GM Core
Chapter 2: Building Games
Building Worlds
Source GM Core pg. 138
As a Game Master, you control the details of the galaxy your players explore. While Starfinder offers a diverse assortment of worlds to experience, there are infinite possibilities for new planets, whether in the unexplored regions of the Vast or in entirely new campaign settings of your own creation.
Building your own campaign world can be a deeply fulfilling creative process, as it lets you bring to life the exact setting you envision. It gives you great flexibility so you can build only as much as you need for the next few adventures, and you can adapt your setting on the fly to meet the demands of your story. It also gives you great control, allowing you to build precisely the setting you need for the story you want to tell. Finally, it bypasses some of the issues that can come with playing within an existing campaign setting, where you might create a narrative that contradicts published canon, or your players might stumble across major plot or setting spoilers. Whatever your world-building goals, this chapter guides you through the design process step by step.
Building your own campaign world can be a deeply fulfilling creative process, as it lets you bring to life the exact setting you envision. It gives you great flexibility so you can build only as much as you need for the next few adventures, and you can adapt your setting on the fly to meet the demands of your story. It also gives you great control, allowing you to build precisely the setting you need for the story you want to tell. Finally, it bypasses some of the issues that can come with playing within an existing campaign setting, where you might create a narrative that contradicts published canon, or your players might stumble across major plot or setting spoilers. Whatever your world-building goals, this chapter guides you through the design process step by step.
Design Approach
Source GM Core pg. 138
World building can be approached in many ways, but it fundamentally comes down to a simple preference. Do you start at a high level and zoom in, or do you start small and build up? This section outlines a largely top-down approach, but you can design from the bottom up simply by starting at the end of this section and working backward. Either way, you might find yourself skipping between sections as inspiration strikes—and that's OK!
When building worlds, there's a risk of becoming overwhelmed by the sheer number of decisions to be made. Remember that you don't need to make every decision for every aspect of your world all at once. Focus first on the elements you need for your story and the game, then add as much of the rest as you'd like. You'll also want to allow room for input from your players—gaming sessions are more memorable and engaging when the storytelling experience is shared between everyone at the table (Narrative Collaboration has more information on players contributing to the narrative).
Before you decide anything else, however, you should establish your concept and your goals. Do you envision a bustling port of call in Near Space? A star system where magic comes from quarreling regional deities who each control a separate warring planetoid? A low-tech moon unknowingly isolated from the rest of a high-tech system full of starships? Are you designing a whole region of space for a multi-year campaign, or a single settlement on a world for a fast-paced one-shot adventure? Having an idea in mind will help steer your choices as you build your worlds, and knowing your goals will help you focus on building what you need.
When building worlds, there's a risk of becoming overwhelmed by the sheer number of decisions to be made. Remember that you don't need to make every decision for every aspect of your world all at once. Focus first on the elements you need for your story and the game, then add as much of the rest as you'd like. You'll also want to allow room for input from your players—gaming sessions are more memorable and engaging when the storytelling experience is shared between everyone at the table (Narrative Collaboration has more information on players contributing to the narrative).
Before you decide anything else, however, you should establish your concept and your goals. Do you envision a bustling port of call in Near Space? A star system where magic comes from quarreling regional deities who each control a separate warring planetoid? A low-tech moon unknowingly isolated from the rest of a high-tech system full of starships? Are you designing a whole region of space for a multi-year campaign, or a single settlement on a world for a fast-paced one-shot adventure? Having an idea in mind will help steer your choices as you build your worlds, and knowing your goals will help you focus on building what you need.
Top Down
Source GM Core pg. 138
The top-down approach is great if you have a lot of time to dedicate to world building. When designing a setting from the top down, your initial focus is on the big picture. You might already have an idea of the big movers and shakers of your world or your multiverse. You might want to chronicle a thousand years or more of the setting's history. You might have already sketched out a galactic map with each planet's continents, nations, and factions spanning these worlds. This approach begins with broad generalities that get more detailed during play and as you design them.
Bottom Up
Source GM Core pg. 138
With a bottom-up approach to world building, you start small and local. Focus on the starting location and immediate needs of your campaign, then expand outward as the story unfolds. This strategy works well for those with less time to devote to world building, as you need to prepare only the minimum detail necessary to entice your players toward adventure, fleshing out your world only as the campaign requires it.
Cosmology
Source GM Core pg. 138
Before designing your campaign's first world, you should first consider the nature of its larger system and what that might mean for the planet. While most traditional heliocentric star systems like the Pact Worlds make developing your world as straightforward as taking cues from the real world, other system compositions are possible, either through quirks of physics or the intervention of powerful deities. Other alternatives to traditional heliocentric star systems can be found under Composition of Space.
The Universe
Source GM Core pg. 138
The reality in which mortals live out their short existence is known to sages and scholars by many names—the Universe or material reality, among others. The structure of the physical universe might adhere to any of the following models, or it might be something completely different.
Endless: The universe is an unimaginably sparse void of infinite space, littered with stars, planets, and various detritus.
Limited: The physical universe in your campaign world might be smaller in scope yet far more fanciful. For example, Norse cosmology describes nine worlds connected by an immense ash tree. How does that fit into your science fantasy story?
Bizarre: Sometimes the universe is more complex than the previous two categories, or possibly nested within multiple realities and timelines. What if the universe the PCs first know is in fact a magical or technological simulation of such complexity that its inhabitants are unaware that they exist as an artificial consciousness? Perhaps this is even where your PCs first meet before transitioning into another reality.
Endless: The universe is an unimaginably sparse void of infinite space, littered with stars, planets, and various detritus.
Limited: The physical universe in your campaign world might be smaller in scope yet far more fanciful. For example, Norse cosmology describes nine worlds connected by an immense ash tree. How does that fit into your science fantasy story?
Bizarre: Sometimes the universe is more complex than the previous two categories, or possibly nested within multiple realities and timelines. What if the universe the PCs first know is in fact a magical or technological simulation of such complexity that its inhabitants are unaware that they exist as an artificial consciousness? Perhaps this is even where your PCs first meet before transitioning into another reality.
Composition of Space
Source GM Core pg. 139
Whether the primary setting of your campaign or an avenue between worlds, the nature of outer space is as malleable as the rest of your cosmology.
Celestial Spheres: The ancient Greeks posited that planets, stars, and more were embedded like jewels within celestial orbs of quintessence nested within one another. Perhaps celestial bodies in your campaign are really massive aeon stones, or something else unique to your setting.
Endless Sky: What if the blue sky overhead extended outward forever? One need only fly high enough and far enough to reach another world, using environmental protections to defend against the frigid cold. In such a campaign, space might not carry the hazards of radiation and breathlessness, but it might be more like a vast sea where ships and people flow with the currents and explore the depths.
Vacuum: In conventional astronomy, outer space is an immense void existing in a near-perfect vacuum. The immeasurable expanse of space is home to everything in the Universe and requires starships to both navigate and survive. You might incorporate hard sci-fi details to make adventures in outer space feel more believable and perilous.
Celestial Spheres: The ancient Greeks posited that planets, stars, and more were embedded like jewels within celestial orbs of quintessence nested within one another. Perhaps celestial bodies in your campaign are really massive aeon stones, or something else unique to your setting.
Endless Sky: What if the blue sky overhead extended outward forever? One need only fly high enough and far enough to reach another world, using environmental protections to defend against the frigid cold. In such a campaign, space might not carry the hazards of radiation and breathlessness, but it might be more like a vast sea where ships and people flow with the currents and explore the depths.
Vacuum: In conventional astronomy, outer space is an immense void existing in a near-perfect vacuum. The immeasurable expanse of space is home to everything in the Universe and requires starships to both navigate and survive. You might incorporate hard sci-fi details to make adventures in outer space feel more believable and perilous.
The Barycenter
Source GM Core pg. 139
A star composes the center of most solar systems, which develop planets from the detritus following the collapse of a nebula or other cosmic shock wave. In a binary star system, the barycenter of a system is likely the center point between the two rotating stars. Erratically shaped systems can shift the barycenter away from the center of gravity, whether by recent cataclysm or proximity to another source of gravity. A supernatural collapse of a solar system's star could even result in a black hole developing at the center of a cluster of doomed planets, entire generations passing in the eternal darkness only to one day be consumed by their dead star. What lies near the barycenter of your galaxy? Does anything reside there, mortal or otherwise? How do the civilizations in your setting view the construct that keeps their worlds in place? There are effectively three options for most settings.
Dyson Sphere: Perhaps a solar system has been enclosed in an artificial structure designed to harness the power of the sun. The residents have long since forgotten, and escaping the sphere is an eventual goal of the campaign.
Geocentric: What if another world was the center of the known universe? Perhaps it's the primary game world, or perhaps it's the campaign's final destination.
Heliocentric: Physics dictates that all planets in a system orbit the sun, and the center of mass of a galaxy orbits a black hole. Some systems might have more than one star.
Dyson Sphere: Perhaps a solar system has been enclosed in an artificial structure designed to harness the power of the sun. The residents have long since forgotten, and escaping the sphere is an eventual goal of the campaign.
Geocentric: What if another world was the center of the known universe? Perhaps it's the primary game world, or perhaps it's the campaign's final destination.
Heliocentric: Physics dictates that all planets in a system orbit the sun, and the center of mass of a galaxy orbits a black hole. Some systems might have more than one star.
Planets
Source GM Core pg. 139
You'll need to develop some details of your campaign's home world before you begin your campaign. While some games might stay on a single planet, the opportunity for space travel and intergalactic contact means you should also consider the fundamentals of the other important planets in your setting. These worlds can also help inspire your players during character creation, especially if they want to play ancestries that aren't native to your campaign's home world. Don't be afraid to work alongside your players to draw inspiration from their character's backstories when choosing the themes of your planets.
While these guidelines are intended for the creation of your campaign's initial home world, they can be revisited each time your players visit a new planet!
While these guidelines are intended for the creation of your campaign's initial home world, they can be revisited each time your players visit a new planet!
Planetary Basics
Source GM Core pg. 139
When designing the physical features of a campaign world, you'll want to determine its shape and the general distribution of landmasses. You should also establish the world's size relative to its neighbors, though the importance of a planet is rarely relative to its mass.
Shape
Source GM Core pg. 139
In a science-fantasy setting, the shape of your world need not be spherical as governed by the laws of physics. It could take on any shape you desire, and it might not be a planet at all!
Globe: Barring some catastrophe, worlds in our reality are roughly spherical due to the influence of gravity.
Hollow World: What if the landmasses and civilizations of a world existed on the inner surface of a hollow sphere? In such a world, the horizon would climb upwards, permitting creatures to see landmarks at extraordinary distances. A vast civilization might inhabit the interior of the world, lining the outer edge with solar panels for renewable power. Light might emanate from a sunlike orb in the world's center, from various other natural, technological, or magical sources, or not at all.
Irregular: What if your world is flat, a toroid, or shaped into a cylinder, cube, or other polyhedron? What if it's something even stranger? With such an unusual shape, you need to decide how gravity, atmosphere, and other details function. These types of irregular shapes can also include asteroids, colony ships, and space stations.
String: The world might be something entirely unique, like a stellar waterway akin to the River Betweena chain of stellar debris each a mini-world in its own right, or even a planetary ring detached from its maiden world and cast into the void.
Globe: Barring some catastrophe, worlds in our reality are roughly spherical due to the influence of gravity.
Hollow World: What if the landmasses and civilizations of a world existed on the inner surface of a hollow sphere? In such a world, the horizon would climb upwards, permitting creatures to see landmarks at extraordinary distances. A vast civilization might inhabit the interior of the world, lining the outer edge with solar panels for renewable power. Light might emanate from a sunlike orb in the world's center, from various other natural, technological, or magical sources, or not at all.
Irregular: What if your world is flat, a toroid, or shaped into a cylinder, cube, or other polyhedron? What if it's something even stranger? With such an unusual shape, you need to decide how gravity, atmosphere, and other details function. These types of irregular shapes can also include asteroids, colony ships, and space stations.
String: The world might be something entirely unique, like a stellar waterway akin to the River Betweena chain of stellar debris each a mini-world in its own right, or even a planetary ring detached from its maiden world and cast into the void.
Composition
Source GM Core pg. 140
While most habitable home worlds are assumed to be terrestrial planets like Earth, in a science-fantasy setting the only limits are your imagination, and each change presents new options for far-reaching cultural and technological innovations. Some worlds combine these compositions, such as the tidally locked world of Verces that's half frozen from a lack of sun and half searing from intense solar activity, with a ring of cities separating the two extremes.
Barren World: These barren worlds include asteroids and desert and rocky planets unable to support life on its surface. Residents are often from other worlds or spend most of their lives struggling to survive. Some of these worlds have evolved intelligent life capable of handling the extreme circumstances. They include worlds that once teemed with life that has since been destroyed by war or some other invasive force, like the husk worlds left behind by the Swarm or the once-living planet of Eox. In many cases, the composition of the world is completely bizarre, such as a world composed entirely of crystals!
City World: Also known as an ecumenopolis, this planet-sized city completely covers the surface of the world, often spanning even the vast and often polluted oceans that once supported life on the overly developed world. These planets likely have several superstructures visible from space but are otherwise vast monuments littered with lights. It could've been built on a moon or asteroid, perhaps as a colony from another nearby world. While these worlds are often the most populated, they also frequently have the least variety of life (at least in terms of plants and animals) and could even be mostly abandoned due to a planetwide catastrophe exacerbated by its sprawling monoculture. A city world is likely to be or have once been united under a single nation-state, even if it's now divided into multiple city-states or rival districts. Oftentimes, the planet forms slums near the surface while the wealthy live atop skyscrapers or in floating arcologies high up in the atmosphere where they're safe from pollution and noise.
Constructed: Constructed worlds didn't form naturally but were built by their inhabitants using natural or synthetic materials. A constructed world could be an inhabitable space station, a massive worldship, or a terraformed satellite resembling a real planet. Examples in the Pact worlds include Absalom Station and the Idari.
Gas Giant: These enormous worlds are often circled by countless moons large enough to support entire campaigns. Some, like Bretheda, have cities floating atop or within the gas. Others float along the ring of these worlds, the composition of which can hint at the world's history. Perhaps some creatures can survive on the surface of these worlds, protected by eternal storms too violent for most spaceships to navigate. The substances of these worlds are often harvested for interplanetary trade.
Ice World: Ice and snow cover these frigid worlds often found on the fringes of a star system. Cities frequently develop inside of mountains or atop enormous thermokarsts, regions replete with hollows like the Ice Wells of Aballon, that offer a reprieve from the eternal cold. Perhaps the only known structure in these worlds is a single research or military station operated by a skeleton crew, or perhaps the residents thrive in the frigid wastes or live in aquatic cities submerged under the miles-thick ice.
Lava World: Volcanic plumes of lava and smoke cover these worlds, often controlled by one or more mining companies looking to exploit the rare starmetals and other resources left undisturbed on these often lifeless planets. What kind of life could develop in these worlds? How might they react to being exploited by alien miners? And what valuable resources and treasures might await those who can survive in such a hostile environment?
Lush World: Forests, jungles, or swamps cover these worlds. Whether natural, supernatural, or the result of terraforming gone awry, these worlds often have civilizationending threats, like colossi, that prevent their unspoiled nature from being exploited and their surfaces from rampant development. Perhaps these threats might not be as obvious as giant monsters and could very well be surges of primal magic, random boiling geysers the size of cities that sustain the verdant paradise, or microbial threats that can bypass even the highest-grade environmental protections.
Terrestrial: These Earth-like worlds include oceans and continents with all the variety you'd expect on a habitable surface. The planet itself could've been terraformed with technology or magic necessary to keep it from becoming another type of world.
Water World: A world composed of or submerged in planet-spanning oceans could include a smattering of islands or floating settlements. Is the world surrounded by pristine blue seas, or is the water green due to continentsized algal blooms? Perhaps the liquid isn't even water but instead a substance that either makes the planet a center of the galactic economy, or it's a cursed world avoided and shunned by the rest of the galaxy.
Barren World: These barren worlds include asteroids and desert and rocky planets unable to support life on its surface. Residents are often from other worlds or spend most of their lives struggling to survive. Some of these worlds have evolved intelligent life capable of handling the extreme circumstances. They include worlds that once teemed with life that has since been destroyed by war or some other invasive force, like the husk worlds left behind by the Swarm or the once-living planet of Eox. In many cases, the composition of the world is completely bizarre, such as a world composed entirely of crystals!
City World: Also known as an ecumenopolis, this planet-sized city completely covers the surface of the world, often spanning even the vast and often polluted oceans that once supported life on the overly developed world. These planets likely have several superstructures visible from space but are otherwise vast monuments littered with lights. It could've been built on a moon or asteroid, perhaps as a colony from another nearby world. While these worlds are often the most populated, they also frequently have the least variety of life (at least in terms of plants and animals) and could even be mostly abandoned due to a planetwide catastrophe exacerbated by its sprawling monoculture. A city world is likely to be or have once been united under a single nation-state, even if it's now divided into multiple city-states or rival districts. Oftentimes, the planet forms slums near the surface while the wealthy live atop skyscrapers or in floating arcologies high up in the atmosphere where they're safe from pollution and noise.
Constructed: Constructed worlds didn't form naturally but were built by their inhabitants using natural or synthetic materials. A constructed world could be an inhabitable space station, a massive worldship, or a terraformed satellite resembling a real planet. Examples in the Pact worlds include Absalom Station and the Idari.
Gas Giant: These enormous worlds are often circled by countless moons large enough to support entire campaigns. Some, like Bretheda, have cities floating atop or within the gas. Others float along the ring of these worlds, the composition of which can hint at the world's history. Perhaps some creatures can survive on the surface of these worlds, protected by eternal storms too violent for most spaceships to navigate. The substances of these worlds are often harvested for interplanetary trade.
Ice World: Ice and snow cover these frigid worlds often found on the fringes of a star system. Cities frequently develop inside of mountains or atop enormous thermokarsts, regions replete with hollows like the Ice Wells of Aballon, that offer a reprieve from the eternal cold. Perhaps the only known structure in these worlds is a single research or military station operated by a skeleton crew, or perhaps the residents thrive in the frigid wastes or live in aquatic cities submerged under the miles-thick ice.
Lava World: Volcanic plumes of lava and smoke cover these worlds, often controlled by one or more mining companies looking to exploit the rare starmetals and other resources left undisturbed on these often lifeless planets. What kind of life could develop in these worlds? How might they react to being exploited by alien miners? And what valuable resources and treasures might await those who can survive in such a hostile environment?
Lush World: Forests, jungles, or swamps cover these worlds. Whether natural, supernatural, or the result of terraforming gone awry, these worlds often have civilizationending threats, like colossi, that prevent their unspoiled nature from being exploited and their surfaces from rampant development. Perhaps these threats might not be as obvious as giant monsters and could very well be surges of primal magic, random boiling geysers the size of cities that sustain the verdant paradise, or microbial threats that can bypass even the highest-grade environmental protections.
Terrestrial: These Earth-like worlds include oceans and continents with all the variety you'd expect on a habitable surface. The planet itself could've been terraformed with technology or magic necessary to keep it from becoming another type of world.
Water World: A world composed of or submerged in planet-spanning oceans could include a smattering of islands or floating settlements. Is the world surrounded by pristine blue seas, or is the water green due to continentsized algal blooms? Perhaps the liquid isn't even water but instead a substance that either makes the planet a center of the galactic economy, or it's a cursed world avoided and shunned by the rest of the galaxy.
Landmass
Source GM Core pg. 141
The next major step in world creation is to sketch out the planet's oceans and major landmasses—assuming the world type has them! On Earth, these geological features are the result of plate tectonics. In a science-fantasy world, however, the continents might have been cleaved from the land in a duel between gods or powerful witchwarpers, or the oceans filled by towering terraforming columns that still dot the shores to this day. The following are some common landmass types.
Archipelago: A stretch of vast ocean, dotted by chains of small island groups, atolls, and islets.
Continent: A substantial landform that (usually) rests on a tectonic plate and gradually shifts in position over geologic timescales.
Floating Continent: Whether floating in a gas giant at the point where the composition of the gas becomes semi-solid or suspended by technology or magic above a wartorn world, these enormous landmasses provide a way for traditional life to exist on a planet otherwise hostile to life.
Island-Continent: An enormous island nearly the size of a continent, surrounded by ocean.
Major Islands: A region of seas dominated by large islands, each several hundred miles across.
Orbital: Natural or constructed satellites can be large enough to be settled by intelligent life, perhaps even seeding the ring of a much larger planet or forming a chain of moons.
Supercontinent: An assembly of the world's continental blocks into a single immense landmass.
Archipelago: A stretch of vast ocean, dotted by chains of small island groups, atolls, and islets.
Continent: A substantial landform that (usually) rests on a tectonic plate and gradually shifts in position over geologic timescales.
Floating Continent: Whether floating in a gas giant at the point where the composition of the gas becomes semi-solid or suspended by technology or magic above a wartorn world, these enormous landmasses provide a way for traditional life to exist on a planet otherwise hostile to life.
Island-Continent: An enormous island nearly the size of a continent, surrounded by ocean.
Major Islands: A region of seas dominated by large islands, each several hundred miles across.
Orbital: Natural or constructed satellites can be large enough to be settled by intelligent life, perhaps even seeding the ring of a much larger planet or forming a chain of moons.
Supercontinent: An assembly of the world's continental blocks into a single immense landmass.
Environment
Source GM Core pg. 141
The environment and terrain of a region can pose as much of a challenge to an adventuring party as any of the foes they face. The following section references the environment categories beginning under Environment.
Common Environments
Source GM Core pg. 141
The following environments are common enough that they might appear in nearly any adventure or world.
Aquatic: Oceans, seas, lakes, and other large waterways are aquatic environments.
Arctic: Arctic environments usually appear near the northern and southern extremes of a world, though extreme elevation, unusually shaped worlds, and supernatural forces could result in arctic terrain elsewhere.
Desert: Deserts can appear anywhere on a world where precipitation is scant, even along some oceans. Any large landmasses that entirely lack bodies of water are likely to be deserts.
Forest: The composition of a forest depends on the climate and the elevation, with thick jungles more common near an equator, hardwood forests in more temperate zones, and evergreens at higher latitudes and elevations. Most worlds have a tree line—an elevation above which trees can't grow.
Mountain: A world's highest peaks can stretch tens of thousands of feet above sea level. This category also includes hills, which are typically no more than 1,000 feet tall.
Plains: Mostly flat and unobstructed, plains are usually at lower elevations, but they can also be found at higher elevations on plateaus.
Swamp: Wide floodplains, shallow lakes, and marshes can appear at most latitudes.
Underground: Colonies and outposts on barren worlds are often built underground to protect from cosmic radiation and maintain livable temperatures. They can also be constructed into mountains as part of a larger settlement.
Urban: Cities and settlements are urban environments. These areas are detailed in Settlements.
Aquatic: Oceans, seas, lakes, and other large waterways are aquatic environments.
Arctic: Arctic environments usually appear near the northern and southern extremes of a world, though extreme elevation, unusually shaped worlds, and supernatural forces could result in arctic terrain elsewhere.
Desert: Deserts can appear anywhere on a world where precipitation is scant, even along some oceans. Any large landmasses that entirely lack bodies of water are likely to be deserts.
Forest: The composition of a forest depends on the climate and the elevation, with thick jungles more common near an equator, hardwood forests in more temperate zones, and evergreens at higher latitudes and elevations. Most worlds have a tree line—an elevation above which trees can't grow.
Mountain: A world's highest peaks can stretch tens of thousands of feet above sea level. This category also includes hills, which are typically no more than 1,000 feet tall.
Plains: Mostly flat and unobstructed, plains are usually at lower elevations, but they can also be found at higher elevations on plateaus.
Swamp: Wide floodplains, shallow lakes, and marshes can appear at most latitudes.
Underground: Colonies and outposts on barren worlds are often built underground to protect from cosmic radiation and maintain livable temperatures. They can also be constructed into mountains as part of a larger settlement.
Urban: Cities and settlements are urban environments. These areas are detailed in Settlements.
Extreme Environments
Source GM Core pg. 141
Some adventures lead to fantastic reaches of the world or the multiverse that are seldom explored by mortals.
Aerial: A world might include windy realms of floating islands and castles in the clouds, or form a swirling gas giant.
Alien: Encompassing all manner of unique environments, alien environments represent biomes prevalent to a specific world or even those we haven't yet pondered could exist. Examples could include a vast sea of self-replicating crystal or a world where the landmasses and water shift into different states of matter at irregular intervals.
Glacier: Massive sheets of dense ice constantly moving under their own immense weight, glaciers are frozen wastelands riddled with columns of jagged ice and snowcovered crevasses.
Gravity: Both high- and low-gravity environments present opportunities for fantastical ecologies and challenges for visitors. See page 98 for more details on these environments.
Radioactive: Whether barren wastes or abandoned cities, these environments frequently feature mutated flora and fauna, pools of acid, and radioactive materials that can overwhelm even higher-level environmental protections.
Underground: Some worlds have deep natural caverns, while others have extensive winding tunnels and expansive realms below the surface.
Undersea: A subset of aquatic environments, undersea environments are those areas submerged beneath the waves.
Vacuum: Worlds without breathable air are either deserted wastelands or otherwise occupied only by constructs,undead, and cosmic beings often too alien for most mortals to understand.
Virtual Reality: Your world is entirely digital. Your players can only ascertain this truth over time via hints, and whether or not the entire planet's population is trapped in a virtual space, or the entire universe is a simulation, can depend on the campaign's scope and theme.
Volcanic: Hellish landscapes of molten lava, burning ash, and scorching temperatures pose immediate danger.
Aerial: A world might include windy realms of floating islands and castles in the clouds, or form a swirling gas giant.
Alien: Encompassing all manner of unique environments, alien environments represent biomes prevalent to a specific world or even those we haven't yet pondered could exist. Examples could include a vast sea of self-replicating crystal or a world where the landmasses and water shift into different states of matter at irregular intervals.
Glacier: Massive sheets of dense ice constantly moving under their own immense weight, glaciers are frozen wastelands riddled with columns of jagged ice and snowcovered crevasses.
Gravity: Both high- and low-gravity environments present opportunities for fantastical ecologies and challenges for visitors. See page 98 for more details on these environments.
Radioactive: Whether barren wastes or abandoned cities, these environments frequently feature mutated flora and fauna, pools of acid, and radioactive materials that can overwhelm even higher-level environmental protections.
Underground: Some worlds have deep natural caverns, while others have extensive winding tunnels and expansive realms below the surface.
Undersea: A subset of aquatic environments, undersea environments are those areas submerged beneath the waves.
Vacuum: Worlds without breathable air are either deserted wastelands or otherwise occupied only by constructs,undead, and cosmic beings often too alien for most mortals to understand.
Virtual Reality: Your world is entirely digital. Your players can only ascertain this truth over time via hints, and whether or not the entire planet's population is trapped in a virtual space, or the entire universe is a simulation, can depend on the campaign's scope and theme.
Volcanic: Hellish landscapes of molten lava, burning ash, and scorching temperatures pose immediate danger.
Mapping a World
Source GM Core pg. 142
Many Game Masters like to have an overland map for their local region, nation, or even the whole world. This is far less important if you're planning a multi-planetary campaign with no set home world, but it can help add to a campaign's verisimilitude to include some of these details if your campaign uses a consistent port of call, whether it's a space station or an entire planet. The primary goal of this scale of map is to designate sites of import to the campaign; you don't need to detail every nature preserve or strip mine, but having a sense of the major features can help you and the other players visualize the world in which you're playing.
Step 1. Coastlines: The easiest first step is to separate land from sea (whether those seas are frozen, molten, or even sand). Regional maps might only have a single shoreline, if any. At larger map scales, consider the placement of major islands, archipelago chains, atolls, and islets. A world map should consider the size and placement of continents.
Step 2. Topography: Pencil in a rough ridgeline for each mountain range in the region. Mountain ranges are common along coastlines where continental plates push together. If extended into the sea, mountain ranges typically result in a chain of offshore islands. Indicate hills in the regions adjacent to the mountains and elsewhere as necessary to demonstrate elevation. Unmarked terrain on an overland map is usually lowland plains. Even in worlds with efficient mass transit, these important geographic elements determine defensible positions, population centers, and ports of call.
Step 3. Watercourses: It's important to keep in mind that rivers flow downstream, from high elevation toward the sea, always taking the path of least resistance. Powerful watercourses might carve canyons or gorges over millennia, but they should never cross through mountain ranges. On a similar note, watercourses don't branch—tributaries join into rivers as they flow downstream. Even high-tech societies will naturally benefit from developing alongside natural sources of fresh water, both for conventional uses like drinking and sanitation and for industrial uses like shipping and hydroelectricity.
Step 4. Terrain and Environment: Sketch in interesting terrain features such as forests, deserts, or tundras. You might want to differentiate these by climate, separating coniferous and deciduous forests from tropical jungles or arctic taigas. Terrain not specifically called out on an overland map is typically presumed to be some variety of farmland in developed worlds and grassland in less developed worlds.
Step 5. Civilization: Now you're ready to place the elements of civilization. Major cities are typically located near water, and those with spaceports are usually near the equator to save on the energy required during space launches. Major freeways or rails connect larger settlements, circumventing difficult terrain and connecting centers of culture and industry, but they can wind through mountain passes or even beneath the ocean when lucrative commerce demands it. Add smaller settlements along your roads, like resorts to appreciate nature, less tech-inclined rural communities, or businesses requiring large tracts of land like farms. Finally, draw political boundaries and mark other sites of interest. Are these borders purely physical, or are there separated infospheres on these worlds that further divide these rival nations?
Step 1. Coastlines: The easiest first step is to separate land from sea (whether those seas are frozen, molten, or even sand). Regional maps might only have a single shoreline, if any. At larger map scales, consider the placement of major islands, archipelago chains, atolls, and islets. A world map should consider the size and placement of continents.
Step 2. Topography: Pencil in a rough ridgeline for each mountain range in the region. Mountain ranges are common along coastlines where continental plates push together. If extended into the sea, mountain ranges typically result in a chain of offshore islands. Indicate hills in the regions adjacent to the mountains and elsewhere as necessary to demonstrate elevation. Unmarked terrain on an overland map is usually lowland plains. Even in worlds with efficient mass transit, these important geographic elements determine defensible positions, population centers, and ports of call.
Step 3. Watercourses: It's important to keep in mind that rivers flow downstream, from high elevation toward the sea, always taking the path of least resistance. Powerful watercourses might carve canyons or gorges over millennia, but they should never cross through mountain ranges. On a similar note, watercourses don't branch—tributaries join into rivers as they flow downstream. Even high-tech societies will naturally benefit from developing alongside natural sources of fresh water, both for conventional uses like drinking and sanitation and for industrial uses like shipping and hydroelectricity.
Step 4. Terrain and Environment: Sketch in interesting terrain features such as forests, deserts, or tundras. You might want to differentiate these by climate, separating coniferous and deciduous forests from tropical jungles or arctic taigas. Terrain not specifically called out on an overland map is typically presumed to be some variety of farmland in developed worlds and grassland in less developed worlds.
Step 5. Civilization: Now you're ready to place the elements of civilization. Major cities are typically located near water, and those with spaceports are usually near the equator to save on the energy required during space launches. Major freeways or rails connect larger settlements, circumventing difficult terrain and connecting centers of culture and industry, but they can wind through mountain passes or even beneath the ocean when lucrative commerce demands it. Add smaller settlements along your roads, like resorts to appreciate nature, less tech-inclined rural communities, or businesses requiring large tracts of land like farms. Finally, draw political boundaries and mark other sites of interest. Are these borders purely physical, or are there separated infospheres on these worlds that further divide these rival nations?
Civilization
Source GM Core pg. 142
Once you've established your home world and other important planets, it's time to establish significant nations, whether they're bound to a single world or part of a larger interstellar coalition, and then define major ports of call.
When it comes to designing a setting's cultures, you might want to focus primarily on areas the party is likely to explore first. Doing so allows you to establish the details and depth of one region's peoples before expanding out to address others. That isn't to say you shouldn't have ideas about the cultures beyond your starting settlement—it just means you don't need to decide every detail of every culture all at once.
As always, you don't need to demarcate every planet in the solar system or indicate every station, city, and spaceport. Keep your focus on what you need for your story and your adventure—leaving terra incognita can lead to stories down the road as the party ventures further from home.
When it comes to designing a setting's cultures, you might want to focus primarily on areas the party is likely to explore first. Doing so allows you to establish the details and depth of one region's peoples before expanding out to address others. That isn't to say you shouldn't have ideas about the cultures beyond your starting settlement—it just means you don't need to decide every detail of every culture all at once.
As always, you don't need to demarcate every planet in the solar system or indicate every station, city, and spaceport. Keep your focus on what you need for your story and your adventure—leaving terra incognita can lead to stories down the road as the party ventures further from home.
Societal Benchmarks
Source GM Core pg. 142
The following sections can help you establish certain truths about your world as a whole. From there, you can decide the details of specific cultural groups, including whether they deviate from these global standards.
Technology
Source GM Core pg. 142
Throughout history, a major driver of world culture has been the continuous advancement of technology in warfare, agriculture, and industry. The following categories roughly approximate real-world technological levels, but progress might vary on your world. What heights of technology have been achieved? Have any groups fallen behind or leaped ahead?
Primeval: Weapons and tools in this early era are crafted primarily from bone, wood, or stone. Knowledge of stonecutting allows early civilizations to raise stone walls and buildings. If visited frequently by those with other technology, they might salvage pieces of sturdier materials to use as tools. If resistant to advanced technology, they might even develop magic and tools that are extra effective against technology.
Antiquities: Advancements in mining and metallurgy lead to weapons and tools made from bronze and later iron. Crop rotation and storage ensure greater resilience to famine, leading to the development of complex irrigation and large militaries that can consolidate and conquer city-states into major empires. The economy is dominated by river and sea trade between coastal settlements aided by oar- and sail-powered galleys. Alien technology is often readily incorporated, as wars are often won during this relatively rapid advance in technology.
Early Industrial: Warfare in this era is defined by iron armor until the development of black powder firearms. Larger ships permit ocean crossings and long-range trade to distant shores. The printing press increases literacy and speeds up the dissemination of new ideas, and the development of early steam engines rapidly shifts societies' focus to engineering and science. Dirigible airships and observation balloons make it more likely for locals to recognize devices like spaceships as technology rather than magic, and a desire to replicate the technology makes any kind of first contact more dramatic than ever before.
Late Industrial: Heavy machinery and a race for diminishing resources define this period of technological development. Famine and plagues are likely confined to less industrialized nations exploited for their natural and human resources. Consolidated power in countries with the most advanced technology, coupled with the knowledge that an actual war between the nations could have nigh-apocalyptic side effects, means a need to reform social traditions, especially once major developments like atomic energy and telecommunications bring about subsequent technological revolutions. Cultural exchange and leisure time would permit the development of games and stories to inspire future technology, lending itself to greater acceptance of more advanced technology regardless of its source.
Tech Renaissance: This civilization teems with advanced technology and magitech, including but not limited to cybernetic augmentations and artificial intelligence. While technology has made conventional warfare too dangerous, nations and corporations openly engage in hacking and sabotage for economic control of ideas in lieu of direct control over land. Globalization, communication technology, and the intermingling of cultures have made national and ethnic identity secondary to stark individuality. Outside of the glittering cities of skyscrapers, you're less and less likely to find any but the most stringent luddites, as most farms would be automated while nations allow nature to reclaim rural communities for the sake of a balanced ecosystem. Visitors with more advanced technology would be hesitant to visit these worlds without a disguise, knowing how much alien tech would be worth to factions struggling to get an edge in a cutthroat market of ideas.
Spacefaring: Journeying to the final frontier opens countless paths for technological and social progress, including openly intermingling with alien technology, establishing new governments independent from any on a civilization's home world, and the necessity of tools needed to survive the harsh conditions of space that are developed and improved independent of an astronaut's home world. As space colonists from post-scarcity societies struggle to survive, they can find their technology lagging behind their predecessors, potentially reaching a state resembling a post-apocalyptic level of technology for centuries before explorers from their long-forgotten home world rediscover them.
Post-Scarcity: At this level of technological progress, there's no longer a need for mortal species to compete for resources. All needs and basic desires are met, resulting in an opportunity for social and artistic progress unhampered by the inequalities of the past. Oftentimes, this level of technology betrays a darker truth, as the society is propped up by those who could only dream of the false utopia. Other times, the civilization's military or explorative tech is no more advanced than a tech renaissance or even late industrial civilization, as some watershed moment in the civilization's history pushed them to focus their efforts on energy, food, technology, and resource allocation. Such a utopia might be accepting and curious of outsiders, or it might fear that the inclusion of outside technology might damage their hard-won harmony.
Transcendent: The members of this civilization have gone beyond their physical bodies to become something more. Whether they're ascended beings of pure energy, digital consciousnesses existing in a virtual reality, or a merged hyper-consciousness spanning dozens of worlds, the preservation of their consciousness has become the primary concern of this civilization. Any other advanced technology exists only as vestigial artifacts left behind in their now empty cities. Sometimes these civilizations can attempt to forcefully integrate others into their trans-mortal hive minds, or else eradicate their targets out of fear of other life-forms developing a way to erase them from existence. Other times they are above reproach and feel compelled to protect other species from even greater cosmic threats. Civilizations that attempt this level of technology can carry on as once-mortal robots, feral mutants, or paranoid undead, the fear of death having driven them to become inhuman facsimiles of their former selves.
Post-Apocalyptic: Oftentimes a civilization finds itself progressing backward in the tech tree due to fear of rapid advancement, a cataclysmic war, or even divine intervention. They could be left with vestiges of their former glory, perhaps having vague notions of how to use these ancient devices while treating even the most mundane tech as though it were magic. They might outright reject and hunt down advanced technology, blaming it for their daily struggles to survive in a world decimated by radiation or rampant biotechnology.
Primeval: Weapons and tools in this early era are crafted primarily from bone, wood, or stone. Knowledge of stonecutting allows early civilizations to raise stone walls and buildings. If visited frequently by those with other technology, they might salvage pieces of sturdier materials to use as tools. If resistant to advanced technology, they might even develop magic and tools that are extra effective against technology.
Antiquities: Advancements in mining and metallurgy lead to weapons and tools made from bronze and later iron. Crop rotation and storage ensure greater resilience to famine, leading to the development of complex irrigation and large militaries that can consolidate and conquer city-states into major empires. The economy is dominated by river and sea trade between coastal settlements aided by oar- and sail-powered galleys. Alien technology is often readily incorporated, as wars are often won during this relatively rapid advance in technology.
Early Industrial: Warfare in this era is defined by iron armor until the development of black powder firearms. Larger ships permit ocean crossings and long-range trade to distant shores. The printing press increases literacy and speeds up the dissemination of new ideas, and the development of early steam engines rapidly shifts societies' focus to engineering and science. Dirigible airships and observation balloons make it more likely for locals to recognize devices like spaceships as technology rather than magic, and a desire to replicate the technology makes any kind of first contact more dramatic than ever before.
Late Industrial: Heavy machinery and a race for diminishing resources define this period of technological development. Famine and plagues are likely confined to less industrialized nations exploited for their natural and human resources. Consolidated power in countries with the most advanced technology, coupled with the knowledge that an actual war between the nations could have nigh-apocalyptic side effects, means a need to reform social traditions, especially once major developments like atomic energy and telecommunications bring about subsequent technological revolutions. Cultural exchange and leisure time would permit the development of games and stories to inspire future technology, lending itself to greater acceptance of more advanced technology regardless of its source.
Tech Renaissance: This civilization teems with advanced technology and magitech, including but not limited to cybernetic augmentations and artificial intelligence. While technology has made conventional warfare too dangerous, nations and corporations openly engage in hacking and sabotage for economic control of ideas in lieu of direct control over land. Globalization, communication technology, and the intermingling of cultures have made national and ethnic identity secondary to stark individuality. Outside of the glittering cities of skyscrapers, you're less and less likely to find any but the most stringent luddites, as most farms would be automated while nations allow nature to reclaim rural communities for the sake of a balanced ecosystem. Visitors with more advanced technology would be hesitant to visit these worlds without a disguise, knowing how much alien tech would be worth to factions struggling to get an edge in a cutthroat market of ideas.
Spacefaring: Journeying to the final frontier opens countless paths for technological and social progress, including openly intermingling with alien technology, establishing new governments independent from any on a civilization's home world, and the necessity of tools needed to survive the harsh conditions of space that are developed and improved independent of an astronaut's home world. As space colonists from post-scarcity societies struggle to survive, they can find their technology lagging behind their predecessors, potentially reaching a state resembling a post-apocalyptic level of technology for centuries before explorers from their long-forgotten home world rediscover them.
Post-Scarcity: At this level of technological progress, there's no longer a need for mortal species to compete for resources. All needs and basic desires are met, resulting in an opportunity for social and artistic progress unhampered by the inequalities of the past. Oftentimes, this level of technology betrays a darker truth, as the society is propped up by those who could only dream of the false utopia. Other times, the civilization's military or explorative tech is no more advanced than a tech renaissance or even late industrial civilization, as some watershed moment in the civilization's history pushed them to focus their efforts on energy, food, technology, and resource allocation. Such a utopia might be accepting and curious of outsiders, or it might fear that the inclusion of outside technology might damage their hard-won harmony.
Transcendent: The members of this civilization have gone beyond their physical bodies to become something more. Whether they're ascended beings of pure energy, digital consciousnesses existing in a virtual reality, or a merged hyper-consciousness spanning dozens of worlds, the preservation of their consciousness has become the primary concern of this civilization. Any other advanced technology exists only as vestigial artifacts left behind in their now empty cities. Sometimes these civilizations can attempt to forcefully integrate others into their trans-mortal hive minds, or else eradicate their targets out of fear of other life-forms developing a way to erase them from existence. Other times they are above reproach and feel compelled to protect other species from even greater cosmic threats. Civilizations that attempt this level of technology can carry on as once-mortal robots, feral mutants, or paranoid undead, the fear of death having driven them to become inhuman facsimiles of their former selves.
Post-Apocalyptic: Oftentimes a civilization finds itself progressing backward in the tech tree due to fear of rapid advancement, a cataclysmic war, or even divine intervention. They could be left with vestiges of their former glory, perhaps having vague notions of how to use these ancient devices while treating even the most mundane tech as though it were magic. They might outright reject and hunt down advanced technology, blaming it for their daily struggles to survive in a world decimated by radiation or rampant biotechnology.
Divine Involvement
Source GM Core pg. 143
What's the nature of the gods? Do they even exist? If so, are they omnipotent and omniscient? How does a follower request their divine favor? The answers to these questions will help you determine how strongly divine faith impacts the cultures of your world.
None: Deities don't exist in this world, or if they do, they're oblivious to or completely unconcerned with mortal affairs. If they exist, they don't make their presence known, nor do they grant power to their worshippers. People might still believe in deities, and there might be powerful enough entities, or artificial intelligences, that have convinced people to worship them.
Limited: Deities exist, though they remain aloof from the mortal world and make their divine presence known only to a chosen few.
Accepted: Divine influence is an accepted fact of everyday life. Their will is enacted through priests and organized religions. Divine avatars might appear in the world during extreme circumstances.
Ubiquitous: Deities live among mortals, exerting their divine will directly. Gods frequent social media sites, run streaming broadcasts to their followers, or even dominate entire solar systems as rulers.
None: Deities don't exist in this world, or if they do, they're oblivious to or completely unconcerned with mortal affairs. If they exist, they don't make their presence known, nor do they grant power to their worshippers. People might still believe in deities, and there might be powerful enough entities, or artificial intelligences, that have convinced people to worship them.
Limited: Deities exist, though they remain aloof from the mortal world and make their divine presence known only to a chosen few.
Accepted: Divine influence is an accepted fact of everyday life. Their will is enacted through priests and organized religions. Divine avatars might appear in the world during extreme circumstances.
Ubiquitous: Deities live among mortals, exerting their divine will directly. Gods frequent social media sites, run streaming broadcasts to their followers, or even dominate entire solar systems as rulers.
Magic
Source GM Core pg. 144
Does magic exist? If so, which traditions are available? What are the sources of a spellcaster's power, and how do they gain and channel that magic?
No Magic: Magic of any kind doesn't exist in this world. Spells and magic effects don't function. Consider the variants to handle the lack of magic items or convert magic items to tech items using such advanced technology as to be indistinguishable from magic.
Low Magic: Magic is mysterious and taboo. The few practitioners of the mystical arts are feared or shunned. Again, consider the variants to handle the relative scarcity of magic items.
Common: Magic is an accepted fact of everyday life, though, like computer programming, most users don't bother learning the details of how it works. Magic portals and gates can whisk travelers “in the know” halfway across the world or to the other side of the multiverse.
High Magic: Magic and magical items are commonplace in society, perhaps even more than technology. It might be as easy to learn spellcasting as it is to learn a new language. Many tech objects are replaced with magic objects that cost the same and serve the same function, like handheld magic mirrors instead of comm units. The fantastic is never more than a stone's throw away.
No Magic: Magic of any kind doesn't exist in this world. Spells and magic effects don't function. Consider the variants to handle the lack of magic items or convert magic items to tech items using such advanced technology as to be indistinguishable from magic.
Low Magic: Magic is mysterious and taboo. The few practitioners of the mystical arts are feared or shunned. Again, consider the variants to handle the relative scarcity of magic items.
Common: Magic is an accepted fact of everyday life, though, like computer programming, most users don't bother learning the details of how it works. Magic portals and gates can whisk travelers “in the know” halfway across the world or to the other side of the multiverse.
High Magic: Magic and magical items are commonplace in society, perhaps even more than technology. It might be as easy to learn spellcasting as it is to learn a new language. Many tech objects are replaced with magic objects that cost the same and serve the same function, like handheld magic mirrors instead of comm units. The fantastic is never more than a stone's throw away.
The Multiverse
Source GM Core pg. 144
In Starfinder, the physical universe of your world is one plane within a much broader multiverse. The Planes, details how planes work and the multiverse of Starfinder, but you can fit planes into your story and world, or even build a new multiverse from scratch! Perhaps there are only two planes beyond the material Universe, diametrically opposed and fighting over mortal souls, or the multiverse consists only of a series of infinite alternate realities. The options are truly endless, limited only by your imagination and the story you want to tell.
Religion
Source GM Core pg. 144
The greatest stories from myth and legend speak of immortals with incredible powers of creation and destruction. Some meddle in the affairs of mortals, shaping heroes and history at a whim, while others remain aloof or oblivious to the mortal world. Regardless of the world you're building, religion (or even the absence thereof) shapes the characters and the stories you tell.
Theology
Source GM Core pg. 144
Religious traditions are commonly categorized by their belief in one or more divine entities.
Polytheism: This belief system posits the existence of many gods. Polytheistic gods typically espouse particular areas of concern and often reflect the appearance of their worshippers. The primary religious philosophy of Starfinder is polytheistic.
Dualism: This philosophy espouses an enduring conflict between two diametrically opposed cosmic forces; most commonly good and evil or law and chaos. Acolytes of each faith almost always see themselves as righteous, and those of the contrasting belief as false. Some philosophies fuse cosmic duality into a whole. The philosophical cosmic balance of the Cycle focuses on the dual nature of creation and destruction.
Monotheism: A monotheistic doctrine recognizes the existence of only one true god, such as the Jinsul Hierocracy and their supposed devotion to Kadrical. The supreme deity might exhibit more than one aspect yet remain a single entity, like Zon-Shelyn from Starfinder.
Pantheism: Divine power arises from the universe itself or as a byproduct of the collective power of many deities sharing some common facet, either way forming a vast, allencompassing divine entity. Worshippers sometimes appeal to or devote themselves to specific fundamental concepts or aspects of the universe.
Animism: Rather than worshipping gods associated with souls and spiritual essence from beyond, animism sees the life force in each part of the world, whether it be the trees of an old-growth forest or a towering waterfall.
Singularitism: In high-tech campaign worlds, some believe that all life will merge into a vast technological collective hive mind. Believers in machine-life evolution, like the Mechanizers, might see it as an inevitable path all life will eventually pursue. Others believe that life's purpose is creating a perfect AI that will guide life toward machine perfection. While most tend to acknowledge this long-term goal as one that can't be forced, more radical believers might take an aggressive approach, forcefully converting organic life-forms into cyborg bodies.
Atheism: In some campaign worlds, the gods have all died, abandoned their worshippers, or never existed at all. Mortals of this world might still cling to belief and establish religions in the name of the divine, but there are no true deities to answer their prayers.
Polytheism: This belief system posits the existence of many gods. Polytheistic gods typically espouse particular areas of concern and often reflect the appearance of their worshippers. The primary religious philosophy of Starfinder is polytheistic.
Dualism: This philosophy espouses an enduring conflict between two diametrically opposed cosmic forces; most commonly good and evil or law and chaos. Acolytes of each faith almost always see themselves as righteous, and those of the contrasting belief as false. Some philosophies fuse cosmic duality into a whole. The philosophical cosmic balance of the Cycle focuses on the dual nature of creation and destruction.
Monotheism: A monotheistic doctrine recognizes the existence of only one true god, such as the Jinsul Hierocracy and their supposed devotion to Kadrical. The supreme deity might exhibit more than one aspect yet remain a single entity, like Zon-Shelyn from Starfinder.
Pantheism: Divine power arises from the universe itself or as a byproduct of the collective power of many deities sharing some common facet, either way forming a vast, allencompassing divine entity. Worshippers sometimes appeal to or devote themselves to specific fundamental concepts or aspects of the universe.
Animism: Rather than worshipping gods associated with souls and spiritual essence from beyond, animism sees the life force in each part of the world, whether it be the trees of an old-growth forest or a towering waterfall.
Singularitism: In high-tech campaign worlds, some believe that all life will merge into a vast technological collective hive mind. Believers in machine-life evolution, like the Mechanizers, might see it as an inevitable path all life will eventually pursue. Others believe that life's purpose is creating a perfect AI that will guide life toward machine perfection. While most tend to acknowledge this long-term goal as one that can't be forced, more radical believers might take an aggressive approach, forcefully converting organic life-forms into cyborg bodies.
Atheism: In some campaign worlds, the gods have all died, abandoned their worshippers, or never existed at all. Mortals of this world might still cling to belief and establish religions in the name of the divine, but there are no true deities to answer their prayers.
Pantheons
Source GM Core pg. 144
In polytheistic traditions, a pantheon is a divine hierarchy of multiple (or even all) deities.
Universal: All deities in the setting belong to a single pantheon. Different cultures might have their own names for the god of magic, for instance, but only a single deity answers their prayers.
Ancestral or Regional: Each ancestry or region worships its own distinct pantheon. These pantheons coexist in the same cosmology but establish control in separate divine realms. Across the cosmos, several gods from disparate pantheons might share the same area of concern, but they seldom compete for worshippers from rival pantheons. They might also share the same infosphere sites or social media platforms, combining followers by sharing broadcasts.
Competitive: The world contains smaller regional pantheons competing for mortal worship. Only one deity of a specific area of concern may ascend to greater power across all the pantheons. As such, deities typically have little loyalty to their own pantheons and might actually switch to another pantheon if it earns them additional worshippers.
None: The deities of this multiverse act as individuals with no familial ties or common agendas binding them to each other.
Universal: All deities in the setting belong to a single pantheon. Different cultures might have their own names for the god of magic, for instance, but only a single deity answers their prayers.
Ancestral or Regional: Each ancestry or region worships its own distinct pantheon. These pantheons coexist in the same cosmology but establish control in separate divine realms. Across the cosmos, several gods from disparate pantheons might share the same area of concern, but they seldom compete for worshippers from rival pantheons. They might also share the same infosphere sites or social media platforms, combining followers by sharing broadcasts.
Competitive: The world contains smaller regional pantheons competing for mortal worship. Only one deity of a specific area of concern may ascend to greater power across all the pantheons. As such, deities typically have little loyalty to their own pantheons and might actually switch to another pantheon if it earns them additional worshippers.
None: The deities of this multiverse act as individuals with no familial ties or common agendas binding them to each other.
Deities
Source GM Core pg. 145
These immortal beings command vast power and influence fueled by the faith and souls of mortal worshippers. In Starfinder, deities also dictate some of the abilities of those who channel their power. When designing deities, you'll need to include the divine statistics and devotee benefits described below.
Divine Rank
Source GM Core pg. 145
Gods are usually ranked in a divine hierarchy, from newly ascended godlings to almighty creator gods of unfathomable power. Sometimes, a deity might enter a form of torpor and their power might diminish, requiring them to gather new followers to reascend.
God: Taking a position atop the divine pyramid, gods command near unlimited power and resources. Their mortal congregations are large and (usually) well funded.
Demigod: Demigods still possess a great deal of power, though often in subservience to another god or simply inferior to the power of a full god.
Quasi Deity: The weakest rank of divinity, many quasi deities are recently ascended mortals who attained their deific powers through ritual apotheosis, or planar natives who have amassed divine power of their own.
Artificial Deity: These virtual gods are supercomputers capable of acting out seemingly implausible miracles within the limited scope of their physical network. They can often be deleted or programmed by gaining physical access to their mainframes, which consist of entire demiplanes.
God: Taking a position atop the divine pyramid, gods command near unlimited power and resources. Their mortal congregations are large and (usually) well funded.
Demigod: Demigods still possess a great deal of power, though often in subservience to another god or simply inferior to the power of a full god.
Quasi Deity: The weakest rank of divinity, many quasi deities are recently ascended mortals who attained their deific powers through ritual apotheosis, or planar natives who have amassed divine power of their own.
Artificial Deity: These virtual gods are supercomputers capable of acting out seemingly implausible miracles within the limited scope of their physical network. They can often be deleted or programmed by gaining physical access to their mainframes, which consist of entire demiplanes.
Divine Statistics
Source GM Core pg. 145
In Starfinder, deities are not only a narrative element of the world, but also a mechanical component of some characters.
Areas of Concern: Each deity has one or more areas of concern they have divine influence over. These portfolios typically embrace universal concepts, such as honor, night, or tranquility. Deities with similar areas of concern might work in common cause or against each other, depending on their goals and divine rank.
Edicts: Every deity has edicts, which are those tenets they require their faithful to promote in the world. A deity usually has one to three simple and straightforward edicts.
Anathema: The opposite of edicts, anathema are those things a deity won't abide. Divine mystics usually avoid their deity's anathema, and even lay worshippers usually feel guilty for performing such acts, as they'll be weighed against them in the afterlife. Like edicts, a deity usually has two to three simple and straightforward elements to their anathema.
Areas of Concern: Each deity has one or more areas of concern they have divine influence over. These portfolios typically embrace universal concepts, such as honor, night, or tranquility. Deities with similar areas of concern might work in common cause or against each other, depending on their goals and divine rank.
Edicts: Every deity has edicts, which are those tenets they require their faithful to promote in the world. A deity usually has one to three simple and straightforward edicts.
Anathema: The opposite of edicts, anathema are those things a deity won't abide. Divine mystics usually avoid their deity's anathema, and even lay worshippers usually feel guilty for performing such acts, as they'll be weighed against them in the afterlife. Like edicts, a deity usually has two to three simple and straightforward elements to their anathema.
Devotee Benefits
Source GM Core pg. 145
Deities grant favored status and special power to the most fervent and influential of their flock.
Cleric Spells: When preparing spells, clerics from Pathfinder can choose from specific spells granted by the deity, in addition to those available on the divine spell list. A deity always grants a 1st-rank spell and usually two others, all chosen from non-divine spell lists. The exact number of spells a deity grants can vary—a magic-focused deity might grant more—though this shouldn't exceed one spell of each rank.
Divine Font: Clerics from Pathfinder channel a deity's divine power as a font of vitality or void energy. Most deities grant either heal or harm, but a few deities offer a choice between the two. A specific deity's divine font should be based on their areas of concern.
Divine Sanctification: Some deities allow or require their greatest devotees to dedicate themselves to pursuing holy or unholy deeds. A listing of “must choose holy” or “must choose unholy” indicates the deity requires this commitment. “Can choose holy” or “can choose unholy” indicates that the deity allows it in addition to many other options.
Divine Skill: Champions and clerics from Pathfinder automatically gain the trained proficiency rank in their deity's divine skill. Assign the deity one skill that synergizes well with their areas of concern. For example, Intimidation would be appropriate for a god of tyranny, or Deception for a goddess of trickery.
Domains: Each deity grants a number of domains that reflect their divine areas of concern. Mystics can learn the domain spells from their deity's domains. Starfinder's deities each have four domains, and many have one or more alternative domains. Though this number is usually enough to convey a deity's portfolio and give players sufficient options, you can give your deities as many domains as you like.
Favored Weapon: Some characters can gain access to their deity's favored weapon as well as the trained proficiency rank with it. These weapons are considered specific to the religion's culture for purposes of feats like the shirren's Unconventional Weaponry. Every deity has a favored weapon. Because the benefits of having an advanced favored weapon are very strong, you should assign simple or martial favored weapons unless a deity is so thematically linked with an advanced weapon that you need to give them one.
Cleric Spells: When preparing spells, clerics from Pathfinder can choose from specific spells granted by the deity, in addition to those available on the divine spell list. A deity always grants a 1st-rank spell and usually two others, all chosen from non-divine spell lists. The exact number of spells a deity grants can vary—a magic-focused deity might grant more—though this shouldn't exceed one spell of each rank.
Divine Font: Clerics from Pathfinder channel a deity's divine power as a font of vitality or void energy. Most deities grant either heal or harm, but a few deities offer a choice between the two. A specific deity's divine font should be based on their areas of concern.
Divine Sanctification: Some deities allow or require their greatest devotees to dedicate themselves to pursuing holy or unholy deeds. A listing of “must choose holy” or “must choose unholy” indicates the deity requires this commitment. “Can choose holy” or “can choose unholy” indicates that the deity allows it in addition to many other options.
Divine Skill: Champions and clerics from Pathfinder automatically gain the trained proficiency rank in their deity's divine skill. Assign the deity one skill that synergizes well with their areas of concern. For example, Intimidation would be appropriate for a god of tyranny, or Deception for a goddess of trickery.
Domains: Each deity grants a number of domains that reflect their divine areas of concern. Mystics can learn the domain spells from their deity's domains. Starfinder's deities each have four domains, and many have one or more alternative domains. Though this number is usually enough to convey a deity's portfolio and give players sufficient options, you can give your deities as many domains as you like.
Favored Weapon: Some characters can gain access to their deity's favored weapon as well as the trained proficiency rank with it. These weapons are considered specific to the religion's culture for purposes of feats like the shirren's Unconventional Weaponry. Every deity has a favored weapon. Because the benefits of having an advanced favored weapon are very strong, you should assign simple or martial favored weapons unless a deity is so thematically linked with an advanced weapon that you need to give them one.