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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Hey, 1-800-DIAL-A-BARB is overworked, and those barbarians are pretty damn useful when you just gotta use more dakka.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

I didn't see anyone ask this specifically...

I was wondering if there is a chance that the Genie Binder PrC (from Legacy of Fire AP) might get PFRPG treatment in this book?

I know the genie binders aren't an organization or faction per se, but it is something I am wondering none the less.

Thanks in advance,

Dean

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The_Minstrel_Wyrm wrote:

I didn't see anyone ask this specifically...

I was wondering if there is a chance that the Genie Binder PrC (from Legacy of Fire AP) might get PFRPG treatment in this book?

I know the genie binders aren't an organization or faction per se, but it is something I am wondering none the less.

Thanks in advance,

Dean

Nope. There's no reprints in this book.


I'm really curious what the Arclord of Nex is going to look like. It may be a specialist PrC (apparently each of Nex's apprenticed specialized in one form of magic), or it could be the Pathfinder take on the archmage.

Maybe it might even be one that loses on a couple caster levels, but gains extremely useful class features to make up for it. That would be difficult to pull off, though...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Mechalibur wrote:

I'm really curious what the Arclord of Nex is going to look like. It may be a specialist PrC (apparently each of Nex's apprenticed specialized in one form of magic), or it could be the Pathfinder take on the archmage.

Maybe it might even be one that loses on a couple caster levels, but gains extremely useful class features to make up for it. That would be difficult to pull off, though...

It won't be a "Pathfinder take on the Archmage." That class isn't one we're interested in doing, and in any case, it'd count as a reprint; this book has no reprints.


Are any of the other Golarion dueling schools besides the Aldori getting a prestige class? The Rondelero Duelists in Taldor come to mind.


James Jacobs wrote:
It won't be a "Pathfinder take on the Archmage." That class isn't one we're interested in doing, and in any case, it'd count as a reprint; this book has no reprints.

I wouldn't count it as a reprint if it were like the Stalwart Defender compared to the Dwarven Defender.

Still, good to know.

Grand Lodge

Mechalibur wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
It won't be a "Pathfinder take on the Archmage." That class isn't one we're interested in doing, and in any case, it'd count as a reprint; this book has no reprints.

I wouldn't count it as a reprint if it were like the Stalwart Defender compared to the Dwarven Defender.

Still, good to know.

Absolutely looking forward to this -Aldori Swordlord!

Dark Archive

James Jacobs wrote:
That Guy With the Fox wrote:
Will there be anything extra for previous prestige classes? This seems like the third time Hellknights will be published again.
Actually... the prestige class in this book is a Hellknight signifier; we've not done that class yet. It's the spellcasting version of a Hellknight...

Finally.


Will the Winter Witch PrC have an alignment requirement for entry?


PJ wrote:
Mechalibur wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
It won't be a "Pathfinder take on the Archmage." That class isn't one we're interested in doing, and in any case, it'd count as a reprint; this book has no reprints.

I wouldn't count it as a reprint if it were like the Stalwart Defender compared to the Dwarven Defender.

Still, good to know.

Absolutely looking forward to this -Aldori Swordlord!

So am I..lets hope the entry requirements don't include 'Must have been born in Brevoy'

Sovereign Court

How will paizo make a 10 level prestige for the swirdlird when it takes 11 levels to get counterattack?!

The Exchange

James Jacobs wrote:
I can't remember off the top of my head if it's a prestige class that ONLY summoners can use, though. Summoners are, after all, the rarest class to show up in Golarion, except maybe for gunslingers.

Stumbled late into the thread and my first thought when I read this was "Has James seen any open Pathfinder Society game lately?"

I find myself torn. Because I play so much PFS, I want to play rare and individualized classes. However in that environment you usually only get the chance to show off the mechanical flavor of a prestige class. To truly show off the Prestige part of the character, it really takes a longer campaign played with most of the same people. With that in mind, I'm OK with not having short (5-level) classes.

Individualization through improved roleplaying, not improved power!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Belafon wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
I can't remember off the top of my head if it's a prestige class that ONLY summoners can use, though. Summoners are, after all, the rarest class to show up in Golarion, except maybe for gunslingers.

Stumbled late into the thread and my first thought when I read this was "Has James seen any open Pathfinder Society game lately?"

I find myself torn. Because I play so much PFS, I want to play rare and individualized classes. However in that environment you usually only get the chance to show off the mechanical flavor of a prestige class. To truly show off the Prestige part of the character, it really takes a longer campaign played with most of the same people. With that in mind, I'm OK with not having short (5-level) classes.

Individualization through improved roleplaying, not improved power!

Pathfinder Society is a specific single campaign set in Golarion. It has thousands of players, but it's still only one campaign.

The Exchange

James Jacobs wrote:
Belafon wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
I can't remember off the top of my head if it's a prestige class that ONLY summoners can use, though. Summoners are, after all, the rarest class to show up in Golarion, except maybe for gunslingers.

Stumbled late into the thread and my first thought when I read this was "Has James seen any open Pathfinder Society game lately?"

I find myself torn. Because I play so much PFS, I want to play rare and individualized classes. However in that environment you usually only get the chance to show off the mechanical flavor of a prestige class. To truly show off the Prestige part of the character, it really takes a longer campaign played with most of the same people. With that in mind, I'm OK with not having short (5-level) classes.

Individualization through improved roleplaying, not improved power!

Pathfinder Society is a specific single campaign set in Golarion. It has thousands of players, but it's still only one campaign.

Yah, my point (other than a snide comment about the profusion of Synthesists) was that I love the nature of the campaign - meeting and interacting with many unknown players for relatively brief periods of time is great fun - but it doesn't allow for extremely in-depth character development. For that reason even though I love prestige classes I don't subscribe to the notion that there "must be" prestige classes that can be "finished" in PFS. I think a more intimate and higher level campaign is more suited to a Prestige character and 10-level classes are fine by me.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

I've updated the image and description to reflect the finished product.


His mount has piercings.

That's pretty badass, if having a mammoth as a mount isn't badass enough.


Vic Wertz wrote:
I've updated the image and description to reflect the finished product.

Sweet cover,

Heck the cover alone could sell this book.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Azure_Zero wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
I've updated the image and description to reflect the finished product.

Sweet cover,

Heck the cover alone could sell this book.

That's kinda the purpose of all our covers. :-P


I hope the artist is getting a bonus.


Interesting, so now all the prestige classes will do battle right now...fight!


I love the sound of the Sleepless Detective! I have a PC in my Carrion Crown campaign who's a Gnome Bard who focuses on knowledge skills. Sounds like this PrC could be a nice fit. Can't wait to pick this up!


Mechalibur wrote:

His mount has piercings.

That's pretty badass, if having a mammoth as a mount isn't badass enough.

I look at that image and shudder. Those tusks are the mammoth's teeth, and they have a nerve running through them about as thick as your wrist (if they're anything like normal elephants). Imagine that in your tooth!

Someone should call the TSPCM&M (Taldan Society for the prevention of Cruelty to Megafauna & Monsters) on this guy.

More seriously, that is cool art, but I really do shiver when I look at that poor beast.


And just like that, the magic's gone :(


Maybe they're Tusk Piercings of Continuous Cure Light Wounds?


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Eric Hinkle wrote:
I look at that image and shudder. Those tusks are the mammoth's teeth, and they have a nerve running through them about as thick as your wrist (if they're anything like normal elephants). Imagine that in your tooth!

And you are surprised that this mammoth is sooo angry?

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Sadly, this cover art ain't got nothing on recent other Paizo covers. Oh well, you can't always win, sometimes it's Dwarves of Golarion or Angry Mamooths.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Gorbacz wrote:
Sadly, this cover art ain't got nothing on recent other Paizo covers. Oh well, you can't always win, sometimes it's Dwarves of Golarion or Angry Mamooths.

I don't know, I think the Mammoth is sort of cute. It looks more sad than angry.


I actually have a gunslinger character who is from the Mana Wastes and has the "Alkenstar Defender" trai so the addition of an Alkenstar specific gunslinger prestige might be very awesome :). While she's not currently in Alkenstar now, she still considers it her home and someday hopes to return there after her issues with her aunt are concluded. (Long story short, she's a natural werewolf but was raised in Alkenstar where with no magic she couldn't shift so she never really knew. Then her evil aunt showed up to "bring her back to the family" and so now she's kinda on the run trying to be a good werewolf while also dodging the evil werewolves trying to corrupt her heh)


agnelcow wrote:
I love the sound of the Sleepless Detective! I have a PC in my Carrion Crown campaign who's a Gnome Bard who focuses on knowledge skills. Sounds like this PrC could be a nice fit. Can't wait to pick this up!

You know a Sleepless Detective coming from a company based in Seattle is rather appropriate don't you think.


So James, is it still too early to ask for a spoiler in the form of the names of all 30 classes making appearances in this book?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
So James, is it still too early to ask for a spoiler in the form of the names of all 30 classes making appearances in this book?

Yup. The book's still 2 months or so away from release.


Man.......August is going to be an expensive month....I better start a savings jar :)

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

AbsolutGrndZer0 wrote:
I actually have a gunslinger character who is from the Mana Wastes and has the "Alkenstar Defender" trai so the addition of an Alkenstar specific gunslinger prestige might be very awesome :). While she's not currently in Alkenstar now, she still considers it her home and someday hopes to return there after her issues with her aunt are concluded. (Long story short, she's a natural werewolf but was raised in Alkenstar where with no magic she couldn't shift so she never really knew. Then her evil aunt showed up to "bring her back to the family" and so now she's kinda on the run trying to be a good werewolf while also dodging the evil werewolves trying to corrupt her heh)

If the final version is close to the turnover, you should have plenty of neat stuff to do with that PrC even if you never set foot in Alkenstar.


Would an alchemist be able to take the Sleepless Detective without it being much of a problem? My mindchemist in Carrion Crown is a polymath forensic analyst (all forensic analyst disciplines. ALL OF THEM) and it'd be nice to take a PrC that helps simulate that.


I wonder is there going to be a calistrian vengence taker type prc going to be in this book??


Hey James is it still to early to ask about the names of the 30 prcs???

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Steelfiredragon wrote:
Hey James is it still to early to ask about the names of the 30 prcs???

Yup. In fact, we almost NEVER post entire tables of contents for books before they're out—that's generally something we leave to folks to do on their own once the books release.


bummer... now I have to wait for this to show up in the store before I can make my final descision....

okay.... is it possible to tell us then what is the most letter that starts each prc's name then???

which would still tell nothing.....


Or which one your favorite is? :)


Mechalibur wrote:
Or which one your favorite is? :)

he cant tell us that either, as it would be telling whats on the table of content.

on the otherhand what he can tell us, is what page his favorite prc is on and what the paizo staff's favorite prc is on.

which is telling us nothing until its released. really its nothing but a page number.


Yay, yay, yay, yay, YAY!!!! ^_^ I am so looking forward to this book (and, like many who already posted, August in general, despite the strain it'll put on my broke college graduate wallet). One quick question, and this is just a yes/no question that doesn't require anyone to reveal any major content of this book: are there any good PrCs for illusionists? I love playing illusionist wizards, and I always get a little sad that there aren't more options available for my illusionist characters.


It might be a good idea to peruse the Faction Guide to see what type of classes are represented by an organization. These are meant to be classes that are based on factions or religions. This isn't just a grab bag of prestige classes, like 3.5 had.

Are there any illusionist factions or religions?


Eh, not that I've really seen, to be honest. Illusionists just don't really seem to get a lot of love from either Pathfinder or 3.5, at least from what I've seen. I could see some of the Varisian Wanderers or scholars from one of the arcane colleges around Golarion or from White Grotto in Absalom, but nothing aside from that. But it's all cool. I make do with what I have, and I can still pull off a very effective illusionist. ^_^ Still, it would be nice to see Paizo give the illusionist some more options. Just saying ^_-


3 people marked this as a favorite.
Lunar Mage wrote:
Yay, yay, yay, yay, YAY!!!! ^_^ I am so looking forward to this book (and, like many who already posted, August in general, despite the strain it'll put on my broke college graduate wallet). One quick question, and this is just a yes/no question that doesn't require anyone to reveal any major content of this book: are there any good PrCs for illusionists? I love playing illusionist wizards, and I always get a little sad that there aren't more options available for my illusionist characters.

Without spoiling any details, players who enjoy illusionists will no doubt find several of the prestige classes in this book to their liking.


James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
So James, is it still too early to ask for a spoiler in the form of the names of all 30 classes making appearances in this book?
Yup. The book's still 2 months or so away from release.

Other than Paladin of Irori, has there been anything mentioned by the devs not noted in the product description?

Also one prc for every class? Guess that includes Summoner. Nice, because it is easily the worst supported class for multiclassing outside of Synthesist, not even Boon Companion works because it predates Summoner (I think Boon Companion should be reprinted for both supporting Summoners and being a useful feat that deserves a less obscure book, but that is beside the point)


Due to the recent Nightglass novel, I'm guessing that the Shadowcallers will be outlined in here.


Cheapy wrote:
Due to the recent Nightglass novel, I'm guessing that the Shadowcallers will be outlined in here.

I really hope so. I haven't read the book yet but anything specific to Nidal gets my stamp of want.

However, a conjurer with the shadowcaster archetype that convinces his GM to allow him to modify his summon monster spells the same way the shadow caller (ARG p 110) can may be a good start.

Shadow Lodge

Will we see some loving for the Eagle Knights?


I for one am playing an Aldori Sworlord and a gunslinger who used to be a shieldmarshal, so this is very welcome news indeed (although I'm only lvl 2 with the Swordlord and lvl 3 with the Gunslinger).

A quick question: are there some "racial" prestige classes (like the dwarven defender or the arcane archer used to be)? I always thought that racial prestige classes added to the depth of the game and allowed for better characterization, giving some races things only they could do. After all we have racial traits and feats, I can't see why we couldn't have some prestige classes opened only to certain races, after all a cabal of dwarven secretive mage hunters wouldn't be likely to train elves in their ranks, likewise elven isolationists druids focused on reclaiming the corrupted areas of their forests wouldn't certainly be pleased with any kind of outsiders, what would be the chances for them to accept members coming from other races?
Of course these are jsut some ideas that came to mind right now, but I think my point is racial prestige classes feel right and help increasing the depth of the game lore for a better playing experience.

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