What’s Ahead for Fans of Pathfinder and Starfinder

Paizo’s Pathfinder and Starfinder role-playing games are beloved by gamers worldwide. As with all great RPG settings, many fans seek opportunities to appreciate the world of Golarion beyond the campaigns they’re currently invested in—and from novels to spinoff games, Paizo has offered a number of ways to do so. During Gen Con 2023, I had the pleasure of speaking with Paizo’s director of marketing, Aaron Shanks, who offered a summary of upcoming releases, and there’s much to look forward to.

In the past, readers have enjoyed the Pathfinder Tales series of fantasy novels associated with the brand, but these have fallen by the wayside in recent years. That’s all about to change, though, as 2024 will finally see the release of a new Pathfinder novel. Its story will initiate a meta event, in which one of the primary deities of Golarion has died. Whenever such a celestial catastrophe occurs, chaos inevitably follows in the mortal realm, and playgroups are invited to explore this aftermath with a slate of new adventure paths and scenarios.

As longtime fans will know, there have also been a number of Pathfinder and Starfinder board and card games over the years. Historically these have been products licensed to use the Pathfinder brand, but designed by outside publishers. In an effort to keep all their property in-house, the Paizo staff have reorganized and begun designing future board games. The first of these, Pathfinder: Elemental Stones, will release in autumn 2023. Designed by Jason Bulmahn and Joe Pasini, it’s a tile-placement game in which players will compete to meet their objectives, which are kept secret from one another until completed. This game promises quick setup and playtime, for two to four players.

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For the Pathfinder RPG itself, a playtest is set to open in September, with two new unspecified classes being added to the roster. As with any Paizo playtest, playgroups will have the opportunity to experiment with the new classes and respond to surveys about what they like or don’t like. The product containing these new classes will appear a year from now.

Even as fans await the release of these new products, the biggest bombshell of the year is surely the announcement of Starfinder 2nd edition. Whenever a beloved tabletop game receives a new rule set, it’s always bittersweet. While most players welcome any and all improvements upon the previous edition, they’ve also made emotional and financial investments they’ll be reluctant to move beyond. Understanding this, Paizo is preparing a two-year transition phase for Starfinder. Gen Con 2024 will introduce the playtest document for this edition. Players will be able to pick up this document at the event and, just as with the playtest mentioned above, they’ll be invited to share their thoughts on the changes. In giving this two-year heads-up, Paizo is creating an open dialogue with the player base so that Starfinder 2nd edition will hopefully be the best version of the game it can possibly be when it finally releases at Gen Con 2025.