Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Pathfinder Society Field Guide (PFRPG) (based on
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MAKE HISTORY!
The Pathfinder Society is an eccentric organization of adventurers, explorers, and scholars with agents spread across Golarion and beyond. While members are expected to be fairly self-sufficient, the organization’s leadership knows that those equipped with the knowledge and gear to face the challenges of the job are most likely to survive to bring back priceless treasures and to fill the Pathfinder Chronicles with tales of their daring exploits.
The Pathfinder Society Field Guide breaks down what it means to be a Pathfinder and gives players and GMs tools to build characters and campaigns around the illustrious organization. In addition, all content within this book is 100% legal for use in the world-spanning Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign.
Within this 64-page book, Pathfinders will find:
An overview of Absalom, City at the Center of the World, where the Pathfinder Society keeps its headquarters
Details on 10 factions within the Pathfinder Society, and the benefits available to those agents loyal to each
New archetypes for Pathfinders of all three branches of the organization: the Scrolls, the Spells, and the Swords
A complete field guide covering threats to Pathfinder agents, as well as suggestions on building PCs prepared to face them
Rules for day jobs and professions, property, followers, and other ways to customize your character
A system for turning characters’ fame and prestige into valuable in-game rewards
Dozens of new spells, magic items, specialized adventuring tools, and more!
The Pathfinder Society Field Guide is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be used in any fantasy game setting.
by Erik Mona, Mark Moreland, Russ Taylor, and Larry Wilhelm
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artemis_segundo wrote:
Seekers of Secrets, Faction Guide... Why we need another manual about the Psathfinder Society?
I suspect that although this is called a Pathfinder Society book, the material will be appropriate for any game, covering secret society stuff excetera.
Also, the campaign setting is called Pathfinder...
Kuthulu - Seeker of Secrets is PFRPG - it was one of the first books after last August
Seekers of Secrets, Faction Guide... Why we need another manual about the Psathfinder Society?
The faction guide isn't about the PFS factions. Anyway, I have a feeling this is basically Seeker of Secrets updated from 3.5 to PFRPG.
Except... Seeker of Secrets is PFRPG. I'd venture it's just an expansion of the information about Pathfinder Society. I could see information for more lodges, history, etc.
While I know alot of people don't play Pathfinder Society Organized Play, there is a very large base of people that do. I bet their last book, Seeker of Secrets, did incredibly well because of PSOP.
Also to note: Faction guide is 99% not Pathfinder Society. In fact no material is even approved for the Organized Play as of today.
Also to note: Faction guide is 99% not Pathfinder Society. In fact no material is even approved for the Organized Play as of today.
As of ver. 3.0.2 of the Guide on Oct. 7th, for the Faction Guide:
Quote:
Feats: Fast Crawl; Spells: hibernate, tripvine; Traits: Beast of the Society, Berserker of the Society, Blade of the Society, Defender of the Society, Exalted of the Society, Greater Adept of the Society, Havoc of the Society, Honored Fist of the Society, Maestro of the Society, Stalwart of the Society, Tracker of the Society
We're still concepting this, but it will more than likely contain more hands-on "real time" useful information on the Pathfinder Society than Seekers, will have less general history and "GM Info" than Seekers, and will be 100% legal for players in the Pathfinder Society campaign.
Oh, and we're going to try to make it awesome for people who don't play in the campaign, either.
Will this book replace seekers of secrets as part of the core assumption or be added to core assumption along with seekers of secrets. Or is this information not coming out yet?
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Comics, Battles Case Subscriber
doctor_wu wrote:
Will this book replace seekers of secrets as part of the core assumption or be added to core assumption along with seekers of secrets. Or is this information not coming out yet?
It certainly shoudn't replace SoS, as it will cover other stuff...
As of ver. 3.0.2 of the Guide on Oct. 7th, for the Faction Guide:
Quote:
Feats: Fast Crawl; Spells: hibernate, tripvine; Traits: Beast of the Society, Berserker of the Society, Blade of the Society, Defender of the Society, Exalted of the Society, Greater Adept of the Society, Havoc of the Society, Honored Fist of the Society, Maestro of the Society, Stalwart of the Society, Tracker of the Society
Exactly. Although the Faction Guide has very little in it for the Pathfinder Society, what it does contain is generally very powerful. These are the "go to" traits for most power-gamers I know.
Is there an intent to replace the PFS Guide with this product? Or, at least, shift some of the details previously in the PFS Guide (such as day job rolls and the benefits of PA) into this guide? It seems like it to me, with the limited description above. If so, does this raise the financial bar to play PFS at all?
As of ver. 3.0.2 of the Guide on Oct. 7th, for the Faction Guide:
Quote:
Feats: Fast Crawl; Spells: hibernate, tripvine; Traits: Beast of the Society, Berserker of the Society, Blade of the Society, Defender of the Society, Exalted of the Society, Greater Adept of the Society, Havoc of the Society, Honored Fist of the Society, Maestro of the Society, Stalwart of the Society, Tracker of the Society
Exactly. Although the Faction Guide has very little in it for the Pathfinder Society, what it does contain is generally very powerful. These are the "go to" traits for most power-gamers I know.
Is there an intent to replace the PFS Guide with this product? Or, at least, shift some of the details previously in the PFS Guide (such as day job rolls and the benefits of PA) into this guide? It seems like it to me, with the limited description above. If so, does this raise the financial bar to play PFS at all?
There are currently no plans to make the Faction Guide part of the core assumption for Pathfinder Society Organized. Some elements you mention, however, will be expanded upon in the Field Guide. Since we won't be able to keep Seekers of Secrets in print forever, chances are good we'll "retire" that from the core assumption at some point. If we do, this book has a high likelihood of replacing it.
So I'd had this book pre-ordered via Amazon and I just got an email from them telling me that this books launch had been pushed back to January 2012. Anyone have any idea if this is true? Or is Amazon just being wonky?
So I'd had this book pre-ordered via Amazon and I just got an email from them telling me that this books launch had been pushed back to January 2012. Anyone have any idea if this is true? Or is Amazon just being wonky?
Just Amazon being wonky. Last I heard the books were almost at the warehouse.
So I'd had this book pre-ordered via Amazon and I just got an email from them telling me that this books launch had been pushed back to January 2012. Anyone have any idea if this is true? Or is Amazon just being wonky?
Just Amazon being wonky. Last I heard the books were almost at the warehouse.
Looks like Amazon realized their foul up as the date has been changed. It's now the end of August, which while much better than January. Still doesn't match the date given here of July. Has the official date been changed and just not been updated yet?
Looks like Amazon realized their foul up as the date has been changed. It's now the end of August, which while much better than January. Still doesn't match the date given here of July. Has the official date been changed and just not been updated yet?
Keep in mind the date shown is when Paizo ships the product. So depending on when it shipped it could take a week or two before it shows up in stores. So if say it is set to ship at the end of July so it arrives in time for Gencon for people at home(which is common for paizo to do) then amazon's date is likely only 2 weeks late which is normal.
So long as this book reaches our warehouse on schedule, it—and all of the other releases we set for "Late July"—will start to ship to subscribers in the last week of July, with a retail release date of August 4, the first day of Gen Con. (The book trade prefers Tuesday releases, though, so they will probably have an August 9 release.)
Paizo Charter Superscriber, Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber, Pathfinder Comics Deluxe Subscriber
With the new update "system for turning characters’ fame and prestige into valuable in-game rewards", how smooth will the Faction Guide be converted to it?
Since we won't be able to keep Seekers of Secrets in print forever, chances are good we'll "retire" that from the core assumption at some point. If we do, this book has a high likelihood of replacing it.
I'm a little disappointed by this. I have a character who has the Pathfinder Savant prestige class, but I don't own a copy of Seekers of Secrets (which was fine, since SoS was part of the core assumption). So will I be unable to play this character in the future, unless I buy a copy of Seekers of Secrets? Likewise, I have a character who was going to take Boon Companion. Will either of these be reprinted in the Field Guide?
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hogarth wrote:
I'm a little disappointed by this. I have a character who has the Pathfinder Savant prestige class, but I don't own a copy of Seekers of Secrets (which was fine, since SoS was part of the core assumption). So will I be unable to play this character in the future, unless I buy a copy of Seekers of Secrets? Likewise, I have a character who was going to take Boon Companion. Will either of these be reprinted in the Field Guide?
There are no Prestige classes or Feats in the Field Guide, though there are Archetypes.
Technically by the rule in the future you will not be able to play the character unless the GM has access to the book, in other words someone at the table needs to have it. Better to be you then to hope someone else has it.
Since we won't be able to keep Seekers of Secrets in print forever, chances are good we'll "retire" that from the core assumption at some point. If we do, this book has a high likelihood of replacing it.
I'm a little disappointed by this. I have a character who has the Pathfinder Savant prestige class, but I don't own a copy of Seekers of Secrets (which was fine, since SoS was part of the core assumption). So will I be unable to play this character in the future, unless I buy a copy of Seekers of Secrets? Likewise, I have a character who was going to take Boon Companion. Will either of these be reprinted in the Field Guide?
Neither of those rules elements are reprinted in this book, and you will need to provide a copy of Seekers of Secrets to play with those elements as with any other Additional Resource material. When it was included in the Core Assumption, the assumption was that you already had a copy of it, as did everyone else involved in the campaign. Now you'll actually need to make good on that assumption in order to use the material contained within the book.
Neither of those rules elements are reprinted in this book, and you will need to provide a copy of Seekers of Secrets to play with those elements as with any other Additional Resource material. When it was included in the Core Assumption, the assumption was that you already had a copy of it, as did everyone else involved in the campaign. Now you'll actually need to make good on that assumption in order to use the material contained within the book.
Let me back up a step then -- if you're supposed to bring a copy of any "core assumption" books that you use to a game, then how is that different from non-"core assumption" books? Why have a "core assumption" at all? Especially if books can go on or off the "core assumption" list at any time?
Neither of those rules elements are reprinted in this book, and you will need to provide a copy of Seekers of Secrets to play with those elements as with any other Additional Resource material. When it was included in the Core Assumption, the assumption was that you already had a copy of it, as did everyone else involved in the campaign. Now you'll actually need to make good on that assumption in order to use the material contained within the book.
Let me back up a step then -- if you're supposed to bring a copy of any "core assumption" books that you use to a game, then how is that different from non-"core assumption" books? Why have a "core assumption" at all? Especially if books can go on or off the "core assumption" list at any time?
So we have a clearly defined line of what will and won't be reprinted in scenarios if they appear in the adventure. When we include APG content that is vital to the adventure, like BBEG class abilities or spells that play a prominent role in a villain's tactics, those will be reprinted or explained so a GM (who isn't assumed to have that book) can run the adventure. If we ever referenced or used mechanics or flavor from Seekers of Secrets, those wouldn't be reprinted, because every GM and player is assumed to have access to that book.
So we have a clearly defined line of what will and won't be reprinted in scenarios if they appear in the adventure. When we include APG content that is vital to the adventure, like BBEG class abilities or spells that play a prominent role in a villain's tactics, those will be reprinted or explained so a GM (who isn't assumed to have that book) can run the adventure. If we ever referenced or used mechanics or flavor from Seekers of Secrets, those wouldn't be reprinted, because every GM and player is assumed to have access to that book.
Ah, that makes sense. Do you plan to go back through the Season 1 & 2 scenarios and insert the non-reprinted material from Seekers of Secrets now that it's not going to be "core"?
Ah, that makes sense. Do you plan to go back through the Season 1 & 2 scenarios and insert the non-reprinted material from Seekers of Secrets now that it's not going to be "core"?
I honestly can't think of any instances when mechanics from Seekers of Secrets were ever used in a scenario during the entire time it was part of the Core Assumption, so I don't think that would be necessary. But if something was used, I'd certainly take a look and see if it was a lynchpin in running the scenario smoothly, and if it was, would consider revising the pdf to make it a viable adventure, when time allowed.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, Comics, Pawns, Battles Case Subscriber
Fumihasa wrote:
So why is the UC pdf 9.99 and this much smaller pdf 13.99?
Paizo's normal PDF pricing policy has been to set the PDF at 70% of the print price.
However, for the core rules line, they have discounted the PDF's to $9.99 to get the game out there by lowering the cost. If more people have the base rules, then they will probably have a wider audience for the rest of their material.
At any rate, what Sniggevert said is correct. I'd also note that not only can you get the (non-Golarion) rulebook PDFs at a discounted price, but you can access that material in the PRD for free.
While I haven't managed to read each & every word in the Field Guide yet, my initial skim of it makes me happy to have purchased it.
One question (well, so far).
I see a couple new alchemical items - Air Crystals & Weapon Blanch (Ghost Salt). Any clue what their Crafting DCs are supposed to be? I'm sure my alchemist would be interested in making some (almost) pop-rocks.
If I am reading the Introduction correctly, the Pathfinder Society Field Guide is aimed squarely at PFS players. I don't play PFS, have no interest in PFS, and did not subscribe to the Campaign Setting line for a PFS guidebook. I understand that I can mine tha book for content to use in my home game, as suggested at the end of the Introduction, and I will do so.
Nonetheless, a book for PFS that takes the attitude "and you home players can use it, too!" is not what I subscribe to. Would it have killed the product to make it more usable outsire PFS? Perhaps some suggestions on using the PFS factions with the Faction Guide? Or on mixing "memberships" with actual memberships in other Factions, for the home campaigns?
I am sure the PFS players are happy to see it, and I hope they get a lot of use from it. I just don't feel like it belongs in the general category. It feels like it should have been a separate offering outside the subscriptions.
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