Spies Are All Around Me, Spies in Every Country

Thursday, June 16, 2016

You want to know about Pathfinder Player Companion: Spymaster's Handbook? Yes, that's information we have, but it was not easily obtained. There were risks for a number of assets, and significant costs in the acquisition operations. You are valued clients of course but...

Why yes, that DOES settle the matter quite nicely, thank you.

Illustrations by Tawny Fritz and Kiri Ostergaard Leonard

Spies and information brokers are a fact of life on Golarion, for nearly any large organization. Kingdoms need to know what other kingdoms are plotting, so as to best make their own plans, while at the same time keeping their own secrets hidden. Churches, schools, guilds, and merchants have their own need to control the flow of information leaking out of their inner chambers. Many groups have dedicated espionage branches, such as the Twilight Talons of Andoran, while others combine information gathering and enforcement, as with the Silent Shroud in Nidal. Smaller or less wealthy groups often must depend on independent spymasters, which may be as simple as buying information from the Church of Calistria to as complex as putting together bands of freelancers to acquire specific intelligence.

The Spymaster's Handbook explores all these options, beginning with what causes a character to become some kind of spy. Numerous espionage backgrounds are presented, along with related traits (from Chelish Sympathyzer to Youthful Infiltrator) and drawbacks (many spies must deal with being Betrayed, or hiding some Secret Shame). Secret agendas are presented in new Story Feats, to allows an espionage character to have an element of spycraft added to their character as part of a typical ongoing campaign. New rules on information dealing allows secrets to be bought and sold as commodities, making secret-running a potentially lucrative line of work.

And of course new character options tie characters with secret to the lore of Golarion. Spy elements within groups ranging from the Blackjackets to the Starwatch are tied to be magic items, feats, and spells. Espionage spells allow you to steal a victim's face, or encourage a target to speak endlessly on a topic of your choice. And the ultimate secret-keeper, the vigilante, is given three new archetypes, and a host of social and vigilante talents.

For a little extra I can even preview one of the new spells present in the book? Ah yes, always a pleasure doing business with you.

Claim Identity

School transmutation (polymorph); Level alchemist 3, antipaladin 3, bard 3, druid 4, inquisitor 3, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, witch 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a needle and thread)

Range touch

Target humanoid creature touched

Duration 1 hour/level

Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes


You steal the target's face, transforming yourself into a flawless imitation of it. All of the target's facial features, vocal cues, and identifying physical traits change, transforming it into an unremarkable member of its race and gender. You transform into a perfect likeness of the target's true form, as if affected by alter self, and gain a +10 bonus on Disguise checks to impersonate the original subject of this spell; you take no penalties on this check if the original target is of a different race, age, size,
or gender.

Claim identity prevents any other polymorph effects from restoring the target's true face for the spell's duration, though the target can still assume
other forms or faces via magic or any natural shapechanging ability.

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer

Meet the Iconics—The Red Raven

Friday, February 26, 2016

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Ho there, stranger! If you're lookin' for shelter on a cold night like tonight, you could do a lot better than that cursed Ledinthorp estate you were prowling 'round. Come 'long. My daughters married and moved out ages ago—means we got a spare bed for a traveler who doesn't know how to stay out of trouble when there're Gray Gardeners keeping the peace.

You even know whose ruined home you were in? That once belonged to the old Ledinthorp clan. They played at being dukes and earls until the Revolution swept through in '67 and lopped off their heads! I hear the nursemaid smuggled out the duke's heirs before the mobs set fire to the place and made dresses out of the swanky curtains. Nobody's had a mind to fix it up, and the only reason anyone goes there now is to look for the inheritance the duke supposedly hid in the walls. Course, if there's any justice in the world, the Red Raven's found it long since and given it out to help feed starving mouths in these tryin' times.

What's that, stranger? Never heard of the Red Raven? That's a right shame, and something of a surprise for folk 'round here. He's famous—a hometown hero! Now I admit a lot of cities get to make that claim, but 'round here it's true. He was born a common man to a couple down on Razor Street. Some even say that he's the lost son of Darl Jubbanich, which would make the Red Raven the child of Liberty itself, raised by the common folk! But those were hard times; we were struggling with starvation inflicted by Galt's hungry neighbors, and the dark legacy of those traitorous aristocrats still strangled our lands. Even so, he fed on the freedom of a liberated nation—that part's exaggeration, mind, but it's how the story goes—and grew up strong, proud, and gallant. And handsome! You'd believe me if you saw him. My, if I was forty years younger…

Oh, don't give that look! At my age you're allowed to speak your mind. Now, where was I?

Just about everyone 'round here's seen the Red Raven from down the street or across the square as he pursues brigands and traitors. I'm lucky to have seen him eight times, myself. Why, he flies 'cross the shingles as if his cape were feathers, soaring on wings of grandeur stained by the blood of them rotten nobles. The glow of old Galt's torches'n'pitchforks can't compare to that righteous hellfire smoldering in his eyes, hotter'n Asmodeus's summer sweat! Course, what would you expect from someone whose passion for justice ignited from the sparks that flew from the first final blade? You know how our final blades all have ladies' names? That's 'cause they're the only wives the Red Raven takes, and hardly a night goes by that he doesn't bring home some bloody present for the missus. Har har!

Aww, loosen up, stranger. Jokin' aside, my youngest, Anjerille, she was at a festival when the Red Raven dropped into the crowd and picked out a villain—said he could sniff out nobles by night just by following the stench of their perfumes. Oh, you laugh. I did too, but only a month later we learned that he has eyes so sharp that he can tell the difference between a cobbler and a count from three streets away with only a crescent moon for light. Now, my eldest, Redarra, is known to tell some tall tales, but given what else I've seen, I half take it as truth when she says he can taste a man's bloodline back ten generations from just a single drop.

Who is he really? Anyone you ask will give a different answer. Some think he's a common bandit turned good. Others say he's a reformed noble seeking redemption. Me? I say he's everyone in Edme, for we're all willing to watch for aristocrats who think that after half a century it's finally safe to return to Galt. Aristocrats who would sneak around a burned-down estate and walk away with a bag of jewels, like the one I fancy you're carryin' now. Blue-bloods with a face like yours—the same as old Duke Ledinthorp's, whose head I watched tumble from Razor Jenni's blade so long ago. The son of a dead dynasty like yours, scavengin' what rightly belongs to the people of Galt. Who's the Red Raven? He's everyone we've passed tonight. He's every set of eyes that's seen us walking together. He's the footsteps you hear patterin' across the rooftops, fast as the heart of man who's got only an hour left to live.

Best get runnin' Your Excellency. The Red Raven knows you're here.

Check back next week when we take a closer look at one of Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Intrigue's deepest secrets!

John Compton
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

Publisher Preview Update! Pathfinder Battles fans, the long break of miniatures updates is nearly over! Erik will return with news about the upcoming set next week!