PFS Primer Factions


Pathfinder Society

1/5

I was curious about the Swords, the Scrolls, and the Spells factions in the PFS Primer. I could not find anything that said they weren't legal obviously from the Additional Resources pdf and here.

Does anyone use them? Are they just super minor factions compared to the main 7?

Are they going to be added to the Organization of Play or get Journal Cards like the main 7?

1/5

From what I understand, the Scrolls, Swords, and Spells are not factions the way that the Silver Crusade and the Dark Archive are: There isn't the external politicking/goal-seeking there. They are, instead, three different schools of thought on how to achieve the ends that the Pathfinder Society intends to do. Three schools of thought as to how to approach the missions, as it were. The Spells are more intent on magic, the Scrolls more intent on skills and knowledge, and the Swords more on force of arms.

So, they're less "What am I trying to do" factions, than "How do I do what I do" schools of thought.

Grand Lodge 4/5

The Swords, Scrolls, and Spells are three different branches of the Society, lead by Marcos Farabellus, Kreighton Shane, and Aram Zey, respectively. They are not factions in the same sense as the Silver Crusade or the Exchange, which are external to the Society, but rather are actually part of how the Society is structured.

You can definitely be part of them, although I don't think there's any mechanical benefit to it beyond access to the feats and traits from the Primer.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/5

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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps Subscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

When you join the Pathfinders, it is traditionally one of the three masters (Master of Scrolls, Spells, or Swords) that oversees your training into a real pathfinder and shape where you end up in the society.

One thing to note is not every pathfinder goes out exploring or adventuring, many pathfinders from the Scrolls end up in as "Librarians" or Scribes so to speak. Swords are the more adventuring sort (though Adventurers come from all three branches). I'm not sure what they do in the Spells, I tried asking someone what Aram Zey does as Master of Spells and they just sort of started crying while muttering something about emotional abuse...

So long answer short, the Swords, Scrolls, and Spells, are really just the "schools" you trained in as a Pathfinder, and in some ways could be considered a fraternity you were apart of while training.

1/5

Makes sense. Thanks everyone

Sczarni 5/5

The only place I have seen these used mechanically is on the GM star reward chronicle sheets. Each one of the three chronicles is based on one of the schools and gives out thematic rewards based on the school chosen.

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