Who says only monsters get to be haunted? Where's the fun in that?
With Pathfinder Player Companion: Haunted Heroes, we wanted to explore exactly that—what happens when a PC gets haunted? But that wasn't the ORIGINAL incarnation of this book. Once upon a time, back when several of us were shut away in one of Paizo's enormous Think Tanks and tasked with coming up with ideas for the Player Companion line, many suggestions got bandied about—one of which was something called an "Exorcist's Handbook." One of the things that really appealed to me about that, of course, is the fact that exorcism movies are one of the most enduring and popular sub-genres of horror, and I loved the idea of exploring the concept of how you would make an exorcist in Pathfinder. But the more we thought about it, the more we realized that there was more to the idea than just rules for building exorcists—and so the book expanded into new haunting territories.
So now, you not only get rules for dealing with what happens when your allies get possessed by evil spirits... but you get rules for what happens to YOU when you get possessed... and not necessarily by unwelcome and/or evil entities.
But don't take my word for it. Check out some of the illustrations of haunted heroes from the book below. Don't they look like they're having the time of their lives? Wouldn't you want your character to have as much fun as them? Well, now you can!
All you have to do is to tell your GM, the next time she or he asks you to roll a Will saving throw for your character... "Oh, no thanks. I'll voluntarily fail that save." PRESTO! Instant character upgrade!
James Jacobs
Creative Director