Having faith doesn't always mean worshiping a deity. From the far-flung corners of Golarion to the center of its major cities, many adherents find faith in small congregations dedicated to obscure beliefs and complex philosophies. Pathfinder Player Companion: Disciple's Doctrine explores a dozen of these cults and traditions, including such groups as the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, Magnimar's mystery cults, the Oracular Council of Po Li in Tian Xia, the Prophets of Kalistrade, and many more. Learn more about these lesser-known groups, and discover the class and character options that true faith and deep traditions can unlock.
Inside this book you'll find:
A host of character traits for those with a background in devotion or dogma, including the natural ritualist faith trait for those who venerate the outdoors and the ecumenical social trait for those who grew up learning about many deities.
Archetypes for adherents of these doctrines, from the fist of the Godclaw warpriest for members of that Hellknight order to the seeker of enlightenment spiritualist dedicated to learning about Sangpotshi, the River of Life.
A wide array of spells for the faithful and those who have learned from them, including protective spells tied to the Kalistocrats of Druma and prophetic spells connected to the Harbingers of Fate.
This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but it can be easily incorporated into any fantasy world.
ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-011-8
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Disciple's Doctrine is an interesting idea for a Player Companion. The major faiths in the setting have received tons of attention through hardcovers like Inner Sea Gods, campaign setting books like Inner Sea Temples, and lots of Player Companions like the "Faiths of . . ." series. But Golarion also has a lot of smaller, unorthodox quasi-religious organisations that are fascinating to read about. The inside front cover contains a one-paragraph summary of the groups covered, along with an iconographic symbol for each (some of which are seen for the first time here). The inside back cover reproduces the cover art (sans logos), and it's a pretty cool scene.
The first few pages of the book consist of a table of contents, rules index, introduction, and a section containing six new traits that could be taken by adherents of any of the doctrines in the book. They're all on the weak side, with one ("Dogged") being particularly ridiculous (once a day when you roll a natural 1, you get a +1 bonus on one roll in the next round!).
The main purpose of this 32-page softcover is to cover twelve of these groups. Each group receives two-pages of dedicated material that summarises the group and its members' activities. Each section then introduces one or more new class options, such as an archetype, spell, investigator talent, etc. I'll go through the groups relatively quickly:
* Concordance of Elements: A major extraplanar organisation dedicated to maintaining balance between elemental forces. This featured heavily in one season of Pathfinder Society, and the entry here incorporates that storyline well. The section contains a new monk archetype (the "elemental monk", which looks good--especially plane-shifting!), a new ranger archetype (the "elemental envoy" which looks fairly minor in effect), and a new ranger fighting style ("elemental" style, which adds a few new feat options).
* Cults of the Failed: I really like the idea of this one for some reason. The Cults of the Failed honor and remember (but don't worship) those mortals who attempted the Test of the Starstone to become divine but failed. History celebrates winners, but it's kinda fun to read about losers too. The section contains a lengthy new Medium archetype ("Vessel of the Failed"--I like the concept though I don't know enough about Mediums to understand the game effects).
* Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye: This group rose to some prominence in the Doomsday Dawn adventure for the PF2 Playtest. Ostensibly dedicated to enlightenment and knowledge of the occult, the summary here is done well as I can't tell how legitimate it is--it looks like a cross between a learned society of academics and a ritual-heavy secret society like Freemasonry. The section contains a new Occultist archetype ("Esoteric Initiative") and some new Magus Arcanas ("Book-Bound", "Circle of Order", and "Tabris's Step")--they look okay, but not great.
* Harbingers of Fate: This interesting group has the idea that if some ancient prophecies were forced into occurring, then the famous "Age of Lost Omens" wouldn't have occurred and Aroden wouldn't have died; "history" would be set on the correct course, and the "Age of Glory" would instead manifest. The section contains a new focused arcane school ("Prophecy") and three new prophecy-related spells. These tend to involve a lot of GM discretion, but could be fun in the right hands.
* Hellknights of the Godclaw: From a sociology of religion perspective, Golarion is noteworthy for surprisingly little polytheism or syncretism. One exception is the Hellknights of the Godclaw, an order that worships a pantheon of five deities and fuses their teachings into a unique doctrine. It's interesting, and I could see playing a PC of the faith. There's a new warpriest archetype ("Fist of the Godclaw") that's a bit "meh", but the three new litanies included are cool.
* Magnimarian Mystery Cults: The Varisian city of Magnimar is known for the influence of small cults dedicated to worshipping the demigods known as empyreal lords. Some of these empyreal lords have become quite popular to fans of the game (like Arshea), and some of them have more information in other books. This section contains a new Cavalier Order ("Order of the Monument") that doesn't have very useful abilities (and would be hard to play in most campaigns where travel is a thing). The section also has variant channeling powers for worshippers of several different empyreal lords, but their flavour rarely fits well.
* Oracular Council: I haven't seen much about this group elsewhere--it's an organisation in Po Li (in Tian Xia) that uses numerology for divination and decision-making. You could easily make a character tasked with investigating foreboding portents and the like. The section includes an oracle archetype ("Divine Numerologist") that fits really well with the theme and has some cool abilities. There are also several new numerology-themed investigator talents that are okay.
* Prophecies of Kalistrade: People say the pursuit of money is America's religion, and if so the Prophecies of Kalistrade would find a firm footing in the country. Material rewards come to those who follow the strict dogma taught by this faith, and they have very distinctive clothing and customs. There's a new psychic discipline ("Superiority") which is very good, and then three solid new spells.
* Razmir, the Living God: All Hail the Living God! My favourite of the bunch, so much so that I've made a missionary priest of Razmir an important NPC in my Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. Razmir is the only deity that cares enough about humanity to literally live among them, and he's brought peace and enlightenment to Razmiran, the land named after him. Any blasphemies to the contrary are despicable lies. The section contains a new ninja archetype ("Mask of the Living God") that unfortunately isn't very good (and ninjas don't get stuff offered to them very often!), but the new arcanist exploits look very useful.
* Sangpotshi: A philosophy that permeates the cultures of Tian Xia, Sangpotshi is steeped in the concepts of reincarnation, karma, and fate. It's one of those almost meta-religious belief non-systems that can easily squeeze within and among the tenets of more formal faiths. There's a fairly bland new spiritualist archetype ("Seeker of Enlightenment"), but a class I would never expect to see here, the vigilante, receives several good new talents.
* Shoanti Shamanic Traditions: The nomadic, tribal Shoanti peoples have received a lot of attention in some Paizo APs and books, but the brief summary here is still useful. The section contains a new archetype for skalds ("Totem Channeler") that's okay, but the new faith trait ("Aspect of the Quah") is overpowered for a trait--even though it only applies to hunters and substitutes for one of their animal focuses.
* Tamashigo: This is essentially animism, a belief that all things (animate and inanimate) contain spirits. The section contains a new samurai archetype ("Ward Speaker") that is interesting but really depends upon the presence of shrines for viability. There are also two new bardic masterpieces.
The book ends with four pages of equipment, magic items, and occult rituals. I thought this section was really well-done, as many of the items are flavourful and worthwhile. I particularly like the charlatan's cape, which makes it much harder to identify the caster's spells.
Overall, Disciple's Doctrine is a fun book and a recommended buy. When you think you've seen it all and have run out of character concepts, there's surely something in here that will spark your imagination. And compared to many Player Companions, the class options presented in the book largely strike the right balance in terms of flavour and usefulness.
The Monk, Ninja, and Spiritualist archetypes are the standouts here. Monk gets a style-switching elemental setup that’s pretty cool, Ninja gets an archetype (rare in itself, and you now have a non-Tien flavor option), and Spiritualist gets the largest skill bonuses I think I’ve seen, giving them a flavorful skill monkey option. The Ninja is penalized too much for not wearing a mask, which is rough with UC Rogue overshadowing it. The book has nice talents for various classes (Investigators can whip up extracts at combat-viable speeds, and Vigilantes get sizable knowledge bonuses) plus bloodline-esque options (Wizards get a Divination subschool that is powerful without being must-have, good for replacing the base school with, and Psychics get a discipline with discounted reach metamagic). Overall, enough stuff that I’ll solidly consider on the relevant classes for me to give a five-star rating.
One cool thing worth noting is the minimalist options. Medium and Occultist both get archetypes that don’t replace much, but subtly change things about the class. Neither is something I’d probably use much, but it is something I’d like seeing more of.
The last reviewer seems to have misunderstood the power of a trait. The only thing I might consider overpowered is the Spiritualist’s large untyped skill bonuses.
Good flavor text, solid art, and a lot of little cool things.
An Archtype for Oracle, Ranger, Monk (works with vinalla and unchained), Occultist, Warpriest, Ninja, Spiritualist, Skald, Samurai, and Medium.
Arcanist exploits, Bardic masterpieces, a Warpriest blessing, Investigator talents, Magus arcana, Occult rituals, a cavalier Order, a psychic discipline, a few new Variant channels, some Vigilante talents, some cool new spells, and a few Magic items.
Like most companion books, there are a few gems, several non optimal (but interesting) options, and a few clunkers that are laughably bad. Overall I like this book. 4 out of 5 stars.
Really, the only one I'm particularly interested in might be the Shoanti Shaman, and that's primarily if they make the Shoanti Shaman Cleric legal/official.
Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, the Prophets of Kalistrade, and Magnimar's Mystery Cults we kind of already have plenty of stuff for them. Nothing else really needed. Maybe Magnimar mystery cults, but more information sort of seems counter productive.
And yes, the name is very awkward. Almost a negative connotation.
Is the Esoteric Order really appropriate for this book? I never thought of them as a religion, just a quasi-secret society with rituals and handshakes for their own sake.
Is the Esoteric Order really appropriate for this book? I never thought of them as a religion, just a quasi-secret society with rituals and handshakes for their own sake.
The follow the works of the Angel Tabris so that makes them quasi-religious I guess?
Is the Esoteric Order really appropriate for this book? I never thought of them as a religion, just a quasi-secret society with rituals and handshakes for their own sake.
The follow the works of the Angel Tabris so that makes them quasi-religious I guess?
From what I recall, yes they do study the works of Tabris, but they do so from a purely non-religious, arcane perspective to get secret knowledge and political influence. They don't really follow the teachings of Tabris, just study it and other obscure lore.
It has religious overtones due to the fact their esoteric learnings and probably fighting against things not meant to be known.
You could be right, it's been a while since I looked at them, but I was pretty sure they where pretty strictly not religious, and even scoffed at it in favor of secret secular understanding.
I'm just hoping that if this book features some obscure polytheistic cult that they actually use word polytheism .-.
I mean, I've noticed strange thing that in older Pathfinder material Polytheism is used correctly then after Faiths & Philosophies its used inconsistently ._. Like starting from F&P referring it as Pantheism, Tombs of Golarion corrects Pantheistic Blessing as Polytheistic Blessing, but like Villain Codex as as possible encounter mix "Dark Pantheists".
Interesting. Curious if they do the Oracular Court, which seems like it could fall under the rubric here.
I'm curious how they may exist outside as well as within Po Li where they run the machinery of state.
Some exposition on them seems like a good starting point to expanding on history of Tian Xa, Lung Wa, etc.
Really, the only one I'm particularly interested in might be the Shoanti Shaman, and that's primarily if they make the Shoanti Shaman Cleric legal/official.
Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, the Prophets of Kalistrade, and Magnimar's Mystery Cults we kind of already have plenty of stuff for them. Nothing else really needed. Maybe Magnimar mystery cults, but more information sort of seems counter productive.
And yes, the name is very awkward. Almost a negative connotation.
There is some interesting stuff by the looks of things
I'd never heard of the Shoanti Shaman..... sort of looks like the Separatist archetype
Really, the only one I'm particularly interested in might be the Shoanti Shaman, and that's primarily if they make the Shoanti Shaman Cleric legal/official.
I'd like a better Sarkoris God-Caller.
DM Beckett wrote:
Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, the Prophets of Kalistrade, and Magnimar's Mystery Cults we kind of already have plenty of stuff for them. Nothing else really needed. Maybe Magnimar mystery cults, but more information sort of seems counter productive.
Couldn't agree less.
I'm particularly interested in more Palatine Eye stuff, since I have a True Silvered Throne character. I'd like it if they came up with some Palatine Eye feats or whatever (like their pseudo-Osirian sacred utterances from Occult Mysteries) that could be used in PFS as an improvement on their current policy of granting Iron Will at 8th level, which, when you're a Wisdom-based 0-9 mage, is gilding the lily a bit.
DM Beckett wrote:
And yes, the name is very awkward. Almost a negative connotation.
I see your point.
"Disciples and Devotions," maybe?
"Disciple's Path?"
"Sacred Lands of the Disciples?" Cyber-cookie if you get that.
I'm with you on more stuff for Palatine Eye. It would make Carrion Crown that much cooler. (Well that and the fact the main villain needs to show up more often...)
Please PLEASE let worshipers of Arshea, Ragathiel, and Black Butterfly get something cool in this.
This is a book for people who don't worship particular deities, so this is not the book for that.
Don't the Magnimar Mystery Cults worship the Empyreal Lords?
Ayup, which is why I'm wondering if we'll get some cool stuff for the various Mystery Cults based in Magnimar. Maybe some info on particular dance halls (or burlesque parlors) where worship of Arshea is centered (possibly guarded by Swan Maidens devoted to the Spirit of Abandon)?
Or maybe a Cavalier Order that reveres Ragathiel and carries out righteous warfare against the vile powers of Golarion in his name? I'm always up for some occult-based mysticism when it comes to Black Butterfly as well (perhaps an archetype to the Psychic class) :D
Please PLEASE let worshipers of Arshea, Ragathiel, and Black Butterfly get something cool in this.
Ashava (moon-dancin' ghosts?), Sorolan (mystic monuments?), and, uh, some other person (seagulls?), seem to be the big three Empyreals worshipped in Magnimar, IIRC, so I'd expect to see more on them.
I assume it's too late to incorporate anything like this into this book, but you know what Golarion needs in general that could have fit great into this book?
A non-deific philosophy that's all about the practice of alchemy as a spiritual path, much like it has been historically.
Whatever the reason, there won´t be a PC in february as it looks.
That´s okay in my book, i think a lot of Player Companions are produced very rushed and badly edited (the notable exception being everything overseen by Owen).