Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige

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Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige
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While many legendary heroes of Golarion fit easily into the core classes of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game—the sword-swinging fighters, fireball-flinging wizards, backstabbing rogues, and others—there are some who specialize in unique styles and techniques, perfectly customizing themselves for their roles. For these characters, there are prestige classes. From the undead-hunting Knights of Ozem to the revolutionary Gray Gardeners of Galt, this book collects 30 of the most prominent faiths and factions from around the Inner Sea and transforms them into prestige classes designed to help you take advantage of the tricks and tactics of some of Golarion’s most famous (and infamous) groups, all while rooting your character firmly in the lore and societies of the Pathfinder campaign setting.

    Within this 64-page book, you’ll find new prestige class options for every character class in the Pathfinder RPG, including:
  • The Aldori swordlord, world-renowned dueling master of the turbulent north.
  • The Hellknight signifer, an armored spellcaster who uses magic to pursue the perfect, iron-fisted law of Hell.
  • The gun-toting shieldmarshal, whose bright badge brings order to the chaos of the Mana Wastes.
  • The mammoth rider, savage megafauna cavalry expert.
  • The Sleepless detective, uniquely suited to solving mysteries both magical and mundane in haunted Ustalav.
  • The winter witch, whose ice magic keeps a whole nation in thrall.
  • ...and 24 more!

Paths of Prestige 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 Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Matt Goodall, and Jason Nelson

September 13, 2012 The Winter Witch prestige class has been updated and is available for download. (1.2MB zip/PDF)

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-451-1

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Everyman Product Reviews: Paths of Prestige

4/5

Final Score & Thoughts:
Crunch: 4/5 Stars
Flavor: 5/5 Stars
Texture: 4/5 Stars
Final Score: 13/15 Stars, or 4/5 Stars

Paths of Prestige is an awesome Paizo Product; it’s one of the very best by a long shot. That said, it isn’t without it’s flaws. Paizo hadn’t perfected the spellcaster prestige class by this point and honestly, maybe they never will; almost all spellcasting classes are dreadfully ill-designed for multiclassing because of the lack of a character-wide statistic like base attack bonus. Prestige Class flavor is awesome in this book, but don’t expect to be learning anything new about the organizations that they represent. That’s one of the curious things about these classes, as a matter of fact. The prestige classes that tend to be the most mechanically powerful are the ones that have campaign-neutral themes that are attached to specific organizations: for example, Bellflower Tiller is essentially “Harriet Tubman the Prestige Class,” Knight of Ozen is essentially “Undead-Slaying Knight,” and “Mammoth Rider” is less of an organization and more of a hobby-turned prestige class. This is coming from someone who is obviously biased on the topic, but I think Paths of Prestige proves that while prestige classes might be conceptually easier to design if they’re assigned to an organization, mechanically they’re more interesting and viable options if their themes are extend beyond that specific organization.

Read the full review at the Everyman Gaming blog.


5/5

I've reviewed this book over on RPGGeek.com.


Solid guidebook

4/5

Pathfinder is better known for it’s complete and ‘go for 20 level’ base classes than it’s Prestige Classes. After all, the Archetypes make many PrC’s obsolete.

But here we have another thirty prestige classes for your use and reading pleasure. One I thought was great but might be a better base class is Noble Scion, which is Aristocrat done at a playable (but not power gamed) level.

Fun classes include the Mammoth Rider!

I have two quibbles- at least three of the PrC’s depend upon non-Core material, such as a feat found only in a sourcebook. The writers should have repeated the feat here. True, Core rulebook stuff doesn’t need to be, but this does. A more minor quibble is that some of these classes here are very region dependant.

A extra bonus is the table of where to find another three dozen Prestige classes, including some very basic info on each. Nice!


Many paths to choose from...

5/5

This slim 64 page addition for the Pathfinder Campaign Setting adds 30 new prestige classes to your favorite Fantasy role-playing game.

Section One, "Arcana", has 8 new mage prestige classes, including the Arclord of Nex, the Blackfire Adept, the Magaambyan Arcanist, the Razmiran Priest, the Riftwarden, the Tattooed Mystic, the Veiled Illusionist, and the Winter Witch.

Section Two, "Brawn", has 9 new fighter prestige classes, including the Aldori Swordlord, the Brother of the Seal, the Golden Legionnaire, the Knight of Ozem, the Lantern Bearer, the Mammoth Rider, the Pit Fighter, the Shieldmarshal, and the Skyseeker.

Section Three, "Guile", has 6 new rogue prestige classes, including the Aspis Agent, the Bellflower Tiller, the Daggermark Poisoner, the Gray Gardener, the Noble Scion, and the Sleepless Detective.

Section Four, "Piety", has 7 new clerical prestige classes, including the Champion of Irori, the Dawnflower Dissident, the Green Faith Acolyte, the Hellknight Signifier, the Prophet of Kalistrade, the Storm Kindler, and the Umbral Court Agent.

There's also a chart showing where to find 36 other prestige classes. The classes in the book are presented in alphabetical order. A canny GM would look to see if any of these classes would be more appropriate for NPC's. There are two pages for each class, and the necessary chart, as well as a sample picture of what a generic member of that class would look like. All new prestige classes in this volume, and references to the prestige classes in other Pathfinder products, make this just about a must-have for GM's. Highly recommended.


Good and useful book

4/5

Read my full review on my blog.

If this book had come out during the time of 3.5, I probably would have groaned and ignored it. Over the years, I have had very few players ever take a prestige class (I’m pretty sure I could count the total number on one hand), and so this just would have been more bloat that would probably never get used. However, with recent emphasis being away from prestige classes, my reaction to this was one of interest. The scattered prestige classes that have appeared in other Golarion sources have all been very flavourful, so there was every reason to believe Paizo could keep it up with a book full of them. To be honest, most of the classes in this book will still likely never see use in any of my games; however, I would consider it very likely that some will get used, if only for NPCs. With only a couple of exceptions (that seem strangely generic), all the classes are extremely flavourful and help to add more options and life to the world of Golarion.


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"The class levels of a champion of irori stack with monk levels to ..."


David knott 242 wrote:
prototype00 wrote:

Hmm, with monastic legacy, a champion of Irori could be the key to very early high level unarmed damage. By the wording of monastic legacy:

Quote:
Add half the levels you have in classes other than monk to your monk level to determine your effective monk level for your base unarmed strike damage.

So since champion of Irori raises it by itself already (and is presumably a 10 level PrC), thats two levels of paladin (for divine grace) and 10 levels of Champion of Irori, so 6 from monastic legacy, 3 from monk, 10 from champion of Irori and 5 from a monk's belt so 24 effective monk levels altogether by level 15, which probably mean max damage at level 10ish or so.

prototype00

That looks a bit fishy to me. Are you sure that the prestige class does not have wording saying that you simply count the prestige class levels as though they were monk levels? In that case, your paladin 2/monk 3/champion of Irori 10 would have 14 effective monk levels at level 15, or 19 after you throw in the monk's robe.

So in quasi-rebuttal:

1.) I dunno? I don't have the book, so I'm waiting till Thursday to buy the pdf.

2.) It doesn't read like it works like that (monk levels = monk?) After all the ninja can deal unarmed damage as a monk of its level -4 with the Unarmed combat mastery trick, and it still can take monastic legacy to boost it even further, can't it? Just by the way the feat is worded, as long as you're in a class other than Monk, it works.

prototype00

Shadow Lodge

I dont have the book yet but to me it sounds like hoe spellcasting PCs advance spellcadting and also give +1 Casting at certain levels. Not a double dip.


Follow up query, how does the touch attack unarmed strike of the Champion of Irori combine with the vital strike line of feats? Is it a standard action attack? With full Bab for the CoI, its a good chance that Greater Vital strike is in the cards, and 8d10 damage is nothing to be sniffed at.

(Hmm, with judicious application of size shennanigans (say 5 levels of druid), it could be a good 48d8 as a touch attack. Nice.)

prototype00

Liberty's Edge

It's its own distinct standard action.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

No, it does not work with Vital Strike.


Aww. :(

prototype00


Beckett wrote:
sounds like hoe spellcasting PCs

?!?!?!?!


Hey!!! WTH!!! Why did the PDF release date drop back a week?


I am truly sad, one more week to wait, I was so excited for the 16th :(

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Vic posted this in another thread.

Vic wrote:
Due to shipping delays, the retail release date for all of our August products is now August 23; the PDF onsale date is the same.


Not mad as to the why, companies delay stuff all the time. Just a tad sad I have to wait 1 more week when I anticipated the 16th.


Noooooooooooooo!


I'm way too tired to go through the whole thread, but is there any sort of Mendev Crusader type PrC?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Monkeygod wrote:
I'm way too tired to go through the whole thread, but is there any sort of Mendev Crusader type PrC?

That one's actually in the Inner Sea World Guide. It's the Low Templar.

Silver Crusade

With the retail delay, will all the releases make their Gencon dates?

I'm bringing a pile 'o cash.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Winter_Born wrote:

With the retail delay, will all the releases make their Gencon dates?

I'm bringing a pile 'o cash.

i'm pretty sure that the crate to GenCon will have been the first thing they sent out.

Dark Archive Vendor - Fantasiapelit Tampere

This sums up my initial feelings.

Oh noes. I was so waiting August 16; it was supposed to be the promised day! Oh well, these things happen.

(Now I regret doodling my calenders August 16 with epic drawings and with counter. Sigh. It looked pretty cool.)


is there a list of the prestige classes?

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Numerian wrote:
is there a list of the prestige classes?

Spoiler:

Arcane
Arclord of Nex
Blackfire Adept
Magaambyan Arcanist
Razmiran Priest
Riftwarden
Tattooed Mystic
Veiled Illusionist
Winter Witch

Divine
Champion of Irori
Dawnflower Dissident
Green Faith Acolyte
Hellknight Signifer
Prophet of Kalistrade
Storm Kindler
Umbral Court Agent

Brawn
Aldori Swordlord
Brother of the Seal
Golden Legionnaire
Knight of Ozem
Lantern Bearer
Mammoth Rider
Pit Fighter
Shieldmarshal
Skyseeker

Guile
Aspis Agent
Bellflower Tiller
Daggermark Poisoner
Gray Gardener
Noble Scion
Sleepless Detective


Hmmm having seen the list it doesn't seem that there's any shape-shifting classes in the style of a 3.0 shifter, can anyone who has a physical copy confirm/deny this? I'll definitely be getting the pdf regardless but I really miss having a PrC that can change into anything :/

Also does the Blackfire Adept bear any relation to the Black Flame Zealot from Complete Divine (3.5)? Cos we need more love for kukri wielders ;)

Thanks in advance


LearnTheRules wrote:

Hmmm having seen the list it doesn't seem that there's any shape-shifting classes in the style of a 3.0 shifter, can anyone who has a physical copy confirm/deny this? I'll definitely be getting the pdf regardless but I really miss having a PrC that can change into anything :/

Also does the Blackfire Adept bear any relation to the Black Flame Zealot from Complete Divine (3.5)? Cos we need more love for kukri wielders ;)

Thanks in advance

Nope and nope. This isn't meant to be like the PrCs found in Complete Divine, etc. These are all tied to specific organizations of Golarion. The blackfire adept is .... well they're really cool, for one. They focus on summoning / calling evil outsiders, causing blackfire eruptions, and they get something similar to a hex.


Thanks Cheapy, Blackfire Adept sounds pretty cool, still kinda annoyed over the lack of a shifter class :(


One of the PrCs gets increased level w.r.t. Wild Shape, but I think that's about it...


Yeah I was looking for something able to use all the polymorph spells as class features (SLAs or SUs) and possibly getting minor benefits in their humanoid form (like aspect of the beast). Hopefully we'll get one eventually, wizards, sorcerors and magi don't get full bab and are a bit MAD if you want to turn them into shape-shifting fighters.


I really am delighted to see PrCs for the Blackfire Adept and the Riftwarden; ever since I first read about them, I wanted to see more on these groups (and so many others!) and now here we have them! Thank you, Paizo!


Winter_Born wrote:
Numerian wrote:
is there a list of the prestige classes?
** spoiler omitted **

thanks, the arcane part seems great, tough no Technic League


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

There are some nice spoilers for Paths of Prestige here.

Liberty's Edge

Mammoth Riders? Sounds interesting..


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dark_Mistress wrote:

Vic posted this in another thread.

Vic wrote:
Due to shipping delays, the retail release date for all of our August products is now August 23; the PDF onsale date is the same.

NOOOOoooooooooo....I have been excited all week for Thursday to get here.

I want to cry.

Why can't they just release the PDF....it's not like they have to ship it ?


nighttree wrote:

NOOOOoooooooooo....I have been excited all week for Thursday to get here.

I want to cry.

Why can't they just release the PDF....it's not like they have to ship it ?

Because Paizo (rightfully) likes to stay on the good side of the brick & mortars by not releasing access to their books before consumers have the option of purchasing them from their FLGS.

Liberty's Edge

I know how you feel nighttree. I have players looking forward to this release. So was I for the rare game I play in instead.

Its the way it works sometimes. On the plus side it will give me a chance to order from the game store and allow my players to look at a physical copy instead of a pdf.


First, let me say I'm counting the days till I get my copy. Very excited.

Second, I'm currently GMing a game that has an Urban Ranger in it. I'm curious to know if the Sleepless Detective is a good fit for this particular Ranger Archetype? I'm hoping it is since the player in question is a big fan of these kinds of characters.

Thanks,
Tony


Block: Yea, they can easily get the prereqs. It's a 3/4ths BAB class, obviously. The only oddities about the prereqs are craft(alchemy), but I have a feeling that's so they can brew coffee to stay awake? :)

They also need Alertness.

RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

Cory Stafford 29 wrote:
Winter witch sounds like something from Unapproachable East.

Seems more like the Silver Marches to me (though your point's the same, obviously).

James Jacobs wrote:
Monkeygod wrote:
I'm way too tired to go through the whole thread, but is there any sort of Mendev Crusader type PrC?
That one's actually in the Inner Sea World Guide. It's the Low Templar.

I don't know if this is what Monkeygod means, but I wouldn't mind (for the next book if there is one) something that's a little more of a successful crusader, someone living up to the ideals, instead of merely serving the letter of the law.

Shadow Lodge

Glutton wrote:
Beckett wrote:
sounds like hoe spellcasting PCs
?!?!?!?!

Sorry, I've been away a little. Should have been "sounds like how spellcasting prestige classes", in reference to the Monk/Irori Champion thingy stack unarmed strike. Such prestige classes have +1 spellcaster level, and also say that they increase spellcasting in an existing class (but not any other class feature like Domain abiliies or extra spells known), which doesn't stack with itself. I would imagine the Monk unarmed strike would be the same.

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
Monkeygod wrote:
I'm way too tired to go through the whole thread, but is there any sort of Mendev Crusader type PrC?
That one's actually in the Inner Sea World Guide. It's the Low Templar.

This is very much the anti-Mendev Crusader, in practcally all ways.

However, in Inner Sea Magic, (I believe, might be Ult Monk 2, I mean Combat) there is the Crusader Cleric Archtype.


Cheapy wrote:

Block: Yea, they can easily get the prereqs. It's a 3/4ths BAB class, obviously. The only oddities about the prereqs are craft(alchemy), but I have a feeling that's so they can brew coffee to stay awake? :)

They also need Alertness.

Thanks Cheapy. I figured I'd get a quick response. I Appreciate it.


I myself am super excited for the Razmiran Priest. I don't know how well they stack up in combat or effectiveness but the concept is dripping with flavor!

Dark Archive

Beckett wrote:

This is very much the anti-Mendev Crusader, in practcally all ways.

However, in Inner Sea Magic, (I believe, might be Ult Monk 2, I mean Combat) there is the Crusader Cleric Archtype.

If I'm to venture a guess, I think what Mr Jacobs means is that that's the prestige class we get for that region/conflict. It may not be the righteous holy crusader type game mechanic but remember that, in the crusade's current state where the crusade's leaders are desperate to get enough fighting men to the crusades, the low templar might well be more representative of the kind of people who fight in the crusades than the righteous holy crusader type. Soldiers of fortune, mercenary companies, unscrupulous profiteers, etc.


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
LearnTheRules wrote:
Yeah I was looking for something able to use all the polymorph spells as class features (SLAs or SUs) and possibly getting minor benefits in their humanoid form (like aspect of the beast). Hopefully we'll get one eventually, wizards, sorcerors and magi don't get full bab and are a bit MAD if you want to turn them into shape-shifting fighters.

The only PRC that approaches the theme of the shifter is the Veiled Illusionist, who does not use polymorph and the like but illusions to change into other (mostly humanoid) forms.

Shadow Lodge

Ravenmantle wrote:
Beckett wrote:

This is very much the anti-Mendev Crusader, in practcally all ways.

However, in Inner Sea Magic, (I believe, might be Ult Monk 2, I mean Combat) there is the Crusader Cleric Archtype.

If I'm to venture a guess, I think what Mr Jacobs means is that that's the prestige class we get for that region/conflict. It may not be the righteous holy crusader type game mechanic but remember that, in the crusade's current state where the crusade's leaders are desperate to get enough fighting men to the crusades, the low templar might well be more representative of the kind of people who fight in the crusades than the righteous holy crusader type. Soldiers of fortune, mercenary companies, unscrupulous profiteers, etc.

I know, but more likely than not its the former that the other poster was asking about, and the flavor of the Low Templar isnt that tied to Mendev in my opinion.

:)

Dark Archive

Beckett wrote:
...and the flavor of the Low Templar isnt that tied to Mendev in my opinion.

Fair enough. For me it fits perfectly. That comes down to one's perception of the themes and feels of the setting, I suppose. :)

Shadow Lodge

I just mean in the sense that one could drop all reference to Mendev or The Crusade, and use this PC for basically any sort of prolongued war area, so Mendev really isn't that big a deal with the class itself, and in the sense that Paizo wants all their PC to focus and be tied to an in world group heavily, this one really doesn't. I'm not saying it's a bad class.

Also, when people say they want something to do with Mendev, (opinion), they tend to want have material for the holy crusader/priest/demon hunter part of Mendev, not the typical that could be from anywhere concept that the Low Templar kind of represents. I could be wrong, though. :)


When I say I want a PrC about Mendev, I wanna play the demon!

Dark Archive

Beckett wrote:
Also, when people say they want something to do with Mendev, (opinion), they tend to want have material for the holy crusader/priest/demon hunter part of Mendev, not the typical that could be from anywhere concept that the Low Templar kind of represents. I could be wrong, though. :)

Oh I'm fairly sure you're correct in that regard.

For me, part of the appeal of the Mendevian Crusades is very much the contrasts between the purpose of the crusades as a holy war against the demonic hordes of the Abyss and the harsh realities of thousands of mercenaries and profiteers fighting for personal glory and enrichment, not caring one bit about the oppressed locals or who they have to kill, main, or cheat in order for them to achieve personal glory and wealth. So I'm happy that one of the bigger game mechanics to represent the Mendevian Crusades focuses on those soldiers of fortune.

I do get the impression, though, that a lot of people would like to see a prestige class for the zealous crusaders that are still well represented in Mendev, as you said, and I wouldn't mind that myself.


After looking in this book, you could tweak the Knight of Ozem prestige class to be focused against demons instead of undead. Most of the abilities should transfer pretty cleanly.

Shadow Lodge

In I want to say the Crimson Thron AP they have a Cleric/Paladin PC of Iomedae that does this too but a little outdated.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Veiled Nail wrote:
After looking in this book, you could tweak the Knight of Ozem prestige class to be focused against demons instead of undead. Most of the abilities should transfer pretty cleanly.

And along that line, there's a Knights of the Inner Sea volume coming that might provide an order or two for the more sincere crusaders. I don't think they've said much about what is in that book yet, but I'd expect there's room for an archetype or cavalier order that might do the job.

Point: Just because it wasn't in this book doesn't mean there won't be something like that in another.


I am not sure if this has been asked already, but could perhaps someone shed some light into what the Aldori Swordlord PrC grants as far as skills and class features are concerned?

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