Starfinder is a Sci-Fi Role Playing game. It is a d20 System where the player rolls a d20 and uses that number and a modifier to determine how well a player’s character does something. The rules have been adjusted from Paizo’s other popular game Pathfinder to accommodate significant differences due to settings. Finding games to play in this rich setting with Paizo’s rules may be a challenge. Here are 5 places to find a group to start playing Starfinder.
StartPlaying Games
StartPlaying Games is a matchmaking tool for players to get connected to GM’s offering games of all types. Robust customer service and matchmaking tools get you the games you want when you want, which is their goal. The site features free and paid games. GM’s on StartPlaying Games offer games for all skill levels. If you are looking to dip your toe in and try Starfinder? Start Playing has Learn to Play GM’s. Want something more robust and challenging? You’ll likely find that too. Looking for a specific time to play? You may find something at the times you can play as well. The GM's come from across the time zones so there are games at StartPlaying at most hours.
Your VTT of Choice
Virtual Tabletops (VTT) are often good sources for finding games for that specific platform. A VTT allows maps and tokens to be used to help support engagement and tactics. Paizo’s Starfinder and Pathfinder are well supported on the largest platforms. The Forge Forums (one of the largest Foundry hosting sites), Fantasy Grounds Forums, and Roll20 Forums all have listings for Starfinder. It is likely that many of the StartPlaying Games GM’s hosting games will use one of these three VTT’s as well. Forums can be hard to navigate and search functions often require a site sign up, but this remains a decent source for games.
RPG Match
RPG Match is a matching tool for GMs and Games. Many of the StartPlaying Games GM’s have listings there as well. RPG Match attempts to find players GM’s who offer games by times and by game system. Starfinder is a rather popular game for many GM’s there. The site started doing gamelisting matching in 2024, but the new feature is not used as often as the general matching is. RPG Match requires a little bit of leg work if a specific game is not listed by a GM there. A player has to search for GM by game system, and then ask if the GM would run that game. Still, it’s a solid choice if the options above do not get you that starfinder game.
Starfinder Society
Paizo is a leading company in the TTRPG Space. They have their societies for both Starfinder and Pathfinder. Largely for convention play and store play, Society Play details a number of specific rules and adventures giving people the opportunity to play consistently. It offers tools needed to play and is a solid in person option. Search is robust, but games are location based. There are games in big cities in most states. PaizoCon Online features an excellent introduction into its games. Online games outside of that are hit or miss with Society games.
Reddit: r/starfinder_rpg
Reddit is well known to be all over the place in what it offers. But seeing a lot of lists in the TTRPG space using Reddit as a go to destination gives one hope. The subreddit for Starfinder r/starfinder_rpg is robust. They currently allow Looking For Group (LFG) posts, but share concerns in their rules due to LFG posts becoming too rampant. (A great case for matching and marketplace systems). In addition this subreddit shares a lot about the above mentioned Society play. Rules questions and character builds are also topics of great discussion.
Honorable Mention
There is always help available to get into these games through official discords. The subreddit specifically states it’s easier to use to find groups. And it is always good to have a go to outside of the norm. RPG.net and EN World are great online forums for games all TTRPG’s. These forums have a lot of users with varied interests and opinions, offering a wide berth of knowledge. These forums are always a good place to find information on any number of TTRPG’s including the space epic Starfinder.
Finally, getting into a TTRPG, whether it’s a large company like Wizards of the Coast or Paizo or a smaller game like Honey Heist is more work than it should be. Cutting out the hard work of finding and chatting and looking is a super skill of StartPlaying Games but there are other options as well. Good Luck and Happy Gaming.
Adam McDivitt is a father of 3 boys, professional GM, and a full time therapist. His love of D&D was reignited when his son asked him to help with a game 4 years ago. Since then he has learned a number of new systems and fell in love with TTRPG systems outside of 5e. Follow him on bluesky gmadam.bsky.social he posts there sometimes.
