Starfinder 2e Galaxy Guide review – Your adventure into the galaxy starts here

The Starfinder 2e Galaxy Guide offers players six new playable alien species, six new archetypes, loads of new lore, and a large map! If you’re new to Starfinder, this book is an invaluable guide to the base lore of the setting.

Cracking open the book 

The Galaxy Guide consists of 5 chapters and comes out to 168 pages. The chapters go as follows:

• Introduction 
• Adventures 
• Ports of Call
• Factions
• Ancestries 

Before saying anything else about this book, I have to call attention to the artwork. Once again, the artwork is brilliant, and the layout is non-intrusive and easy to follow. The full-page artwork pops and has a lot of character, making it easy for players to get into the vibe of the game, which is important. The smaller images don’t break up the flow of the paragraphs, which is something I really appreciate. 

The layout of this guide is fantastic! Everything from the Starfinder tag on the upper left-hand side of the pages to the headers above each paragraph is laid out in a way that makes the book easy to follow. I also thoroughly enjoyed where they put each chapter, as it makes the book easy to read as a game master and a player. 

The Introduction chapter has a lot of things that you’ll want to read if you’re a returning player. Changes in the Pact Worlds and Changes in the Galaxy are the two biggest things. New players who are playing in the official canon will also want to check out the timeline on page 7. My new players found that the timeline was the best place to get started with the lore. 

Let’s Explore 

The Adventures section is where you’ll likely be getting started, regardless of whether you’re a new game master or if you’ve played before. This section starts with Dystopian Adventures and has a section for campaign starters and adventure hooks. It also details some planets to start on and some information for playing on those planets in regards to campaigns. You’ll find that information repeats for High-Tech Fantasy, War-Torn, Into the Unknown, Horror, and Weird campaigns. 

The information presented here is extremely easy to understand. Only the bare bones information of each world is present. I used this section to set up the various one-shots that I use to test these books, and it only takes me about 25 minutes to get something going. There is a slight issue here with the coloring of the navigation on the right side of the book. The deep red on the black background makes the navigation difficult to read. 

Ports of Call is up next, and this is where you get information about the Absalom Station, The Idaro, The Second City, Starlance, and some Backgrounds. I will not be going over all of the lore, but there are some Backgrounds here that really stood out to me in a good way. All of the more flavorful Backgrounds are in this book, such as Bartender, Bouncer, Courier, and Hustler. But there are also many unique options like Arena Veteran, which is a favorite of my players and myself since it opens up a lot of unique world-building opportunities. Hitchhiker and Hactivist are here as well. But my personal favorite is Xenobiologist because I love science. The Backgrounds section is divided into Dystopian Backgrounds, Fantasy Backgrounds, Ports of Call Backgrounds, and Wartorn Backgrounds, so there are plenty of options to choose from. The lore in this section is well put together and is very fun to read.

Let's talk Ancestries 

The Ancestries included go as follows: 

• Astrazoan
• Contemplative 
• Dragonkin
• Kalo
• Sarcesian
• Vlaka

I adore these Ancestries and have molded each one into my science/fantasy hybrid world. There is plenty to work with here if you're a game master who wants to make your own lore. If you’re like me and you like to swap names around and make the concept your own for your game, there is plenty here that will help you do that. 

While each one of these is cool in its own way, there is one Ancestry that stands out to me. The Kalo have amazing artwork, lore, and feel the most science fiction out of anything else presented in this book. They like exploring the beauty of nature, which I did not expect from the way their artwork looks.

Let's talk about Ancestries 

The Ancestries included go as follows: 

• Astrazoan
• Contemplative 
• Dragonkin
• Kalo
• Sarcesian
• Vlaka

I adore these Ancestries and have molded each one into my science/fantasy hybrid world. There is plenty to work with here if you're a game master who wants to make your own lore. If you’re like me and you like to swap names around and make the concept your own for your game, there is plenty here that will help you do that. 

While each one of these is cool in its own way, there is one Ancestry that stands out to me. The Kalo have amazing artwork, lore, and feel the most science fiction out of anything else presented in this book. They like exploring the beauty of nature, which I did not expect from the way their artwork looks.

Final Thoughts 

The Starfinder 2e Galaxy Guide is a lot of fun. The player options work well and are fun to play with, and they will offer a lot of variety to your game. But don’t be fooled, this is not a must-buy book. While the lore is fun to read, that is really all this book offers unless you want the Ancestries. Regardless, the book is a lot of fun, and I appreciate how smooth the reading experience is. The artwork stands out as some of the best in the Starfinder franchise.