, and while most of the stuff I've seen so far is the same generic "space RPG" stuff you can find almost anywhere else, I want to give some credit where credit is due for some of the ideas I did like.
- At least the 1st edition has rules that allow you to custom-make your own space ships, which is the logical continuation of the SRD rules that allow you to make your own equipment and items.
- This setting has undead-in-space which are quite distinct from the 40k necrons, and the culture and nature of these undead can be seen in their technology like space ships that have no pressurized sealed rooms because animated corpses don't need oxygen nor care about deadly radiation.
- Despite clearly being an intergalactic setting with advanced tech, traditional magic still has an everyday use and is as common as any fantasy medieval setting. Like divine mystic spells that can detect radiation and create bubbles of breathable atmosphere. Or digital banking systems that use technomancy spells to add extra protection from hackers.
- Speaking of banking, the currency in this setting is a combination of physical and digital money called "credstick" which is basically a thin USB that allows you to store specific amounts of credit into it. Since most credsticks are cheaply mass-produced, most of the time you can use them as coins/cash bills for minor everyday purchases, while other credsticks function as fancy debit cards for expensive purchases.
- On top of the standard classes, the 1e ruleset also has "Character Theme" which functions similar to a secondary background class that gives you extra traits and customization. Like [Mystic] is the divine spellcaster class while [Priest] is the religious theme for those affiliated with a larger cult or church.
- To expand on the above, the class defines what you can do while the theme defines what you are in the in-story setting and how the NPCs react to you. Like for example a mystic who is also a priest is quite obvious, but a [Soldier] - the warrior class of this setting - who leads a space crusade could also be a legit priest. Or a [Technomancer] who is an acolyte of the church of the machine deity is also a priest for obvious reasons. And likewise, a mystic who doesn't want to live inside a temple's halls but would rather explore the stars wouldn't be a priest but rather a [Spacefearer] or a [Xenoseeker] which are different themes.
So overall, I do admit that Starfinder's aesthetics and lore are as sterile as it gets for a sci-fi setting, and I can only imagine how worse it got in the 2nd edition, but there are some good ideas that could be great if applied properly.
At first I was wondering why the spellcasting classes [Mystic] and [Technomancer] were only half-casters that couldn't go beyond level 6 spells, and turns out that it isn't because level 7 spells and above aren't impossible in this setting, is just that neither mystics nor technomancers need to go beyond level 6 spells since the most powerful magical stuff can be achieved by advanced magi-tech.
Like there's this one-use item called "Regeneration Table" that can be used to revive a dead person. "Spell Chips" that allow you to upload magic into computers to use the spell remotely. And stuff like "Aeon Stones" can increase the user's caster level, and there's no limit to the amount of these stones that someone can have active because they orbit around the user and thus don't count towards the limit of equipped items since they aren't "worn".
Why would a technomancer go to the effort of learning the level 9 spell [Meteor Swarm] when he can stock himself up with aeon stones and cast an hyper-uber-powerful [Explosive Blast] - which is the [Fireball] of this setting - to similar effect. There's even level 6 spell called [Terraform] which is basically the level 8 arcane spell [Fimbulwinter] that isn't limited to just cold environments.
And these stones can be purchased in an average magic shop of most civilized worlds in this setting for reasonable prices. In contrast to the time of Pathfinder where Aeon Stones were quite rare.
Likewise, while the weapons and armor are also what you might expect in a sci-fi setting, these too can be enchanted just as easily as the gear of a medieval fantasy setting. Like a flamer that was blessed by the fire deity to cause extra holy damage, or a powered set of super-heavy armor that uses an arcane battery to become a mobile golem suit.
I believe the term for a setting with natural blend of magic and technology is "aetherpunk". If someone were to remove the woke **** from Starfinder, I think it might be a decent setting worth making CRPGs in.
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