A pathfinder is a member of the world-spanning Pathfinder Society. Often working and traveling solo, these adventurers dedicate their lives to uncovering ancient secrets, lost artifacts, and general knowledge of the world's most exotic locations and cultures.
The Pathfinder Society is a globe-spanning organization based out of Absalom, the world's largest city. The membership consists primarily of Pathfinders, adventurers who travel throughout Golarion, usually inconspicuously, and explore, delve, and otherwise experience the lesser-seen parts of the world. They send journals back to their venture-captain, who also assigns them new missions and suggests new places to explore. The most exciting and illuminating of these journals are compiled in the Pathfinder Chronicles, an ongoing series of books which collect the history and mystery of Golarion for their membership.
Pathfinder Duties
Pathfinders do not have a formalized set of rule or bylaws, but it is generally understood that the code of behavior is:
Explore: Pathfinders are expected to delve the depths of the world, rooting out secrets and untold stories both ancient and modern, as well as push the boundaries of explored lands.
Report: As the Society does not want any discoveries to become "undiscovered" again, a pathfinder must keep careful and detailed records of their exploits. These are sent in to the pathfinder's venture-captain and may be compiled into the published Pathfinder Chronicles. It is considered a great honor for a pathfinder's report to be published in the Chronicles.
Cooperate: Pathfinders are forbidden from fighting other Society members, especially within a pathfinder lodge. Pathfinders are expected to stay out of one-another's affairs, unless to offer help.
Aside from these general expectations, there are no moral obligations affixed to Pathfinder members; their motivations are their own. As such, one can find a great variety of races, backgrounds, and alignments among Society members.
Thassilon:
The ancient empire of Thassilon (pronounced THAH-sih-lon)[1] occupied most of western Avistan for over a millennium. It was an empire built on ancient magics and incredible technologies - most now lost to history. All that now remains are mysterious ruined monoliths scattered throughout the landscape of Varisia.
The Empire was eventually destroyed due to the Catacylsmic Earthfall event.
Runelords:
Thassilon was ruled by seven runelords, each of whom mastered one of the seven schools of arcane rune magic harnessed from the very sins of mankind.
Several years ago, the Runelord of Greed, Karzoug the Claimer, stirred in the recently rediscovered legendary city of Xin-Shalast. It was only through the actions of brave and capable adventurous that the evil Runelord was prevented from reclaiming his ancient power and leading n army of giants and dragons across Varisia. To the various governments in the region this was a wake up call. The threat of one Runelord was bad enough but his rise proved there are six other Runelords in dreamless slumber waiting to be awoken.
One woman has been at the centre of Varisias preparations for the potential return of the Runelords - Sheila Heidmarch.
Earthfall:
Earthfall is the name given to the cataclysmic event of the impact with of a swarm of asteroids, most notably the Starstone, with Golarion in -5293 AR[1]. It resulted in the destruction of the human empires of Thassilon and Azlant, which were consumed by earthquakes and massive tidal waves, and the creation of the Inner Sea. The cloud of dust thrown up by the Starstone's impact settled in Golarion's upper atmosphere and blotted out the sun for a thousand years, creating the Age of Darkness
Hero points:
Hero Points can be spent at any time and do not require an action to use (although the actions they modify consume part of your character’s turn as normal). You cannot spend more than 1 hero point during a single round of combat. Whenever a hero point is spent, it can have any one of the following effects.
Act Out of Turn: You can spend a hero point to take your turn immediately. Treat this as a readied action, moving your initiative to just before the currently acting creature. You may only take a move or a standard action on this turn.
Bonus: If used before a roll is made, a hero point grants you a +8 luck bonus to any one d20 roll. If used after a roll is made, this bonus is reduced to +4. You can use a hero point to grant this bonus to another character, as long as you are in the same location and your character can reasonably affect the outcome of the roll (such as distracting a monster, shouting words of encouragement, or otherwise aiding another with the check). Hero Points spent to aid another character grant only half the listed bonus (+4 before the roll, +2 after the roll).
Extra Action: You can spend a hero point on your turn to gain an additional standard or move action this turn. If that action is casting a spell, the spell must be at least three spell levels lower than your maximum.
Inspiration: If you feel stuck at one point in the adventure, you can spend a hero point and petition the GM for a hint about what to do next. If the GM feels that there is no information to be gained, the hero point is not spent.
Recall: You can spend a hero point to recall a spell you have already cast or to gain another use of a special ability that is otherwise limited. This should only be used on spells and abilities possessed by your character that recharge on a daily basis.
Reroll: You may spend a hero point to reroll any one d20 roll you just made. You must take the results of the second roll, even if it is worse.
Cheat Death: A character can spend 2 hero points to cheat death. How this plays out is up to the GM, but generally the character is left alive, with negative hit points but stable. For example, a character is about to be slain by a critical hit from an arrow. If the character spends 2 hero points, the GM decides that the arrow pierced the character’s holy symbol, reducing the damage enough to prevent him from being killed, and that he made his stabilization roll at the end of his turn. Cheating death is the only way for a character to spend more than 1 hero point in a turn. The character can spend hero points in this way to prevent the death of a familiar, animal companion, eidolon, or special mount, but not another character or NPC.
Initiative:
To make things easier for myself and to keep things moving quickly I'm introducing a house-ruled initiative system. When combat is about to start there will be a default 50/50 chance of either monsters or heroes acting first. I will roll initiative checks individually for you guys which will be against a set DC. If you equal or beat this DC, it provides the heroes with an additional +10% chance of acting first for a cumulative total of 90%. If you fail the DC it provides a cumulative -10% penalty to a minimum of 10%
The mechanic will be;
1d20 + perception modifier + initiative modifier (so feats like improved initiative aren't totally devalued)
The DC will be;
15+CR+iniative modifer
Once the heroes act, initative for them will effectively change each round and will be determined by who posts first.
Pathfinder Society Fame and Prestige
Generic Prestige Awards:
Generic Prestige Awards Benefit ....................................Prestige Cost
+4 to any one skill check...........................1
Remove paralysis.......................................1
Lesser restoration......................................1
Make whole ..............................................1
Dispel magic.............................................1
Remove blindness/deafness......................1
Remove curse............................................1
Remove disease.........................................1
Free purchase 150 gp................................1
Neutralize poison.......................................2
Restoration ..............................................2 (4 to dispel a permanent negative level)
Break enchantment....................................2
Atonement................................................2 (8 to restore cleric/druid powers)
Greater dispel magic.................................2
Free purchase 750 gp...............................2
Regenerate ..............................................3
Raise dead..............................................16
Greater restoration.................................16
Resurrection ..........................................32
True Resurrection...................................77
Weekly Services:
Weekly Services
Cost/Benefit
1 Mounts (light riding horse, camel, mule, or pony) for the PC and up to one companion per level
1 Boat travel (freshwater or coastal transport for the PC and up to 10 others; includes a crew of four 1st level experts)
1 Work detail of 50 1st-level commoners
1 Skilled craftsman (expert of 1/2 the faction member’s level)
2 Bodyguard (warrior of 1/2 the faction member’s level)
2 Ship travel (deep water transport for the PC and up to 20 others; includes a crew of 10 1st level experts)
2 Squad of 10 1st-level warriors
2 Combat trained mounts (light or heavy warhorses or riding dogs) for the PC and up to one companion per level
Miscellaneous:
Miscellaneous Expenses
Cost/Benefit
1 +4 to one skill check
1 Purchase a single item worth 375 gp**
1* Wealthy cost of living for 1 month
2 Purchase a single item worth 750 gp**
2* Extravagant cost of living for 1 month
5 Retrieval of a dead body to a faction-controlled location
* Cost of living covers 1 month and is detailed on page 405 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
** Characters can’t spend multiple PA for more items costing more than 750 gp.
Pathfinder Fame Points:
Pathfinder Fame Points
Fame 1: When in a Pathfinder loadge library, gain a +5 circumstance bonus on one Knowledge check. The check takes 1 hour, reflecting the need to reference the appropriate materials. This bonus does not stack with the +4 bonus on one check listed on page 55.
1 PP: Transcribe a common spell (one listed in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, or any spell the GM feels is common in the world) from the Grand Lodge library into a wizard’s spellbook or alchemist’s formula book. This benefit does not require a Spellcraft check or any additional transcribing costs.
Fame 1, 1 PP: Acquire your own basic wayfinder.
Fame 5, 1 PP: Become familiar with an uncommon or rare spell (at the GM’s discretion) from the Grand Lodge library, allowing a bard, sorcerer, or similar spellcaster to select it as a spell known at the next available opportunity (this benefit allows the character to gain access to bard or sorcerer spells from sources other than the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook without having to do spell research or find a copy of the spell while adventuring).
Fame 5, 1 PP: Exchange one character trait taken at character creation for a new Pathfinder Society trait (see the Appendix). The character must still obey the normal trait system rules (such as not having more than one trait from the same category); however, the new trait does not need to be from the same category as the trait it replaces.
Fame 5, 5+ PP: Gain a contact in a particular city. The character can consult with the contact for local gossip, news, and advice; this benefit grants the character a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks to gather information, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), and Knowledge (religion) checks regarding the contact’s city made within that city. The character must wait 24 hours for the contact to provide the desired information. For an additional 10 PP, the bonus from the contact increases to +4. A character may have contacts in multiple cities, but multiple contacts in the same city provide no extra benefit. If the contact dies, the character can spend PP to find a replacement contact.
Fame 10: Purchase faction spellcasting (see the Appendix) at 1 CPA less than normal (minimum 1).
Fame 15: Purchase ioun stones from a Pathfinder Lodge at a 10% discount.
Fame 15, 2 PP: Access a special section of the Grand Lodge library for 1 week and gain a +10 circumstance bonus on any one Knowledge check. This bonus does not stack with the +4 bonus on one check listed on page 55.
Fame 20: Gain free passage on caravans and merchant vessels that are friendly to the Pathfinder Society.
Fame 20: Purchase any magic item worth up to 10,000 gp value from a Pathfinder lodge at a 10% discount.
Fame 20, 6 PP: Access a hidden cache of supplies in a wilderness area. These supplies consist of survival gear such as dried food, clean water, spare weapons, rope, sunrods, spell components, and other nonmagical equipment listed in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Spending CPA on this resource represents finding a cache within 2d6 × 10 minutes from the character’s current location; the character does not need to plan ahead for this cache or know of its existence (it is, in effect, a plot device for acquiring emergency items). A typical cache contains up to 375 gp worth of these goods, and many times they are found near sites the Pathfinders planned to explore at some point. The increase of 5 PP for being outside of community of at least 5,000 people has already been factored in.
Fame 40, 1 PP: Gain a reputation as a famous and successful Pathfinder. The character is in effect a celebrity adventurer and is well known in several countries (though whether this is fame or infamy depends on the history and personality of the character). This reputation grants the character a +2 circumstance bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks when dealing with someone who knows of her fame. Many Pathfinders with this level of prestige go on to become venture-captains (though the Decemvirate selects venture-captains based on qualities other than prestige).
Magnimarian Landmarks
Magnimar is known as the City of Monuments. The city itself is defined by two colossal landmarks which predate modern civilization by thousands of years or more. The Irespan is an ancient Thassilonian ruin, the easternmost end of a giant bridge which has now crumbled into the sea. This enormous relic stretched from Magnimar's other most noticeable feature, the three-hundred-foot tall cliff which cuts the city in two known as the Seacleft. Among the city's streets, slums, gardens and districts are several other notable monuments that have been the wonder of the citizenry and focus of study for historians for generations, said to offer powerful boons to those who pay proper respect. These include;
Founder's Flame (Naos):
This magical fountain of flame is thought to have been built by Atholus Kaddren - a gift to the city soon after its founding tens of thousands of years ago. The monument itself consists of a pedestal that supports a bronze bowl filled with green oil. A nimbus of fire perpetually burns within the bowl, dancing to an arcane rhythm cycling in colour from yellow to orange to violet to blue.
Legend holds that, if a spellcaster meditates here, she casts fire-based spells more strongly.
Eyes of the Hawk (Dockway):
This monument depicts the twin wizards Cailyn and Romre Vanderale and their adventuring party - the Eyes of the Hawk - as they defeated the monstrous, spidery shriezyx that erupted from the Irespan in 4623 AR.
Local lore suggests mediating here grants a mystical increase to damage against aberrant creatures.
Indros Cul Vydrarch (capital District):
This towering sculpture depicts the legendary battle between Alcaydian Indro and the great Vydrarch. In the days before the City of Monuments was the city it is today, Alcaydian Indros, paladin of Aroden, led an expedition through western Varisia to the Lost Coast, eventually rediscovering the Irespan. It was there, on the shores of the Varisian Gulf, that he and his warriors fought the dreaded Vydrarch. During the fight, Indros lost dozens of soldiers, and after he killed the creature, its poisonous blood tainted the waves for weeks.
Local legend has it that reciting the poem Upon a Serpent's Grave in Aquan while admiring the statue gives the performer extra skill at arms against sea creatures.
Mistress of Angels (Ordellia):
This fine marble sculpture of Ordellia Wihlwren, one of the founders of magnimar, shows the beloved cleric of Desna looking out over the Varisian Gulf to the horizon, as if she were scanning for threats to the city. Situated in the district of Magnimar named after her and commonly called the Foreigner's District, the statue celebrates her faith in the angelic protectors of Magnimar. During the founding of the city, the resident Varisians asked the newcomers to relocate south of the Yondabakari. All the founders refused except Ordellia, who bargained that if the Varisians could show her an angel, she would accept their demands. After looking to the Seacleft Spire at dawn every day for a week, she finally caught a glimpse of a radiant figure atop the alabaster spire in the rising sun.
Meditating before this statue is reputed to make one temporarily more quick and decisive.
The Cenotaph (Capitol District):
Sitting amidst the hustle and bustle of Bridgeward, the most industrial district of Magnimar's prestigious Summit region, the Cenotaph is a monument to a fallen legend. The Cenotaph is a ten story tall, hollow cylindrical monument dedicated to Alcaydian Indros that has become the centre of an impromptu cemetery.
Years after its constructions the friends and family of Alcaydian began to pass away and they requested to be buried either within or around the Cenotaph. These requests soon started to include people who had never known Alcaydian and has now become a true tradition for the cities rich and elite to get buried either beneath the surrounding Mourner's Plaza. Clerics of Pharasma patrol the area, including the catacombs, to protect against undead, scavengers, and grave robbers.
Local legend says that praying in the plaza gives a boost to ones ability to resist physical threats.
Founder's Honour (Keystone):
Founder's Honor is a fifty foot tall statue of Alcaydian Indros, the founder of the Varisian city of Magnimar, which stands near Castlegate in the Keystone district of the city. Offerings of fruits and flowers are regularly left within the lion's mouth alcove at the base of the statue.
Local belief is that this grants the person making the offering a piece of Indros' skill at diplomacy.
The Celwynvian Charge (Lowcleft):
The Celwynvian Charge is a stony, tree-shaped monument in Magnimar's Lowcleft district. It grows real leaves that appear and fall in the appropriate seasons. This gift from the elves of the Mierani Forest was in response to a trade delegation from Magnimar proposing an alliance (which never materialized).
Local legend says that meditating here improves ones reflexes.
Mapstone Monument (Lowcleft):
The Mapstone Monument is in the Lowcleft district of Magnimar in the Seerspring Gardens. This massive block of marble protrudes three feet from the ground has been meticulously carved into a scale model of the city. The church of Abadar updates the sculpture annually using spells. On some holidays, other illusion spells are used for appealing effects.
Meditating here is reputed to increase your mental resistance.
Our Lady of Blessed Waters (Keystone):
Seerspring Garden, a park boasting a spring of crisp, clear water, marks the northeastern corner of Keystone. The park itself is a fine place to relax, but its most striking feature is the bronze, strangely verdigris-free statue of a lithe woman that stands at the center of the water. The statue is said to be an image of the spirit believed to longer within the Seerspring, but none in Magnimar know who built the mysterious monument. The oddly soothing statue is said to have simply appeared in Seerspring Garden overnight not long after the park itself was established – its source remains unknown to this day.
Quiet prayer at this monument is said to strengthen the connection between an individual and their God.
The Guardians (Naos):
Just within the Twin’s Gate stand the Guardians, one of the city’s larger monuments. These 200 foot tall colossi depicting the young heroes Cailyn and Romre Vanderale face each other with burning staves held high, forming a giant arch. The Guardians stand at the southernmost end of the broad Avenue of Hours, which runs from the city wall all the way north to Indros cul Vydrarch Plaza and the Pediment Building, and as such they serve as one of the most notable landmarks for both Naos and the Capital District. The brothers Vanderale themselves are well regarded in the towns’ history, and many young Magnimarians strive to “be like the brothers” when they grow up.
Meditating below the arch is said to be able to boost one’s powers of concentration.
The Fifth Wind (Dockway):
This massive weather vane stands amid the docks, its windsocks towering above surrounding buildings so as to give everyone in the Outcast’s Cove an easy method of determining the wind’s speed and power. The sides of the stone pylon that supports the windsocks are carved with complex images of the air elementals and cloud dragons in fierce battle. The windsocks themselves are often replaced as the weather and corrosive salt air require.
Observing the patterns on the dancing windsocks is reputed to steady the sea legs of any land lubber.
The Battle of Charda (Beacon’s Point):
This statue depicts the first and most famous of the nautical battles waged in the city’s early days. The battle itself was significant not only for the size of the invading force, but also for the pirates’ use of five captured and charmed monsters harvested from the Darklands – chardas. Today, the monument exaggerates the actual size of the chardas, depicting them as towering behemoths.
Legend says the spirit of the battle can be harnessed by those with skill at arms and harnessed to make their combat prowess even more effective.
