Introduction

In Starfinder, the Game Master (often abbreviated as GM) is the player who narrates the story and describes the galaxy the other players are exploring. When you're the GM, you take on the rewarding role of crafting fun experiences for a group of your friends. Your responsibilities include...

• Telling the story of the group's adventures in a compelling and consistent way.
• Fleshing out the galaxy in which the game takes place, emphasizing the fantastical and futuristic while grounding it enough in the real world to feel believable.
• Entertaining the players and yourself with novel concepts and rewarding creative ideas with interesting outcomes.
• Preparing for game sessions by building or studying adventures and creating characters and plots.
• Improvising the reactions of nonplayer characters (NPCs) and other forces in the galaxy as the players do unexpected things.
• Making rules decisions to ensure fairness and keep the game moving forward.

Though the word “master” is in the GM's title, Starfinder is a collaborative experience. Your role as Game Master is one of adjudicator or moderator, but it doesn't mean you control everything at the table, especially not the players and their characters. Nor does the role require mastery, either of the rules or the setting. You'll need to understand the game, but you don't need to have every rule memorized. When everyone shares the goal of having fun and telling a story together, the details will fall into place.

Starfinder GM Core is one of the central rule books for Starfinder, and it provides guidance on building and running whatever fantastic and futuristic stories you wish to tell. The book also gives information on the Starfinder setting. Rules variants and tools allow you to customize the game, from chases and hacking to vehicles and cinematic starship combat. Lastly, the book provides tips for running a smooth game of Starfinder! Starfinder as a game is all about customization, and this book provides you as the Game Master ways to customize your game just as a player customizes their character. The toolbox nature of GM Core makes it easy to select whatever parts you need for the game you're running at any time, especially in the Building Games and Subsystems chapters. As with any toolbox, you won't need to use everything at once!

Perhaps you're a veteran GM who's looking for new ways to tailor your game to suit your interests and those of your players. Or perhaps you're a brand-new GM looking for guidance to feel comfortable leading a game of your own. Maybe you've been a GM for years, but this is your first time running a Starfinder game. No matter where you are as a Game Master, this book is a valuable tool that can help you tell the stories you want to tell with your players.