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I think we’re almost done with this portion of Stage 1. At this point, all we’re doing is building the initial powers and rules for each of the classes. These aren’t “final,” however. There is a little more work to do, and that might lead to some changes/refinements. The reconciliation at this point is to ensure that:

All the classes [from PFRPG 1e] are covered. The only exception is the vigilante, which is better as a role (i.e., Blackjack).

The correct [version of the] iconic character serves as the model for each class. As a general rule, those characters for which there are Core versions (Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne) use those versions. For other characters, when a class/character/add-on deck version of an iconic character exists, that version serves as the basis for the class. “CD” below refers to a class deck (e.g., Fighter, Rogue, etc.), a character deck (e.g., Occult Adventures 1 and 2), or an ultimate add-on deck (e.g., Combat, Magic, etc.). When no such deck exists for a class, the character is used from the AP in which they appear, ignoring the AP-specific skills, proficiencies, and powers to the greatest extent possible (e.g., S&S Jirelle, WotR Crowe, etc.).

All the elements that are specific to the character and which are not representative of the class have been removed. The only exception is the kineticist because the range of PACG cards does not support changing all of Yoon’s Fire powers to generic powers or incorporating some mechanism to allow the player to choose one of the appropriate elemental traits.

The character’s core skills, proficiencies, and base powers have been incorporated into the multiclass card. Again, except for those that have previously been determined to be specific to the character rather than being representative of the class.

Deck modifications have been incorporated to allow the multiclassed character to be effective in the new class, aligning these with the appropriate skills, proficiencies, and powers. In most cases, such powers will integrate related skills and proficiencies with the appropriate card type (e.g., Arcane spellcasters gain the Arcane skill, proficiency with Arcane, and a deck modification to allow for spell cards in a single power). In some cases, a power might include some other ability, but only where that ability is inherently tied to the skill, proficiency, or card type. Some classes might require multiple such powers. The only time such a power combines two skills and proficiencies is the bard, which has both Arcane and Divine (skills and proficiencies).

Where additional power feat check boxes are required, suitably generic power feats have been incorporated from the iconic character’s roles. There are only a few instances where power feats have been borrowed from other versions of the character or from other representatives of the class.

Those classes for which cohorts are intrinsic (i.e., all members of the class use a cohort) incorporate cohorts into the class’s powers without requiring the use of a power feat. Adjustments are with the cavalier and samurai, allowing the ally War Horse to be used instead of the iconic character’s cohort (Donahan or Jinfu) for those players who don’t have the Wrath of the Righteous Base Set (for the cavalier, Alain) or the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck (for the samurai, Hayato). The Paladin Class Deck is the likely deck to be used for this class, and the War Horse is available therein. I know that cohorts are a sticking point with some, but removing the cohort from any class fundamentally changes the balance and is not part of this stage. In addition, characters for which the Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes sets included versions of cohorts as allies vice cohorts (e.g., Feiya’s Daji and Shardra’s Kolo) have options for including those cards as cohorts, too.

Each class has 10 power feat check boxes. Understanding that radio buttons don’t count as power feat check boxes.

Assuming the most recent recommendations are acceptable, I think these are the current versions of each of the classes (so you don’t have to scroll up and consult multiple posts):

ALCHEMIST (Core Fumbus)

Gain the Alchemist trait.

Add “OR ALCHEMICAL ITEM” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Alchemical. During recovery, when you would banish an Alchemical boon or an Arcane Attack spell, you may discard it instead. (□ Then you may recharge a new Alchemical item whose level is 0.) When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 (□ 7) Alchemical items as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +1 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Attack spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On a local combat check (□ or a local check to defeat an Obstacle or Trap barrier), you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Alchemical or Attack card) to add 1d4 and the Acid, Fire, or Poison trait.

□ Gain the skills Disable: Dexterity +1 and Ranged: Dexterity +1.

□ On your check that invokes Acid, Fire, or Poison, add 1d6 (□ 1d8).

ARCANIST (CD Enora)

Gain the Arcanist trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. You may recharge a Book card to examine the top 3 cards of your location.

□ On your check to acquire or recharge a Magic boon, you may discard (□ or recharge) a Magic card to add 1d8.

□ After you play a spell, you may recharge a random spell (□ or a spell of your choice) from your discards.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a spell (□ or a Magic boon) to use Charisma + 1d6 (□ 2d6) and add that card’s level and the Arcane, Attack, Cold, and Magic traits. This counts as playing a spell.

□ When another character fails to acquire an Arcane spell or a Book item, you may recharge a card to encounter it.

BARBARIAN (Core Amiri)

Gain the Barbarian trait.

Add “OR MELEE WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +1. On your Strength check or your check against a monster, you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Fortitude skill.

□ Closing your location does not prevent you from exploring (□ and after you close your location, you may draw a card)(□ and you may heal a weapon).

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. At the end of your turn, you may move (□ then examine the top card of your location); any local characters may move with you.

□ On your Melee combat check, you may reload a weapon to add its level.

BARD (Core Lem)

Gain the Bard trait.

Add “OR CHOOSE 1 CARD TYPE” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 and Divine: Charisma +1, and you are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Instrument. On a local non-combat check (□ or another local character’s combat check), you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1. When you suffer damage, you may recharge an ally to reduce it by 1.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 allies as weapons, armors, or items.

□ At the start of your turn, you may draw a card.

□ At the end of your turn, you may discard a card to recharge (□ or to shuffle into your deck) a card from your discards.

BLOODRAGER (WotR Crowe)

Gain the Bloodrager trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) spells as armors, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Melee weapons as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as items, allies, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Survival: Wisdom +2.

□ On your Arcane, Melee, or Strength check, you may bury a card to add 1d10 (□ +1) and the Electricity or Force trait; if the check (□ or the card) has the Attack trait, you may recharge the card instead.

□ When you defeat a monster (□ or acquire a spell), you may move or reload the bottom card of your deck, then end your turn.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane.

BRAWLER (CotCT Kess)

Gain the Brawler trait.

Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. For your combat check, you may use Melee + 1d8 (□ or Melee + 1d12 and add the Magic trait).

□ On your check against a monster on which you do not play a weapon or a spell, you may recharge an ally to add 1d4 plus that card’s level.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 allies as weapons, spells, or armors.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +1. When you discard or bury a card as damage, it counts as up to 2 (□ 3) cards.

□ When you defeat a monster, you may heal a card (□ or an ally).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1. When you would fail a combat check, you may bury a random (□ or any) card to add 1d4.

CAVALIER (WotR Alain)

Gain the Cavalier trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: DONAHAN” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Warhorse as a cohort. Add “COHORT: WARHORSE” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

□ On your check to defeat a non-villain monster, you may discard a card to add 1 (□ 2) plus its level, and other characters may not play cards or use powers on this check. If undefeated, reload it to its location.

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge any number of weapons (□ or allies or items).

□ You may recharge (□ or reload) a weapon or an armor to search your deck or discards for a Mount card and draw it.

□ On your turn, you may discard a Mount card to move to a distant location and examine the top card of that location. If it is a monster, you may encounter it.

CHAMPION (Core Seelah)

Gain the Champion trait.

Add “OR WEAPON OR ARMOR” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 Melee weapons as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ When you attempt a check before acting, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as items or allies.

□ On a local check, you may discard an armor or the top card of your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait. (□ If you would discard an armor or a blessing for this power, you may recharge it instead.) (□ You may also do so if you would discard a spell for this power.)

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Fortitude: Constitution +1.

Note that we’ll probably revert “champion” to “paladin” since that’s what all the cards say. This will remove some confusion for players who aren’t familiar with the PFRPG 2e changes. We’ll use the “champion” language for Stage 2.

CLERIC (Core Kyra)

Gain the Cleric trait.

Add “OR BLESSING” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Melee weapons as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as weapons, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On a local check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait.

□ At the (□ start or) end of your turn, you may recharge a Divine card to (□ remove a scourge from a local character or) heal a local character a card (□ or 2 cards).

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

DRUID (Core Lini)

Gain the Druid trait.

Add “OR ANIMAL ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Animal allies as weapons, armors, or items.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +1 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ You may recharge an Animal or Plant boon to remove a scourge from a local character.

□ For your combat check, you may bury (□ or discard) a card or recharge an Animal ally to use Survival +1d4 plus the card’s level and add the Animal and Melee traits.

□ When you would recharge an Animal ally for its power (□ or for your character power), you may shuffle it into your deck instead.

□ On a local check (□ at a Wild location or) that invokes the Animal trait, add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

FIGHTER (Core Valeros)

Gain the Fighter trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Ranged weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ On a local combat check, you may reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a weapon or an armor from your hand or discards.

□ You may avenge by discarding (□ or recharging) a card.

□ When you would recharge or discard a Shield armor for its power, you may reveal it instead. (□ When a local character suffers damage, you may recharge a Shield armor to reduce it by 2.)

GUNSLINGER (CD Lirianne)

Gain the Gunslinger trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Firearm weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Firearm weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ When you play a Firearm card, if you would bury (□ or discard) (□ or recharge) it or shuffle it into your deck, you may keep it and perform the required action with another card instead.

□ When you encounter a monster, you may examine the top card of your deck. If it has the Firearm trait, you may draw it; otherwise, recharge it. (□ You may then recharge a Firearm card from your discards.)

□ On a distant (□ any) combat check, you may shuffle a card into your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

HUNTER (CD Adowyn)

Gain the Hunter trait.

Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: LERYN” to your DECK LIST.
○ Select one Hunter Class Deck cohort and add “COHORT: [HUNTER CLASS DECK COHORT NAME]” to your DECK LIST
○ Treat the ally Leryn as a cohort. Add “COHORT: LERYN” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as armors, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill ○ Melee: Strength +2 or ○ Ranged: Dexterity +2 (select one) and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. You may recharge a card to evade a bane you encounter(□ or discard a card to allow another local character to do so). Then you may examine the top card of your location.

□ After you defeat a monster(□ or a barrier) you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is an Animal card, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2.

□ On your check to recharge (□ or acquire) a spell, add 1d4.

INQUISITOR (CD Imrijka)

Gain the Inquisitor trait.

Add “OR BLESSING OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as a weapon, armor, or ally.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: ○ Strength +2 or ○ Dexterity +2 (select one) and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. When you defeat a monster on your turn, you may recharge a card (□ then you may draw a card).

□ When you would discard or bury a Ranged card for its power, you may recharge it (□ or shuffle it into your deck) instead.

□ On a distant (□ or local) combat check, you may recharge a Divine card to add (□ 1 of that card’s traits and) 1d4.

□ On your check to acquire or recharge a Divine boon, add 2.

INVESTIGATOR (CotCT Quinn)

Gain the Investigator trait.

Add “OR ITEM” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Disable: Intelligence +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 items as weapons, spells, and armors.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your check that invokes Finesse, you may recharge (□ or reload) a card to use Knowledge instead of Acrobatics or Stealth, and add the card’s level.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. On a local check against a barrier, you may bury an item to add your Perception.

□ At the end (□ or start) of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location. (□ You may recharge a card to ignore powers that would happen when you examine it.)

□ You are proficient with Alchemical. On your check to recharge an Alchemical item whose level is lower than #, you automatically succeed.

□ When another local character would banish an Alchemical item for its power, you may recharge (□ or reveal) an Alchemical boon to put the other character’s item in your recovery pile instead.

KINETICIST (CD Yoon)

Gain the Kineticist trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2 and you are proficient with Fire. For your combat check, you may reveal a spell (□ or a blessing) to use Fortitude + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire, and Magic traits; you may additionally discard that card to add another 1d6 (□ plus the discarded card’s level).

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +0 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, and allies.

□ On a local combat check, you may discard the top card of your deck to add 1d4 and the Fire trait. If it is a blessing (□ or a spell), add another 1d4.

□ When you reset, after you draw cards, you may set aside an equal number of random cards from your discards, bury 1, and heal the rest.

□ On any local check to defeat a barrier, after the roll, you may add 1d10 (□ 2d6). After the check, each local character suffers 1d4 Fire damage.

□ When a local character suffers Fire damage, reduce it by 2.

MAGUS (CD Seltyiel)

Gain the Magus trait.

Add “OR SPELL OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

Add “COHORT: MAGUS ARCANA” to your DECK LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ On your check to recharge a spell, you may recharge a weapon (□ or any boon) to succeed (□ then you may shuffle your deck).

□ When you encounter a card, you may recharge a spell or an armor to draw a card.

□ When you succeed at a check to defeat a bane (□ or to acquire a Magic boon), you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is Magus Arcana, you may recharge a spell to draw it.

MEDIUM (CD Erasmus)

Gain the Medium trait.

Add “OR CHOOSE 1 CARD TYPE” to your FAVORED CARD.

Add “COHORT: SPIRIT RELATIVES” to your DECK LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On your check, after the roll, you may bury a card to add or subtract 1d4 (□ +1) from the result.

□ At the start of any turn, you may choose a card type and recharge every card of that type; add (□ 1 plus) the number of cards recharged to your checks until the end of the turn.

□ On another local character’s check that uses any skill marked on the cohort Spirit Relatives, add 1d4 (□ +1).

□ You may bury (□ or discard) a card to move a marker on the cohort Spirit Relatives.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card in your hand with a card of the same type in your discards.

MESMERIST (CD Meligaster)

Gain the Mesmerist trait.

Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Perception: Intelligence +2.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a card to use Arcane + 1d4 (□ 2d4) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Magic, and Mental traits. This counts as playing a spell.

□ On your first check on any turn to acquire an ally or defeat a monster, add 2. (□ If you defeat the monster and would banish it, you may draw it.)

□ On your check to defeat or acquire, you may reveal an ally or a monster to add 1d4 (□ +1). If you fail the check, recharge the revealed card.

□ When you fail a check to defeat a non-villain monster, you may bury a card to reduce any damage you suffer to 0.

□ When you would recharge, discard, or bury an ally from your hand for its power, you may return it to the vault instead to recharge a new ally.

MONK (Core Sajan)

Gain the Monk trait.

Add “OR BLESSING” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +2. For your combat check, you may recharge a card to use Acrobatics + 1d6 (□ 1d10 and add the Magic trait) plus the card’s level and add the Bludgeoning and Melee traits.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 weapons as spells, armors, or items.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 weapons as spells, armors, or items.

□ On your combat or Acrobatics check, you may freely play 1 blessing (□ or 2 blessings).

□ When you play a blessing on your check, you may recharge it instead of discarding it. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 7 blessings as weapons, spells, or armors.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Perception: Wisdom +1.

□ When you suffer Combat (□ or any) damage, reduce it by 1.

NINJA (CD Reiko)

Gain the Ninja trait.

Add “OR WEAPON OR POISON CARD” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Ranged weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Acrobatics: Dexterity +2 and Stealth: Dexterity +2.

□ On your combat (□ or Acrobatics or Stealth) check, if you are the only local character, you may reveal a Poison card or recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ or your Charisma) and the Poison trait.

□ You may evade your encounter. (□ Then you may either examine the top card of your location or move.)

□ On your check that invokes Finesse or Poison, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2.

□ On a distant combat check, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ and add 2 if it is a Poison card).

OCCULTIST (CD Mavaro)

Gain the Occultist trait.

Add “OR CHOOSE 1 CARD TYPE” to your FAVORED CARD.

When building your deck, you may treat 1 or more cards of 1 type of boon as boons of your favored card type.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Arcane spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor and Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 weapons and 1 armor as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Play with the top card of your deck faceup. Gain all skills that could be used to acquire that card equal to your Knowledge skill. (□ You may also add any of that card’s traits to your checks.)

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a card to search your deck for a card and set it aside; shuffle your deck, then reload that card.

□ On your check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d6 (□ 2d6).

□ When you acquire a card of your favored card, draw a new card of that type; keep 1 and banish the other.

ORACLE (CD Alahazra)

Gain the Oracle trait.

Add “OR BLESSING” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ For your combat check, you may discard the top card of your deck to use Divine +2d4 (□ 2d6) plus that card’s level and add the Attack, Divine, and Magic traits. This counts as playing a spell. (□ If the discarded card is a spell, you may recharge it instead.)

□ When you examine 1 or more cards from a character deck or location, you may examine an additional card.

□ When you succeed at a check that invokes Attack during your exploration, you may move after you resolve the encounter.

□ When you start your turn with no blessings in your hand, you may draw a card (□ and then you may recharge a card).

□ At the (□ start and/or) end of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location.

PSYCHIC (CD Rivani)

Gain the Psychic trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane and Mental. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 Mental spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your Perception or Ranged (□ or Acrobatics, Craft, or Disable) check, you may recharge a card to use Knowledge instead.

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a spell (□ or a boon) to add 1d4 to your Arcane check.

□ During your move step, instead of moving, you may examine the top card of your location, then you may shuffle the location (□ or recharge a card to recharge a random card from your discards).

□ When you would discard cards as damage, you may recharge up to 2 (□ 4) of those cards instead.

RANGER (Core Harsk)

Gain the Ranger trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +1 and Survival: Constitution +2.

□ On any combat check, you may recharge a card or reload a weapon to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2. You are proficient with Ranged Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your check that invokes the Axe or Bow trait, add 1d6 (□ 1d8); against a Giant monster, add another 1d4.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. At the (□ start or) end of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location.

□ When you would discard an Axe or Bow card for its power, you may recharge it.

(I got rid of the option to shuffle the location after examining the top card of your location – second power from the bottom.)

ROGUE (Core Merisiel)

Gain the Rogue trait.

Add “OR ITEM OR KNIFE WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Disable: Dexterity +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 items as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. When you encounter a card, if you are the only local character (□ or it is not your turn), you may evade it.

□ You are proficient with Weapon. When you would recharge or discard a Knife weapon for its power, you may reload it instead. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Knife weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your combat check (□ or on a local check to acquire), you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to add 1d6 (□ 1d8).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +2. When you encounter a bane, you may recharge a card to ignore a bane’s before acting powers.

□ On your check to acquire, if you are the only local character, you may reroll a die.

SAMURAI (CD Hayato)

Gain the Samurai trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: JINFU” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Warhorse as a cohort. Add “COHORT: WARHORSE” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2 and you are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ On your first combat check of your turn, add 1d6 (□ 1d10).

□ On your (□ or a local character’s) non-combat check against a monster, you may recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ 1d10).

□ When you play the cohort Jinfu or Warhorse or discard a Mount card for its power, you may recharge a random card from your discards (□ or recharge the card you played and reload a random card from your discards).

□ When you play the cohort Jinfu or Warhorse to explore your location, you may reload him instead of recharging him.

SHAMAN (WotR Shardra)

Gain the Shaman trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: KOLO” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Kolo as a cohort. Add “COHORT: KOLO” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ When a local character would fail a check to defeat a bane, you may recharge a spell to allow them to reroll.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Wisdom +2. When you succeed at a Knowledge check, you may examine the top card (□ or 2 cards) of your (□ or any) location.

□ When you defeat a bane, you may recharge a spell from your discards (□ and draw a card).

□ On your check to defeat a barrier (□ or close or guard your location), you may use Knowledge instead of the listed skill.

SHIFTER (CD Zova)

Gain the Shifter trait.

Add “OR ANIMAL CARD” to your FAVORED CARD.

When you draw or reset your hand, choose a hand size 1 (□ or 2) lower or higher than the hand size on your character or role card.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Animal spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ When you would banish an Animal spell (□ or discard an Animal ally) for its power, you may instead recharge it.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. On your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check, you may discard (□ or recharge) an Animal card to add your Survival. If it is a combat check and you did not play a weapon, add (□ twice) that card’s level and the Animal and Melee traits.

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. You may discard a card to move after your exploration (□ or to evade your encounter).

□ When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. Monsters in your hand gain the Animal trait.

SKALD (CotCT Hakon)

Gain the Skald trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Instrument.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 weapons as armors, items, or blessings.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card with a card of the same type (□ or a weapon or an Instrument card) from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. On a local Strength check (□ or a local check against a monster), you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Diplomacy.

□ At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

□ Gain the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 and Divine: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings. (□ Add 1d6 to your checks to acquire blessings and recharge spells.)

SLAYER (MM Zadim)

Gain the Slayer trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +2. You may recharge a card to examine the top card of your location.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Poison. On your check that invokes Poison, (□ or is against a Trigger card), you may recharge a card to add your Intelligence (□ +2).

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. On a local combat check, you may discard (□ or recharge) a non-2-Handed weapon to add your Stealth.

□ When a Poison item requires you to banish or bury a card from your hand or deck, you may discard (□ or recharge) it instead.

□ When you defeat a monster, you may examine the top card of your location.

SORCERER (Core Seoni)

Gain the Sorcerer trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Knowledge: Intelligence +1.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Arcane spell) to use Arcane + 2d4 (□ 2d6) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Force, and Magic traits. This counts as playing an Arcane spell.

□ On your check to recharge an Arcane spell (□ or an Arcane item), you automatically succeed. (□ You may instead shuffle it into your deck.)

□ Gain the skill Perception: Intelligence +2. On a local check against a barrier, you may recharge a spell (□ or boon) to add 1d4.

SPIRITUALIST (CD Estra)

Gain the Spiritualist trait.

Add “OR LOOT ALLY HONAIRE” to your FAVORED CARD.

Add the following to your DECK LIST: “When building your deck, include the loot ally Honaire as 1 of your allies.”

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

□ At the end of your move step, you may examine the top card of your location. You may bury (□ or discard) a card to encounter the card; during this encounter, add 1d6 (□ +1) to your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution checks.

□ When you succeed at a combat check, you may draw a card.

□ When the ally Honaire would be shuffled into your deck, you may set it aside and, after shuffling, reload it.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange an ally (□ or a blessing) in your hand with an ally in your discards.

□ When you suffer damage, you may reveal the ally Honaire to reduce it by 2.

SUMMONER (CD Balazar)

Gain the Summoner trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one Eidolon cohort. Add “COHORT: [EIDOLON COHORT NAME]” to your DECK LIST. Treat that card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

After you play an Attack spell, bury it.

You may banish a monster from your hand to (□ draw a card or to) add 1d4 (□ 1d6) plus the monster’s level to a local combat check (□ or to reduce damage a local character suffers by 1 plus the monster’s level)(□ or to recharge a spell from your discards).

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 non-Attack spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ You may recharge (□ or shuffle into your deck) a spell to draw a new monster.

□ When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. (□ When you defeat a summoned monster, you may draw a new monster.)

□ When you would draw a new monster, draw 2 and choose 1.

SWASHBUCKLER (S&S Jirelle)

Gain the Swashbuckler trait.

Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ You are proficient with Finesse Weapon. On your check that invokes Finesse, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Finesse weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your Swashbuckling check, you may reroll 1 die (□ or 2 dice).

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2. You may recharge an ally to recharge a random card from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Charisma +2. Reduce Structural damage to your ship by 1.

□ When you acquire a Finesse or Swashbuckling card, you may immediately recharge it to explore again (□ or to draw a card).

□ When you defeat a monster on your exploration, if any of your checks to defeat had the Swashbuckling trait, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On your check, you may reveal a Swashbuckling card to add the Swashbuckling trait.

WARPRIEST (CD Oloch)

Gain the Warpriest trait.

Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, items, or allies.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as items or allies.

□ When another local character fails a check to defeat a monster, they may discard a card (□ or recharge a blessing) to evade the monster, then you encounter it.

□ When you attempt a check, you may display any number of blessings and spells; for each card displayed, add 1 (□ 2). Before you reset, recharge the displayed cards. (□ You may reset at the start of your turn.)

□ On a local check to defeat a monster, you may recharge a blessing or a spell to add 1d4 (□ +1) and the Magic trait.

WITCH (CD Feiya)

Gain the Witch trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Select one Familiar cohort. Add “COHORT: [FAMILIAR COHORT NAME]” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Daji as a cohort. Add “COHORT: DAJI” to your DECK LIST.

Treat that card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and Diplomacy: Charisma +2. On a local check to acquire an ally or defeat a barrier (□ or a monster), you may recharge a card to reduce the difficulty of that check by 1 (□ 2) plus the card’s level.

□ When you fail to defeat a non-story bane monster, you may recharge a spell to shuffle the monster into a random (□ or any) other open location.

□ When you would remove a Curse or scourge, you may draw it instead. You may banish a Curse or scourge from your hand to add 1d4 to a local combat check (□ or to recharge a spell from your discards).

□ On your turn, you may mark a displayed Familiar cohort (□ or reload an Animal, Arcane, or Vermin ally) to examine the top card of your location.

WIZARD (Core Ezren)

Gain the Wizard trait.

Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 7 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Knowledge: Intelligence +2.

□ At the start of your turn, you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is a spell, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ On your turn, you may recharge a spell to examine the top card of your location. If you do, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On a local check against a Magic card, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ When you examine the top card of a location or deck, you may examine the top 2 cards instead.

□ When you defeat a card using a non-combat check, you may draw a card.

(I selected the bottom power instead of the one conferring the Perception skill because Perception isn’t listed as one of the wizard class skills in the Core Rulebook.)

If all of the reconciliation points (in bold at the top of this post) are satisfactory, we’ll forward with the next step in this stage.

Alain’s Glory Hound power isn’t an avenge action, nor does it modify an avenge action, so the language shouldn’t be changed to “avenge.”

We’ve now hit the two areas of potential imbalance in this whole idea: power combinations and hand sizes.

I think there will be one or more ways to deal with power combinations, but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to deal with hand sizes. The second is probably less problematic than the first, but we’ll see. Regardless, we’ll get to both problems later. There are likely to be numerous potential problems in these two areas so it will be easy to get distracted. For now, I want to focus on getting each of the classes down to properly representative powers from the corresponding character/role cards. Once we get the powers “finalized,” we’ll look at the potential problems and develop solutions, which might entail changing some of the powers, but might be resolved through other means.

Jenceslav’s recommendations about the cavalier/samurai made me realize that there’s a problem with the cavalier as previously presented. I omitted a power conferring the Armor proficiency and the deck modification to allow the multiclassed cavalier to include armor cards in their deck. Since some characters won’t have any/enough armor cards, we have to include this power. While I was able to tie the samurai’s Armor proficiency in with the Fortitude skill, Alain doesn’t have that skill.

Here’s the version for the samurai:

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2 and you are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as spells, allies, or blessings.

Normally, I would try to integrate the proficiency with an appropriate skill and/or power. However, Alain has neither. The only solution I can see is to add the skill and proficiency as a new power (following the precedent we’ve followed with many of the other classes), aligning with Alain’s proficiency and deck list, which allows 3 armors in his starting deck:

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as spells, allies, or blessings.

If we were to do this, we would have to get rid of one of the cavalier’s current power feats. It would have to be one of the two in blue text below:

□ You may recharge (□ or reload) a weapon or an armor to search your deck or discards for a Mount card and draw it.

□ On your turn, you may discard (□ or reload) a Mount card to move to a distant location and examine the top card of that location. If it is a monster, you may encounter it.

My preference is the second as the cavalier could instead take the first power to draw the Mount card from their deck or discards.

Actually, the first power quoted above uses an armor card, so that might be an area where we can integrate the proficiency and deck modification. My concern is that this power then becomes too powerful. Maybe. It’s still worth considering, and would look something like:

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as spells, allies, or blessings. You may recharge (□ or reload) a weapon or an armor to search your deck or discards for a Mount card and draw it.

If we were to do this, we wouldn’t need to remove any power feats from those that were previously recommended.

The interesting thing about the cavalier and samurai is that, despite the appropriate similarities, most of their powers are distinct. Yes, each has a Mount cohort and power feats to confer Melee skill/proficiency/weapon cards and Armor proficiency/armor cards, and each has powers for getting their Mount back into their hand, but the other powers are very distinct. Players, then, can examine which of the two multiclass cards offers the powers that they think work best for them, whether through Donahan/Jinfu, through the class’s powers, or both. This is similar to how arcanists, sorcerers, and wizards are all Arcane spellcasters, but each functions in a slightly different way.

Psychic - ... I'm in favour of replacing "(+2)" with other powers, as I believe there are too many power feats in one line.

PSYCHIC MULTICLASS

Gain the Psychic trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane and Mental. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 Mental spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your Perception or Ranged (□ or Acrobatics, Craft, or Disable) check, you may recharge a card to use Knowledge instead.

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a spell (□ or a boon) to add 1d4 (□ +2) to your Arcane check.

□ During your move step, instead of moving, you may examine the top card of your location, then you may shuffle the location.

□ When you would discard cards as damage, you may recharge up to 2 (□ 4) of those cards instead.

Personally, since the subsequent power feats aren’t successive (i.e., a player could choose any of them without having to choose any of the others first), I’m not concerned about four total power feats for a single power. However, we could replace that power feat if others agree. While I asked a follow-up question to see if any of the other power feats in that power could be removed, the other power feats are part of the core character and the +2 power feat is the only one that is available as part of a role (Rivani’s Psychic Duelist role), so the +2 power feat is the appropriate one to remove if we decide to remove one of those three power feats. In that case, I recommend the following (removed power feat struck through and replacement power feat in blue text):

PSYCHIC MULTICLASS

Gain the Psychic trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane and Mental. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 Mental spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your Perception or Ranged (□ or Acrobatics, Craft, or Disable) check, you may recharge a card to use Knowledge instead.

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a spell (□ or a boon) to add 1d4 (□ +2) to your Arcane check.

□ During your move step, instead of moving, you may examine the top card of your location, then you may shuffle the location (□ or recharge a card to recharge a random card from your discards).

□ When you would discard cards as damage, you may recharge up to 2 (□ 4) of those cards instead.

The replacement power feat comes from the Psychic Duelist role, preserving the pattern of drawing additional power feats as evenly as possible from both of the roles available to the iconic character.

Based on the recommendations made by Jenceslav, the following changes have been made (removed text is struck through and replacement text is blue):

BLOODRAGER MULTICLASS

Gain the Bloodrager trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) spells as armors, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Melee weapons as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as items, allies, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Survival: Wisdom +2.

□ On your Arcane, Melee, or Strength check, you may bury a card to add 1d10 (□ +1)(□ +2) and the Electricity or Force trait; if the check (□ or the card) has the Attack trait, you may recharge the card instead.

□ When you defeat a monster (□ or acquire a spell), you may move or reload the bottom card of your deck, then end your turn.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane.

INQUISITOR MULTICLASS

Gain the Inquisitor trait. Add “OR BLESSING OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as a weapon, armor, or ally.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: ○ Strength +2 or ○ Dexterity +2 (select one) and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. When you defeat a monster on your turn, you may recharge a card (□ then you may draw a card).

□ When you would discard or bury a Ranged card for its power, you may recharge it (□ or shuffle it into your deck) instead.

□ On a distant (□ or local) combat check, you may recharge a Divine card to add (□ 1 of that card’s traits and) 1d4.

□ On your check to acquire or recharge a Divine boon, add 2.

There are some alternatives to the way that power has been formatted:

□ Gain the skill ○ Ranged: Strength +2 or ○ Ranged: Dexterity +2 (select one) and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or allies.

□ Select one of the following:

○ Gain the skill Ranged: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or allies.

○ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or allies.

It comes down to which version is the most clear and concise.

MEDIUM MULTICLASS

Gain the Medium trait. Add “OR YOUR CHOICE CHOOSE 1 CARD TYPE” to your FAVORED CARD.

Add “COHORT: SPIRIT RELATIVES” to your DECK LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On your check, after the roll, you may bury a card to add or subtract 1d4 (□ +1) from the result.

□ At the start of any turn, you may choose a card type and recharge every card of that type; add (□ 1 plus) the number of cards recharged to your checks until the end of the turn.

□ On another local character’s check that uses any skill marked on the cohort Spirit Relatives, add 1d4 (□ +1).

□ You may bury (□ or discard) a card to move a marker on the cohort Spirit Relatives.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card in your hand with a card of the same type in your discards.

NINJA MULTICLASS

Gain the Ninja trait. Add “OR CARD THAT HAS THE POISON TRAIT OR WEAPON OR POISON CARD” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Ranged weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Acrobatics: Dexterity +2 and Stealth: Dexterity +2.

□ On your combat (□ or Acrobatics or Stealth) check, if you are the only local character, you may reveal a Poison card or recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ or your Charisma) and the Poison trait.

□ You may evade your encounter. (□ Then you may either examine the top card of your location or move.)

□ On your check that invokes Finesse or Poison, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2.

□ On a distant combat check, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ and add 2 if it is a Poison card).

OCCULTIST MULTICLASS

Gain the Occultist trait. Add “OR YOUR CHOICE CHOOSE 1 CARD TYPE” to your FAVORED CARD.

When building your deck, you may treat 1 or more cards of 1 type of boon as boons of your favored card type.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Arcane spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor and Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 weapons and 1 armor as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Play with the top card of your deck faceup. Gain all skills that could be used to acquire that card equal to your Knowledge skill. (□ You may also add any of that card’s traits to your checks.)

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a card to search your deck for a card and set it aside; shuffle your deck, then reload that card.

□ On your check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d6 (□ 2d6).

□ When you acquire a card of your favored card, draw a new card of that type; keep 1 and banish the other.

SHIFTER MULTICLASS

Gain the Shifter trait. Add “OR CARD THAT HAS THE ANIMAL TRAIT CARD” to your FAVORED CARD.

When you draw or reset your hand, choose a hand size 1 (□ or 2) lower or higher than the hand size on your character or role card.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Animal spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ When you would banish an Animal spell (□ or discard an Animal ally) for its power, you may instead recharge it.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. On your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check, you may discard (□ or recharge) an Animal card to add your Survival. If it is a combat check and you did not play a weapon, add (□ twice) that card’s level and the Animal and Melee traits.

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. You may discard a card to move after your exploration (□ or to evade your encounter).

□ When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. Monsters in your hand gain the Animal trait.

And some follow-up questions/comments…

Do you want to incorporate "new" keywords like avenge from Core versions of character classes that form a basis of the pre-Core characters?

Do you have any specific recommendations for where updated wording should be used?

Psychic - ... I'm in favour of replacing "(+2)" with other powers, as I believe there are too many power feats in one line.

Which of the power feats on Rivani’s character/role cards do you recommend as a replacement? And should we replace the (□ +2) power feat or one of the other power feats on that line?

Also, I thought more about your recommendation for the warpriest and I’m even more in the camp of keeping it as it is right now. While we’re focused on the powers/power feats at this stage, two of the other factors in character balance are deck composition and hand size. Oloch’s power (either version of Oloch) is limited by his small hand size. Both versions of Oloch start with a hand size of 4, with power feats of up to 7 (S &S Battle Chaplain role), 6 (S&S Shield of Gorum and CD Gorum’s Champion roles), or 5 (CD Blackened Blade role). Both versions of Oloch start with 4 weapons with card feats of up to 6, and 5 blessings with card feats of up to 7. Importantly, those hand size increases require power feats. With either version of Oloch, each time he displays a card to add to a check, he loses the ability to use that card for some other purpose at that time. Blessings are one of the key methods for gaining additional explorations. Both versions of Oloch start with 0 allies and have a single card feat to have 1 ally. So Oloch’s ability to perform multiple explorations is extremely limited. Other characters, however, might have larger hand sizes, more spells/blessings, and more allies; so they might be able to (a) add to more checks, and (b) have more explorations than Oloch. In this, the Skull & Shackles power that allows Oloch to add to other characters’ checks becomes much more powerful as a Warpriest multiclass power. The Warpriest Class Deck power is slightly more powerful, but is much less impactful than its S&S counterpart.

I’ve brought hand size issues up in the past, but only in passing. We’ll look it in more depth after we hammer out our “starting” powers for each of the classes as part of our overall look at game balance (which includes the “stacking” issue that Jenceslav brought up). The Oloch/warpriest example is a good illustration of the issue, however, and should be kept in mind when we get to that step of the process.

One important consideration is that, to the greatest extent possible, everything done here in Stage 1, should be based on the characters as they are (which includes the outcomes of the Core Character Conversion Project). There are limitations in doing that, I know, but Stage 1 represents the most conservative outcome, making it the most likely to be acceptable by the largest number of players. If at all possible, I’m trying to avoid redesigning anything here, limiting us to the powers as found on the cards. Even when incorporating “new” things in this stage, the roots of each of those can be (or should be) traceable back to the cards. There are a lot of areas where I would like to “fix” classes, but I see those as part of a later stage effort. These will result in more creative outcomes that might be less acceptable to some players/groups.

The core principle here is that anything not found on the representative character’s card should be a very rare exception, incorporated only because nothing else on that character’s card seems to be appropriate. Even then, the “new” things should be drawn from other versions of that character or other representatives of the same class.

…archetype cards…

Just a clarification: These aren’t archetype cards. I know that the source of that confusion is the topic title because that’s how I originally envisioned them. These are multiclass cards, representing the core aspects of each of the classes. Archetypes are more appropriately represented by role cards.

Design-wise, many of these character powers are very similar to (or even verbatim with) the iconic powers of another class.

Yes. I believe this was a deliberate decision on the part of the developers (Lone Shark) and can be traced back to two things. The first is accurately representing the classes based on their PFRPG counterparts; and the second is limited design space (though we saw the developers exercise a lot of creativity as class/character decks evolved and they experimented with incorporating a lot more welcome variety).

Understanding that the first four adventure paths and all the class/character decks were based on PFRPG 1e, the similarities can be traced back to the PFRPG rulebooks of that edition. The majority can be traced back to the Advanced Class Guide, with the following classes given as hybrids of certain classes:

arcanist (sorcerer and wizard)
bloodrager (barbarian and sorcerer)
brawler (fighter and monk)
hunter (druid and ranger)
investigator (alchemist and rogue)
shaman (oracle and witch)
skald (barbarian and bard)
slayer (ranger and rogue)
swashbuckler (fighter and gunslinger)
warpriest (fighter and cleric)

In many cases, though the thematics of how things worked might be different, the mechanical aspects (i.e., the rules) were often shared (in both games).

We also saw similar concepts applied in multiple characters. For example, these two blog posts provide an excellent example:

Mike’s Best Character Ever: Darago
Hell’s Vengeance 2, All Hell Breaks Loose

The first describes how the “Mancer” template was first implemented with Darago in the Wizard Class Deck, and later refined with Balazar in Wrath of the Righteous (and then in the Summoner Class Deck, along with the other summoners). The second addresses how that template was later refined with Nyctessa. If we look further, we can see how the concept was similarly adapted for other characters such as Zvarbel in the Magus Class Deck and Zova’s Weretouched role in the Ultimate Wilderness Add-On Deck.

Ultimately, this leads to the second point about limited design space. Practically speaking, there are a finite number of things that can be done given the limitations of the game. While many things can be varied by small changes such as timing, traits, card types, etc., it is inevitable that some things will be either identical or nearly identical, especially when powers reflect related classes/concepts. Even when individual powers are identical/similar, overall distinction is found in the aggregate – the combination of the character’s skills, deck list, powers, and their actual deck. Even if two versions of Core Valeros are identical in terms of the feats checked on their character and role cards, they will be slightly different in terms of the cards in their decks. The same thing applies on these multiclass cards. While some of the classes have individual powers that are identical to or remarkably similar to those of other classes, there is variation in their other powers. When you combine that with the powers of the characters’ original classes, the variation increases. For example, Rise of the Runelords Valeros using the Bard multiclass card will be different from Skull & Shackles Valeros using the same card even if the exact same powers are checked on the Bard multiclass card.

A benefit of having identical/similar powers across different multiclass cards is that players have options when selecting their second class, allowing them to find the class that is best suited to the character. If a party needs to add Arcane spellcasting via a multiclass card, they might consider Arueshalae (Wrath of the Righteous) or any version of Valeros using either the Sorcerer or Summoner multiclass cards since the Arcane skill of those classes is tied to Charisma, for which both Valeros and Arueshalae have d12. Alternatively, Mummy’s Mask Damiel or Gunslinger CD Skizza might consider either the Arcanist or Wizard multiclass cards since their d10 Intelligence would provide a decent Arcane skill. A party that is looking for ways to examine cards in location decks might pick the Oracle, Ranger, or Slayer multiclass card, depending on which character in their party is best suited for one of those classes (based on whatever criteria they choose, though I would lean towards skill scores).

With regard to creating a larger range of powers, I see Stage 2 as providing a great opportunity as we’ll see more powers for each of the classes. I want to focus on Stage 1 for now, however, so I’m not going to discuss how that will work (though I’m preparing for that stage offline).

However, this leads to another question - stacking of powers. Suppose the archetype card gives a power that is similar / identical that a character gains from the "base class" whose design is incorporated into the iconic archetype character? If a character chooses a power that lets them do the same thing they already know, how would it work? Core Lem - Medium would do the recharge / draw from discards twice?

Now we get to an issue that has been a concern of mine but which I haven’t addressed. I think there are going to be multiple combinations of stacked powers that we will have to address so that we can refine things.

Using the Core Lem – Medium example that you’ve provided, we have Core Lem’s power:

At the end of your turn, you may discard a card to recharge (□ or to shuffle into your deck) a card from your discards.

Meanwhile, the Medium multiclass card [currently] has the following power (which is verbatim from Occult Adventures Character Deck 2 Erasmus):

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card in your hand with a card of the same type in your discards.

To answer your question, yes, the character would have two opportunities to recharge one card from their discards, one at the start of the turn (Medium) and one at the end (Core Lem).

More interesting is another power on the Medium multiclass card (again, verbatim from Occult Adventures Character Deck 2 Erasmus):

□ At the start of any turn, you may choose a card type and recharge every card of that type; add (□ 1 plus) the number of cards recharged to your checks until the end of the turn.

Again, if the character has this power checked, Core Lem multiclassing as a medium would have both opportunities to recharge one or more cards from his discards; and if he takes both of the quoted medium powers, he would then have three such opportunities. Core Lem multiclassing as a medium, then, could become very adept at recharging cards from his discards. The opportunity cost of doing this, however, would be the other powers on his role/character card and on the Medium multiclass card.

Would that make Core Lem multiclassing as a medium too powerful? I don’t know. It’s quite possible, but that’s an area where playtesting needs to be conducted.

There are likely a lot of combinations where a certain character might create exploits with certain multiclass cards. All need to be considered and, if determined to be unbalanced [overpowerful], we’ll have to develop mitigations. Such mitigations might be prohibitions on certain combinations, changes to powers, etc. What I see us doing at this point in time is developing a good starting set of powers for each class – ideally finding combinations of powers that we feel are suitably representative of the class. Once we get all of those done, we can then perform the exhaustive work of looking at each character, cross-referencing them with each of the multiclass cards, and finding potential exploits. We can then develop our mitigations.

Do you want to incorporate "new" keywords like avenge from Core versions of character classes that form a basis of the pre-Core characters?

As a general rule, if we developed the Core wording as part of the Core Character Conversion Project, or if we should have developed the Core wording in that project, I’m all for using it here. I don’t want to introduce new powers that don’t exist on the cards, however (not at this point, anyways).

Cavalier and Samurai (who is part of cavalier in TT PF, as you say)

In your take, you focused on the same thing in both archetype cards - mounts. wiki says that JP Samurai were skilled in martial weapons, archery and horsemanship, so OK, but looking at them solely as mounted warriors might be wrong. When I thought about this, I remembered Eric from D&D cartoon - a "cavalier", who leaned toward the hero aspect of protecting others, with no horse around... ever. This is similar to honourable fights between two samurai (no one should interfere) and to Alain's powers (fighting with no help).

My take on the cohorts is that PACG characters who have cohorts are built around those cohorts. You can’t separate the character from the cohort without handicapping the character. Estra without Honaire, for example, is completely hamstrung; any witch without their cohort is similarly underpowered. Since we’re basing each of these classes on the iconic character, those with cohorts must retain their cohort or some suitable substitute to preserve game balance. It’s worth noting that neither the cavalier nor samurai been preserved as a class in PFRPG 2e. The cavalier has become a core archetype and is explicitly described as specializing “in fighting astride a powerful animal companion that serves as [his] mount.” The samurai class hasn’t even been addressed, in-game lore changes indicating that the samurai [societal] class is now extinct. So the cavalier isn’t likely to be covered until we start working on archetypes (i.e., roles).

Bloodrager - I am in favour of replacing +2 with "(□ or the card)"

Just to be clear, you’re recommending that instead of:

□ On your Arcane, Melee, or Strength check, you may bury a card to add 1d10 (□ +1)(□ +2) and the Electricity or Force trait; if the check has the Attack trait, you may recharge the card instead.

we’ll have:

□ On your Arcane, Melee, or Strength check, you may bury a card to add 1d10 (□ +1) and the Electricity or Force trait; if the check (□ or the card) has the Attack trait, you may recharge the card instead.

Is that correct?

Hunter - … "you encounter" is superfluous in the evade power?

That’s a good question. I assumed that there’s either a solid design reason or some edge-case someone brought up that compelled the retention of that verbiage when we conducted the Core Character Conversion Project. If it was simply an oversight, however, we can remove it.

Inquisitor - the Ranged=Strength +2 seems to me as Imrijka thing and not an Inquisitor's inherent take. Other Inquisitors have different weapon preferences (and thus, proficience). Maybe you can use the radio box to choose one of options?

You are probably correct about the association of Ranged with Strength being an Imrijka thing; and a radio button allowing Ranged to be associated with either Strength or Dexterity for the inquisitor might be appropriate. This then leads to questions about both Melee and Ranged with every class. If we assume that either sub-skill might be associated with either skill, there are probably many other classes to which we might apply this. There are probably a few where we wouldn’t do this, such as the gunslinger, rogue, and swashbuckler, however. Similarly, while there are a few classes for which a character might have both Melee and Ranged (i.e., two separate power feats – fighter, magus, etc.), there may be others that should only have either Melee or Ranged (i.e., one power feat with a radio button for the sub-skill and another radio button for the skill). It would be interesting to review all the classes for which both are offered [on the multiclass card] and to determine which might be combined into a single power feat, necessitating the addition of a replacement power [feat].

Medium - Spirit Relatives is an Erasmus-type card, but probably OK in this phase. Having separate cards ~ Devil forms would be the best, I believe. Also, the wording for favoured card should be "OR Choose 1 Card Type" ~ Core Lem? Similarly in Occultist

On the separate cards, that’s something I intend to tackle in a later stage. For now, given the limitations of the available cards, we need to stick with the Spirit Relatives.

On the favored card recommendation, I agree (even though the “Your Choice” wording was on the original cards and was preserved in the Core Character Conversion Project). The original wording was for when the entry was “Favored Card Type” and it was clear that you were selecting weapon, item, etc. With the reduction of the entry to “Favored Card” the “Your Choice” might lead some to think that they get to choose the actual card. Realistically, this should probably be changed on the Core Character Conversion Project sheets.

Ninja - "OR Weapon OR Poison card"; Shifter - "OR Animal card"

Agreed (and those need to be changed on the Core Character Conversion Project sheets, too).

Psychic - I really like Mental proficiency / Mental spells, but would give it also to Mesmerist. Both sound similarly (and very strongly) Mental-focused. I'm in favour of replacing "(+2)" with other powers, as I believe there are too many power feats in one line.

Agreed. However, the mesmerist’s “For your combat check…” power makes this limitation untenable. It’s something that would have to be saved for a later stage, though the mesmerist doesn’t exist as a class in PFRPG 2e).

Shifter - I am in favour of using both role cards, not just one, even if it were a separate archetype.

In PFRPG 1e, a shifter is either an animal shifter (the baseline class) or an elemental shifter (an alternative archetype). We could preserve both options, but they would have to be exclusive. Using radio buttons would require that the powers are identical except for the associated traits. If that’s not viable, we can create two different Shifter multiclass cards, one for a Weretouched shifter and one for an Elemental shifter.

Oloch displays different boon types in both versions - blessing & W/Sp/Ar. To me, this power became associated with warpriest. Having these bonuses on different triggers, i.e. from the 3 character cards that use this mechanic, would be also an option. Then you would have to give the common mechanics in a separate line just below it, like this:

suggestion wrote:
□ On another character's check, you may display any number of blessings and weapons; for each card displayed, add 1 (□ 2).
□ On your check, you may display any number of blessings and spells; for each card displayed, add 1 (□ 2).
Before you reset, recharge the cards displayed for the powers above. (□ You may reset at the start of your turn.)

While I enjoyed the “On another character’s check” benefits of the Skull & Shackles version, too, we’re going to have to follow the pattern of confining things to the version from the Warpriest Class Deck. Besides, the last power (□ On a local check to defeat a monster, you may recharge a blessing or a spell to add 1d4 (□ +1) and the Magic trait), though limited to checks to defeat monsters, covers the aspect of buffing local characters’ checks. For what it’s worth, I’m looking into ways to incorporate your recommendation into Stage 2. It’s worth noting that the warpriest has become a sub-class of the cleric class, with the traditional cleric becoming a cloistered cleric. That makes things interesting.

Overall, this project is extremely thorough and complicated; communicating thoughts through posts is lengthy and may cause a loss of the context. Also, we cannot think everything through, so please consider my suggestions only as such; it would be best for others to also provide their opinion, so a single voice does not lead you away from your original idea ;)

Yes, this is definitely a complicated project; and with the expansion to include all the classes, it has definitely become very lengthy. I appreciate all of your input, however; and I’ll appreciate any input that others might provide, too. Stage 2 will be even more interesting. Despite the challenge of the project, I’m looking forward to the final products.

Okay, I’ve completed my first draft of the remaining classes (minus the vigilante – anyone desiring to play a vigilante can use the Blackjack role from Curse of the Crimson Throne).

I incorporated a few new things. The first is radio buttons. There are some powers where the player is offered a choice. When that choice is not a power feat, there are one or more radio buttons (i.e., circles instead of boxes). In all cases, only one such radio button may be selected, identifying the player’s choice. Most of these instances are where there are cohort options (more on that in a bit – cavalier, hunter, samurai, and shaman). There is one class, the hunter where the radio buttons appear in the middle of a power.

Note that the radio buttons don’t look very different from the checkboxes on the screen here, but they are clearly distinct on the actual cards.

Most of the classes presented below don’t have class decks. In most cases, then, only one cohort card is available for them. However, there are a few that were presented in the Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes series of miniatures from WizKids, and their cohorts were turned into allies or other types of boons. Alternatively, in the case of the cavalier and samurai, I’ve re-purposed a regular ally boon to be used in place of the cohort (when Donahan and Jinfu aren’t available, but the player has access to the Paladin class deck.

In addition, images of many of the cohort cards are shown on Paizo’s blog, so I’ve included links to those images.

Here are the classes in alphabetical order.

ARCANIST

The arcanist is only represented twice in the PACG product line, by two versions of the iconic character, Enora:

Enora (Wrath of the Righteous)
Enora (Ultimate Magic Add-On Deck Class Deck)

FAVORED CARD: Spell

SKILLS: Arcane, Diplomacy, Knowledge

HAND SIZE: 6 □ 7

PROFICIENCIES: Arcane

POWERS:

On your check to acquire or recharge a Magic boon, you may discard (□ or recharge) a Magic card to add 1d8.

After you play a spell, you may recharge a random spell from your discards.

For your combat check, you may discard a spell (□ or a Magic boon) to use Charisma + 1d6 (□ 2d6) and add that card’s level and the Arcane, Attack, Cold, and Magic traits. This counts as playing a spell.

The add-on deck version is generic and should serve as the generic arcanist for our purposes. Ultimately, the arcanist is much like the wizard, but with a focus on books and study. While AOD Enora has the Diplomacy skill, WotR Enora does not. Of her roles, Bookworm is the most relevant to her background, so I’ve drawn additional power feats from that role.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Arcanist multiclass card:

ARCANIST MULTICLASS

Gain the Arcanist trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. You may recharge a Book card to examine the top 3 cards of your location.

□ On your check to acquire or recharge a Magic boon, you may discard (□ or recharge) a Magic card to add 1d8.

□ After you play a spell, you may recharge a random spell (□ or a spell of your choice) from your discards.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a spell (□ or a Magic boon) to use Charisma + 1d6 (□ 2d6) and add that card’s level and the Arcane, Attack, Cold, and Magic traits. This counts as playing a spell.

□ When another character fails to acquire an Arcane spell or a Book item, you may recharge a card to encounter it.

I incorporated the Knowledge skill with the power to examine the top 3 cards of the character’s location from the Bookworm role.

The power feat to recharge a spell of the character’s choice after playing a spell also came from the Bookworm role.

The final power also came from the Bookworm role.

BLOODRAGER

Only one instance of the bloodrager appears in the PACG product line, and that in the demon-oriented Wrath of the Righteous adventure path.

FAVORED CARD: Weapon

SKILLS: Fortitude, Melee, Survival

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Weapon, □ Armor

POWERS:

On your Arcane, Melee, or Strength check, you may bury a card to add 1d10 (□ +1) and the Electricity or Force trait; if the check has the Attack trait, you may recharge the card instead.

When you defeat a monster, you may move or reload the bottom card of your deck, then end your turn.
□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +3 and you are proficient with Arcane.

The bloodrager provides us with an interesting challenge in that the base character has spells in his deck list, but has neither the Arcane skill nor proficiency. He can gain both as a power feat, however.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Bloodrager multiclass card:

BLOODRAGER MULTICLASS

Gain the Bloodrager trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) spells as armors, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Melee weapons as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as items, allies, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Survival: Wisdom +2.

□ On your Arcane, Melee, or Strength check, you may bury a card to add 1d10 (□ +1)( □ +2) and the Electricity or Force trait; if the check has the Attack trait, you may recharge the card instead.

□ When you defeat a monster (□ or acquire a spell), you may move or reload the bottom card of your deck, then end your turn.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane.

The +2 power feat in the bloodrager’s “bury” power feat is from the Mauler role. This one might be problematic in that it is sequential and the player would have to invest three power feats in that power.

The power feat expanding the condition from just defeating a monster to allow acquisition of a spell to serve as a trigger for either moving or reloading the bottom card of the bloodrager’s deck comes from the Spellrager role.

CAVALIER

There is only one instance of a cavalier appearing in the PACG product line: Alain in Wrath of the Righteous. The paladin (champion) Raz has some cavalier thematic elements, and the samurai, Hayato, is a sub-class of the cavalier, so both provide options in case WotR Alain is insufficient for our purposes.

FAVORED CARD: Weapon

COHORT: Donahan

SKILLS: Diplomacy, Melee, Perception

HAND SIZE: 4 □ 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Armor, Weapon

POWERS:

On your check to defeat a non-villain monster, you may discard a card to add 1 (□ 2) plus its level, and other characters may not play cards or use powers on this check. If undefeated, reload it to its location.

At the end of your turn, you may recharge any number of weapons (□ or allies or items).

The challenge with the cavalier is that Alain has a cohort: his warhorse, Donahan. Keeping the cavalier with minimal changes would entail every cavalier having a warhorse that functions exactly like Donahan. An alternative would be to re-purpose the Mount ally Warhorse, though this begins to look like a bit of redesigning.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Cavalier multiclass card:

CAVALIER MULTICLASS

Gain the Cavalier trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: DONAHAN” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Warhorse as a cohort. Add “COHORT: WARHORSE” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

□ On your check to defeat a non-villain monster, you may discard a card to add 1 (□ 2) plus its level, and other characters may not play cards or use powers on this check. If undefeated, reload it to its location.

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge any number of weapons (□ or allies or items).

□ You may recharge (□ or reload) a weapon or an armor to search your deck or discards for a Mount card and draw it.

□ On your turn, you may discard (□ or reload) a Mount card to move to a distant location and examine the top card of that location. If it is a monster, you may encounter it.

This is another case where I’ve used radio buttons to signal that the player may choose one (and only one) of the options. I opted to re-purpose the Mount ally Warhorse as a cohort. The alternative would have been to combine wording such as is used with Estra: “When building your deck, include the loot ally Honaire as 1 of your allies.” (found on both the Mummy’s Mask and Occult Adventures Character Deck 1 versions of her) with something ensuring that the Warhorse is in your starting hand (without becoming your FAVORED CARD) to emulate cohorts.

I used the two Mount-based powers from Alain’s Lancer role, though I considered swapping the second with his power to recharge Spear/Polearm weapons.

The Donahan card is only found in the Wrath of the Righteous Base Set, but you can find an image of the card on Paizo’s blog here.

The Warhorse card is found in the Paladin Class Deck, the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck, and the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure 2: Sword of Valor deck. There is no image of the card on Paizo’s blog, however.

HUNTER

The hunter is another class for which cohorts are an issue. The iconic hunter, Adowyn, is accompanied by her wolf companion, Leryn, while the other hunters are able to pick from a selection of cohorts in the Hunter Class Deck. There are two versions of Adowyn. The Hunter Class Deck version is probably the more generic of the two, though the first doesn’t have too much that is focused on the adventure path in which it appeared (Wrath of the Righteous).

FAVORED CARD: Ally

COHORT: Leryn

SKILLS: Divine, Ranged, Survival

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Divine, Weapon

POWERS:

After you defeat a monster (□ or a barrier) you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is an Animal card, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

You may recharge a card to evade a bane you encounter (□ or discard a card to allow another local character to do so). Then you may examine the top card of your location.

Multiple hunters are in the classic product line:

Adowyn (Wrath of the Righteous)
Adowyn (Hunter Class Deck)
Korundo (Hunter Class Deck)
Ukuja (Hunter Class Deck)

Adowyn is the iconic hunter and should serve as the basic example of a hunter’s skills, powers, and cards. Korundo is very adaptable, able to select and use an unchecked power each turn; and he’s Melee-oriented. Ukuja uses Animal allies in a very different way.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Hunter multiclass card:

HUNTER MULTICLASS

Gain the Hunter trait. Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: LERYN” to your DECK LIST.
○ Select one Hunter Class Deck cohort and add “COHORT: [HUNTER CLASS DECK COHORT NAME]” to your DECK LIST
○ Treat the ally Leryn as a cohort. Add “COHORT: LERYN” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as armors, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill ○ Melee: Strength +2 or ○ Ranged: Dexterity +2 (select one) and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. You may recharge a card to evade a bane you encounter(□ or discard a card to allow another local character to do so). Then you may examine the top card of your location.

□ After you defeat a monster(□ or a barrier) you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is an Animal card, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2.

□ On your check to recharge (□ or acquire) a spell, add 1d4.

The hunter’s cohort has been an interesting challenge, and I’ve done something creative, especially since there are three versions of Adowyn’s wolf cohort, Leryn. The first option is intended to allow you to use Leryn from the Wrath of the Righteous Character Add-On Deck as your cohort. Alternatively, you can use Leryn from the Hunter Class Deck (second option) or Leryn from the Iconic Heroes miniatures (third option). The second option also allows you to use any of the other cohorts from the Hunter Class Deck.

Most of the powers are straightforward lifts from CD Adowyn’s base character. For the combat skill, the power allows the player to select either Melee or Ranged, reflecting Adowyn/Ukuja and their Ranged preference and Korundo and his Melee preference. I used radio buttons here so that it is clear that the choice itself isn’t a power feat. Originally, I was going to make Melee and Ranged two separate powers, but that would have limited choices elsewhere. Since each of the official hunter characters has only one or the other, I figured it might be worth it to see if a single power in this format would be acceptable.

I incorporated the CD character’s second power (recharging to evade) into gaining the Survival skill. With three power feats remaining, I chose one power from each of her roles.

Since the Wrath of the Righteous version included the Stealth skill, it seemed only right to include that power feat from the Ambusher role. While I’ve generally tried to combine such conferred skills with other powers, I preserved the original form of just the single skill as its own power.

Since the character has limited spells, I figured the power enhancing the check to recharge spells might be helpful for players inclined to use the hunter class for its Divine spellcasting abilities.

The first version of Leryn can be found in the Wrath of the Righteous Character Add-On Deck, and an image of the card can be found on Paizo’s blog here.

The second version of Leryn can be found in the Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Set 5, and an image of the card can be found on Paizo’s blog here.

The third version of Leryn can be found in the Hunter Class Deck, and an image of the card can be found on Paizo’s blog here.

The other cohorts in the Hunter Class Deck include: Giant Chameleon, Pygmy Ankylosaur, Python (this is the only one for which an image is found on the Paizo blog), and White Tiger.

INQUISITOR

The inquisitor class first appeared in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path with the iconic Imrijka.

FAVORED CARD: Blessing or Weapon

SKILLS: Acrobatics, Divine, Perception, Ranged

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Divine, Weapon

POWERS:

When you defeat a monster on your turn, you may recharge a card (□ then you may draw a card).

When you would discard or bury a Ranged card for its power, you may recharge it instead.

On a distant (□ or local) combat check, you may recharge a Divine card to add (□ 1 of that card’s traits and) 1d4.

Multiple inquisitors are in the classic product line:

Imrijka (Wrath of the Righteous)
Imrijka (Inquisitor Class Deck)
Salim (Inquisitor Class Deck)
Varril (Inquisitor Class Deck)
Zelhara (Hell’s Vengeance 2 Character Deck)

Imrijka is the iconic inquisitor and should serve as the basic example of an inquisitor’s skills, powers, and cards. Her original incarnation seemed to focus on using her Divine power to enhance her checks and her ability to continue exploring after defeating monsters. Her CD version is more generic, bringing her more in line with a ranger (which the class has been rolled into in PFRPG 2e), albeit with some differences. Salim only has Melee when his check invokes Finesse, making him somewhat different from the typical inquisitor. Varril is very different from Imrijka, having much less of a combat focus and seeming to focus more on using his Divine skill/power. Zelhara, as an evil torturer, is very different from the others, incorporating elements of Salim and Varril in a sadomasochistic whole.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Class multiclass card:

INQUISITOR MULTICLASS

Gain the Inquisitor trait. Add “OR BLESSING OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as a weapon, armor, or ally.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. When you defeat a monster on your turn, you may recharge a card (□ then you may draw a card).

□ When you would discard or bury a Ranged card for its power, you may recharge it (□ or shuffle it into your deck) instead.

□ On a distant (□ or local) combat check, you may recharge a Divine card to add (□ 1 of that card’s traits and) 1d4.

□ On your check to acquire or recharge a Divine boon, add 2.

Most of the powers are adapted straight from CD Imrijka. There were two power feats remaining, so I selected one from each of Imrijka’s roles.

Both versions of Imrijka have only a single spell, with 1 or more card feats to increase to 2 or more. Salim has 0 spells, with a card feat to get 1, and Varril has 3 with two card feats for increases. I’ve simply gone with 2 here, without any feats to increase, for the sake of simplicity.

The first was the power feat to shuffle a Ranged card into the deck, a progression from one of the base powers, from the Fate’s Shepherd role.

The second was the final power enhancing rolls to acquire/recharge Divine boons, from the Gravecharge Keeper role. This seemed much more generic than the other powers.

KINETICIST

The kineticist has mastered one of the elements, using that element in much the same way as a spellcaster. This class, however, is among the occult classes.

FAVORED CARD: Spell

SKILLS: Acrobatics, Arcane, Fortitude

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Arcane, Fire

POWERS:

For your combat check, you may reveal a spell (□ or a blessing) to use Fortitude + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire, and Magic traits; you may additionally discard that card to add another 1d6 (□ plus the discarded card’s level).

On a local combat check, you may discard the top card of your deck to add 1d4 and the Fire trait. If it is a blessing (□ or a spell), add another 1d4.

When you reset, after you draw cards, you may set aside an equal number of random cards from your discards, bury 1, and heal the rest.

There are only two kineticist characters in the classic product line, each a different (though similar) version of the same character:

Yoon (Mummy’s Mask)
Yoon (Occult Adventures Character Deck 2)

While I’ve only presented the most recent version of the iconic character for each of the other classes, having only two versions of Yoon is instructive because each was developed at roughly the same time and they are slightly different. The version presented above is from the Occult Adventures Character Deck 2, which I assume is the more generic version. Here’s the version of Yoon from the Mummy’s Mask adventure path.

FAVORED CARD: Blessing

SKILLS: Acrobatics, Fortitude, Stealth

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Fire, □ Weapon

POWERS:

On your combat check, you may recharge (□ or shuffle into your deck) a blessing to add your Fortitude and the Fire trait. You may additionally discard any number of cards to add 1d6 (□ 1d8) for each card discarded.

When you suffer Acid, Cold, Electricity, or Fire damage, you may reveal a card that has a trait matching that type to reduce the damage by 3.

After recovery, you may recharge a blessing from your discards.

Each version of Yoon works in a similar manner, using a type of boon to use their Fire “magic” in combat. The Mummy’s Mask version uses blessings and adds the result to her combat check while the character deck version uses spells and those become her combat check. The former doesn’t have Arcane while the latter does. And while she has the Arcane skill in the character deck version, it’s really the Fortitude skill that her pyrokinesis is tied to in both versions. Both versions of Yoon work in a manner similar to Rise of the Runelords Seoni.

Gom-Gom is a Yoon thing and not a kineticist thing, so should be ignored. Acrobatics is almost certainly a Yoon thing and not a kineticist thing. More importantly, Yoon is clearly oriented towards the use of the Fire element, whereas each kineticist has a proclivity towards a different element: Aether, Air, Earth, Fire, and Water (from PFRPG 1e). Unlike some of the other classes, the trait for the element is essential for a kineticist. However, you can’t simply replace Yoon’s “Fire” with “Air” or “Earth” or any of the other traits. Some of those traits don’t exist [yet] in PACG. More importantly, even where there might be a suitable substitute trait for the element, the frequency of those traits is not equivalent to the frequency of the Fire trait. The trait affects the immunities and vulnerabilities of banes, damage from banes, and card usage by the kineticist. In a perfect world, there would be traits for each of the other elements that different types of kineticists can specialize in and there would be a relatively equal number of spells with each of those traits; and the banes with vulnerabilities/immunities to those traits would also be relatively equal (there might be differences within each adventure path, however). At best, the closest we have in terms of traits [to Fire] are Acid, Cold, and Force, none of which really works for the kineticists without stretching interpretations a bit. So a “generic” multiclass kineticist is really just a Fire kineticist without the Yoonisms (e.g., Gom-Gom and Acrobatics).

Even though I really like the Mummy’s Mask version, I’m going to stick with the plan and use the character deck version as that is likely intended to be the more generic version. It’s notable that Yoon has Arcane: Charisma +0. The Mummy’s Mask version didn’t even have the Arcane skill. My interpretation of this is that she isn’t intended to be a spellcaster, but is intended to use the spells for her pyrokinesis. Just being able to have/use spells gives her a bit of flexibility, but her lower Arcane means she’ll be less likely to recharge those spells (except for her third base power).

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Kineticist multiclass card:

KINETICIST MULTICLASS

Gain the Kineticist trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2 and you are proficient with Fire. For your combat check, you may reveal a spell (□ or a blessing) to use Fortitude + 1d8 and add the Attack, Fire, and Magic traits; you may additionally discard that card to add another 1d6 (□ plus the discarded card’s level).

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +0 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, and allies.

□ On a local combat check, you may discard the top card of your deck to add 1d4 and the Fire trait. If it is a blessing (□ or a spell), add another 1d4.

□ When you reset, after you draw cards, you may set aside an equal number of random cards from your discards, bury 1, and heal the rest.

□ On any local check to defeat a barrier, after the roll, you may add 1d10 (□ 2d6). After the check, each local character suffers 1d4 Fire damage.

□ When a local character suffers Fire damage, reduce it by 2.

Since the [pyro]kineticist’s essential power revolves around throwing fire around, I listed the Fortitude power and the adding of the Attack, Fire, and Magic traits first. The power conferring the Arcane skill/proficiency and the deck modification to include spells was separate. Of the various multiclass cards that I’ve presented, this is one of the few cases where two different powers (as I’ve presented them) are, or should be, intertwined in such a way that only having one will sub-optimize the character. This is offset somewhat by the third power, creating an interesting dynamic where the base character’s deck list will often drive which power the character chooses when the character becomes multiclassed as a kineticist. If the character’s base deck list already includes any number of spells, the first power might be sufficient. If the character’s base deck list doesn’t include any spells, however, taking either the second or third power might be preferable for throwing fireballs around.

The penultimate power comes from the Elemental Annihilator role.

The last power comes from the Herald of Gom-Gom role.

MEDIUM

The only instance we have of a medium in the PACG product line is Erasmus in the Occult Adventures 2 Character Deck:

FAVORED CARD: Your Choice

COHORT: Spirit Relatives

SKILLS: Arcane, Perception

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Arcane, Divine, Weapon

POWERS:

On your check, after the roll, you may bury a card to add or subtract 1d4 (□ +1) from the result.

At the start of any turn, you may choose a card type and recharge every card of that type; add (□ 1 plus) the number of cards recharged to your checks until the end of the turn.

□ On another local character’s check that uses any skill marked on the cohort Spirit Relatives, add 1d4.

The main challenge with adapting Erasmus is his cohort, Spirit Relatives. The main problem there is that you need the Occult Adventures 2 Character Deck to have this cohort. An alternative is to print the images of the front (used before you get a role) and back (used after you get a role) of the card as shown on the Paizo blog. In PFRPG 1e, mediums could channel six different types of spirits. Erasmus’s Spirit Relatives represent four different relatives, roughly equating to the archmage (Balsamo - Intelligence), champion (Nissa – Strength), hierophant (Veldira – Wisdom), and trickster (Baylock – Dexterity), though those are inexact. The guardian (protection and defense) and marshal (Charisma) aren’t fully represented, though some of their effects are scattered in the benefits conferred by the four spirit types that are available. I was tempted to omit this class since the deck is not available to everyone, but since the images of the cards are freely available and this card doesn’t need to be shuffled into any decks, players can use the cohort without too much loss of immersion. Realistically, the medium and various types of spirits would be good fodder for a variety of generic cohorts that players could choose, including a method akin to Radovan and his devil forms in the Pathfinder Tales character deck, but that would be a redesign, so I’ll save that for later. Regardless, in the meta, the medium has been redesigned into the animist class in PFRPG 2e, so designing that new class will be a separate effort.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Medium multiclass card:

MEDIUM MULTICLASS

Gain the Medium trait. Add “OR YOUR CHOICE” to your FAVORED CARD.

Add “COHORT: SPIRIT RELATIVES” to your DECK LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On your check, after the roll, you may bury a card to add or subtract 1d4 (□ +1) from the result.

□ At the start of any turn, you may choose a card type and recharge every card of that type; add (□ 1 plus) the number of cards recharged to your checks until the end of the turn.

□ On another local character’s check that uses any skill marked on the cohort Spirit Relatives, add 1d4 (□ +1).

□ You may bury (□ or discard) a card to move a marker on the cohort Spirit Relatives.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card in your hand with a card of the same type in your discards.

Both of Erasmus’s roles have the following power:

□ You may bury a card to move a marker on the cohort Spirit Relatives.

So adding that power was a no-brainer.

Each role also has one or two power feat progressions on that power. The Spirit Dancer role allows you to discard a card instead of burying it, and another power feat allows you to also put a second marker on the cohort until the end of the turn. The Storyteller role, meanwhile, allows you to put a second marker on the cohort instead of moving the marker, and that marker will remain on the cohort in perpetuity. I opted for the discard feat from the Spirit Dancer role as a power feat progression on that power.

For the other two power feats, I chose the +1 progression on the +1d4 power and the last power, both from the Storyteller role.

MESMERIST

The only instance we have of a mesmerist is Meligaster in the Occult Adventures 1 Character Deck.

FAVORED CARD: Ally

SKILLS: Arcane, Diplomacy, Perception

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Arcane, Mental

POWERS:

For your combat check, you may discard a card to use Arcane + 1d4 (□ 2d4) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Magic, and Mental traits. This counts as playing a spell.

On your first check on any turn to acquire an ally or defeat a monster, add 2. (□ If you defeat the monster and would banish it, you may draw it.)

On your check to defeat or acquire, you may reveal an ally or a monster to add 1d4 (□ +1). If you fail the check, recharge the revealed card.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Mesmerist multiclass card:

MESMERIST MULTICLASS

Gain the Mesmerist trait. Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Perception: Intelligence +2.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a card to use Arcane + 1d4 (□ 2d4) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Magic, and Mental traits. This counts as playing a spell.

□ On your first check on any turn to acquire an ally or defeat a monster, add 2. (□ If you defeat the monster and would banish it, you may draw it.)

□ On your check to defeat or acquire, you may reveal an ally or a monster to add 1d4 (□ +1). If you fail the check, recharge the revealed card.

□ When you fail a check to defeat a non-villain monster, you may bury a card to reduce any damage you suffer to 0.

□ When you would recharge, discard, or bury an ally from your hand for its power, you may return it to the vault instead to recharge a new ally.

The second-to-last power comes from the Consummate Liar role. My interpretation of this power is that the mesmerist has convinced one of his underlings (ally or monster) to sacrifice themself for him.

The last power comes from the Egotist role. My interpretation of this power is that the mesmerist continues to charm different people, or charms the ones he has in thrall into performing different skills in his service.

NINJA

The only instance we have of a ninja is Reiko in the Ultimate Equipment Add-On Deck.

FAVORED CARD: Card that has the Poison trait or Weapon

SKILLS: Acrobatics, Ranged, Stealth

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Poison, Weapon

POWERS:

On your combat (□ or Acrobatics or Stealth) check, if you are the only local character, you may reveal a Poison card or recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ or your Charisma) and the Poison trait.

You may evade your encounter. (□ Then you may either examine the top card of your location or move.)

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Ninja multiclass card:

NINJA MULTICLASS

Gain the Ninja trait. Add “OR CARD THAT HAS THE POISON TRAIT OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Ranged weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Acrobatics: Dexterity +2 and Stealth: Dexterity +2.

□ On your combat (□ or Acrobatics or Stealth) check, if you are the only local character, you may reveal a Poison card or recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ or your Charisma) and the Poison trait.

□ You may evade your encounter. (□ Then you may either examine the top card of your location or move.)

□ On your check that invokes Finesse or Poison, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2.

□ On a distant combat check, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ and add 2 if it is a Poison card).

The second-to-last power comes from the Ninjutsu Master role and the last power comes from the Saboteur role.

OCCULTIST

We have two versions of the iconic occultist, Mavaro, in the PACG product line:

Mavaro (Mummy’s Mask)
Mavaro (Occult Adventures 2 Character Deck)

I assume that the character deck version is intended to be the “generic” occultist.

FAVORED CARD: Your Choice

When building your deck, you may treat 1 or more cards of 1 type of boon as boons of your favored card type.

SKILLS: Knowledge, Perception

HAND SIZE: 6 □ 7

PROFICIENCIES: Arcane, Divine, Weapon, □ Armor

POWERS:

Play with the top card of your deck faceup. Gain all skills that could be used to acquire that card equal to your Knowledge skill. (□ You may also add any of that card’s traits to your checks.)

You may discard (□ or recharge) a card to search your deck for a card and set it aside; shuffle your deck, then reload that card.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Occultist multiclass card:

OCCULTIST MULTICLASS

Gain the Occultist trait. Add “OR YOUR CHOICE” to your FAVORED CARD.

When building your deck, you may treat 1 or more cards of 1 type of boon as boons of your favored card type.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Arcane spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor and Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 weapons and 1 armor as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Play with the top card of your deck faceup. Gain all skills that could be used to acquire that card equal to your Knowledge skill. (□ You may also add any of that card’s traits to your checks.)

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a card to search your deck for a card and set it aside; shuffle your deck, then reload that card.

□ On your check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d6 (□ 2d6).

□ When you acquire a card of your favored card, draw a new card of that type; keep 1 and banish the other.

CD Mavaro’s deck list allows him to take 3 spells, but I’ve broken the Arcane and Divine proficiencies up into separate power feats, so I’ve changed the deck modification to allow for 2 of the appropriate type of spell when a power feat is taken.

While the Armor proficiency normally requires a power feat, I’ve bundled it with Weapon proficiency, which is automatic. Since neither comes with a skill (e.g., Weapon or Ranged) or other nifty powers, I figure they’re fine together and represent an occultist with a martial leaning.

While Mavaro’s Ghost Hunter role mentions The Missing Eye, this is definitely a Mavaro thing and I’ve excluded those powers from the more generic Occultist multiclass card.

The second-to-last power comes from the Ghost Hunter role. It seemed fitting that someone who studies the occult would know and understand Outsiders and the Undead, and that they would be able to counter them more effectively.

The last power comes from the Hoarder role. It seems to represent how experts in the occult have lots of unusual items or unexpected items that are perfect for their unusual needs.

PSYCHIC

The only instance we have of a psychic in the PACG product line is the [former] iconic psychic, Rivani, in the Occult Adventures 1 Character Deck:

FAVORED CARD: Spell

SKILLS: Arcane, Knowledge

HAND SIZE: 6

PROFICIENCIES: Arcane, Mental

POWERS:

For your Perception or Ranged (□ or Acrobatics, Craft, or Disable) check, you may recharge a card to use Knowledge instead.

You may discard (□ or recharge) a spell (□ or a boon) to add 1d4 to your Arcane check.

□ During your move step, instead of moving, you may examine the top card of your location, then you may shuffle the location.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Psychic multiclass card:

PSYCHIC MULTICLASS

Gain the Psychic trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane and Mental. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 Mental spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your Perception or Ranged (□ or Acrobatics, Craft, or Disable) check, you may recharge a card to use Knowledge instead.

□ You may discard (□ or recharge) a spell (□ or a boon) to add 1d4 (□ +2) to your Arcane check.

□ During your move step, instead of moving, you may examine the top card of your location, then you may shuffle the location.

□ When you would discard cards as damage, you may recharge up to 2 (□ 4) of those cards instead.

I did something different with the deck modification this time around. Instead of allowing for Arcane spells, I allowed Mental spells. This definitely needs to be discussed as it’s not quite in line with the official character. My chief concern was that someone might choose a bunch of Arcane spells that didn’t reflect the psychic nature of the character, whereas limiting them to Mental spells would be more characterful. I really need to research the range of spells, however, to see if this allows the multiclassed psychic to be effective.

I incorporated the conferral of the Knowledge skill into the power to use Knowledge instead of Perception or Ranged (etc.). That’s in line with other classes where skills have been incorporated into the powers that relied on them.

The initial “transfer” used 7 power feat boxes, leaving only 3 for the additional feats. Each of the roles only conferred one new power, using the other power feats for progression feats. Realistically, I liked most of the options and could easily switch to alternatives. Ideally, I want to incorporate at least one “general” power [feat] from each role so that this doesn’t become a watered down version of just one role (I consider these class/character deck roles to represent divergent paths of the generic class progression).

I used the first power feat box to confer the +2 bonus, from the Psychic Duelist role. The other two power feat boxes were used for the last power, from the Phrenic Master role. I see the possible outcome here being a psychic who psychic energy to augment their performance or to shield them.

The alternative I considered was power feats that represented more extrasensory perception. The first would have been the increase from the top card to the top 3 cards in the examination power, from the Phrenic Master role; and the other two power feats would probably have been the Sign power from the Psychic Duelist role. Or maybe the +2 feat could have been kept and only the first portion of the Sign power would have been used.

SAMURAI

The only instance we have of a samurai in the PACG product line the iconic samurai, Hayato, in the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck. However, the samurai is a sub-class of the cavalier, and the iconic cavalier appears in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path. In addition, the paladin, Raz, has cavalier undertones and she appears in the Paladin Class Deck. Nevertheless, Hayato remains the generic samurai.

FAVORED CARD: Weapon

COHORT: Jinfu

SKILLS: Diplomacy, Fortitude, Melee, Survival

HAND SIZE: 4 □ 5

PROFICIENCIES: Armor, Weapon

POWERS:

On your first combat check of your turn, add 1d6 (□ 1d10).

On your (□ or a local character’s) non-combat check against a monster, you may recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ 1d10).

The challenge with the samurai is that Hayato is accompanied by his cohort warhorse, Jinfu. A generic Samurai multiclass card might use Jinfu, or it might modify the Mount ally warhorse.

In PFRPG 1e, the samurai class was an alternate for the cavalier class, so I’m incorporating some of the same concepts in my recommendation as was used in the latter class recommendation. Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Samurai multiclass card:

SAMURAI MULTICLASS

Gain the Samurai trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: JINFU” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Warhorse as a cohort. Add “COHORT: WARHORSE” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2 and you are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ On your first combat check of your turn, add 1d6 (□ 1d10).

□ On your (□ or a local character’s) non-combat check against a monster, you may recharge a card to add 1d6 (□ 1d10).

□ When you play the cohort Jinfu or Warhorse or discard a Mount card for its power, you may recharge a random card from your discards (□ or recharge the card you played and reload a random card from your discards).

□ When you play the cohort Jinfu or Warhorse to explore your location, you may reload him instead of recharging him.

I chose each of the “Jinfu” powers from each of Hayato’s roles, modifying the wording to include the possibility of the Warhorse being used as the cohort instead of Jinfu (hopefully in a way that works). In this, I was focusing the class on the Mount in much the same way that I did for the cavalier, drawing upon the historical origins of the samurai as mounted warriors.

The second-to-last power comes from the Ronin role while the last power comes from the Yojimbo role.

The Jinfu card is only found in the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck, but you can find an image of the card on Paizo’s blog here.

The Warhorse card is found in the Paladin Class Deck, the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck, and the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure 2: Sword of Valor deck. There is no image of the card on Paizo’s blog, however.

SHAMAN

The only shaman we have in the PACG product line is the iconic shaman, Shardra, in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path:

FAVORED CARD: Spell

COHORT: Kolo

SKILLS: Divine, Fortitude, Knowledge

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Divine, □ Armor

POWERS:

When a local character would fail a check to defeat a bane, you may recharge a spell to allow them to reroll.

When you succeed at a Knowledge check, you may examine the top card (□ or 2 cards) of your (□ or any) location.

A challenge with the shaman is that Shardra is accompanied by her Lizard cohort, Kolo, her spirit animal. A generic Shaman multiclass card might also use Kolo, or it might use some replacement(s). In the absence of suitable substitutes, we’ll stick with Kolo. The shaman class has been absorbed into the animist class in PFRPG 2e.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Shaman multiclass card:

SHAMAN MULTICLASS

Gain the Shaman trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one of the following:

○ Add “COHORT: KOLO” to your DECK LIST.
○ Treat the ally Kolo as a cohort. Add “COHORT: KOLO” to your DECK LIST.

Treat the chosen card as if it says “OWNER: [YOUR CHARACTER NAME].”

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ When a local character would fail a check to defeat a bane, you may recharge a spell to allow them to reroll.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Wisdom +2. When you succeed at a Knowledge check, you may examine the top card (□ or 2 cards) of your (□ or any) location.

□ When you defeat a bane, you may recharge a spell from your discards (□ and draw a card).

□ On your check to defeat a barrier (□ or close or guard your location), you may use Knowledge instead of the listed skill.

While Kolo is specific to Shardra, there are no real substitutes among the various PACG cards. So the shaman is an unlikely choice for multiclassing. Still, in the interest of completeness, I’m presenting the shaman. When we get to Stage 2, we’ll design an animist class, into which the shaman has been absorbed. We’ll have the same problem there, but we’ll probably develop some cards to give players alternatives.

While Shardra has the Fortitude skill, I omitted that here since it seems to be specific to Shardra instead of being common to shamans (it’s not listed as a skill for shamans in PFRGP 1e).

I incorporated the Knowledge skill into the base power that relies on Knowledge, following the precedent set by other classes.

The second-to-last power comes from the Spirit Guide role. It seemed like a very good way to help multiclassed shamans with lower Wisdom scores to get spells when they fail in recovery.

The last power comes from the Visionary role.

The combination of the two powers, along with the first base power (recharging a spell to allow a reroll on a failed check to defeat a bane by a local character) focuses the shaman on Knowledge and defeating banes, though not necessarily by combat.

The Kolo cohort card is only found in the Wrath of the Righteous Character Add-On Deck. No image of this card is found on the Paizo blog.

The Kolo ally card is found in the Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Set 4. No image of this card is found on the Paizo blog.

SHIFTER

The only instance we have of a shifter in the PACG product line is the iconic shifter, Zova, in the Ultimate Wilderness Add-On Deck:

FAVORED CARD: Card that has the Animal trait

SKILLS: Fortitude, Stealth, Survival

HAND SIZE: When you draw or reset your hand, choose a hand size of 3, 5, or 7 ( □ or 1 or 9)

PROFICIENCIES: None

POWERS:

When you would banish an Animal spell for its power, you may instead recharge it.

On your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check, you may discard (□ or recharge) an Animal card to add your Survival. If it is a combat check and you did not play a weapon, add (□ twice) that card’s level and the Animal and Melee traits.

You may discard a card to move after your exploration (□ or to evade your encounter).

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Shifter multiclass card:

SHIFTER MULTICLASS

Gain the Shifter trait. Add “OR CARD THAT HAS THE ANIMAL TRAIT” to your FAVORED CARD.

When you draw or reset your hand, choose a hand size 1 (□ or 2) lower or higher than the hand size on your character or role card.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Animal spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ When you would banish an Animal spell (□ or discard an Animal ally) for its power, you may instead recharge it.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. On your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution check, you may discard (□ or recharge) an Animal card to add your Survival. If it is a combat check and you did not play a weapon, add (□ twice) that card’s level and the Animal and Melee traits.

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. You may discard a card to move after your exploration (□ or to evade your encounter).

□ When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. Monsters in your hand gain the Animal trait.

The core shifter focuses on drawing power from their bestial aspect, so I’ve focused the additional powers on the Weretouched role rather than the Elemental Shifter (which is a distinct archetype in PFRPG 1e). It is notable that the shifter class has been absorbed into the druid class in PFRPG 2e.

One of the shifter’s core powers is the ability to choose their hand size, so I’ve made that a free power, though I’ve modified it from Zova’s to account for the base class hand size.

I’ve incorporated each of Zova’s skills into one of the base powers, selecting each power that seemed to be the most likely representation of the skill.

SLAYER

The only instance we have of a slayer in the PACG product line is when the iconic slayer, Zadim, is presented in the Mummy’s Mask adventure path:

FAVORED CARD: Weapon

SKILLS: Acrobatics, Craft, Melee, Stealth

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Poison, Weapon

POWERS:

You may recharge a card to examine the top card of your location.

On your check that invokes Poison (□ or Acid or Undead), you may recharge a card to add your Intelligence (□ +2).

On a local combat check, you may discard (□ or recharge) a non-2-Handed weapon to add your Stealth.

The slayer class is a hybrid of the ranger and the rogue in PFRPG 1e. In PFRPG 2e, the slayer has been transformed into the avenger archetype, a rogue assassin in service to a deity. While the slayer will remain a multiclass option in Stage 1, it will be developed as an archetype later.

Comparing Zadim’s powers to the description of the slayer class in PFRPG 1e Advanced Class Guide (where the class was introduced), it looks like the power feat to add the Acid or Undead traits to the second power are specific to Mummy’s Mask. This is the one instance where I’m going to remove power feats from the base class powers.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Slayer multiclass card:

SLAYER MULTICLASS

Gain the Slayer trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +2. You may recharge a card to examine the top card of your location.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Poison. On your check that invokes Poison, (□ or is against a Trigger card), you may recharge a card to add your Intelligence (□ +2).

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. On a local combat check, you may discard (□ or recharge) a non-2-Handed weapon to add your Stealth.

□ When a Poison item requires you to banish or bury a card from your hand or deck, you may discard (□ or recharge) it instead.

□ When you defeat a monster, you may examine the top card of your location.

In addition to the standard “Gain the skill Melee…” with deck modification, I’ve incorporated each of Zadim’s skills into one of the base powers, hopefully matching each with an appropriately representative power. That left four power feats (after the removal of the Acid/Undead power feat).

The first power feat added the power feat against a Trigger card to the “invokes Poison” power, from the Outrider role.

The second and third power feats added the power feat to discard (or recharge) a card when required by a Poison item, from the Executioner role.

The fourth power feat added the power to examine the top card of the location after defeating a monster, from the Outrider role (but without the additional power feat on that role).

SPIRITUALIST

Two versions of the iconic spiritualist, Estra, are presented in the PACG product line:

Estra (Mummy’s Mask)
Estra (Occult Adventures 1 Class Deck)

The class deck version is probably most representative of a “generic” Estra/spiritualist:

FAVORED CARD: Loot Ally Honaire

When building your deck, include the loot ally Honaire as 1 of your allies.

SKILLS: Divine, Knowledge, Perception

HAND SIZE: 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Divine

POWERS:

At the end of your move step, you may examine the top card of your location. You may bury (□ or discard) a card to encounter the card; during this encounter, add 1d6 (□ +1) to your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution checks.

When you succeed at a combat check, you may draw a card.

□ When the ally Honaire would be shuffled into your deck, you may set it aside and, after shuffling, reload it.

A challenge with the spiritualist is that both versions of Estra make extensive use of her dead husband, the loot ally Honaire. Other spiritualists won’t have Honaire, but they will have some similarly potent, though not identical, spirit of their own.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Spiritualist multiclass card:

SPIRITUALIST MULTICLASS

Gain the Spiritualist trait. Add “OR LOOT ALLY HONAIRE” to your FAVORED CARD.

Add the following to your DECK LIST: “When building your deck, include the loot ally Honaire as 1 of your allies.”

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

□ At the end of your move step, you may examine the top card of your location. You may bury (□ or discard) a card to encounter the card; during this encounter, add 1d6 (□ +1) to your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution checks.

□ When you succeed at a combat check, you may draw a card.

□ When the ally Honaire would be shuffled into your deck, you may set it aside and, after shuffling, reload it.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange an ally (□ or a blessing) in your hand with an ally in your discards.

□ When you suffer damage, you may reveal the ally Honaire to reduce it by 2.

The second-to-last power comes from the Spiritual Counselor role, and it seems intended to help the spiritualist to regain their spirit (the loot ally Honaire).

The last power comes from the Tetherer role, and it seems to represent the spiritualist using the power of their spirit to reduce damage (or the spirit protecting the spiritualist, if you will).

There are two versions of the loot ally Honaire, each coming with a version of Estra.

There is no image of the Mummy’s Mask version on Paizo’s blog, but the image of the Occult Adventures Character Deck 1 version can be seen on Paizo’s blog here.

WARPRIEST

There are four warpriest characters in the PACG product line:

Amli (Warpriest Class Deck)
Oloch (Warpriest Class Deck)
Oloch (Skull & Shackles)
Uliah (Warpriest Class Deck)

CD Oloch should serve as the generic warpriest for our purposes:

FAVORED CARD: Weapon

You may treat 1 copy of the weapon Greatsword as if it says “Owner: Oloch.”

SKILLS: Divine, Melee

HAND SIZE: 4 □ 5 □ 6

PROFICIENCIES: Armor, Divine, Weapon

POWERS:

When another local character fails a check to defeat a monster, they may discard a card to evade the monster, then you encounter it.

When you attempt a check, you may display any number of blessings and spells; for each card displayed, add 1 (□ 2). Before you reset, recharge the displayed cards. (□ You may reset at the start of your turn.)

□ On a local check to defeat a monster, you may recharge a blessing or a spell to add 1d4 (□ +1) and the Magic trait.

Of note is Oloch’s ability to treat one copy of the weapon Greatsword as if it says “Owner: Oloch.” The other two warpriests in the class deck have similar rules, the dwarf, Amli, applying it to a warhammer and the human, Uliah, applying it to a Scimitar. For the sake of simplicity, I’ve omitted including this provision in our generic warpriest rules. If we were to add it back in, we would need to have a list of all of the likely non-Basic weapons to choose from. That might be something we look into for Stage 2 of this project, though I’ll have to read up on the updates to the warpriest in PFRPG 2e first.

Here’s a breakdown of the initial proposal for the Warpriest multiclass card:

WARPRIEST MULTICLASS

Gain the Warpriest trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, items, or allies.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as items or allies.

□ When another local character fails a check to defeat a monster, they may discard a card (□ or recharge a blessing) to evade the monster, then you encounter it.

□ When you attempt a check, you may display any number of blessings and spells; for each card displayed, add 1 (□ 2). Before you reset, recharge the displayed cards. (□ You may reset at the start of your turn.)

□ On a local check to defeat a monster, you may recharge a blessing or a spell to add 1d4 (□ +1) and the Magic trait.

The power feat to recharge a blessing (from the Gorum’s Champion role) has been added to the fourth power to total ten power feats.

You are correct about the Deadeye Pistol +1 not having any "recharge" powers. My mistake.

On the Wizard, I agree that a power conferring only Perception is underwhelming. Core Ezren's Mystic Diviner role actually has the power as:

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. (□ On your non-combat check, you may discard a card to reroll a die.)

I'm loathe to combine the two power feats into a single power (e.g., □ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. On your non-combat check, you
may discard a card to reroll a die.). In addition, the designers felt that a power that solely confers a single skill is okay (whereas I've avoided doing that in this project). How often does Perception help with defeating banes or avoiding certain bane power effects? If I remember correctly, Perception comes into play with several barriers in Skull & Shackles. And while Core Ezren doesn't quite have a stellar Wisdom score (upon which the Perception skill is based), many other characters do and this skill might be more useful for them if they multiclass as a wizard.

All that said, I personally prefer the power to draw a card after defeating a card using a non-combat check.

Thanks for the great thought-provoking feedback.

As for the proficiencies, it was a logical progression of the division you already made in the Fighter multiclass. Even though each character can use weapons that are not the "primary" ones, i.e. Ranger could use the Melee weapons, the power couples skill and proficiency gain.

For example, gaining a Ranged skill AND now being able to utilize e.g. Greatsword fully, despite not necessarily having the Melee skill, sounds weird. I do not dispute your opinion, merely provide feedback about powers that feel wrong in context. I am OK with them being like you propose.

Fair enough. To be honest, my first instinct is to agree with many of your recommendations. In leaning forward into Stage 2, however, I’ve been taking a closer look at many of the classes as they are presented in PFRPG 2e. This has forced me to re-examine many of my previous recommendations; and since your recommendations are generally in line with my previous recommendations, I’m proceeding with a bit more caution.

My concern is that I’ve gotten carried away with things in some of my previous recommendations. Like many others, I think the Core rules and design principles are superior to the pre-Core counterparts, refining and evolving the game based on lessons learned. Despite the gradual evolution of the game through the pre-Core adventure paths, the rules and design principles remained fairly consistent throughout and it was very easy to transition from one adventure path to another with minimal learning. Core, meanwhile, implemented a few not insignificant changes, and many cards that were included in pre-Core products were updated in Core (e.g., Battleaxe and Hide Armor). The framework remains very familiar, but there are both significant things to learn and modifications of design principles. There are some things that, though improved in Core, become sub-optimized when adapted into pre-Core adventure paths (80% of them, not including the Society adventure paths). In this, it might not always be best to impose Core principles on general use (i.e., hybridized pre-Core rules/characters with Core concepts) rules such as these multiclass cards. I’m not saying that all of the most recent recommendations I made (Alchemist through Wizard, here) are wrong, but I don’t know that they’re all right; and this mostly applies with regard to the weapons. Conversely, my responses of “[Class] aren’t limited to [Trait] weapons” weren’t intended as the final word, because I didn’t conduct more detailed research. Your recommendations have drawn my attention to these potential errors on my part, forcing me to take a step back and look more closely at things.

It’s easy to see why spells might be limited to either Arcane or Divine since the majority of spellcasters are limited to one or the other (Bards/Skalds being a notable exception), or why items might be limited by the specialization of the class, but weapons are a bit more complicated, largely due to how the pre-Core proficiency worked. Conceptually, I like narrowing things down a bit, but I see that as a Core+ thing and imposing such limitations might not work as well for the pre-Core adventure paths/characters. Much of this viewpoint has evolved as I’ve continued examining the classes as they are presented in the PFRPG and have leaned into the next stage of this. In this, though many of the classes are based on the Core characters, I see Stage 1 of this project as needing to support the pre-Core characters to the greatest extent possible while Stage 2 will allow for stronger implementation of the patterns we see in the Core rules.

There is a certain level of correlation between PACG and PFRPG. PACG will never exactly match PFRPG, however. PFRPG allows for significant variety between members of the same class, with many options for character progression via diverse feat options. Progression in PACG, meanwhile, is much more controlled, though abstracted. In general, each PACG character represents one possible variation on a path that a similar PFRPG character might follow. Progression is much more scripted via the character and role cards and the limited feats available thereon. Characters, then, tend to be much more specific and limited than the PFRPG classes might allow.

A perfect example of this is the iconic barbarian, Core Amiri. The favored card of Core Amiri is a Melee Weapon, meaning a weapon card that has the Melee trait. Meanwhile, Amiri has the Melee skill and is proficient in [the use of any] Weapon, meaning she could use the “if proficient [with weapons]…” portions of the powers for the arquebus and longbow despite not having the Ranged skill. Fighters are another good example, with Core Valeros having Sword Weapon as his favored card. As a class, however, different fighters might have different preferences. Tontelizi, for example, prefers polearms. So while Valeros’ favored card is suitable for him, it is not representative of all fighters. The effort here is to use the iconic characters as a foundation, but to remove the personal elements and reduce them down to the class, which means that there will often be less specificity. Stage 1 will likely be broad while Stage 2 will allow for more limitations.

In this, we need to look at what PFRPG allows the class to do in terms of its weapon usage. In PFRPG, fighters are expert in the use of simple weapons, martial weapons, and unarmed attacks; and they are trained in the use of advanced weapons. Those classifications don’t exactly correspond with PACG, unfortunately. It might sound easy to say that simple weapons are those that don’t require any proficiency (or which either don’t incur a penalty if the user lacks proficiency or confer a bonus if the user is proficient) in PACG. However, that isn’t always the case (e.g., the hand crossbow is a simple weapon in PFRPG but it confers a bonus if the user is proficient in PACG). Similarly, it would be hasty to jump to the conclusion that martial/advanced weapons either require proficiency to use or incur a penalty if the user lacks proficiency. However, that, too, is not always the case (e.g., the shuriken is a martial weapon in PFRPG but proficiency is irrelevant in PACG). The assumptions work in most (many?) cases, but there are exceptions.

It seems likely to me that some of your recommendations will be implemented in the current stage, and more will probably be implemented in the next stage. I just want to be sure to perform my due diligence in determining where the patterns should be incorporated in each stage. In Stage 1, there will be fewer limitations, with the multiclass card for each class being based on the iconic character for the class while being stripped of the character-specific elements and allowing for the full range of options for the class as it is presented in PFRPG (as much as possible, that is). In Stage 2, meanwhile, we’ll see more limitations imposed, but those will often be representative of variations and sub-classes. In all likelihood, most classes will have a multiclass card and some sort of supporting card that allows for those variations. At this point, we’re limiting the work to the Stage 1 cards.

Let’s look more closely at each of your recommendations. This time, I’ll provide more context from the PFRPG. I think my previous responses only looked at whether or not the class was proficient with simple weapons, and that wasn’t a good basis for making a decision. There are likely some cases where my response wasn’t accurate to the recommendation, so it’s important to consider the full range of possibilities, including archetypes that the class might pursue.

Magus - OK, but maybe should gain proficiency only in Melee weapons

The Spell Sniper on page 48 of Secrets of Magic shows us that magi can combine their Arcane spellcasting abilities with Ranged combat, not to mention unarmed Melee combat (imagine a brawler-magus or monk-magus). The mechanism for doing this in PACG is the first power of the cohort Magus Arcana, so it does not need to be reflected in the class powers. Many characters will have some form of Melee or Ranged combat capability, making the power conferring the Melee skill (etc.) on the multiclass card a fallback for those characters who don’t have either Melee or Ranged. While my initial response was that magi aren’t limited to Melee weapons, your recommendation wouldn’t impose such a limit – a character who already has Ranged or unarmed combat capabilities would be able to use Magus Arcana to enhance those combat checks.

Verdict: I’ll incorporate this recommendation.

Ranger - OK, but maybe should gain proficiency only in Ranged weapons

My original response that rangers aren’t limited to Ranged combat was true enough, with Agna and Wrathack serving as excellent examples. Harsk’s second power, incorporated on the Ranger multiclass card as the power to add 1d6 on checks that invoke the Axe or Bow traits, is also an example of this. However, I think this is another case where the power(s) on the multiclass card provide opportunities for players to tailor their characters where they might not come with certain capabilities. In this, though Harsk is focused on Ranged combat (second base power notwithstanding), it would probably be appropriate to incorporate a similar Melee combat power feat.

Verdict: I’ll incorporate this recommendation. In addition, I’ll have to replace one of the power feats with a Melee combat power feat.

Rogue - Maybe should gain proficiency only in Finesse weapons.

There are multiple weapons in the Rogue Class Deck that do not have the Finesse trait.

Verdict: This recommendation won’t be incorporated.

Skald - Melee => should gain proficiency only in Melee weapons.

In PFRPG 1e, skalds definitely had a Melee focus. In PFRPG 2e, skalds have become bards with the warrior muse; and while bards aren’t limited to Melee weapons, it doesn’t seem inappropriate to limit the power feat to Melee weapons.

Verdict: I’ll incorporate this recommendation.

Swashbuckler - Maybe should gain proficiency only in Finesse weapons.

In principle, I’m not opposed to this recommendation. My chief concern is that “swashbuckler” covers a range of types, including the musketeer-type duelist (sans the musket, oddly) and the pirate. Golarion swashbucklers appear to mostly represent their European counterparts, though one could envision swashbucklers from various other cultural influences (e.g., similar to Sinbad the Sailor, Chinese wuxia figures, or Begum Samru). The limitation of the swashbuckler’s proficiency to those weapons with the Finesse trait seems accurate, though I wonder why the Swashbuckler trait wasn’t also included. Both the class and the trait were really highlighted in the Skull & Shackles adventure path, which focused on the pirate theme. There are multiple weapons that have the Swashbuckler trait but which don’t have the Finesse trait. These include the Sword Cane Pistol +2 (the pistol part isn’t that swashbucklery, but the sword cane definitely is) and the boarding axe (not having Finesse makes sense). If something has the Swashbuckler trait, it seems odd that it wouldn’t be effective for the swashbuckler class. Then there are those weapons which have the Finesse trait, but which don’t have strong associations with the [European] swashbuckler. Most of these are based on East Asian weapons, mostly with strong martial arts ties such as the Nunchaku and Sai. However, there are also Finesse weapons that don’t have the Swashbuckler trait, but which seem wholly appropriate to the [European] swashbuckler trope, such as the Corrosive Backsword and Scoundrel’s Sword Cane. Ultimately, I think that my misgivings lead more towards redesign of either the class (switching from Finesse to Swashbuckling), certain cards, or both, and that is a Stage 2 thing. For Stage 1, your recommendation is sound.

Verdict: I’ll incorporate this recommendation.

And your follow-on recommendations:

As for the Summoner, I am not sure if I expressed myself clearly. What I find weird is that their inherent power cares for monster cards in hand even though they have no way to gain these monsters. Therefore, they will want to take the "draw monster" feats first, limiting the variability of the multiclass archetype.

…

In my opinion, it would be better to have this power progression, without taking the Cohorts - or their powers caring about monsters - into consideration…

No, I understood your recommendation. The problem is that the cohorts are an essential element of the summoner class. Every single summoner character has had an Eidolon cohort. Yes, this limits progression options when choosing to take the Summoner multiclass card. The only way to “fix” this problem is by redesigning the class for Core, which is a Stage 2 [or later] thing. For Stage 1, we are focused on using the existing products as they are.

What is the usefulness of [the gunslinger’s recharge power] power

It’s as useful for the multiclassed gunslinger as it is for the single-classed gunslinger. Actually, it’s probably slightly more useful for the single-classed gunslinger since they’ll be able to take more power feats for gunslinger goodness while a multiclassed gunslinger would need to use at least three power feats to get it, and more likely four.

□ When you play a Firearm card, if you would bury (□ or discard) (□ or recharge) it or shuffle it into your deck, you may keep it and perform the required action with another card instead.

There are four Firearm weapons with “recharge” powers: Deadeye Pistol +1, Dragon Pistol, and Dragon Pistol +1, and Wheellock Pistol. In addition, there are also three Firearm armors with “recharge” powers: Flaming Buckler Gun, Goblin Buckler Gun, and Venomous Buckler Gun. This means that the power is [slightly] more powerful than you think, offering both offensive and defensive benefits.

So here are the classes that have been changed based on the recommendations:

CHAMPION MULTICLASS

You gain the Champion trait. Add “OR WEAPON OR ARMOR” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 Melee weapons as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +1 (□ +2) and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ When you attempt a check before you act acting, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as items or allies.

□ On a local check, you may discard an armor or the top card of your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait. (□ If you would discard an armor or a blessing for this power, you may recharge it instead.) (□ You may also do so if you would discard a spell for this power.)

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Fortitude: Constitution +1.

FIGHTER MULTICLASS

You gain the Fighter trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Ranged weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ On a local combat (□ or your Diplomacy) check, you may reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a weapon or an armor from your hand or discards.

□ You may avenge by discarding (□ or recharging) a card.

□ When you would recharge or discard a Shield armor for its power, you may reveal it instead. (□ When a local character suffers damage, you may recharge a Shield armor to reduce it by 2.)

MAGUS MULTICLASS

Gain the Magus trait. Add “OR SPELL OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD. Add “COHORT: MAGUS ARCANA” to your DECK LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ On your check to recharge a spell, you may recharge a weapon (□ or any boon) to succeed (□ then you may shuffle your deck).

□ When you encounter a card, you may recharge a spell or an armor to draw a card.

□ When you succeed at a check to defeat a bane (□ or to acquire a Magic boon), you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is Magus Arcana, you may recharge a spell to draw it.

RANGER MULTICLASS

Gain the Ranger trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +1 and Survival: Constitution +2.

□ On any combat check, you may recharge a card or reload a weapon to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2. You are proficient with Ranged Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your check that invokes the Axe or Bow trait, add 1d6 (□ 1d8); against a Giant monster, add another 1d4.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. At the (□ start or) end of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location. (□ Then, you may shuffle your location.)

□ When you would discard an Axe or Bow card for its power, you may recharge it.

And we’ll need to get rid of one of the existing powers to add:

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

My money is on one of the feats for the power to gain the Perception skill (i.e., (□ start or) or (□ Then, you may shuffle your location.)).

SKALD MULTICLASS

Gain the Skald trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Instrument.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 weapons as armors, items, or blessings.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card with a card of the same type (□ or a weapon or an Instrument card) from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. On a local Strength check (□ or a local check against a monster), you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Diplomacy.

□ At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

□ Gain the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 and Divine: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings. (□ Add 1d6 to your checks to acquire blessings and recharge spells.)

SWASHBUCKLER MULTICLASS

Gain the Swashbuckler trait. Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ You are proficient with Finesse Weapon. On your check that invokes Finesse, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Finesse weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your Swashbuckling check, you may reroll 1 die (□ or 2 dice).

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2. You may recharge an ally to recharge a random card from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Charisma +2. Reduce Structural damage to your ship by 1.

□ When you acquire a Finesse or Swashbuckling card, you may immediately recharge it to explore again (□ or to draw a card).

□ When you defeat a monster on your exploration, if any of your checks to defeat had the Swashbuckling trait, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On your check, you may reveal a Swashbuckling card to add the Swashbuckling trait.

WIZARD MULTICLASS

Gain the Wizard trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 7 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Knowledge: Intelligence +2.

□ At the start of your turn, you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is a spell, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ On your turn, you may recharge a spell to examine the top card of your location. If you do, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On a local check against a Magic card, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ When you examine the top card of a location or deck, you may examine the top 2 cards instead.

□ On your non-Intelligence check, you may discard a spell to add your Intelligence.

Replacing the above with:

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2.

- OR –

□ When you defeat a card using a non-combat check, you may draw a card.

We need to figure out:

1. Which ranger power feat to remove to add the Melee power
2. Which of the powers to use as the replacement for the Wizard multiclass card

I realized that I was being inconsistent with my plan on which classes to include and which to exclude. The swashbuckler class didn’t have a class/character deck, the only example of a swashbuckler in PACG appearing when Jirelle was included in the Skull & Shackles adventure path. Somewhere along the line, Jirelle could be used in Society play with the Rogue Class Deck (I would have to search to find my official source for that). Truth be told, I’m a fan of fictional swashbucklers. However, my plan to exclude those classes for which there was no class deck was undermined by my plan to include a Swashbuckler multiclass card. So I can continue with the inconsistency, including some classes for which there is no class/character/add-on deck and excluding others, or I can be consistent and either include all the classes or exclude all of those for which there is no class/character/add-on deck. Since there are no class/character/add-on decks for classes like the brawler, investigator, and skald and I’m including those classes, it seems only right to include all the others. So my work on the hunter, inquisitor, kineticist, psychic, and warpriest has now been expanded to include the arcanist, bloodrager, cavalier, medium, mesmerist, occultist, shaman, slayer, and spiritualist (limiting Stage 1 of this project to those classes for which there were PACG characters and excluding new classes that have been introduced with PFRPG 2e). I’m excluding the vigilante for now since the Blackjack role seems to cover that niche. Some of these classes will actually be somewhat difficult so the work is taking some time. In the meantime, Jenceslav has provided some very useful feedback.

Note, many of the responses are a simple “[Class] aren’t limited to [Trait] weapons.” This means that in the PFRPG, members of this class are able to use a wider variety of weapons than is being suggested.

Bard - Why did you not include the "bardic" power of recharge a card to add 1d4 etc. to a local (or another local character's) check? Core Lem has it as well.

It’s part of the second power, the one conferring the Knowledge skill and Instrument proficiency.

As for the "or to heal" - some cards care about healing (Wounded scourge etc.). I would keep it as "shuffle" because it gives the idea that the bard is adept at reusing, not that it is a healer.

Counterpoints: The Core Set Rulebook defines healing on page 9 and the transition guide on page 26 similarly defines healing as the basic process that the bard’s power is performing.

Similarly, under the guidance of the developers, we changed the “shuffle (some number of cards) from your/their discard pile into your/their deck” wording for a slew of characters in the Core Character Conversion project, including a bunch of characters who were decidedly not “healers” such as Zelhara (a torturer), Ukuja (a hunter), Imrijka (an inquisitor), Salim (an inquisitor), Seltyiel (a magus), Estra (a spiritualist), Mavaro (an occultist), Yoon (a kineticist), Varian (a wizard), Reiko (a ninja), Ekkie (a cutpurse), etc. Note that I’ve not listed the “healing” classes such as clerics, druids, paladins/champions, oracles, and warpriests here, nor have I listed healing roles from other classes such as the chiurgeon role.

At the end of the day, “heal” refers to the basic process of taking some number of cards from one’s discards and shuffling them into one’s deck.

Now I'm not saying that we must change to the "heal" wording, especially since the wording comes from a Core product. If the action doesn't match the definition of heal, we shouldn't change it. As far as I can tell, however, the power clearly represents a heal action. For some reason, whether deliberate or accidental, the developers didn't use "heal," however. At the end of the day, I'm merely making the observation, but I'm not going to die on a hill over this.

Maybe off-topic: Did you want to erase the original favored card by a chosen type, or make it an alternative or have both and new? Suppose the favored card is a Sword weapon. You choose 1 boon type = "item". Do you draw until you draw the item (chose the multiclass fav. card), or do you draw until you draw a Sword (chose the original fav. card), or do you draw until you draw either a Sword or an item? The "OR" is not clear to me.

The Favored Card type change is in addition to the character’s base favored card. After all, they are multiclassing, not replacing their original class with a new class. So if someone is playing Core Valeros (fighter, favored card type: Sword Weapon) and they multiclass as a sorcerer (favored card type: Spell), their resulting Favored Card entry would read as “Sword Weapon or Spell” (the italicized portion being the base favored card type and the blue portion being the favored card type added by the multiclass card).

Champion / Paladin - "When you attempt a check before you act, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill." seems extremely powerful when that same feat already gives you Divine spells and Proficiency. I would suggest replacing the (□ +2) with this power: Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings. □ When you attempt a check before you act, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.

Agreed, sort of.

The more pressing problem I see is that I omitted the Divine proficiency. I’m looking to change the power to:

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +1 (□ +2) and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ When you attempt a check before you act, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.

This sets up a problem in that many characters won’t be able to use the second power until after they’ve chosen the first, but there are also many characters who already have the Divine skill and who will be able to use the second without needing to take the first. It definitely makes the power less potent, but that’s probably for the better.

[Champion / Paladin -] Along with Cleric and Rogue (and maybe someone else), there is a power line with 4 power feat boxes □, but you mentioned somewhere your own self-imposed limit of 3 □. Or am I wrong? :)

If I remember correctly, the only times I included 4 [or more?] power feats in the same power was when they weren’t sequential, allowing players to tailor the power feat progression. That doesn’t mean that we should allow 4 [or more] power feats in the same power, but I’ve tried to keep those to a minimum and only when (a) they seemed to work well for how players might want to have their multiclassed characters progress, and (b) other potential power feats didn’t work as well. Those assessments might be debatable, however, so I’m definitely open to exploring each instance where 4 or more power feats were included in the same power and considering alternatives.

More importantly, if there are any instances where all of the subsequent power feats are sequential (i.e., I screwed up), we definitely need to explore alternatives.

Fighter - I would argue that the Diplomacy does not seem appropriate for a fighter. A replacement suggestion: reducing damage for other local characters - Valeros, Tontelizi in Fighter CD have this.

Alternative: When you would discard a Melee weapon for its power, you may recharge it instead? Your Ranger multiclass has something similar.

The Diplomacy power could definitely be replaced. I’m leery of the suggested power from the perspective of future-proofing (and this will affect the ranger class when we get to the second stage). While some (most?) fighters focus on Melee, there are those who focus on Ranged. Focusing on Melee, then, becomes too Valeros-y. Besides, the Fighter multiclass card already has the power to recharge a weapon or an armor from the character’s hand or discards. If I was going to replace the Diplomacy power feat, I would stick to a power feat on Core Valeros, most likely the enhancement to the Shield power:

□ When you would recharge or discard a Shield armor for its power, you may reveal it instead. (□ When a local character suffers damage, you may recharge a Shield armor to reduce it by 2.)

Gunslinger - The "upgrade" of 2nd power to discard or recharge actions sounds extremely limited in effect. There are 3 Firearm weapons that recharge for some of their effects, 7 that discard for some of their effects (total is 31 Firearm Weapons). It makes sense to me in the context of Gunslinger class deck, but only a little. What about replacing the recharge with "□ Treat your character powers as if the word "Firearm" were "Ammunition or Firearm".?

Given the gunslinger’s lack of healing powers, being able to keep a Firearm card in their deck is very important to remaining viable. Besides, as much as possible, we’re adapting the existing cards/powers, not redesigning things [unless absolutely necessary].

Magus - OK, but maybe should gain proficiency only in Melee weapons

Members of the magus class aren’t limited to Melee weapons.

Ranger - OK, but maybe should gain proficiency only in Ranged weapons

Rangers aren’t limited to Ranged weapons.

Rogue - Maybe should gain proficiency only in Finesse weapons.

Rogues aren’t limited to Finesse weapons.

Skald - Melee => should gain proficiency only in Melee weapons.

Skalds aren’t limited to Melee weapons.

Summoner - I do not like the fact that "You may banish a monster from your hand to (□ draw a card or to) ..." does nothing unless you take a feat that draws monsters. It is somewhat forcing you to choose one of the 2 monster-drawing feats. Another feat (draw 2 instead of 1) also does nothing. I suggest rearrangement, possibly into "(permanent) When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. (□ When you defeat a summoned monster, you may draw a new monster.)" and keeping the "banish a monster to ..." behind a □. You can maybe split it into two different feat lines.

Yes, this was a difficult one to work with.

The reason I rationalized the proposal was that players taking the Summoner multiclass card would be most likely to take either version of Padrig or Zehta, and all three of those cohorts allow the summoner to use monsters in some way. In addition, most characters have some form of combat, making the method of combat conferred by the multiclass card secondary. For example, if Core Valeros (fighter) were to take the Summoner multiclass card, they would still have access to the basic fighter combat methods. CD Ahtez and WotR Padrig can be used to supplement any combat check with monster cards (Padrig by adding 1d4/1d6 to the check and Ahtez by reducing damage). CD Padrig can use the monster for the actual combat check (making the “banish a monster” power that hasn’t been selected irrelevant). CD Padrig can also use a spell for the same effect, however, making that version of the cohort usable for a lot of classes and making a power to draw monsters unnecessary.

A more complicating factor is that players might want to use the Eidolon Tonbarse instead of Ahtez or either version of Padrig. Tonbarse doesn’t need monsters, making a power to draw a monster unnecessary and the power conferring Arcane becomes the default power feat choice for them. Since multiclassing as a summoner requires at least two summoner power feats, however, the player will have to take one of those two powers, making the power to banish a monster instantly usable for them as soon as they take one of the monster-gaining powers.

Swashbuckler - Maybe should gain proficiency only in Finesse weapons.

Swashbucklers aren’t limited to Finesse weapons.

Are there any weapons that are traditionally associated with “swashbucklers” that don’t have the Finesse trait in PACG? In this, only gaining the Melee skill while using a Finesse weapon seems like an accurate representation.

[re: Swashbuckler] Also, I suggest removing the reduction in Structural damage - Swashbuckler became associated with pirates and ships, but it's actually a much older hero type (IRL). Gaining Craft also seems focused more on the ship aspect, but is acceptable. Maybe gaining Acrobatics seems a good option? Most non-Rogue Finesse weapons allow Acrobatics combat checks. Maybe there is a way to both differentiate Rogues and Swashbucklers, and make some symmetry between them. Gaining some similar power on your Stealth / Acrobatics combat checks sounds appropriate.

Ad Swashbuckler: In my Jirelle-reimagined-into-Core (an alternative to the converted characters made by you), I devised the power that replaces the "gain Melee:Dex+2"
On your check that invokes Finesse, add 1d4.
By symmetry with Rogue I meant having e.g.
Rogue: "On your Stealth combat checks, add 1d4"
Swashbuckler: "On your Acrobatics combat checks, add 1d4"
(both are applicable to the Core Finesse weapons)

I like the acrobatics idea, especially since acrobatic feats are common in swashbuckling fiction and cinema, but we’re not redesigning the class in this stage. I don’t agree with the idea of making the Acrobatics check a replacement for Melee. I definitely like the idea of Acrobatics augmenting Melee combat, however. But that’s a discussion for later, either Stage 2 of this project or a subsequent project to redesign [some of] the classes.

The way I see it, the Craft/Structural damage power is great for the Skull & Shackles adventure path, allowing the player to make a multiclassed character really fit the theme of the only adventure path in which this class appeared. When the Swashbuckler multiclass card is used in some adventure path that doesn’t use the Skull & Shackles set (or ships/Structural damage), the other power feats can be selected.

Wizard - The last power seems very powerful when you have e.g. Intelligence +4. Any check becomes 1dX+1dY+4, including combat ones, while the Intelligence checks are "just" 1dY+4? Although there is the cost of a spell, it still seems too powerful. Maybe adding Intelligence die would be better?

The proposed power feat is drawn directly from Core Ezren’s Wizened Explorer role. What I didn’t think about when I decided to include it was the fact that most of Ezren’s non-Intelligence skills are d6, with Constitution at d4 and Wisdom at d8, so the power isn’t quite as potent for him as it might be for a multiclassed wizard who has different scores. I agree with you about the power being too powerful. Since I’m trying to limit modifications to powers as much as possible to only those that are absolutely necessary, I would prefer to replace the power with something else from Core Ezren. The final powers in each of the roles seem likely as replacements:

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2.

- OR –

□ When you defeat a card using a non-combat check, you may draw a card.

In this, I favor the latter option. I’m certainly open to the first, or even to some other option [from Core Ezren].

Looking at this more, I think that waiting two days between posts will take far too long, especially since I think that most of these will be generally acceptable. Once you can accept the basic concept, and with the refinements in this go around being solidly based on the most recent versions of the iconic characters, I think that stretching it out will waste time. There are a few classes that might engender some discussion, and I’ll tackle those separately, but most are pretty straightforward (at least, I think they are).

In addition, I’m working on the hunter, inquisitor, kineticist, psychic, and warpriest, and I’ll present those once we finish discussing the other classes. The hunter brings a cohort, but the class deck includes six cohorts that [multiclassed] hunters can choose from, five of which are generic (i.e., they don’t have an owner), making the hunter one of the easiest to incorporate as a multiclass option (compared to some of the other classes which use cohorts). The hunter, inquisitor, and warpriest have all been incorporated into other classes in PFRPG 2e, so there will be a slightly different path forward for them in the second stage, but they are eminently usable in this first stage.

The spiritualist (Estra) and medium (Erasmus) have morphed into the animist (Samo) and the occultist (Mavaro) has morphed into the thaumaturge (Mios). Along with other classes for which the iconic character has changed (e.g., the gunslinger and oracle), those will be tackled in stage 3. I’m not sure about the mesmerist (Meligaster), however.

As I mentioned previously, the previous recommendation for each class included a hand size feat, which has been removed with the transition from the multiclass cards being replacements for to augmentations to the role cards. In addition, most included one or more of the deck modification feats, and most of those have been removed, too. This left each with two or more power feat checkboxes that had to be used to get each up to ten. In most cases, power feats from one or both of the iconic characters’ roles were used as replacements. I generally followed one of two patterns in this. The first was when I saw enough powers that looked generic enough. Alternately, if I couldn’t find two “generic” powers, I looked for a power from each that was representative of the role, giving players options for representing more specialized versions of the class.

So what follows are the updated recommendations for the remaining classes, minus the hunter, inquisitor, kineticist, psychic, warpriest (all of these are in development), the monk, and the oracle (both of which had slightly more extreme changes, possibly warranting discussion). Where the posts for the alchemist and barbarian included a lot more background, I’m just going to post the updated recommendation and explanation of changes for each of the remaining classes, going in alphabetical order, starting with the bard.

Lem is the iconic bard and should serve as the basic example of a bard’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Lem is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Lem, then the other versions of Lem.

BARD MULTICLASS

You gain the Bard trait. Add “OR CHOOSE 1 CARD TYPE” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 and Divine: Charisma +1, and you are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Instrument. On a local non-combat check (□ or another local character’s combat check), you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1. When you suffer damage, you may recharge an ally to reduce it by 1.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 allies as weapons, armors, or items.

□ At the start of your turn, you may draw a card.

□ At the end of your turn, you may discard a card to recharge (□ or to shuffle into your deck) a card from your discards.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat by splitting a previously suggested power into two powers. Previously, the power was:

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1. At the end of your turn, you may discard a card to recharge (□ or to shuffle into your deck) a card from your discards.

That was done because simply gaining the Acrobatics skill didn’t seem sufficient. It still doesn’t seem sufficient, so I’ve expanded on that power by adding the ability to reduce damage by recharging an ally (derived from Core Lem’s Busker role) and broken the discard/recharge portion out into its own power. Thematically, this seems like Lem dancing out of the way of danger and oopsie, someone else takes the damage. Or maybe someone is just so enthralled with Lem that they throw themself in the path of danger for him.

This was one of the few classes where I left a deck modification feat because the bard can use both Arcane and Divine magic and most non-spellcasting characters have few or no spells in their deck list, so it seemed appropriate to leave an option for some multiclassed bards to take more spells. I did, however, remove one of the increases (from 5 to 6), replacing it with the power feat to draw a card at the start of your turn (from Core Lem’s Poet Laureate role, but without the power feat to increase that to 2 cards).

And looking at this power feat - “or to shuffle into your deck” – it seems to me that the wording could simply say “or to heal” – or am I missing something?

Curse of the Crimson Throne Kess is the only instance we have of a brawler, though some might point to Rise of the Runelords Sajan as a possible example of an unarmed hand-to-hand combat character.

BRAWLER MULTICLASS

You gain the Brawler trait. Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. For your combat check, you may use Melee + 1d8 (□ or Melee + 1d12 and add the Magic trait).

□ On your check against a monster on which you do not play a weapon or a spell, you may recharge an ally to add 1d4 plus that card’s level.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 allies as weapons, spells, or armors.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +1. When you discard or bury a card as damage, it counts as up to 2 (□ 3) cards.

□ When you defeat a monster, you may heal a card (□ or an ally).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1. When you would fail a combat check, you may bury a random (□ or any) card to add 1d4.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat with the addition to the last power, which seemed inadequate when it just conferred the Acrobatics skill. The power was derived from Kess’s Bruiser role, though I’ve reduced the die from 1d8 to 1d4 with a power feat to change the card from being random to being one of the player’s choice.

Seelah is the iconic champion and should serve as the basic example of a champion’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Seelah is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Seelah, then the other versions of Seelah. Koren is interesting in that he embodies the defensive nature of the champion. Raz’s Mount-based powers are unsuitable as they are niche and much more like a cavalier than a champion. Urgraz provides an evil version of the champion, and most of his powers are largely reflected in Core Seelah.

CHAMPION MULTICLASS

You gain the Champion trait. Add “OR WEAPON OR ARMOR” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 Melee weapons as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When you attempt a check before you act, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 (□ 3) Divine spells as weapons, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as items or allies.

□ On a local check, you may discard an armor or the top card of your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait. (□ If you would discard an armor or a blessing for this power, you may recharge it instead.) (□ You may also do so if you would discard a spell for this power.)

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Fortitude: Constitution +1.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat by breaking the Armor power into two separate powers, the first giving the proficiency and deck list modification and the second allowing you to use armor in special ways. The thought process there is that some characters will already have the Armor proficiency and a deck list that includes armors, but having all of that as a single power was too much.

While Core Seelah only has Divine: Charisma +0, previous versions of her and the other paladins have had +1, +2, or +3. Since there was so much variation, I started the multiclassed champion at +1 with a power feat to improve that to +2. Also, while the previous recommendation for the multiclassed champion didn’t include a deck modification for spells, the other paladin characters (minus Raz) have all included spells in their deck lists, so I added a deck modification to include spells based on Core Seelah’s deck list.

This was another case where I left a deck modification feat because I wanted to allow for the option of having more spells to allow players to represent more magically-inclined champions, so I moved the deck modification increase from Melee weapons (3 to 4) to Divine spells (2 to 3).

Kyra is the iconic cleric and should serve as the basic example of a cleric’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Kyra is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Kyra, then the other versions of Kyra. Drelm’s focus on traders and obstacles are too Mummy’s Mask-centric to be of general use. The three other characters in the Cleric Class Deck each appear to be focused on one aspect of Kyra’s powers: Heggal on allies/diplomacy, Tarlin on weapons, and Zarlova on magic/spells. Lazzero clearly takes Kyra’s powers and renders them in an evil version.

CLERIC MULTICLASS

You gain the Cleric trait. Add “OR BLESSING” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Melee weapons as spells, allies, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as weapons, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On a local check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait.

□ At the (□ start or) end of your turn, you may recharge a Divine card to (□ remove a scourge from a local character or) heal a local character a card (□ or 2 cards).

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

The previous recommendation for the cleric had the following power:

□ Gain the skills Melee: Strength +2 and Diplomacy: Charisma +1. You are proficient with Armor (□ and Weapon). When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as weapons, items, or allies.

That broke the template in that powers typically conferred two skills or two proficiencies or a combination of skill, proficiency, and deck list modification. So I’ve broken it into two powers to focus one on weapons and the other on armors. One power feat remained (from getting rid of the hand size power feat), so I added the power feat allowing the cleric to recharge a Divine card at the start of the turn in addition to the end of the turn to heal/remove a scourge.

I removed the Diplomacy skill from the power feats because that seemed like a Kyra thing and not necessarily a cleric thing (the only clerics who have this skill are Core Kyra, CD Tarlin, and WotR Kyra).

Lini is the iconic druid and should serve as the basic example of a druid’s skills, powers, and cards. However, Lini is distinct from the other druids in that she has an animal companion whereas none of the others have a similar companion. In this, she is representative of the Animal druidic order (in the PFRPG 2e), as opposed to the Leaf, Storm, and Untamed druidic orders. Allowing for that level of flexibility, however, will be left until stage 2.

DRUID MULTICLASS

You gain the Druid trait. Add “OR ANIMAL ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Animal allies as weapons, armors, or items.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +1 and you are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Divine spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ You may recharge an Animal or Plant boon to remove a scourge from a local character.

□ For your combat check, you may bury (□ or discard) a card or recharge an Animal ally to use Survival +1d4 plus the card’s level and add the Animal and Melee traits.

□ When you would recharge an Animal ally for its power (□ or for your character power), you may shuffle it into your deck instead.

□ On a local check (□ at a Wild location or) that invokes the Animal trait, add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

The previous recommendation included the following power:

□ Gain the skills Perception: Wisdom +2 and Survival: Wisdom +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Animal allies and spells as weapons, armors, or items.

This broke the standard template in that the template typically allowed for a power to confer two proficiencies or a single proficiency and a related use for boons or a combination of a single skill, a proficiency, and a deck list modification. So I removed the Perception skill from the power, and since Core Lini is the only druid to have the Perception skill, it seemed more like a Lini thing and not a druid thing, so I omitted that skill entirely. I then replaced it with the power to recharge an Animal or Plant boon to remove a scourge to fill the last power feat slot (remaining after the hand size power feat was removed). That power was derived from Core Lini’s World Walker role. The ability to include Animal spells in that power has been removed since the multiclassed druid applies a deck list modification through the power that confers the Divine skill.

Valeros is the iconic fighter and should serve as the basic example of a fighter’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Valeros is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Valeros, then the other versions of Valeros. Chuffy brings some goblin aspects, and some of his powers resemble a rogue or swashbuckler, making him unsuitable as an example of generic fighter powers. Flenta’s powers are more focused on her being a wannabe wizard, making her similarly unsuitable in most cases. Linxia has hellknight things going on, also making her unsuitable. Tontelizi has Polearm things going on while Vika is focused on Bludgeoning weapons.

FIGHTER MULTICLASS

You gain the Fighter trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Ranged weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Ranged weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ On a local combat (□ or your Diplomacy) check, you may reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a weapon or an armor from your hand or discards.

□ You may avenge by discarding (□ or recharging) a card.

□ When you would recharge or discard a Shield armor for its power, you may reveal it instead.

The Favored Card has changed in the transition from Core Valeros to multiclass card. Valeros’ Favored Card is a Sword weapon, but that’s reflective of Valeros and not necessarily of fighters. For example, Tontelizi is fond of using Polearm weapons, Vika prefers Bludgeoning weapons, and Chuffy prefers Finesse weapons.

While Valeros has both Melee and Ranged skills, keeping them separate here allows a player to decide whether to focus their multiclassed fighter on one or the other, or, if the character’s base class is already skilled in one, to avoid unnecessary duplication.

I have left the power feat allowing the multiclassed fighter to reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 to their Diplomacy check. For now. An interpretation supporting retaining this power feat is that the fighter is using their weapon or armor as an indicator of their fighting prowess to impress or intimidate the subject of the Diplomacy check. An interpretation against retaining this power feat is that it is representative of Valeros (and his suave nature) and is not indicative of the typical fighter. So keeping/replacing this power is up for discussion.

I used the power feat remaining after the hand size power feat was removed to add the last power, which came from the Compatriot role.

Lirianne was the iconic gunslinger and should serve as the basic example of a gunslinger’s skills, powers, and cards. When CD Lirianne is insufficient, my first recourse is S&S Lirianne, then the other gunslingers. Angban is interesting in that he brings armors into his power set, which is definitely not representative of generic gunslingers. Skizza is also odd in that he brings Alchemical aspects to his powers, also not being representative of gunslingers.

GUNSLINGER MULTICLASS

You gain the Gunslinger trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2 and you are proficient with Firearm weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Firearm weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ When you play a Firearm card, if you would bury (□ or discard) (□ or recharge) it or shuffle it into your deck, you may keep it and perform the required action with another card instead.

□ When you encounter a monster, you may examine the top card of your deck. If it has the Firearm trait, you may draw it; otherwise, recharge it. (□ You may then recharge a Firearm card from your discards.)

□ On a distant (□ any) combat check, you may shuffle a card into your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat with the power to examine the top card of your deck when you encounter a monster. The previous recommendation for this multiclass card included a power feat to increase the number of Firearm weapons in the deck modification to 5. I removed that and used the power feat to add the power feat to recharge a Firearm card from the discard pile. This more faithfully translates Lirianne as the iconic gunslinger.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Quinn is the only instance we have of an investigator character.

INVESTIGATOR MULTICLASS

You gain the Investigator trait. Add “OR ITEM” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Disable: Intelligence +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 items as weapons, spells, and armors.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your check that invokes Finesse, you may recharge (□ or reload) a card to use Knowledge instead of Acrobatics or Stealth, and add the card’s level.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. On a local check against a barrier, you may bury an item to add your Perception.

□ At the end (□ or start) of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location. (□ You may recharge a card to ignore powers that would happen when you examine it.)

□ You are proficient with Alchemical. On your check to recharge an Alchemical item whose level is lower than #, you automatically succeed.

□ When another local character would banish an Alchemical item for its power, you may recharge (□ or reveal) an Alchemical boon to put the other character’s item in your recovery pile instead.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat with the power feat to recharge a card to ignore powers that would happen when you examine the top card of your location from the Empiricist role.

The final power, from the Epicurean role, was added using the removed deck modification increases.

Seltyiel is the iconic magus and should serve as the basic example of a magus’s skills, powers, and cards. The magus had a distinct shift with the class deck, making the characters in that deck the best representations of magi (i.e., Skull & Shackles Seltyiel isn’t really suitable as that version was both campaign-centric and preceded the designers’ later path with magi). When CD Seltyiel is insufficient, my first recourse is the other Magus Class Deck characters, then Ahmotep. Talitha is odd in that she is a staff magus and uses blessings in an interesting manner, requiring considerable work to render her powers into a more generic form. Similarly, Zvarbel has powers that are focused on barriers, making her mostly unusable. Like Talitha, Ahmotep has powers focused on the Staff trait. In addition, she has powers that help with the Mummy’s Mask adventure path’s emphasis on accuracy (i.e., adjusting the results of checks).

MAGUS MULTICLASS

You gain the Magus trait. Add “OR SPELL OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD. Add “COHORT: MAGUS ARCANA” to your DECK LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ On your check to recharge a spell, you may recharge a weapon (□ or any boon) to succeed (□ then you may shuffle your deck).

□ When you encounter a card, you may recharge a spell or an armor to draw a card.

□ When you succeed at a check to defeat a bane (□ or to acquire a Magic boon), you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is Magus Arcana, you may recharge a spell to draw it.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat with the power to recharge a spell or an armor to draw a card when encountering a card.

While I’ve been getting rid of most of the deck modification increases in this round of recommendations, I left both the spell and Melee weapon increases for the magus since both are essential to the class and there’s a chance that the base class will have few/none of one or the other in its deck list.

Harsk is the iconic ranger and should serve as the basic example of a ranger’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Harsk is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Harsk, then the other versions of Harsk. Agna and Wrathack are interesting in that they are Melee-oriented, requiring some modification to render their powers as more representative of generic rangers. Arabundi has a heavier focus on spells than the other rangers. Reta provides an interesting alternative to Harsk.

RANGER MULTICLASS

You gain the Ranger trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +1 and Survival: Constitution +2.

□ On any combat check, you may recharge a card or reload a weapon to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your check that invokes the Axe or Bow trait, add 1d6 (□ 1d8); against a Giant monster, add another 1d4.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. At the (□ start or) end of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location. (□ Then, you may shuffle your location.)

□ When you would discard an Axe or Bow card for its power, you may recharge it.

The power to examine the top card of your location (attached to gaining the Perception skill) now allows the multiclassed ranger to examine the card at the start of the turn, from the Dragonhunter role.

The final power, allowing you to recharge an Axe or Bow card when discarded for its power, comes from the Warden role.

Merisiel is the iconic rogue and should serve as the basic example of a rogue’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Merisiel is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Merisiel, then the other versions of Merisiel. Emil is interesting in that he is an assassin and has a power associated with Poison. As a villain/anti-hero, his powers require some modification to be more generic. Lesath has a “hoover” power that isn’t representative of the typical rogue. Olenjack has powers focused on allies and Poison. Ranzak brings goblin naughtiness, though some of his powers might work for a generic rogue. Simoun has a power that is more associated with her janni nature, though the others might work for generic rogues. Wu Shen has a twisted assassin/Poison vibe going on.

ROGUE MULTICLASS

You gain the Rogue trait. Add “OR ITEM OR KNIFE WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Disable: Dexterity +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 items as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Stealth: Dexterity +2. When you encounter a card, if you are the only local character (□ or it is not your turn), you may evade it.

□ You are proficient with Weapon. When you would recharge or discard a Knife weapon for its power, you may reload it instead. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Knife weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your combat check (□ or on a local check to acquire), you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to add 1d6 (□ 1d8).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +2. When you encounter a bane, you may recharge a card to ignore a bane’s before acting powers.

□ On your check to acquire, if you are the only local character, you may reroll a die.

I’ve incorporated each of Merisiel’s rogue skills into individual powers. In addition, I’ve incorporated one power from each of her roles. The power to ignore a bane’s before acting powers comes from her Waylayer role, and the power to reroll a die on the rogue’s check to acquire comes from her Liberator role.

I took the removed deck modification increase and changed it to the 1d8 increase of the combat check from Core Merisiel’s Waylayer role. This put four power feat boxes in that power, but none of them are sequential (i.e., other than the power feat to take the power in the first place, any of the other power feats can be taken in any order).

Curse of the Crimson Throne Hakon is the only instance we have of a skald character for PACG.

SKALD MULTICLASS

You gain the Skald trait. Add “OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Instrument.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 weapons as armors, items, or blessings.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card with a card of the same type (□ or a weapon or an Instrument card) from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. On a local Strength check (□ or a local check against a monster), you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Diplomacy.

□ At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

□ Gain the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 and Divine: Charisma +1 and you are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 3 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings. (□ Add 1d6 to your checks to acquire blessings and recharge spells.)

I removed the power feat to increase the number of spells from 4 to 5. I used that power feat and the power feat from removing the Hand Size increase to add the final power feat conferring the Arcane and Divine skills (from the Herald of the Harrow role).

Seoni is the iconic sorcerer and should serve as the basic example of a sorcerer’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Seoni is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Seoni, then the other versions of Seoni. Amaryllis lacks a combat-based power such as the other sorcerers tend to have, with her powers focused on increasing the chance of a successful check and recharging discarded spells. Celeste has one power that is more representative of her naga nature, and another that is more like an oracle. Her only “sorcerer” power is focused on recharging a spell. Qualzar’s powers are focused on his mastery of Mental magic. Valendron’s combat magic power uses Electricity.

SORCERER MULTICLASS

You gain the Sorcerer trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Knowledge: Intelligence +1.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Arcane spell) to use Arcane + 2d4 (□ 2d6) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Force, and Magic traits. This counts as playing an Arcane spell.

□ On your check to recharge an Arcane spell (□ or an Arcane item), you automatically succeed. (□ You may instead shuffle it into your deck.)

□ Gain the skill Perception: Intelligence +2. On a local check against a barrier, you may recharge a spell (□ or boon) to add 1d4.

I removed the power feat to increase the number of spells from 5 to 6. I then used that power feat and the power feat from removing the Hand Size increase to add the power feat that confers Perception.

Balazar is the iconic summoner and should serve as the basic example of a summoner’s skills, powers, and cards. When CD Balazar is insufficient, my first recourse is WotR Balazar, then the other summoners. The challenge with the summoners is that each is inextricably linked with their Eidolon cohort. Both versions of Balazar are similar to each other, and Thargrap is roughly along the same lines (all work around playing monster cards for combat effects). Alase is very different in that her powers are focused around the location of her Eidolon, Tonbarse. Zetha is closer to Balazar, but her powers are more about stealth.

SUMMONER MULTICLASS

You gain the Summoner trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD. Select one Eidolon cohort. Add “COHORT: (EIDOLON COHORT NAME)” to your DECK LIST.

After you play an Attack spell, bury it.

You may banish a monster from your hand to (□ draw a card or to) add 1d4 (□ 1d6) plus the monster’s level to a local combat check (□ or to reduce damage a local character suffers by 1 plus the monster’s level)(□ or to recharge a spell from your discards).

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2 and you are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 non-Attack spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ You may recharge (□ or shuffle into your deck) a spell to draw a new monster.

□ When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. (□ When you defeat a summoned monster, you may draw a new monster.)

□ When you would draw a new monster, draw 2 and choose 1.

I rearranged this one a bit from the previous recommendation. I used the power feat gained from removing the Hand Size to drawing 2 monsters and choosing 1, from the Polymancer role. That gave me two powers that allowed the summoner to draw monsters. I couldn’t duplicate the power for banishing monsters in both powers as that would have led to either too many power feats or the removal of other powers. Since the character won’t have monsters in their hand without one of those powers, though, I could pull the banish power (and its subordinate feats) out into a separate no-cost power (that would be unusable without one or both of the other two being taken). I also didn’t like the two power feats to increase the number of non-Attack spells that the summoner could keep in rebuilding, so I used those to add the power feat to draw a monster when defeating a summoner monster or to shuffle a spell into the deck (instead of recharging it) to draw a new monster.

Skull & Shackles Jirelle is the sole instance of a swashbuckler character in PACG, with one power that is clearly Skull & Shackles-centric (the one about Structural damage).

SWASHBUCKLER MULTICLASS

You gain the Swashbuckler trait. Add “OR ALLY” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ You are proficient with Weapon. On your check that invokes Finesse, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Finesse weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your Swashbuckling check, you may reroll 1 die (□ or 2 dice).

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2. You may recharge an ally to recharge a random card from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Charisma +2. Reduce Structural damage to your ship by 1.

□ When you acquire a Finesse or Swashbuckling card, you may immediately recharge it to explore again (□ or to draw a card).

□ When you defeat a monster on your exploration, if any of your checks to defeat had the Swashbuckling trait, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On your check, you may reveal a Swashbuckling card to add the Swashbuckling trait.

I rearranged things from the previous recommendation, and I incorporated powers from both of Jirelle’s roles, sometimes tweaking/combining them a bit.

I got rid of the power feat to increase the swashbuckler’s Melee skill from +2 to +3 (from my original recommendation), and I got rid of the power feat to increase the number of Finesse weapons from 4 to 5. With the power feat remaining from getting rid of the Hand Size increase, that gave me 3 power feats to play with.

Just gaining the Diplomacy skill didn’t seem sufficient, so I added the element about recharging an ally from her Duelist role.

Base Jirelle has a power to reduce Structural damage to her ship, and that is useless in most adventure paths. By combining that with the power to gain the Craft skill (a power feat add-on from her Pirate Queen role), it becomes more useful.

I added the power to explore again after acquiring a Finesse or Swashbuckling card. This is based on her Pirate Queen role, where it’s Pirate or Swashbuckling instead of Finesse or Swashbuckling. Most adventure paths don’t feature a lot of Pirate cards, so I wanted the power to be more useful. To avoid creating a problem by overlapping with another power, I added the requirement to recharge the acquired card. I combined this with a modified version of a power from her Duelist role. Originally, these were two separate powers, both contingent on the acquisition of Finesse or Swashbuckling cards. One of the elements of playability with PACG, however, is the limitation of space and legible text on the cards. Having these as two separate powers would have required that the text be shrunk on the classic version of the card (and that’s using Core wording, which uses less space than classic wording). If you’re like me and getting a little long in the tooth, text that is too small can be a pain. There are a few characters whose roles have complicated powers that require that the text be shrunk. Surely I can’t be the only player who has a magnifying glass near them when playing this game. By making the second power a progression feat of the first, the line space requirement was reduced so that the text could remain the same size.

I added the power to reveal a Swashbuckling card to add the Swashbuckling trait from Jirelle’s Pirate Queen role.

Feiya is the iconic witch and should serve as the basic example of a witch’s skills, powers, and cards. When CD Feiya is insufficient, my first recourse is S&S Feiya, then the other witch characters. Kasmir represents a healing-oriented witch while Raheli has a power reflective of her samsaran hair. A key component of the witches is their reliance upon their Familiar cohorts, through which they gain the Arcane skill (among other things).

WITCH MULTICLASS

You gain the Witch trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

Select one Familiar cohort. Add “COHORT: (FAMILIAR COHORT NAME)” to your DECK LIST.

□ You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 5 Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Knowledge: Intelligence +2 and Diplomacy: Charisma +2. On a local check to acquire an ally or defeat a barrier (□ or a monster), you may recharge a card to reduce the difficulty of that check by 1 (□ 2) plus the card’s level.

□ When you fail to defeat a non-story bane monster, you may recharge a spell to shuffle the monster into a random (□ or any) other open location.

□ When you would remove a Curse or scourge, you may draw it instead. You may banish a Curse or scourge from your hand to add 1d4 to a local combat check (□ or to recharge a spell from your discards).

□ On your turn, you may mark a displayed Familiar cohort (□ or reload an Animal, Arcane, or Vermin ally) to examine the top card of your location.

I added the gaining of the skills Knowledge and Diplomacy to the power to reduce the difficulty of a check by recharging a card. I considered only adding one or the other, but the power itself affects both acquiring an ally (typically a Diplomacy check) and defeating a barrier, which seems to be more reflective of the Knowledge skill.

It’s important to note that witches have the Arcane proficiency, but only gain the skill via their familiars. So the power conferring the proficiency and the deck modification for spells does not include the skill. I’m only stating this because it threw me off the first time around.

I replaced the Hand Size power feat with the 1d8 power feat in the last power. An alternative I considered was to add a 1d6 power feat to the first power. I opted for the 1d8 power feat instead because I’m trying to limit each power to a total of three feat boxes, including the first. The intent there is to encourage a bit more variety. Practically speaking, since the feat boxes in the first power aren’t sequential (i.e., aside from having to choose the first one in order to get the power in the first place, you can take any of the following power feats without having to take any of the others first), the 1d6 power feat isn’t really a problem.

With the power feat remaining from the removal of the hand size increase, I had 2 power feats to use. I added the power to examine the top card of the witch’s location from CD Feiya’s Beast-Bonder role, without the power feat to discard a card to explore the location. I also changed the wording of “Witch Class Deck cohort” to “Familiar cohort” to facilitate the use of Familiar cohorts from other sources (e.g., Daji from Skull & Shackles, homegrown Familiar cohorts, or future Familiar cohorts).

Ezren is the iconic wizard and should serve as the basic example of a wizard’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Ezren is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Ezren, then the other versions of Ezren. The two necromancers, Darago and Nyctessa, are mostly insufficient with regard to powers because those powers represent the nonstandard “hoovering” principle. Melindra has a spy quality, and that power is definitely inappropriate for a standard wizard. Radillo’s Mental/charm powers, too, are inappropriate. Each of these wizards has at least one power that might be considered representative of standard wizards and those may be considered when looking for more powers, whether in combination with or instead of powers that some version of Ezren has.

WIZARD MULTICLASS

You gain the Wizard trait. Add “OR SPELL” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 7 spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Knowledge: Intelligence +2.

□ At the start of your turn, you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is a spell, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ On your turn, you may recharge a spell to examine the top card of your location. If you do, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On a local check against a Magic card, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ When you examine the top card of a location or deck, you may examine the top 2 cards instead.

□ On your non-Intelligence check, you may discard a spell to add your Intelligence.

Since I’ve been removing [most of] the deck modification increases in this round of recommendations, I removed the increase in the number of spells (from 7 to 8). With the power feat from the removed hand size increase, that left me with 2 power feats.

I used one to add the power to increase the number of examined cards from 1 to 2 from Core Ezren’s Mystic Diviner role; and the other was used to add the power to add the wizard’s Intelligence to non-Intelligence checks from his Wizened Explorer role.

It will take me a few days to work out the recommendations for the remaining classes, so we have that time for questions, recommendations for improvement, etc.

Side note...

...While looking over these ideas, I realized that more than a few of the characters had powers that were them and not class, or which only represented a specific subset of their class. So while working on a few of these, I was going through the PFRPG 2e rulebooks and realized that most of the classes have a lot more variation and some standard subsets. For example, the bards have their muses, barbarians have their instincts, etc., and these can lead to some very different outcomes, many of which are represented in different PACG characters from the same class. I was considering having a few of these classes with a little more variation allowed, but I've decided to dial things back a bit.

This first stage of multiclass cards will be more faithful translations of the iconic characters as being representative of the class. This is pretty much what I've been presenting so far, so this won't be a change. I'll only work on the current range of classes, ignoring new classes like the inventor and exemplar. I'll also ignore those classes that no longer exist in PFRPG 2e, or which have been rolled into other classes, except where there are Core characters in these classes such as the skald, Hakon. This includes the hunter and inquisitor, both of which have been rolled into the ranger, as well as the warpriest, which is now a subset of clerics, among others. This means there are still a few that I need to tackle, such as the kineticist and psychic. There are a few that have been adapted in PFRPG 2e which might be more than I want to deal with right now. These include the spiritualist, which is now an animist, and the occultist, which is now a thaumaturge, among others. So what I'm saying is that there is even less work than I had initially planned on remaining in this stage.

Once we've finished the first stage, we'll move on to the second stage, which is much more of the "rpgification" that I mentioned previously. This will present more complex versions of each class, each with a supporting card. For example, instead of having a Barbarian multiclass card that is based on Core Amiri, there will be a Barbarian multiclass card that is supplemented by a Barbarian Instinct card. Each class, then, will have core powers that are common to all members of that class, but the supporting card will allow the character to select one of the class subsets (e.g., barbarian instinct, bard muse, etc.) and to choose powers that are representative of that subset. There will still be a total of 10 possible power feats based on the subset choice. For example, I started with the druid class and the more complex Druid multiclass card has 6 power feats so each druid order offers 4 power feats, each unique to that order. I'm classifying the supporting cards as support cards, each one unique to a class. In addition, the second stage will further shift into PFRPG 2e conventions. So the skald will not be available, instead being represented as a bard using the Warrior muse. This is much more complex work, so I'm taking care of the initial work in the background while we press forward with the first stage of multiclass cards (which will be much easier to accept).

The multiclass cards for the two different stages will be visually distinguishable in that I'll use the class deck icons for the cards in the first stage and I'll use the PFRPG class icons for the cards in the second stage (assuming that's allowed based on community use, intellectual property, etc. - I'm looking into that). For those classes for which there wasn't a class deck [icon], I'll craft something.

Anyhoo...we'll continue with the first stage of cards. I plan to present one card every other day, giving a little time to review/discuss each before moving on. We're not beholden to that schedule, however, so it's okay to comment on the recommendations for a class after we've moved on to others (since each of us has our unique demands on our time and we're not able to stay abreast of the discussion on a regular basis).

And now it’s time for the barbarian. The proposal for the Barbarian multiclass card is firmly based on Core Amiri:

FAVORED CARD: Melee Weapon

SKILLS: Melee, Fortitude, Survival

HAND SIZE: 4 □ 5

PROFICIENCIES: Weapon, □ Armor

POWERS:

On your Strength check or your check against a monster, you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Fortitude skill.

Closing your location does not prevent you from exploring (□ and after you close your location, you may draw a card).

At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

Multiple barbarians are in the classic product line:

Amiri (Rise of the Runelords)
Amiri (Barbarian Class Deck)
Brielle (Barbarian Class Deck)
Ostog (Barbarian Class Deck)

Amiri is the iconic barbarian and should serve as the basic example of a barbarian’s skills, powers, and cards. When Core Amiri is insufficient, my first recourse is CD Amiri, then the RotRL version of Amiri.

Here’s a breakdown of the current proposal for the Barbarian multiclass card:

BARBARIAN MULTICLASS

You gain the Barbarian trait. Add “OR MELEE WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2 and you are proficient with Melee weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 Melee weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +1. On your Strength check or your check against a monster, you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Fortitude skill.

□ Closing your location does not prevent you from exploring (□ and after you close your location, you may draw a card)(□ and you may heal a weapon).

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. At the end of your turn, you may move (□ then examine the top card of your location); any local characters may move with you.

□ On your Melee combat check, you may reload a weapon to add its level.

In general, I’ve been removing the increases to the deck modifications in this round of recommendations. In many cases, characters already have these boons in their deck lists. Since the numbers of such cards “gained” equals the starting level of the base characters’ deck lists, these should be sufficient in the majority of cases to support character viability. So removing the increase in Melee weapons from 4 to 5 and removing the Hand Size power feat with the power feat left 2 power feats. I used these to incorporate powers from each of Core Amiri’s roles.

The first was the power feat to examine the top card of your location after moving (from the Resistance Fighter role) and the second was reloading a weapon to add its level to your Melee combat check from her Smashmouth role (without the power feat to apply the power to another local character’s Melee combat check).

Info on Arueshalae can be seen here (blog entry from cartmanbeck).

That's great information. Thanks!

I have all the Society scenarios/adventures/adventure paths, but I didn't even think to look at those [imagine me face-palming myself].

The alchemist provides us with a challenge in that the iconic alchemist during PACG’s run was the elf Damiel, with the goblin Fumbus replacing him in the transition to Core/PFRPG 2e. The proposal for the Alchemist multiclass card is firmly based on Core Fumbus, but looks to CD Damiel for other cues:

FAVORED CARD: Alchemical Item or Attack Spell

SKILLS: Disable, Ranged, Craft, Arcane

HAND SIZE: 6 □ 7 □ 8

PROFICIENCIES: Alchemical, □ Arcane

POWERS:

On a local combat check (□ or a local check to defeat an Obstacle or Trap barrier), you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Alchemical or Attack card) to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Acid, Fire, or Poison trait.

During recovery, when you would banish an Alchemical boon or an Arcane Attack spell, you may discard it instead. (□ Then you may recharge a new Arcane Attack spell whose level is 0.)

□ On your check that invokes Acid, Fire, or Poison, add 1d6 (□ 1d8).

□ At the end of your exploration, draw a card.

□ At the end of your turn, if there are more cards in your discards than in your deck, you may bury a random (□ or any) card from your discards to heal 1d4 cards.

Multiple alchemists are in the classic product line:

Cogsnap (Alchemist Class Deck)
Damiel (Alchemist Class Deck)
Damiel (Skull & Shackles)
Damiel (Mummy’s Mask)
Mogmurch (Goblins Burn! Character Deck)
Mother Myrtle (Alchemist Class Deck)

Fumbus is the iconic alchemist and should serve as the basic example of an alchemist’s skills, powers, and cards. He’s also a goblin, however, so there may be some silliness that needs to be excised. As the prior iconic alchemist, Damiel, especially his CD version, also serves as an example. It looks like some of Cogsnap’s character was cooked into Fumbus. Mother Myrtle provides an interesting counter. Where the other alchemists appear to be focused on throwing things that go boom, Mother Myrtle is more focused on plants and healing. Her powers bear some similarities with the other alchemists, and those have helped shape the below proposal. Mogmurch brings goblin twists to the alchemist class.

Here’s a breakdown of the current proposal for the Alchemist multiclass card:

ALCHEMIST MULTICLASS

You gain the Alchemist trait. Add “OR ALCHEMICAL ITEM” to your FAVORED CARD.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Alchemical. During recovery, when you would banish an Alchemical boon or an Arcane Attack spell, you may discard it instead. (□ Then you may recharge a new Alchemical item whose level is 0.) When rebuilding, you may treat up to 6 (□ 7) Alchemical items as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +1. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Attack spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On a local combat check (□ or a local check to defeat an Obstacle or Trap barrier), you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Alchemical or Attack card) to add 1d4 and the Acid, Fire, or Poison trait.

□ Gain the skills Disable: Dexterity +1 and Ranged: Dexterity +1.

□ On your check that invokes Acid, Fire, or Poison, add 1d6 (□ 1d8).

I replaced the Hand Size power feat with the 1d8 power feat in the last power. An alternative I considered was to add a 1d6 power feat to the first power. I opted for the 1d8 power feat instead because I’m trying to limit each power to a total of three feat boxes, including the first. The intent there is to encourage a bit more variety. Practically speaking, since the feat boxes in the first power aren’t sequential (i.e., aside from having to choose the first one in order to get the power in the first place, you can take any of the following power feats without having to take any of the others first), the 1d6 power feat isn’t really a problem.

Now we’re going to examine each multiclass card individually, going in alphabetical order. To avoid having to repeat myself, the basic methodology I’ve used in developing these initial proposals is described below.

Any iconic character presented in either the Core Set or Curse of the Crimson Throne serves as the model for the corresponding multiclass card. In cases where the class isn’t represented by an iconic character in the Core Set/Curse of the Crimson Throne, I’ve used the iconic character from the corresponding character deck as the model. Other versions of the iconic characters are considered, as are other characters of the same class, though I’ve generally avoided the goblins since they tend to incorporate lovable goblin silliness. The Hell’s Vengeance character decks often offer characters whose powers are very similar to their “good” counterparts, but they tend to incorporate “evil” aspects such as playing other characters’ cards to achieve the effects (actually, they tend to allow for any characters’ cards to be used, including their own, but the fact that they can use someone else’s card is why they’re viewed as “evil”). In addition, they often have powers related to the Corrupted trait, another “evil” element. For the most part, though, they incorporate powers that are very similar to their “good” counterparts.

Each multiclass card allows for 10 power feats. In most cases, players will select fewer power feats on their multiclass card and more on their role card, but I don’t want to limit player agency by allowing for too few multiclass power feats. While most adventure paths will only allow for six or seven power feats total, Wrath of the Righteous allows for 11 or more (depending on one scenario). Since the role cards are limited to 12 power feats, I’ve incorporated the limit for 12 total power feats between the character’s role and multiclass cards. Realistically, we might consider increasing the total number of power feats on the multiclass cards to 12 since it’s possible for a character to multiclass right away and to take all 12 power feats on their multiclass card. I don’t know why anyone would want to do that (I certainly wouldn’t), but it’s worth considering. Personally, I think 10 is a good number, but if someone thinks we should consider increasing the number, I’m open to discussion.

The HAND SIZE power feats that were included previously will be removed. These cards were initially conceived as alternatives to role cards, but have been re-conceived as additions to the role cards. The HAND SIZE power feats, then, are unnecessary. It's worth noting, however, that this creates an interesting dynamic. A fighter character who multiclasses as a wizard will typically have a smaller hand size than a wizard who multiclasses as a fighter, even though the two characters may share some powers in common (though their skills will be the real discriminators).

Each multiclass card confers the corresponding class trait (e.g., the Swashbuckler multiclass card confers the Swashbuckler trait).

The character’s FAVORED CARD (on their base character card) is modified to include the favored card(s) of the multiclass, based upon the iconic character’s favored card entry. There are a few instances where this changes from the iconic character, becoming more general. Those will be explained/discussed in the relevant instances.

In cases where a cohort is intrinsic to the character, guidance is also provided for the addition of a cohort to the character’s DECK LIST. The theoretical construct is that the class deck corresponding to the multiclass is available so players can use the appropriate cohort(s) (and other boons) without modification. In regular play, appropriate boons can be added to the vault; and in Society play, the appropriate deck can be incorporated into the character’s [rebuilt] Player Deck or the required cards from that deck can be used (if the corresponding deck isn’t incorporated into the Player Deck). The three classes for which cohorts are required are the magus, summoner, and witch. We may add other classes such as the cavalier and samurai later, and those iconic characters each have cohorts, but we’ll probably have to modify those (e.g., instead of taking Donahan for a cavalier or Jinfu for a samurai, we might use a more generic Mount ally).

In the vast majority of cases, the powers are easily identifiable from the base character card for the iconic character. Where the base powers usually don’t have a starting cost (i.e., they are “free” when you start playing the character), each power requires the use of a power feat, so multiclassed characters will take considerable time to reach the potency of the corresponding iconic characters in their new class. This also allows players to tailor their power feats to the needs of the character without duplicating powers they may possess in their original class.

The leading power(s) for each multiclass card are then based on proficiencies, skills, and cards associated with the new class, generally providing them in that order (and omitting any that don’t apply). Such skills are typically at +2, representing an “average” member of that class (vice +3, which would represent the most potent members of the class, +1 for weaker members, and +0 for those odd cases). The deck modifications allow a character to substitute two or three (usually three) boon types from their DECK LIST to get the new card type(s). In most cases, these are based on the boon types of which the iconic character has the fewest, or they may be “opposites” (e.g., I consider weapons and spells to be opposites). Also, blessings are usually included as one of the options. For example, Core Valeros has 0 spells and 2 items, so a character taking the Fighter multiclass card and either of the “weapon” powers (Melee or Ranged) can substitute weapons for either spells, items, or blessings in their deck (I did something different for armors, but I’ll go over that in the discussion on the Fighter multiclass card). In most cases, the number of cards in the deck modification is based on the number that the iconic character has. While some characters might have such boons in their DECK LIST, there are many cases where a character might have none, so it’s important to ensure that they are allowed to take enough of those boons to be credible in the class. And since these numbers are maximums, characters can always take fewer of those boons.

In some cases, there are other skills or proficiencies associated with the class which I couldn’t/didn’t build into the skill/proficiency/deck modification powers. In general, I tried to include the skills and class proficiencies with relevant powers – if a character of that class would need that skill/proficiency for the power to be usable, it was incorporated. For example, the alchemist naturally needs the Alchemical proficiency. Fumbus has two base powers that are concerned with the Alchemical trait. The first power doesn’t require that the alchemist have the Alchemical proficiency, whereas the second does, so the Alchemical proficiency was incorporated into the second power on the Alchemist Multiclass card. In cases where there were skills/proficiencies that didn’t obviously associated themselves with a power, I tried to include two or three together as a single power where possible. For example, the Cleric Multiclass card includes the power □ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2. There were a few cases where there was a single skill or proficiency that didn’t inherently associate with a power, and those are the only times where a power only conferred one skill/proficiency (I’ve avoided this whenever possible, however, as those will be less attractive uses of power feats).

Where a power, or aspects of it, seem to be reflective more of the character and not of the class, I’ve either omitted the power or made it more generic. For example, Core Valeros has “SWORD WEAPON” as his FAVORED CARD. Not all fighters focus on the use of swords, however, with some preferring polearms, others bludgeoning weapons, etc. So the Fighter multiclass card uses “WEAPON” as the FAVORED CARD. Likewise, Core Seoni has a power that allows her to reduce certain types of damage by 1. That power seems to be a Seoni thing and not a sorcerer thing, so it has been omitted (forcing me to look elsewhere for suitable sorcerer powers).

When a multiclass card doesn’t have 10 power feat boxes derived from the baseline character, the skill/proficiency/deck modification power(s) might include a power feat to increase the number of such cards the character may include in their deck. I’ve done this sparingly as many characters don’t need power feats to take the cards necessary for their multiclass.

When there still aren’t 10 power feat boxes, progressions on role cards might be used, especially where identical/similar progressions are present on both roles or when one role seems to reflect a more generic type of that class. When doing this, I’ve generally used the less potent version. Alternatively, the other characters of that class might provide ideas for powers/progressions.

In addition, I consulted PFRPG 2e rulebooks to determine which powers seem to be the most representative of the class (or to develop such powers, as in the oracle which we’ll discuss later).

There are a few cases where I think it’s possible to create a little more customization, using the iconic character as a foundation while making the multiclass a little more representative of the class as it is presented in PFRPG 2e. Each of those cases will be discussed when we get to the relevant multiclass cards. In some cases, this might require a little creativity on the card; in others, it might require a support card for the class. I’ve taken to calling this the “RPGification of PACG,” though the abstractions of PACG are preserved.

Something I’ve considered while working on this project is that these multiclass cards allow for some of the custom character ideas that I’ve come up with over the years. For example, in this topic I was working on “non-gunslinger gunslingers.” Each of the characters I worked on in that project was multiclassed as a something-gunslinger. The first was a ranger-gunslinger, the second was an inquisitor-gunslinger (with Pitborn powers, too), and the third was a barbarian-gunslinger (with Goblin silliness, too). While those characters can’t be exactly duplicated via these rules, the core principles of each can be represented to the point where the custom characters might be unnecessary. There are probably other custom characters that I [and others] have come up with over the years who might be similarly represented via these multiclass cards (though there are doubtless many who are far too distinctive to be so represented).

Now that the basic methodology has been provided, the discussion about the alchemist multiclass card will appear shortly.

I’m focusing on the general multiclass rules for now. The multiclass cards serve as an add-on to the concept of roles, modifying various character elements to include: powers and power feats, traits (the class), favored cards, and deck list. Where these elements are mentioned in either the Core Set Rulebook or the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide, we need to evaluate where the multiclass cards modify the existing rules/guidance and make the appropriate changes.

Note that while composing this post, I realized that my previous recommendations for each of the multiclass cards used “Cards List” instead of “Deck List” (that was a change in the Core Set update), so I’m fixing all of those now.

CORE SET RULEBOOK

My proposal for the location of the general rules includes:

1) An addition to the section on how to Draw Starting Hands on page 5.

2) An addition to Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or Adventure Path under After the Scenario on page 16.

3) An addition to Rebuilding section on page 17.

4) A new strategy box on page 18.

5) Two additions to the RULES: FEATS box on page 19.

6) An addition in the Card Types section starting on page 19 .

7) An addition to the guidance for including a Cohort on page 21.

Assuming these suggestions are acceptable, here are my first stabs at each:

1) Draw Starting Hands

This would go on page 5, modifying the existing rule to the following (changes marked in blue text):

Draw Starting Hands: The front of your character lists a hand size; draw that number of cards from your deck. The back of your character lists your favored card, and that may be modified if you take a multiclass card; if it gives you a choice, choose 1 for the scenario before drawing. If you didn’t draw at least matching card, set aside your hand and draw again, repeating as needed until your hand contains at least 1 favored card. If you set aside enough cards that you can’t draw up to your full hand size, draw all the remaining cards, then shuffle the set-aside cards into your deck and draw the rest of your hand. Once you have a full hand that includes your favored card, shuffle the set-aside cards back into your deck.

2) Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or Adventure Path

This would go on page 16 after the fourth paragraph (the one that starts “First, if any character is dead…”) and before the fifth paragraph (the one that starts “Next, if you won…”).

If you have not begun Adventure 5, characters may take multiclass cards (see Multiclass Cards on page #). Multiple characters may take the same multiclass card, if desired.

The # is a placeholder for whatever page we decide the Card Types section entry should be placed on.

3) In the Rebuilding section:

This would be inserted on page 17 after the second paragraph (the one that starts “If you can’t construct a valid deck…”) and before the third paragraph (the one that starts “If you want to start a new character…”), becoming the new third paragraph.

If you want your character to take a multiclass card, you may do so during rebuilding before deciding to spend a hero point. A character may have no more than one multiclass card, and may only take such a card prior to starting Adventure 5. Each multiclass card lists additional restrictions/requirements. You may add cards from character decks, ultimate add-on decks, and other adventure paths to the vault if necessary to support a multiclass card (e.g., a character taking the Gunslinger multiclass card may need Firearm weapons and other boons).

4) Rebuilding Strategy Box:

This should fit on page 18, right below the strategy box about Should you adjust the challenge?

STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU TAKE A MULTICLASS CARD?

The best time to take a multiclass card is when you earn a hero point and plan to spend it to gain a power feat. You will have to choose a power feat on the multiclass card unless it is your first power feat, in which case you may choose a power feat on either your character card or your multiclass card. The character won’t gain any powers simply from taking a multiclass card, and their Favored Card is likely to be modified as a result of taking the multiclass card, so you will likely spend the hero point to gain a benefit of the new class.

The most likely reason for a character to take a multiclass card is that there are gaps in the party’s skills and powers and those gaps cannot or will not be filled by an additional character or character advancement. Alternately, you may desire to pursue a non-standard progression for a character. The tradeoff is that the character will not be able to spend all their power feat hero points on role powers.

If your multiclass card is banished, you regain it at the start of the next scenario.

5) RULES: FEATS

Modifying the first sentence of the Power Feats rules box on page 19 (changes in blue):

Character, multiclass, and role cards include a number of checkboxes called feats.

Adding a sentence to the last paragraph:

Free multiclass sheets are posted online at URL.

The URL will probably be to this discussion, providing a single index with links to various locations such as Pathfinder Infinite, Drive Thru Cards, and the Board Game Geek (i.e., where I upload the sheets).

6) Card Types section:

The easiest place to insert this would be on page 23, but there may be a more logical place for it, such is immediately preceding or following the Roles card (page 20) or immediately preceding or following Support Cards (page 21/22). I favor the former since I see the multiclass card as an addition to the stable of cards directly relating to the characters (i.e., character, token, and role), but that’s not a hill I’ll die on.

Multiclass Cards

Each character may take up to one multiclass card, allowing the character to progress in a second class in addition to the class listed on their character card. Taking a multiclass card may be done during rebuilding after completing any scenario before starting Adventure 5. A character may not take a multiclass card that confers the same class trait as that which is on their character card, and some multiclass cards list other restrictions or requirements.

A multiclass card provides additional power feats that a character may select in addition to those that appear on their character card and role card. When you gain power feats, you may choose them from your character/role card or your multiclass card. If the number of power feats checked on your multiclass card is less than half the number of power feats checked on your character/role card, the next power feat you select must be on the multiclass card. A character may never have more than 12 power feat boxes checked in total on their role card and multiclass card.

7) Cohort

This would be added to the description of cohort cards on page 21, modifying the first paragraph to the following (addition in blue text):

Cohort: These are companions that some characters get at the start of a scenario. (The Core Set does not include any characters that use cohorts; they can be found in certain class decks and Adventure Paths.) If the back of your character lists a cohort at the bottom of your deck list or you take a multiclass card that adds a cohort to your deck list, after you draw your starting hand, add your cohort to it.

PATHFINDER ADVENTURE CARD SOCIETY GUIDE

My proposal for the location of the society guide rules includes:

1) Adding Appendix 5: Multiclass Characters.

2) Modifying the section about BUILDING YOUR PLAYER DECK on page 7.

3) Modifying the section telling you how to Build Your Own Character under STARTING A HIGHER-TIER CHARACTER on page 8.

4) Adding guidance for AFTER THE SCENARIO on page 10.

5) Modifying the section describing how to Rebuild Your Deck on page 11.

Assuming these suggestions are acceptable, here are my first stabs at each:

1) Appendix 5: Multiclass Characters

In a living rulebook setup, this will appear on page 15 (pushing all content that currently appears starting on page 15 back). If this is added as an addendum (which is most likely at this point), this will simply be a downloadable file that is appended to the Guide.

If your character takes a multiclass card, you may modify the sources of your Player Deck. Taking a multiclass card also creates one new combination if you wish to mix and match sources for your player deck: two Class Decks. You may replace any/all of the sources in your existing Player Deck to create a new Player Deck that meets the allowed combinations. This will result in removing all cards from the removed source(s) and replacing them with cards from the new source(s). In addition, you may remove cards from sources that you are retaining and replace them with cards from new sources. All replacement cards must be of the same type and the same level or lower as the cards they replace. Your new Player Deck must include all required cards, even if those cards aren’t included in the sources you have chosen (e.g., if you decide that Hayato will multiclass as a bard and decide to remove the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck from your Player Deck sources, you must still include the cohort Jinfu from that deck).

This will be followed by an example, which I’m working on.

2) BUILDING YOUR PLAYER DECK

This bullet would be added after the second bullet in the section on BUILDING YOUR PLAYER DECK on page 7:

Create a Player Deck and choose a character as described on page 7. To build your character’s deck, choose cards that have a level at least 2 lower than the # of the adventure you’re about to play. You may take a multiclass card. Your character can check a number of feat boxes of each type equal to their Tier –2. If your character is Tier 5 or higher, also select a role for your character.

This change could actually be very complicated, providing guidance on determing exactly when the multiclass card is taken for the purpose of selecting power feats.

3) Build Your Own Character

Modify this paragraph as follows (addition in blue text):

If your character takes a multiclass card, you may modify the sources of your Player Deck. See Appendix 5 on page # for details.

4) AFTER THE SCENARIO

This would go after the Return from Death paragraph and before the Earn Rewards paragraph:

Multiclass. Any character who has not yet reached Tier 5 and who does not already have a multiclass card may take a multiclass card at this time.

5) Rebuild Your Deck

This would be added after the last sentence in the first paragraph (the one ending “…choose that card instead.”) on page 11:

If your character takes a multiclass card after the scenario, you may remove cards and replace them with cards from another source. See Appendix 5 on page # for details.

The # will be the page on which Appendix 5 appears. As a simple addendum to the Guide, we would omit the “on page #” portion of this line.

CLOSING

If you think that I’ve missed any areas, recommended an addition/change that isn’t necessary, or need to clarify/tighten wording, please let me know.

You probably weren’t wondering about the 6-day delay between Jenceslav’s previous post and my reply. Or maybe you're not ;) . Regardless, I figured it would be worth explaining. As I said previously, Jenceslav’s analysis of the relative source values was very helpful, prompting me to attempt a more in-depth analysis of each of the various sources. This led to the creation of a spreadsheet that included basic data on each source and the basic composition of cards within based on boon type and level. A big shout out to anyone and everyone involved in editing the PACG Wiki as that info saved me the trouble of having to manually go through each source to collect the data. Without the data on the wiki, I would probably still be going through decks.

All the numbers below assume that (a) the original compilers of the data were accurate, and (more importantly) (b) I transcribed the data from the wiki to the spreadsheet correctly and the formulas on my spreadsheet are correct. I’ll assume that any errors stem from (b).

From the perspective of numbers, the adventurer’s packs are roughly comparable to both the class/character decks and the ultimate add-on decks. The smallest adventurer’s pack is the Divine pack at 52 cards, while the largest packs are Alchemy and Arcane at 54 cards each. The other packs each consist of 53 cards. So the smallest possible combination of 2 packs is 105 cards and the largest possible such combination is 108 cards; and the smallest combination of 3 packs is 154 cards and the largest possible such combination is 161 cards.

In terms of the class/character decks and the ultimate add-on decks, I didn’t include the character cards, token cards, role cards, or support cards (which include cohorts). It could probably be argued that the cohorts should have been included and I’m working on a variation of this analysis that does include them. I’m saving those for a more detailed analysis that includes the traits of cards (more on that in a bit). We also have the complication of the earliest class decks including 4 characters each, taking 12 cards out of the mix, while the later class/character decks only include 3 characters each, taking only 9 cards out of the mix. Most of the ultimate add-on decks include only 1 character, taking only 3 cards out of the mix, with the Ultimate Intrigue Add-On Deck has Aric/The Red Raven, a single character with 2 character cards, 1 role card, and 2 token cards. The smallest of the class/character decks is the Witch Class Deck, at 94 cards. The reason for that is the number of cohorts (which skews things). The next smallest is the Hunter Class Deck, at 95 cards. This is another deck that has a number of cohorts that skew things. The next smallest are the Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Summoner, Wizard, and Pathfinder Tales class/character decks, each clocking in at 97 cards. Most of those are among the early class decks with 4 characters each, while the Summoner and Pathfinder Tales class/character decks are later and include only 3 characters each, but each of those includes support cards (the Summoner CD has cohorts and the Pathfinder Tales CD has the Devil Form cards). Each of the ultimate add-on decks, meanwhile, clocks in at 104+ cards, the smallest being Intrigue at 104 cards due to the Aric/Red Raven issue, with Combat clocking in at 105 (Hayato has his cohort, Jinfu), and the others each clocking in at 106 cards. So in the class/character/ultimate add-on decks we see the smallest at 94 cards and the largest at 106 cards, a 12-card difference. If we were to include the cohorts (across all of these decks), we would see the smallest at 97 cards (the earliest decks with 4 characters each) and the largest at 106 cards – a 9-card difference.

What complicates all of the deck analyses, and which I didn’t really factor in, was the usability of each card for each character. With the initial construct of a character being limited to a single deck (i.e., before there were ultimate add-on decks or adventurer’s packs), each deck had to allow for each character to be viable throughout both role progressions and different feat choices. This was the impetus for switching from 4 characters down to 3 characters in the class/character decks – reducing the requirements. An easy example of this principle is the Fighter Class Deck. Like the other characters, Flenta is a fighter, but she’s one that pretends to be a wizard and has some powers that represent her pretended use of Arcane magic. This necessitates the inclusion of spells that most of the other characters do not need (Vika can have up to 1 spell); and with a cards list of 3-5 spells, and roles with very different foci, there are 13 spells that are inapplicable to 2 out of the 4 characters in that deck. The Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck is another story, in this case focusing more on the traits of boons rather than the types of boons. Looking solely at the weapons, different characters find certain types more useful based on their traits. The deck itself supports the broad range of combat, meaning there are boons that support each of the different types of weapon- and weaponless (non-spell) combat. So there are Melee weapons that are useful to characters like Valeros and Alain, Ranged weapons that are useful to characters like Harsk and Imrijka, Firearm weapons that are useful to the gunslingers, Finesse weapons that are useful to characters like Jirelle and Lesath, etc. Characters might make use of the broad range of weapons, but those weapons will be far less useful and will be unlikely to be retained in their player decks. Similarly, the other boons within that deck will be more or less useful to different characters.

The character decks are another story as they typically include characters of 3 different classes; and while there might be broad similarities such as all the Goblins Fight! Characters being focused on non-spell combat, each of these decks tends to be a bit more limited in terms of the cards that players will focus on for each of the characters.

The ultimate add-on decks, meanwhile, are interesting in that each needs to support the included character and must be general enough to support the overall concept of the deck. The Ultimate Magic Add-On Deck, for example, must support the arcanist, Enora, through both of her roles and a variety of feat progressions; but it must also support magic in general for a large swath of characters. So while the spells in the Cleric Class Deck are all Divine spells that any of the clerics can use, the spells in the Ultimate Magic Add-On Deck may be either Arcane, Divine, or both. The bards can make great use of the full range of spells in that deck, but most other spellcasting characters will find certain spells to be of little/no use except for one time use.

The concept of multiclassed characters changes the dynamic a bit. While any class deck will generally be optimized for the corresponding class and character decks will provide limited support for each of the included classes, the ultimate add-on decks become much more useful for multiclassed characters. If Harsk multiclasses as a gunslinger, the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck becomes much more useful for him.

It was this latter realization that forced me to re-think allowing two ultimate add-on decks, either imposing limits or removing that combination altogether. The Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide 6.2 already includes a provision for support cards such as cohorts and devil forms on page 7. What I’m unclear on is limitations for which sources can be used for characters. I can see two different possible interpretations. The first is that a character must use the deck in which they are included or which corresponds to them by class or if another version of the character is in that deck (e.g., MM Mavaro using Occult Adventures 2 since there is a Mavaro included in that character deck). In this instance, the player can decide to use just the Occult Adventures 2 Character Deck, or supplement it with one of the ultimate add-on decks or two of the adventurer’s packs). The second interpretation is that a character may use any deck the player finds useful, supplementing that with other sources based on the allowed combinations. Support for the first interpretation is the sidebar on page 7 which defines which deck to use for certain characters. Support for the second interpretation is the exclusion of a number of characters for which there are no class/character decks (e.g., S&S Jirelle and WotR Crowe). Each of the characters for which there was no corresponding deck had a defined deck at one time, but I’ve been unable to find either the discussion forum post in which such guidance was given and I didn’t have the forethought to keep all the obsolete versions of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide. I do, however, have my own form that was based on that guidance, and it also allowed some supported characters to use alternate decks (omitting those characters that are listed in the sidebar in the current guide):

Alain (WotR) – Paladin Class Deck
Arueshalae (WotR) – Rogue Class Deck
Crowe (WotR) – Magus Class Deck
Darago (Wizard CD) – Hell’s Vengeance 2 Character Deck
Enora (WotR) – Pathfinder Tales Character Deck -OR- Wizard Class Deck -OR- Ultimage Magic Add-On Deck
Estra (MM) – Occult Adventures 1 Character Deck -OR- Oracle Class Deck
Fumbus (Core) – Alchemist Class Deck -OR- Goblins Burn! Character Deck
Jirelle (S&S) – Rogue Class Deck
Lem (Bard CD) – Occult Adventures 1 Character Deck
Lem (RotR) – Occult Adventures 1 Character Deck
Lem (S&S) – Occult Adventures 1 Character Deck
Mavaro (MM) – Alchemist Class Deck -OR- Bard Class Deck -OR- Inquisitor Class Deck -OR- Magus Class Deck -OR- Occult Adventures 2 Character Deck
Meligaster (Occult Adventures 1 CD) – Bard Class Deck
Merisiel (Core) – Rogue Class Deck -OR- Ultimate Equipment Character Deck
Ostog (Barbarian CD) – Monk Class Deck
Shardra (WotR) – Oracle Class Deck
Yoon (MM) – Occult Adventures 2 Character Deck
Zadim (MM) – Inquisitor Class Deck -OR- Rogue Class Deck

To be honest, some of that may be my own creation, but I’m pretty sure that most/all of it came from some more authoritative source. If you have a link to that source, especially if there is some statement about the present applicability of that guidance, it would be most appreciated. The fact that deck choice was rigidly defined at some point and those restrictions are no longer defined, especially since the adventurer’s packs have been introduced and players can simply opt to take 3 adventurer’s packs instead of a defined deck, would seem to indicate that the restrictions are no longer in place and players have much more agency. In that case, however, why is there then a need to define decks for other characters? In this, the use of “can” implies a restriction rather than the more permissive “may” (see the sidebar on page 7 of the guide).

In the end, however, since the multiclass concept is pure house rules, I’m inclined to be more permissive, not defining deck choices that limit player agency. In this, while I see adding the option for two class/character decks, each supporting one of the character’s classes, I don’t think allowing two ultimate add-on decks is necessary.

Anyhoo, that is a rather long-winded explanation for the decision-making process I went through as a result of Jenceslav’s input.

So at this point, in the interest of keeping things simple, my plan is to add the option for two class/character decks while not allowing two ultimate add-on decks in the allowed combinations for player deck sources. I don’t think it’s necessary to define any guidance for which class/character decks the player may choose, giving players the agency to choose any class/character decks they think would be useful for representing the multiclassed character.

All that said, it might be interesting to [one day] conduct a more thorough analysis of the relative usability of each card for each character in each of the deck sources to attempt to develop an aggregate rating for the relative value of each source. That’s not something I have any intent to do now as it would probably just be an intellectual exercise.

So all of this leaves us pretty much where we were when I posted my previous reply last night, though narrowing from two options down to one. If anyone feels strongly that the other option should be considered, I’m open to discussion. In the meantime, I’m going to develop my recommended rulebook and guide changes/additions based on adding only the Class Deck & Class Deck combination (the guide including character decks under class decks for the purpose of building player decks). Hopefully I’ll have those recommendations posted soon, unless someone wants to explore allowing two ultimate add-on decks as one of the possible combinations.

First, I really appreciate your analysis of the officially allowed combinations and their relative values. That is extremely helpful.

The basic concept in my head was that a character would use the decks that are associated with their classes. So if someone is playing with any version of Valeros (RotRL, S&S, CD, Core) and decides to take the Bard multiclass card, they would use the Fighter Class Deck and the Bard Class Deck; and if someone is playing with any version of Seoni (RotRL, CD, WotR, Core) and decides to take the Oracle multiclass card, they would use the Sorcerer Class Deck and the Oracle Class Deck.

In the case of characters who come from character decks that support multiple classes (Goblins Burn!, Goblins Fight!, Hell’s Vengeance 1 & 2, Occult Adventures 1 & 2, and Pathfinder Tales), the default deck would be whichever deck it is that includes the character. So if someone is using Urgraz (HV 1) and decides to take the Ranger multiclass card, they would use the Hell’s Vengeance 1 Character Deck and the Ranger Class Deck; and if someone is playing with Chuffy (GF!) and decides to take the Rogue multiclass card, they would use the Goblins Fight! Character Deck and the Rogue Class Deck.

Then there are the characters who are included in the Ultimate Add-On Decks, and each of those decks would be the default for those characters. So if someone is playing with Zova (UW) and decides to take the Cleric multiclass card, they would use the Ultimate Wilderness Add-On Deck and the Cleric Class Deck; and if someone is playing with Hayato (UC) and decides to take the Summoner multiclass card, they would use the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck and the Summoner Class Deck.

In addition, there are characters from the adventure paths for which there are no Class Decks. Each of these has been assigned one or more decks via the Pathfinder Adventure Society [Guild]. For example, Shardra, the shaman from the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path, has been assigned the Oracle Class Deck; and Jirelle, the swashbuckler from the Skull & Shackles adventure path, has been assigned the Rogue Class Deck. So if either of those characters were to take the Fighter multiclass card, they would use their assigned deck and the Fighter Class Deck.

Lastly, we have the characters for which multiple decks have been allowed. For example, the arcanist Enora appears in both the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path and the Ultimate Magic Add-On Deck. A player using the WotR version of her has been allowed to use the Pathfinder Tales Character Deck -or- the Wizard Class Deck -or- the Ultimate Magic Add-On Deck; so if they were to take the Investigator multiclass card with her, they would use one of those decks and the Ultimate Equipment Add-On Deck, since that deck is the one assigned to Quinn.

The final complication, of course, is the adventurer’s packs.

At this point, the only class that needs an Ultimate Add-On Deck to support being multiclassed [assuming my basic concept is sound] is the investigator. While the possibility to develop multiclass cards for additional classes remains, I don't think that any of the classes covered in the Ultimate Add-On Decks remain as classes in PFRPG 2e, so they're not high on the priority list (if they're on the list at all). So we could limit the 2x Ultimate Add-On Deck combination to those characters in those decks (and the WotR version of Enora, too, I suppose) if they multiclass as investigators.

Of course, it might be easier to just leave the Ultimate Add-On Deck & Ultimate Add-On Deck combination out.

I’ve been working on drafting the changes/additions to the Core Set Rulebook and Pathfinder Adventure Card Society Guide, but I want to ensure that I have the right outcomes in mind. The concept of taking a multiclass card is pretty easy, but that may be easy for me to say since I’m firmly engaged in the process (so if it’s unclear to anyone else, I need to work on clarification and explanation). My focus at this point is modifying a character’s Player Deck when the character becomes multiclassed in Society play. In regular play, players simply add whatever decks they feel are necessary to support the needs of their characters. For example, if you’re using a gunslinger character in an adventure path, especially one other than Skull & Shackles, you’ll need to add some Firearm weapons and Ammunition items (and maybe a few other things) to ensure that your gunslinger character is viable, which means you’ll probably add [some of] the boons from the Gunslinger Class Deck and/or the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck (and perhaps some boons from the Skull & Shackles AP) to the vault. Society play is a bit different and, aside from loot cards granted by the adventure path, characters are limited to Player Decks with limited sources. So the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide needs to incorporate rules to make multiclassed characters viable via modifying their Player Decks. The rules for this start on page 7 of the guide. Players choose one of the following options for building their player deck for Society play, from the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide 6.2:

Class Deck
Ultimate Add-On Deck
3x adventurer’s packs
Class Deck & Ultimate Add-On Deck
Class Deck & 2x adventurer’s packs
Ultimate Add-On Deck & 1x adventurer’s pack

Allowing characters to multiclass creates interesting design space and introduces certain complications. My instinct, however, is that we need to follow the principle of keeping things simple.

The overall challenge stems from balancing two opposing principles. The first is balance/fairness – ensuring that all characters in Society play have comparably balanced options in choosing how to build their Player Deck, not giving anyone an unfair advantage/disadvantage. The opposing principle is ensuring that players have the flexibility to build characterful decks that allow for their characters to be suitably representative of their class(es) and which allow for sufficient customization for character progression and replayability.

Originally, I thought it would be as simple as adding the character deck appropriate for the multiclass. While three of these classes, the brawler, investigator, and skald don’t have Class Decks with those names, the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide 6.2 provides Class Decks for each of these classes. Similarly, the champion would use the Paladin Class Deck since the paladin has been rolled into the champion class in PFRPG 2e. As an extension to this solution, I figured a character might add an Ultimate Add-On Deck instead of a Class Deck. That creates an outcome where multiclassed characters have far more cards to choose from than their single-class counterparts, however, which seems to be unfair.

My current leaning is that when a character becomes multiclassed, they may rebuild their Player Deck. The end result of this rebuilding must be that their Player Deck must conform to one of the options presented on page 7 of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide, and characters who use multiclass cards (and only those characters) may also choose either of the following combinations:

Class Deck & Class Deck
Ultimate Add-On deck & Ultimate Add-On Deck

In addition, the player is free to swap any adventurer’s packs.

Any cards that are removed must be replaced by cards of the same boon type and the same level or lower from the new sources.

Does this work?

Once the outcome is finalized, I can ensure that the modifications to the rulebook and the guide are complete.

Somehow I missed Whipstitch’s reply when I submitted my previous post. What I think happened is that it wasn't there when I began composing my post and it was submitted before I submitted my own, but I failed to refresh before submitting my own. Anyhoo, it should not be ignored.

For what it's worth, I'm keen to develop rules if we think they will be of value to players. It's just that I'm not sure how many such players there are or if they will use these rules. It wouldn't hurt to develop rules, however, letting players use/ignore them as they will.

I'd suggest that if said Valeros was required to remove, say, the Ultimate Combat deck, he'd be allowed to swap upgrades taken from the Ultimate deck with upgrades from the Multiclass deck of the same type and level. Obviously, he'd be behind the curve on spells since he wouldn't have had any spell upgrades, but at least he'd have upgrades for card types such as items, and allies.

Another option would be to allow swaps to include the deck he's keeping (in this example, his original Fighter class deck). Otherwise, weapon upgrades would be completely lost. In this case, these would be upgrades he could have taken, so this seems more straight forward. After all, if the weapon 4 from the Fighter deck was better than the weapon 4 from the Ultimate deck, he'd have taken it in the first place.

I’m inclined to go with the second option as I think it gives more agency to the player, with the modification that the cards from the removed deck/pack could be replaced by cards of the same type and equal or lower level.

Actually, it seems quite possible that the character’s deck might see more significant changes and the player might choose to also replace cards from the remaining deck/pack. For example, if CD Valeros had his original deck built using the Fighter and Ultimate Combat decks, then he chooses to multiclass as a Rogue, he would keep either the Fighter or Ultimate Combat deck and then replace the other with (probably) either the Rogue Class Deck or the Ultimate Equipment Add-On Deck. Let’s say he chooses to keep both of the Ultimate decks. He might decide to exchange some of his Ultimate Combat add-on deck cards in addition to having to replace the cards from the Fighter Class Deck. So the summary of this is that the character would have to replace cards in the lost deck/pack(s) and they may replace cards from the deck/pack(s) that remain, but the replacement cards must come from the new deck and they must be of the same type and of the same level or lower (allowing for the deck modifications to further tweak things).

This would probably require a detailed example. Unless you have some other character-multiclass in mind, I'll start working on an example that uses Core Valeros at tier 4 (starting with the Fighter CD and the Ultimate Combat AOD) multiclassing as a Bard (replacing the Ultimate Combat AOD with the Ultimate Magic AOD).

I agree that this [the two-card increases I proposed] would be feasible - and there is a precedent, although with a Goblin character, Chuffy - Shanker role 7 => 9 in Hand Size. Similarly, there are newish characters that have power feat progression that is not incremental +1d4 => +1d6 => +1d8, but e.g. 1d6 => 1d8 => 2d6 (I would need to check the tables with characters to find the actual example).

Several of the goblin characters have such HAND SIZE power feat increases, including Chuffy, Nok-Nok, Reta, and Tup. And then there is Zova and her unusual odd numbered HAND SIZE options. The area where my suggestion is similar is that power feats would be used. The area where my suggestion is different, however, is that the deck modifications affect the CARDS LIST. It’s slightly different from a card feat, however, in that it doesn’t affect the character’s health. Instead, it adjusts the composition of the character’s deck.

The non-incremental power feats with regard to dice are a different matter altogether. The progressions are still incremental (in most cases), but instead of being based on static bonuses (e.g., Sea Singer Lem has the power: You may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□+1) (□+2) (□+3) to any check by a character at your location.), the dice increase (e.g., Core Lem has a power that ends: …you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).). This means that the character has a higher chance of succeeding at the check, as before, but retains a chance of failure that might not exist with the static bonuses. This was a shift in design principle, not an implementation of exceptions. Keith Richmond discussed it in this blog entry.

All that said, I don’t disagree with your conclusion about two-card deck modification power feats being feasible. And while the question was a follow-on to the suggestion to reduce some of the starting numbers (which may or may not be necessary), it is also applicable if we don’t implement those reductions.

I think that allowing 3 [] 5 spells instead of other boon types for a Sorcerer seems a pretty good fit. Sorcerers have much smaller Spell selection, sometimes even just the 3 at the start of adventure path, so that sounds appropriate.

Counterargument: The numbers I’ve proposed are the starting numbers for those characters at the start of the adventure path. There are far more than three Arcane spells in any of the base sets, decks, and the Core Set, and certainly more than enough for multiple Arcane spellcasters to each have the full complement of spells in their cards lists for the first scenario (okay, a party of five or six spellcasting characters might have problems if they are limited to the spells in the Core Set or a Base Set, but that isn’t likely to happen outside of Guild play and such characters would be drawing on their decks anyways).

While I’m not opposed to reducing the quantities of cards where appropriate, I think we need to take a good look at some number of characters to see how things would fall out and determine if such reductions are even necessary, keeping in mind the considerations I mentioned previously. In this, I would look at likely multiclass combinations such as Core Valeros multiclassing as a bard and CD Harsk multiclassing as a gunslinger rather than unlikely multiclass combinations such as Core Valeros multiclassing as a wizard or CD Siwar multiclassing as a fighter. In this, I’m theorizing that the character will have key skills at d8 or higher. We would also have to consider why the character would choose the multiclass, though we would have to do this without the context of the rest of the party’s composition (that would be a fairly complex analysis and I’m not sure that level of complexity is necessary for this evaluation). We’re also limited in that the current versions of the proposals are definitely going to change because the HAND SIZE power feat increases will be removed, having to find another place for a power feat on each multiclass card. Still, we can conduct a fairly reliable analysis based on the soon-to-be-changed proposals. I see two methods for determining character-multiclass combinations. The first is to look at each character and then identify which multiclass(es), if any, they would be likely to choose. The second is to look at each multiclass and then identify each character who would gain the greatest benefit from it. And to keep things manageable, we could probably pick about 20 using each method, allowing for a cross-section of efficiency levels. We would also want to include instances where characters have the favored cards in their decks already as well as instances where they don’t (since that’s the crux of this issue). Characters who don’t have the favored cards will need some number whereas characters who do might not need as many/any. It will take me some time to go through things to provide my suggested list.

There are two issues that I’d like to resolve now. These relate to cohorts and duplicating spellcasting abilities.

COHORTS

On the issue of cohorts, while we’re not going to change the cohorts or the classes associated with cohorts at this point, I think it’s safe to say that there is a consensus that we want to ensure that cohorts don’t create additional imbalances. The classes associated with cohorts are: magus, summoner, and witch. In addition, the cavalier, hunter, samurai, and shaman have cohorts, though we haven’t worked on them yet (the hunter is now a type of ranger, and the shaman is a type of animist, so we might not even cover down on those classes). I’m pretty sure that most (all?) of us would agree that we don’t want a character to have two cohorts, however. To that end, when a multiclass card confers a cohort, we might change the text to the following (addition in blue):

If you do not have the <Class> trait and your DECK LIST does not include a cohort, you may choose to take the <Class> multiclass card during rebuilding at any point prior to starting Adventure 5. A character may have no more than one multiclass card. When you gain a power feat, you may choose it from either your character/role card or this card. If the number of power feats checked on this card is less than half the number of power feats checked on your character/role card, the next power feat you select must be on this card. A character may never have more than 12 power feat boxes checked in total.

By phrasing it as “…and your DECK LIST does not include a cohort,” we include characters like Arueshalae, who does not belong to any of the classes I listed (she is a Spy), as well as any other characters who have cohorts (e.g., Alain).

Does that work to mitigate a potential issue?

Is there any other wording that might be superior?

A concern I have with this is that this wording doesn’t work well for a role card that confers a cohort. There are no such official cards that do this right now, so that’s really only an issue for homegrown efforts or if my pipe dream is realized. In that eventuality, the likely solution would be a general part of the rules for cohorts in the rulebook (i.e., we might not need to cover it on these cards).

DUPLICATING SPELLCASTING ABILITIES

This issue is a little more iffy, and some cases may be mitigated by the above solution for cohorts (or whatever we end up doing there).

To illustrate, is anyone concerned about a wizard character multiclassing as a sorcerer?

In many cases, these might simply be inefficient and players will avoid such duplication because it would provide little or no value. I mostly see this where a character already has the Arcane skill and takes a multiclass where they can duplicate that skill (I’m not sure if the same problem arises with the Divine spellcasters). In many cases, duplication can simply be avoided by not taking certain power feats. For example, if the wizard Darago multiclasses as a sorcerer, he wouldn’t need to take the power feat that confers the Arcane skill/proficiency and spells. We would then have to consider if other powers on the Sorcerer multiclass card might be too powerful for other arcane spellcasters, creating imbalance.

Again, I’m not sure if this is an actual problem. It’s simply something that occurred to me in considering potential imbalances. I think it mostly occurred to me because it seems counterintuitive for several of the arcane spellcasters, especially since the many of the different classes offer different sources for the spellcaster’s abilities. For example, a summoner’s spellcasting is focused on their eidolon, a witch’s is focused on their familiar, a sorcerer's is focused on their bloodline/innate abilities, a wizard’s is focused on study/memorization, etc. Allowing multiclass combinations that provide duplicate sources just seems wrong thematically. If the PFRPG doesn’t prohibit such multiclass combinations, however, perhaps it’s not a problem here (i.e., I might be overthinking this one).

It seems implied here that characters are being built with a single deck. Since many (most?) Guild characters are built with a second deck (or Adventurer Packs) when created, are you saying such characters couldn't multiclass?

That is one of the questions that has been bothering me.

As it stands right now, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild Guide 6.2 allows a character's deck to be built as one of the following:

Class Deck
Ultimate Add-On Deck
three Adventurer's Packs
Class Deck and Ultimate Add-On Deck together
Class Deck and two Adventurer's Packs together
Ultimate Add-On Deck and one Adventurer's Pack together

The least messy thing I can think of is that the Class Deck for the multiclass, if one exists, can be added into the mix and the player can adjust the build option at the time of multiclassing. This also adds the following combination to the mix:

Class Deck (base class) and Class Deck (multiclass)

And if the character's deck uses a card from the multiclass Class Deck, such as a character that takes the Magus Multiclass card and has to take the Magus Arcana cohort, they have to choose one of the combinations that allows at least one Class Deck, with the multiclass Class Deck being part of the resulting combination.

The player may have to remove some cards from the character's deck at this point. For example, if Core Valeros builds his deck using the Fighter Class Deck and the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck, then he multiclasses as a sorcerer, he'll have to remove either the Fighter Class Deck cards or the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck cards to include either the Sorcerer Class Deck or the Ultimate Magic Add-On Deck or some combination of the adventurer's packs that includes sufficient spells.

Yes, that does remove some flexibility. I see that as part of the decision making process in determining whether or not to multiclass, however.

Either that or we just say that such characters can (must*) add the multiclass Class Deck to their combination, with the end result looking like:

Class Deck (base class) and Class Deck (multiclass)
Ultimate Add-On Deck and Class Deck (multiclass)
three Adventurer's Packs and Class Deck (multiclass)
Class Deck (base class) and Ultimate Add-On Deck and Class Deck (multiclass) together
Class Deck (base class) and Class Deck (multiclass) and two Adventurer's Packs together
Ultimate Add-On Deck and Class Deck (multiclass) and one Adventurer's Pack together

People might balk at characters being able to build their decks using three decks or the equivalent.

However, this is homegrown rules stuff, so it wouldn't be usable in Guild play anyways. The only reason we would have to make it usable in Guild play is if my pipe dream is realized and this concept is incorporated into the official rules (I won't hold my breath, but I can keep dreaming).

* This would be in the cases where they choose any cards from the multiclass Class Deck.

I'm sorry if I distracted you :)

There’s nothing to apologize for. It’s normal for discussions to wend and weave. Besides, the cohort issue is worth pursuing. If we don’t bring things up, we can’t decide whether or not they need to be discussed right now, so it’s better to bring things up and see what sticks. My project manager tendencies will assert themselves every now and then, however. ;)

I’m happy to hear that the images [finally] worked for you.

I was worried that there might be too much text on the cards, both for the rules on one side and the powers on the other. The font size on those cards is the same as on the official cards. Though the magus has less powers text than most of the others, it looks like all the current proposals will fit with plenty of room to spare (and I have no doubt that we’ll be tweaking more than a few of them, but they’ll likely still fit after we’re done).

Looking at the Magus multiclass card in patricular, I have a few minor suggestions / concerns:

Adding 4(5) cards of a given type seems like a large number at once to me. Maybe 3(4) cards would be a less abrupt change. A character with 2 Weapons would suddenly have up to 6 Weapons in their deck, more than many a Fighter (and the gain is higher than the weapon count in most Magus' decks).

Just for clarity, I’m not disagreeing here. I’m completely open to reducing [some of] the numbers. I’m simply providing some additional considerations.

Yes, the possibility of some characters “gaining” new favored cards for which they already have some quantity in their deck list is a concern. However, the more important consideration is those characters who don’t have any of the new favored card type in their deck list. For example, Valeros doesn’t have any spells. If he multiclasses as a sorcerer, he needs to go from 0 to some number of spells, and that number should be sufficient to make him effective as a sorcerer.

In addition, these characters aren’t “gaining” new cards. Their deck sizes remain the same. They have to sacrifice other cards in their deck lists to have these cards, and those sacrificed cards will often be useful to them. Going with the Valeros-sorcerer example again, Valeros would have to sacrifice weapons, armors, or blessings to get spells. As a fighter, weapons and armors are his bread and butter. He may be likely to give up one or two of either/both, but he’s going to ensure that he retains enough of each to remain viable as a fighter. So he’s most likely to give up blessings to get spells. That means he’ll be reducing his opportunities for blessing checks and taking extra explorations. The whole deck modification process is an exercise in cost-benefit analysis, and it can be a bit nerve-wracking (ask anyone who has played Mavaro about the tension in the decision-making process of rebuilding his deck).

Lastly, the number merely identifies a maximum. Players don’t necessarily have to reach that maximum. It’s entirely possible that many players will opt to modify their decks to have fewer than the maximum number of allowed cards, and in some cases they might not need any of the card modifications, especially if their deck size already allows an ample number of the boon type.

Ultimately, the concern you’ve identified was another of the reasons that I initially favored the scaling numbers, which started lower and allowed for increases that roughly paralleled the progression of card feats without requiring the use of actual feats, thematically representing the character becoming more proficient in their new class.

All that said, I’m quite amenable to starting some of the classes out with one fewer card allowed in their deck modifications.

Follow-on question: In such instances, do we need to limit power feats for deck modifications to single card increases? Characters who already have some number of the multiclass favored card(s) in their deck lists might not use/need such power feats, but characters whose deck lists don’t include any of the multiclass favored card(s) might gain value from being allowed to take a 2-card increase via a power feat. Sticking with the Valeros-sorcerer example, the rebuilding portion of the power granting Arcane/spells might say something like… “When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 6) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.” (That’s a change from the current 5 (□ 6).) If, say, Kyra were to multiclass as a sorcerer, she might not need the power feat to get the number of spells she wants since she already has spells in her deck list. With Valeros or Merisiel, however, being allowed too few spells might make them less viable [as sorcerers] while having a 2-card increase might increase the attractiveness of multiclassing as a sorcerer (keeping in mind the fact that they’re sacrificing other useful cards to get those spells, so there is a tradeoff).

Proficiency with Weapons in the text rather than Weapon?

The Core Set changed it to “Weapon” to align with text on the related cards (e.g., Lem is proficient with “Instrument” to match Instrument items and Valeros is proficient with “Weapon” to match weapon boons.

Is the multiclass Magus effectivity dependent on the Magus Arcana? If the cohort would be too strong, maybe use some of its powers as multiclass Magus powers.

The Magus Arcana cohort is definitely central to the magus class, and each of the magus characters [in the CD] uses that cohort in a variety of ways, including via their roles (i.e., non-base powers). And if you look at the powers of the Magus Arcana*, each option requires that it be reloaded, meaning that you’ll only get to use it once before rebuilding unless you have some mechanism for drawing it back into your hand prior to that (of which CD Seltyiel has two such powers, one of which is available via a power feat on the Magus multiclass card). I deliberately omitted one of those powers in building the Magus multiclass card in an effort to tone the class down a bit. The power I omitted was:

When you encounter a card, you may recharge a spell or an armor to draw a card.

I could have kept that one and omitted the other power:

When you succeed at a check to defeat a bane (□ or to acquire a Magic boon), you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is Magus Arcana, you may recharge a spell to draw it.

I think the decision came down to having two power feats instead of just one. Had only one power feat been available, I would have kept the other, instead. Alternately, if a third power feat had been available, I would have included both to give players options.

* Don’t get too distracted wondering what eldritch wizardry is distorting Seltyiel’s hand in that picture. ;)

Ultimately, the goal here is to make these multiclass cards integrate with the existing products, especially the class decks. The iconic characters serve as the basic model for their class. If the class uses cohorts, the multiclass card for that class will similarly use the same cohorts. The only class that is really problematic is the summoner because that class deck doesn’t have generic cohorts, each cohort instead being intrinsically tied to its character. Despite that, multiclassed summoners can work, though I think we’ll see most players opting to use either version of Padrig.

Changing any of these classes so that they use an alternative to cohorts is something that might be done further down the road, but not now.

Here’s the concept we’re working towards right now (i.e., this is the end-state for this stage):

Conceptually, I’m developing these as if the card for each class were to be included in the corresponding class deck. A character choosing that class for multiclassing would then use that deck as their second deck in Guild play, using the deck that the character appears in or which matches their class (if they’re not in a deck) as their first deck. This will also be useful in regular play for some classes where cards from the class deck would need to be added to a box for the character to be useful throughout the AP (e.g., Gunslinger). Obviously, the multiclass cards won’t actually be in class decks, but if we ever see my pipe dream realized, that is what would happen [in updated class decks] if I ran the zoo.

The finished products will be developed as both cards and sheets. The sheets will simply be larger versions of the card images, available as .pdf files. The cards will be in image (.jpg or .png) or .pdf format for printing.

Both versions for each class will be uploaded to the Board Game Geek website, each being uploaded in the corresponding class deck entry. In addition, all the classes will be collected into omnibus files, one for the cards and one for the sheets, with those files uploaded to the Core Set entry on the Board Game Geek.

Once I work through the Community Use Policy / Fan Content Policy requirements/limitations, I’ll also make these available as individual cards from Drive Thru Cards or Pathfinder Infinite (and I might have to look at the Pathfinder Infinite Policy requirements/limitations, too).

Quick note: In working on this response, I realized that I need to re-work the proposed Witch multiclass card because a witch should only gain the Arcane skill when their Familiar is displayed. And I’ll probably need to look at the other witch powers, especially where they grant skills, to ensure that they don’t undercut the Familiars.

I had a lengthy response composed, but I realized that it was distracting us from the project at hand. In brief, concerns over the character-based (not scenario-based) cohorts are that the characters (a) effectively have their deck size increased by 1 card, (b) have their starting hand size increased by 1 card, and (c) have access to the powers on the cohort card in addition to their own powers. Typically, such a character’s powers are often strongly tied to their cohort, making them less effective when they don’t have their cohort. Ultimately, the cohorts won't be changed here. These multiclass cards will work with the existing products. That means the classes that are associated with cohorts will continue to have those associations.

You made a lot of interesting points about cohorts, and while I’d like to pursue them (indeed, I went through several versions of this response in which I did pursue them), I don’t want to distract from this project. I’d love to take them up in a separate discussion, however.

One thing I’m trying to build into these rules is that they are assumed to be for regular play, not Guild play. When a multiclass character chooses a cohort, that choice is permanent, lasting for the rest of the adventure path. Guild play allows characters to take different cohorts in different scenarios, but that’s a byproduct of Guild play and the significant chance of differing characters each time one plays. I probably need to look at the wording of the multiclass cards that allow for cohorts to ensure that the permanence of the choice is clear; and an addition will be written for the Card Guild Guide to spell out the exceptions.

I fail to see the significance how [possibly changing character-based cohorts] affects adventure paths (you probably meant WotR & Season of the Righteous, but there are few scenarios in Season of Factions' Favour that have cohorts as well). If I recall correctly, cohorts in the scenario are given to any character; they are in no way related to the characters having or not having cohorts on their own.

Actually, I was mistaken - it’s just the one adventure path, Wrath of the Righteous, that is seriously affected. In this, I was only referring to the character-based cohorts. There are five characters with cohorts in that adventure path (not to mention the half dozen or so character decks that feature cohorts). As far as I know, the scenario-based cohorts are not an issue.

It’s interesting, and frustrating, that you can’t see the linked images. If you’re on the Discord server, I’ve posted the images there, too, in the Character Creation channel. And if that doesn't work, once we get one of the multiclass cards finished, I'll post the files and images on the Board Game Geek in the associated class deck's files section (and the Core Set entry's files section for the classes that are covered within).

After opening up the time span during which a character can multiclass (from it being part of the role choice to occurring anywhere prior to starting Adventure 5), it turns out the scaling deck modifications (e.g., "#-1") won't work, so we're going with foxoftheasterisk's suggestion to use fixed numbers. The main issue remaining there concerns the starting numbers. I've used the numbers from the decks of the iconic characters, with most having at least one power feat to increase that number. Are there any for which those numbers might not work?

The other big question concerns the Favored Card addition. Does anyone think we should not modify the Favored Card when a character takes a multiclass? While that choice seems logical to me, in most cases it will force a character to take a specific power feat on the multiclass card. For example, if a rogue takes the sorcerer multiclass card and their Favored Card suddenly has "OR SPELL" added, they would probably have to take the power feat that allows them to modify their deck to include spells. In most cases those are probably the powers that players want for their multiclass characters, but there may be a few exceptions.

I've created some preliminary versions of the cards. There are two corrections that need to be made to the images, but everything else seems to look okay. While I used the Blackjack card as the template, I modified the front format. Instead of using an image of a character, I've gone with the class deck image. The problem there, of course, is that we don't have such images for all classes (though I suppose it would be fun to create our own). It looks like all the text will fit on the cards (with the text being the same size as that used on the official cards). I used one of my two favorite classes, the magus, as my initial test (the warpriest is my other favorite class - I have something for spellcasting warriors).

Front | Back

I'll fix the images today (the bottom of the Powers box on the front and the body of the Powers box on the back - I fixed the second in the image shown).

I am not criticising your work…

Even if you were criticizing, you are being respectful and constructive, and you are providing a different perspective on things that helps me to broaden my own perspective, and I very much appreciate that. As smart as I think I am (my mom told me I was smart), I know that I am not the sole source of good ideas and that my ideas can be improved upon. That requires input from others. I’ve already made several changes that greatly improved upon my original idea based on the suggestions of others, and I hope to continue doing so as this project continues.

As for your suggestion, I definitely agree with it. Where we differ, however, is in whether or not it is suitable right now.

While the majority of the multiclass cards that I have presented are based on the Core versions of characters and are thus able to work with Core rules concepts, several of the classes have not received the Core treatment, including the gunslinger, magus, oracle, swashbuckler, summoner, and witch (as well as a bunch for which I haven’t even proposed starting versions of the cards). Just as Whipstitch identified the impact of cohorts on decks (affecting the magus, summoner, and witch), you have identified the likely adjustment of the gunslingers’ weapon proficiency to firearms. I agree with both you and Whipstitch on the respective issues, but the aim of the project right now is to make these multiclass cards work with the existing products without making changes to those products. Changes to the existing products would require a FAQ/errata, and I expect that a majority of PACG players, especially those who aren’t active on the Paizo forums or the Pathfinder Community Discord server, would be leery of any fan-created FAQ/errata.

Once the work is done on the initial “release” of the multiclass cards (i.e., the downloadable files that I plan to make available through the Board Game Geek), I can easily see including a version of the gunslinger multiclass card that incorporates your suggestion and which includes a fan-created FAQ for all the relevant cards (e.g., the Firearm weapons in Skull & Shackles, the Gunslinger Class Deck, the Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck, and any other cards I might be forgetting about right now).

Whipstitch’s idea requires re-working the other characters using Core concepts. The challenge, there, however, is in determining which cohorts should remain cohorts and which should become, say, loot allies. While we saw some later characters such as Estra using loot allies instead of cohorts, the example of the half-orc summoner Thargrap and his eidolon Blood God Nulgreth is especially instructive as it demonstrates that Lone Shark felt that cohorts could still be used for [some] characters to some extent back in 2020. Whether or not they would have maintained that position is unknown, but the precedent is there. The cohort issue is much more significant as it has the potential to affect numerous character decks and two adventure paths (especially Wrath of the Righteous). There are workarounds that might be incorporated, but I’m saving that for later discussion (i.e., instead of granting these cohorts as cohorts, they might have powers along the lines of ‘You may treat one Eidolon cohort as if it says “Owner: [Character Name]”’ (that for the summoner, obviously). I could definitely see doing this as a fan-led effort to create Core versions of the characters who haven’t yet received the update treatment, as well as some of the new characters such as the oracle Korakai, the summoner Ija, the guardian Grimmyr, etc.

And of course, if my pipe dream ever becomes a reality, I expect that all of this will happen with official development rather than as a fan-led effort. Fan-led efforts are great, but they have limited reach due to their unofficial nature.

For now, though, the focus is solely on making these multiclass cards work with the existing products, especially the classic adventure paths and character decks, without changing those products.

I don't think you want players to be able to take a multiclass card before their character has a role card, either.

Personally, I wouldn’t take a multiclass card unless (a) I had already assigned at least one power feat to one of my character’s base powers, and (b) I had been awarded a power feat and had a plan to assign it to one of the multiclass powers. And while I doubt I would take a multiclass card until I had gained a role card, I don’t see why other players should be denied that opportunity if they see value in allowing one or more characters to multiclass earlier. And if we’re not going to tie the multiclass card to the role card, we might as well open it up as wide as is reasonable (even if it’s not a tactically sound decision to do so early). Also, it’s much more true to the PFRPG, where characters can multiclass right away.

You've set a limit of twelve power feats. Why such a high number? Can a character get anywhere near this limit? Curious what you're thinking.

In most APs, characters will only earn seven total power feats at the end of the AP (or six if they play Curse of the Crimson Throne without playing The Dragon’s Demand first).

In Wrath of the Righteous there is a scenario in Adventure 6 where characters can earn multiple power feats (Threshold of the End) based on the number of times they defeat the villain Khoramzadeh Reborn. If they earn just one (possible), they’ll have 11 total power feats at the end of the AP. If they earn two or more in that scenario, they’ll have 12 total power feats at the end of the AP. The only reason they’ll only have 12 is because there are only 12 power feat boxes on the role cards. If there were more than 12 power feat boxes on the role cards, they could earn 13 or more, the limit being based on the number of power feat boxes on the role card and how many times the party defeats Khorramzadeh Reborn. Adding the multiclass cards into the mix in addition to the role cards creates a situation where more than 12 power feat boxes are available to be checked. The multiclass cards that I’ve presented have 10 power feat boxes, giving players flexibility in deciding how to advance their multiclass characters. However, this problem would exist even if the multiclass cards were limited to four power feat boxes (which would suck for character advancement/customization). So explicitly limiting characters to 12 total power feats, while unnecessary in most APs, is necessary in a general sense and creates backward compatibility for Wrath of the Righteous and forward compatibility for future APs (in my pipe dream) or fan-created APs (under the current situation).

Shortly after posting the above, I realized that the "...at any point prior to..." verbiage allowed for shenanigans. I could see someone arguing that they could take a multiclass card mid-encounter (though I'm not sure where that might be beneficial). So I quickly modified the complete text to the following (new part in italics):

If do not have the Class trait, you may select the Class multiclass card during rebuilding at any point prior to starting Adventure 5. A character may have no more than one multiclass card. If the number of power feats checked on this card is less than half the number of power feats checked on your character/role card, the next power feat you select must be on this card. A character may never have more than 12 power feat boxes checked in total.

There are several things I’d like to discuss and, where necessary, make changes.

As foxoftheasterisk noted in a previous reply, there are some powers that seem to be based more on the character (or the adventure path) and less on the class. While I’ve started with the base characters, occasionally incorporating powers from roles, some of these powers might need to be adjusted to be more in keeping with the typical representation of the class. I’ve removed a few already, but there are a few others that bear discussion. While the iconic characters are “iconic,” they are, on occasion, exceptional in certain ways. We’ll address this class by class after we knock out some general issues (below).

First, we need to look at the issue of numbers are expressed in the hand size modifications. Where I’ve gone with the scaling number using #, fixed numbers have been suggested as an alternative; and I think that bears discussion/playtesting. My thought process behind using the scaling numbers is that it mimics the cards list progression sort of. Where this implementation is different is that this doesn’t actually change the cards list (i.e., deck size), simply allowing the player to deviate from the existing cards list to modify the composition of the cards. This is at the expense of other cards, so there is a tradeoff. There is a solid argument to go with the fixed numbers, so my presentation of the scaling numbers has been tentative. I’m not even sure if the scaling numbers that I’ve presented are “correct.” In the next version of the characters, I plan to change from the scaling (#) numbers to fixed numbers, using the starting cards lists of the iconic characters as a starting point. In many cases, a character might already be allowed to take some number of the cards needed for the multiclass, but there are a few where the character cannot take any and would need the deck modification powers to be effective in their new class (this is most obvious with spells when the base class is not a spellcaster).

Second, what does everyone think about characters’ favored card types being modified, with the favored card type of the iconic character being added? This would be added to the relevant powers where the favored card type is added. For example, Core Amiri’s favored card is a Melee Weapon, so some other character multiclassing as a barbarian would gain Melee Weapon as a favored card type (in addition to their original favored card(s)). I’ve provided an example of how this might look below.

Third, I’ve moved the “You gain the [Class] trait.” statement to below the hand size feat. As I mentioned in a previous post, the text that preceded that statement will probably appear on the reverse side, with this statement being included on the side with the actual powers. The favored card modification is appended to this sentence, as is any statement about adding a cohort or other card.

Fourth, with the adjustment of these from a supplementary type of role card to a distinct card that can be chosen anywhere up to the end of Adventure 4, and with the input about the complicated wording of the ⅔ rule, we need to revise the general text that appears on the reverse of the card. I’m tentatively proposing a revision below, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

So here is how this might look using my previous proposal for the Magus Multiclass card:

MAGUS MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

If do not have the Magus trait, you may choose to take the Magus multiclass card at any point prior to starting Adventure 5. A character may have no more than one multiclass card. If the number of power feats checked on this card is less than half the number of power feats checked on your character/role card, the next power feat you select must be on this card. A character may never have more than 12 power feat boxes checked in total.

HAND SIZE □ +1

You gain the Magus trait. Add “OR SPELL OR WEAPON” to your FAVORED CARD. Add “COHORT: MAGUS ARCANA” to your CARDS LIST.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 4 (□ 5) Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ On your check to recharge a spell, you may recharge a weapon (□ or any boon) to succeed (□ then you may shuffle your deck).

□ When you succeed at a check to defeat a bane (□ or to acquire a Magic boon), you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is Magus Arcana, you may recharge a spell to draw it.

I think that’s a very interesting idea, Jenceslav, and I would bet that Lone Shark planned to do something very much like it as they continued development of PACG post-Core. In fact, that is something I would very much like to see if PACG is ever revitalized.

However, one of the tenets of this project is that everything has to work with the entire range of PACG products, including the classic products. In the case of the gunslinger and Firearm weapons, this is especially important. So just as the designs of the magus, summoner, and witch characters force us to preserve the existing cohorts for those multiclass cards, the design of the Firearm weapons forces us to continue using the Weapon (or Weapons) proficiency for the gunslinger multiclass card, especially since we didn’t change/add to the gunslingers’ proficiencies in the Core Set Version Character Sheets for Legacy Characters? project (except for the Light Armors thing). Most (all?) of the Firearm weapons have text that alludes to the wielder being “proficient with weapons” improves the chance to shuffle the weapon into their deck instead of burying it after use (e.g., blunderbuss, hand cannon, pepperbox, and salt box).

It should also be noted that all the gunslinger characters have powers that allow them to avoid permanently burying Firearm weapons. Here they are using the pre-Core wording:

When you play a weapon that has the Firearm trait, if you would bury it or shuffle it into your deck, you may keep it and instead perform the required action with another card.

At the end of your turn, you may recharge a buried weapon that has the Firearm trait (□ or a buried armor).

When you play a card that has the Firearm trait, if you would bury (□ or discard) (□ or recharge) it or shuffle it into your deck, you may keep it and perform the required action

with another card instead.

When you play a card that has the Alchemical or Firearm trait, if you would recharge it or shuffle it into your deck, you may put it on top of your deck instead. (□ If you would bury or banish it, you may discard it instead.)

Those are all base character powers. So it’s entirely possible that the increased chance of characters with Weapons (not just Firearms) proficiency shuffling Firearms into their deck instead of burying them is deliberate, representing skilled weapons handlers understanding how to use such weapons without [temporarily] destroying them. Given that, even if the gunslingers were given a Firearm[s] proficiency, they would still need to have the Weapon[s] proficiency until post-Core Firearms weapons are introduced with a redesigned bury/shuffle mechanic based on the Firearm[s] proficiency. In that event, giving the gunslingers a Firearm[s] proficiency wouldn’t provide any benefits under the current situation.

Thanks for the input, Whipstitch!

1. Giving cohorts for free. Cohorts are a strong class feature. Many are stronger than some of the feats on the multiclass role cards.

Yes, cohorts can be very strong, especially with the three classes for which I’ve included them (magus, summoner, and witch). The problem, however, is that cohorts are the mechanism that were built into these classes in their class decks and some of the APs and they weren’t redesigned in Core. We could tone things down, but that would require redesigning them to work with the multiclass archetypes. I would definitely like to do that in the future, but the current effort is intended to make things work with the existing products (Core conversion notwithstanding), simply adding these multiclass archetype role cards into the mix. Hayato (Ultimate Combat Add-On Deck) had the cohort Jinfu, and that deck was one of the last decks produced for the classic line of products. However, Occult Adventures 1 Estra (spiritualists are now a form of summoner in PFRPG 2e) had the loot ally Honaire. It is also worth noting that while cohorts have been retained in Core, Lini’s sidekick, Droogami, is a loot ally with the trait of “Owner: Lini” instead of being a cohort, so I think your concerns are well-founded and there is a solid path forward for “fixing” the problem of cohorts that are permanently associated with characters (instead of those that are only available temporarily via scenario rules). That would only work for future versions of these types of characters, however. I expect that simply introducing these multiclass cards into the mix is challenging enough without also changing how certain decks and cards work.

…is there any reason why a character must multiclass at level 3?

To be honest, that was a reflexive thing that simply introduced this option into the mix where role cards are normally introduced (which can vary with the adventure path). My initial idea was inspired by foxoftheasterisk’s idea about archetypes, and in the classic line of PACG products, many roles represented archetypes from the PFRPG. Since multiclassing in PFRPG 2e is referred to as having a “multiclass archetype,” it seemed only obvious to integrate the concept in the same way as other archetypes (though it should be noted that PFRPG 2e has three different types of archetypes). You imply a very interesting alternative. However…

2. The 2/3 rule. Too much math. If you don't want single-feat dips, I'd say something like, "Unless you have 2 feats selected on this role card, your first power feat taken at level 6 must be selected from this role," but honestly, I don't think a single-feat dip is so bad. I'm interested to learn your thinking on this.

…Using Core rules, that's the start of level 3 - pretty early on. Why not decide at level 4 or 5 that you're not enamored with your remaining options and want to switch things up? (Maybe the feat tree you've been planning on is seeming like a dud.)

I see two issues.

First, thematically, when a character decides to multiclass, it seems only right that they make an honest effort to advance in their second class. That advancement doesn’t necessarily need to be equal with their first class, though.

Second, from a game perspective, there needs to be a tradeoff when a character decides to multiclass. Every decision and option requires some level of tangible cost. If the cost is too low, the concept becomes something akin to a free benefit. If the cost is too high, players aren’t likely to choose to multiclass. Importantly, the cost must be tangible during game play, meaning it must be felt during the last scenario (rather than only after completing the final scenario of the adventure path).

To illustrate an example of too low a cost, let’s say that (a) the current draft of the Bard Multiclass Archetype role (we might have to remove the “role” terminology from this, see later) is acceptable. If someone is using Core Valeros, who has a Charisma d12, the Bard Multiclass Archetype role can be very attractive if the party needs either Arcane or Divine or both since the Bard ties both of those skills to Charisma. If Valeros doesn’t choose any other powers from the Bard Multiclass Archetype role, gaining Arcane and Divine (and the spells) would easily justify foregoing one of the power feats from his Fighter role. Imagine Valeros stacked with a bunch of Cure spells that he can reliably recharge, especially given his other powers that benefit local characters. The cost here is too low, the option to take spells easily offsetting one of the higher level power feats in either of his fighter roles. Similarly, just about any character can find at least one power feat on one or more of these multiclass archetype roles that would more than make up for one of their normal role power feats. A single such power feat would be too low. Having to take at least one more multiclass power feat balances things.

With regard to too high of a cost, if we assume that most characters will find too many of the multiclass archetype role power feats (any multiclass) to be practically worthless to them or of less benefit to the party because those abilities are present in other characters, and we require that multiclassed characters take too many multiclass power feats, they’ll forego the option and instead stick with one of the roles in their base class.

The combination of these two issues means that there needs to be some sort of mechanism forcing a regular advancement in the multiclass. We need to find the sweet spot where the benefits are considered sufficient that the costs don’t make the option prohibitive. Since the total number of power feats that a character might earn during an adventure path can vary, we can’t go with a fixed number. This forces us to determine some percentage/fraction/ratio that will ensure that the character advances in both classes, though that advancement doesn’t need to be equal.

Stepping back to the name of these cards, perhaps “multiclass archetype role” needs to be changed. Referring to these as any sort of “role” card might create confusion (as it has obviously done with me). What if we simply change it to a “Multiclass” card? After all, while many of the PFRPG archetypes and prestige classes are represented as roles in classic PACG products, not all roles were archetypes and prestige classes. These could then be added to the Character, Role, and, in the classic APs (and future PACG products if I ran the zoo), Token cards. Unless/until we come up with something better, from here on out, I’ll refer to these as “multiclass cards.”

In my mind, a ratio of 2:1 works best (the ⅔ rule) – for every 2 power feats checked off on the character’s base/role card, at least one must be checked off on the multiclass card.

If we adjust the timing for when a character might decide to multiclass, I would want to ensure that we don’t allow for the decision to occur too late (which might reduce the cost to too low of a level). In this, I could see allowing a character to multiclass at any point up through the completion of level 4, including during level B/0 adventures/scenarios.

If characters multiclass upon completing Adventure 4, we have the following ratios possible upon starting the final scenario in the respective adventure paths:

Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and Mummy’s Mask - 5:2

Wrath of the Righteous – 7:3 (assuming only one power feat is earned for the Threshold of the End scenario)
(The final power feat is earned for completing Adventure 6.)

Curse of the Crimson Throne – 4:2
If the characters complete The Dragon’s Demand first – 5:2

If characters multiclass earlier in their careers, the final ratios are the same, but the ratios throughout their careers vary depending on when they actually multiclass.

All that said, if the “No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass card” wording is too clunky/confusing, I’m all for changing it.

Would something like the below work?

“For every two power feats checked on your character/role card, at least one power feat must be checked on this card.”

That was the first revision I’ve come up with, but I could see how someone might argue that checking a power feat on the role card such that there are more than twice the number of power feats checked on that card compared to the multiclass card would then require that an additional power feat be checked on the multiclass card without being awarded one as the result of completing a scenario (some people just want to deliberately twist things for their own benefit). So perhaps we would need to go with something along the lines of…

“If the number of power feats checked on this card is less than half the number of power feats checked on your character/role card, the next power feat you select must be on this card.”

Perhaps there’s a way to simplify that without sacrificing/obfuscating the meaning.

To summarize:

• These cards will now be called “Multiclass” cards.
• Characters can choose to multiclass at any point up through level 4 (wording TBD).
• We’ll change the wording for the ratio between role and multiclass power feats (TBD).
• Cohorts are what they are for now, and that’s out of our control as we work to integrate these cards in with the existing characters, but I’ll be happy to rework them (the characters and their cohorts) in the future.

I’ve been working on multiclass archetype role cards for the other classes for which there were iconic characters in the line of classic PACG products. My methodology was to use the base powers on those characters’ cards for these multiclass versions, using the wording we developed in converting each of these characters to the Core Set rules, as seen here. Of these, the swashbuckler is the only iconic character for which there was no class deck, though the iconic swashbuckler, the half-elf Jirelle, was presented in Skull & Shackles. My rendition of the multiclass archetype here has attempted to remove the AP-specific aspects of the character’s powers for a more generic representation of the swashbuckler. I also incorporated some powers from each of her roles, again, avoiding the stuff that seemed themed to Skull & Shackles.

Of note, three of the 1e iconic characters have been replaced in 2e (not including the Alchemist, for which the goblin Fumbus replaced the elf Damiel). The tengu Korakai has replaced the human Alahazra as the iconic oracle; the dwarf Nhalmika has replaced the half elf Lirianne as the iconic gunslinger; and the human Ija has replaced the gnome Balazar as the iconic summoner. Since the classic/1e iconic characters didn’t appear to have any overt race-based power feats, I considered the classic characters’ powers to be suitable for this project. Many of Alahazra’s Fire-based powers, however, seemed to be more Alahazra and less oracle, so I looked at her powers across various iterations (Skull & Shackles, Mummy’s Mask, and the Oracle Class Deck) to find what I hoped were more generic oracle powers. In one case, I drew upon one of the other oracles, Ramexes, since it was similar to one of the powers that S&S Alahazra had.

There were a few PFRPG 1e classes which became subclasses or archetypes in 2e. These include the arcanist, bloodrager, cavalier, hunter, inquisitor, ninja, samurai, shifter, and warpriest. Notably, the only three of these for which there were actual class decks were the hunter, inquisitor, and warpriest. The bloodrager (Crowe) and cavalier (Alain) were presented as AP-specific versions in Wrath of the Righteous while the other characters were presented as generic versions via the add-on decks. Regardless, I’ve left these alone for now. Those that have become subclasses or class archetypes might be added later, but those that have become [regular] archetypes will probably be left for that project (under foxoftheasterisk’s vision).

I have also omitted the various occult classes for now. Some either no longer figure into PFRPG 2d (i.e., the mesmerist) or have become subclasses/archetypes of other classes (e.g., the spiritualist is now a type of summoner, the occultist has become the thaumaturge, and the medium has been replaced by the animist). The psychic and the kineticist remain, but the 1e iconic human psychic Rivani has been replaced by the elf psychic Thaleon in PFRPG 2e (Yoon remains Yoon). I’m saving some of these for later, though the ones that have become new classes or for which the iconics have changed might require separate character development first, followed by multiclass archetype role development based on those new characters.

In many cases, the non-iconic characters in the various class decks represent nonstandard versions of the class. For example, the dwarf gunslinger Angban makes heavy use of armors; and the angelkin magus Talitha is both a staff magus and angelkin. If the iconic character doesn’t have enough powers to develop ten power feats, I’ve looked at the roles and the other characters in that class (including those that appear in the APs) for suitable powers, but I’ve avoided the nonstandard powers.

The summoner was challenging in that a summoner’s eidolon is important and all the iterations of the summoners have significant correspondence with the powers of their eidolons. For example, Alase’s eidolon, Tonbarse, can be displayed next to a location and Alase has powers allowing her to do things based on that location. This might fall into the same category of nonstandard character types, as described for the magus above. What it really means is that players are less likely to choose Tonbarse as their eidolon, instead focusing on Ahtez, Blood God Nulgreth, or one of the versions of Padrig (Wrath of the Righteous and Summoner Class Deck). What I would love to see is a pool of generic eidolons, much like the witches had a pool of generic familiars, that summoners might choose from. That’s best left for another project, however.

To be effective, a few of these classes require a modification to the Cards List so they can use class-based cohorts. These include the magus, summoner, and witch. The concept I have in my mind is that choosing to use a multiclass archetype role card unlocks the corresponding class deck as the character’s second deck (in Guild play) or for access to suitable cards (in regular play). In this way, a gunslinger character might have access to more Firearm weapons, Ammunition items, etc.; and a magus, summoner, and witch might have access to appropriate cohorts.

Also, pending revision based on discussion, I’ve amended the basic text to incorporate the power feat distribution restrictions. It’s definitely wordier than the previous version, but I could see this text appearing on the reverse side of the card and not interfering with the actual power feat boxes, much like we see with Blackjack. The “You gain the (Class) trait.” Portion might appear on the other side.

GUNSLINGER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the Gunslinger trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the Gunslinger trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2. You are proficient with Weapons. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) Firearm weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ When you play a Firearm card, if you would bury (□ or discard) (□ or recharge) it or shuffle it into your deck, you may keep it and perform the required action with another card instead.

□ On a distant (□ any) combat check, you may shuffle a card into your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

MAGUS MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the Magus trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the Magus trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

Treat your CARDS LIST as if it says “COHORT: MAGUS ARCANA”

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ On your check to recharge a spell, you may recharge a weapon (□ or any boon) to succeed (□ then you may shuffle your deck).

□ When you succeed at a check to defeat a bane (□ or to acquire a Magic boon), you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is Magus Arcana, you may recharge a spell to draw it.

ORACLE MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the Oracle trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the Oracle trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +2. You are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) Divine spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ You may recharge a blessing (□ or a Divine card) to examine the top 2 (□ or 3) cards of any location (□ and put them back in any order). You may not use this power during an encounter.

□ You may discard a spell to banish a Curse card next to the deck of a local character.

□ After recovery, you may discard a Divine card to draw a Divine card from your discards.

□ On your check that invokes Attack, add 2.

SWASHBUCKLER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the Swashbuckler trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the Swashbuckler trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ You are proficient with Weapon. On your check that invokes Finesse, gain the skill Melee: Dexterity +2 (□ +3). When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) Finesse weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your Swashbuckling check, you may reroll 1 die (□ or 2 dice).

□ You gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2.

□ When you acquire a Finesse or Ranged card, you may immediately recharge it to draw a card.

□ When you defeat a monster on your exploration, if any of your checks to defeat had the Swashbuckling trait, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

SUMMONER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the Summoner trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the Summoner trait.

Select one Eidolon cohort. Treat your CARDS LIST as if it says “COHORT: (EIDOLON COHORT NAME)” for the rest of the adventure path.

HAND SIZE □ +1

After you play an Attack spell, bury it.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #)( □ #+1) non-Attack spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ You may recharge a spell to draw a new monster.

□ When you defeat a monster and would banish it, you may draw it instead. You may banish a monster from your hand to (□ draw a card or to) add 1d4 (□ 1d6) plus the monster’s level to a local combat check (□ or to reduce damage a local character suffers by 1 plus the monster’s level)(□ or to recharge a spell from your discards).

WITCH MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the Witch trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the Witch trait.

Select one Familiar cohort. Treat your CARDS LIST as if it says “COHORT: (FAMILIAR COHORT NAME)” for the rest of the adventure path.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # (□ #+1) Arcane spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ On a local check to acquire an ally or defeat a barrier (□ or a monster), you may recharge a card to reduce the difficulty of that check by 1 (□ 2) plus the card’s level.

□ When you fail to defeat a non-story bane monster, you may recharge a spell to shuffle the monster into a random (□ or any) other open location.

□ When you would remove a Curse or scourge, you may draw it instead. You may banish a Curse or scourge from your hand to add 1d4 to a local combat check (□ or to recharge a spell from your discards).

I do not think of it as a significant flaw, Brother Tyler. There's always going to be a difference between all the classic APs (and Seasons) and Core+ APs. It might need to be taken into consideration, but it's better not to limit yourself by it.

I would say it’s significant because the power progression possible on the base character card is very limited, especially for those like Core Amiri and CD Cogsnap, who have two power feats in Hand Size and Proficiencies/Proficient With (i.e., only two actual power feats in Powers). Combine that with the fact that the multiclass archetype roles I’ve posited effectively break all of a base character class’s Powers into individual power feats. So instead of getting all of Core Amiri’s base barbarian Powers upon multiclassing as a barbarian, a character instead must “pay” for each power, or an advancement, via a power feat. Multiclass characters will have breadth of powers, but not necessarily depth (i.e., jacks of all trades, masters of none). That will prevent many players from even trying this option. By allowing the player to choose power feats in one of the original class’s roles, but forcing them to choose some power feats in their multiclass role, they have more agency to make the character effective while accepting some level of sub-optimization. When choosing their role(s), they’ll already have three power feats (legacy adventure paths) or two power feats (Core/Curse) in the base character powers, so being able to choose more from the base class role card will give them some options while still forcing them to progress in their multiclass via power feats. In most (non-Wrath) cases, I expect that two power feats in the multiclass archetype role will be judged acceptable to most players as the sweet spot, especially where they can maximize the effectiveness of those feats. For example, allowing Core Valeros to take the Bard Multiclass Archetype role will most likely give him access to the bard’s Arcane/Divine proficiencies/skills via his d12 Charisma – very effective. The tradeoff, though, is that he’ll have to sacrifice weapons or armors (his main fighter cards) to get those spells. Or maybe he’ll go for the musical inspiration power to add 1d4 to local non-combat checks instead. By allowing up to five power feats in the original class, he can choose one of those while still progressing as a fighter. In Wrath of the Righteous, meanwhile, Valeros will have to assign at least five power feats, and possibly more, to the Bard Multiclass Archetype role since he’ll be limited in his power feats as a fighter. He could easily take all six as a Hand Size increase and in the magic and musical inspiration powers while remaining effective as a fighter. A fighter with a different skill set might opt for other Powers. For example, Vika probably wouldn’t be interested in the Arcane spellcasting as a bard, magus, sorcerer, summoner, witch, or wizard since she has both Intelligence and Charisma of d4. If she were to take the Bard Multiclass Archetype role, she might be more interested in the musical inspiration power and/or the Diplomacy/allies power, enabling her to take more allies and gain their benefits. Vika might opt for some other multiclass, however (and I plan to develop multiclass archetypes for each of the other classes such as witch, gunslinger, oracle, etc. once we get this concept refined).

Ultimately, limiting how power feats are distributed is the mechanism for imposing the consequences of the choice. Just as choosing between roles has consequences (i.e., the power feats on one role card are available and those on the other are not), choosing to multiclass should similarly have consequences. The trick is in finding a way to make the consequences balanced and attractive so that players might opt to make that choice.

An alternative [to the limit of five power feats on the role card] might be to identify some fraction/percentage. For example, a character may be allowed to have no more than ½ (rounded up) of their power feats assigned to the base class role card, with the rest being on the multiclass archetype role. This would force a relatively even progression through each of the classes and would allow for the following:

Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and Mummy’s Mask
3 base class role card and 4 multiclass archetype role card power feats
4 base class role card and 3 multiclass archetype role card power feats

Wrath of the Righteous
3 base class role card and 8 multiclass archetype role card power feats
4 base class role card and 7 multiclass archetype role card power feats
5 base class role card and 6 multiclass archetype role card power feats
6 base class role card and 5 multiclass archetype role card power feats
Note that the number of power feats gained from completing the Threshold of the End scenario depends upon the number of times that Khorramzadeh Reborn is defeated, which could be multiple times if other locations aren’t temporarily closed/guarded, so 11 is the minimum number of power feats that characters may have at the end of this AP. The addition of the multiclass archetype role becomes very interesting here as each character would have more than 12 power feats to choose from. If the party defeats Khorramzadeh Reborn three (or more) times, they would then have more than 12 power feats, so multiclassed characters could have 13 or more total power feats.

Core Set/Curse of the Crimson Throne
2 base class role card and 4 multiclass archetype role card power feats
3 base class role card and 3 multiclass archetype role card power feats

If we accept the proposition that the multiclass archetype role cards are weaker than the other role cards (I accept that proposition), a more attractive prospect might be to instead allow the character to have no more than ⅔ (rounded up) of their power feats assigned to the base class role card. This would allow for the following:

Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and Mummy’s Mask
3 base class role card and 4 multiclass archetype role card power feats
4 base class role card and 3 multiclass archetype role card power feats
5 base class role card and 2 multiclass archetype role card power feats

Wrath of the Righteous
3 base class role card and 8 multiclass archetype role card power feats
4 base class role card and 7 multiclass archetype role card power feats
5 base class role card and 6 multiclass archetype role card power feats
6 base class role card and 5 multiclass archetype role card power feats
7 base class role card and 4 multiclass archetype role card power feats
8 base class role card and 3 multiclass archetype role card power feats

Core Set/Curse of the Crimson Throne
2 base class role card and 4 multiclass archetype role card power feats
3 base class role card and 3 multiclass archetype role card power feats
4 base class role card and 2 multiclass archetype role card power feats

In my mind, the ⅔ option gives players more agency and makes the option much more attractive without being too powerful. There is still an opportunity cost: the player is limited in the number of power feats they can assign to the base class role card. Upon choosing to multiclass, they would have to select a power feat from the multiclass archetype role card to meet the distribution restriction, and that seems to adequately represent the concept that they are multiclassing. After that, they have a little more freedom for choosing between the two cards when deciding which power feat to take.

Whatever we end up doing, I don’t see any “ugly convoluted wording” being necessary. It could be as simple as:

When you would gain a role card, you may choose a role card and you may use this card in addition if do not have the [class] trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. No more than two thirds (rounded up) of your total power feats may be selected on your normal role card; all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the [class] trait.

I mistakenly counted 4 power feats pre-role in WotR where there are only 3, like in other pre-Core classic APs.

No, you were correct with the count of four (both classic and Core/Curse of the Crimson Throne). In most cases, you’ll see them as one Hand Size power feat and three Powers power feats. In a few cases, one of the Powers power feats is replaced with a Proficient With power feat. In all cases, however, there are four power feats prior to gaining a role.

Ultimately, Wrath of the Righteous isn’t a “meterstick,” but is instead one factor that has to be considered when determining how to limit power feat distribution. Basically, whatever we come up with as a general use rule has to work in that AP without modification.

I don’t know that the few opportunities to change power feats during an adventure path really matter here. After all, how often do these occasions occur in each adventure path? Even then, the normal structure for power feat progression has to be followed when rearranging the power feats. What we’re doing here is developing the structure for (late career*) multiclassing into the progression. The whole point of multiclassing is to progress in two classes, so it seems fundamental that choosing a multiclass archetype role will require at least one power feat be assigned to the second class. While PACG emulates PFRPG to a degree, there are levels of abstraction and multiclassing won’t work in the exact same way in each game. I think the ⅔ option is better than my original max 5 option. I may be wrong in this, of course, which is why playtesting is important to determine actual playability versus relying solely on theory.

* Characters who multiclass from the start have always been possible via standard character/role development, and these would be much like the hybrid classes such as the magus, warpriest, and bloodrager.

Jenceslav has pointed out something that is very important and which reveals a significant flaw in my plan. The combinations for six power feats are based solely on the concepts of Core/Curse, where characters earn two power feats prior to the role card being awarded and will normally earn a total of 6 power feats through an adventure path.

The classic adventure paths work differently. In each of those, characters earn three power feats before being awarded a role. In three of the adventure paths (Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, and Mummy's Mask), characters earn a total of seven power feats. In Wrath of the Righteous, meanwhile, characters can earn 10 or more power feats (depending on the outcome of the Threshold of the End scenario in adventure 6) - I'm going with 11 just for the sake of simplicity.

So the combinations for most of the classic APs are:

3 base class and 4 multiclass
4 base class and 3 multiclass
5 base class and 2 multiclass
6 base class and 1 multiclass

And the combinations for Wrath are:

3 base class and 8 multiclass
4 base class and 7 multiclass
5 base class and 6 multiclass
6 base class and 5 multiclass
7 base class and 4 multiclass
8 base class and 3 multiclass
9 base class and 2 multiclass
10 base class and 1 multiclass

I've deliberately omitted the combination where all power feats are taken in the base class, and I've ignored the Guild adventure paths.

I was only looking at Core/Curse and the future (which is almost certainly a pipe dream) rather than considering all of the existing products. That was a mistake.

The current plan of limiting multiclass characters to the four power feats on the base character card doesn't seem quite right. Whipstitch suggested allowing multiclass characters to use one of their normal roles and their multiclass archetype role. The problem I have with that is that it gives such characters more options than single class characters without really having a cost, aside from the opportunity cost of which feats they choose and which they don't. I was working on an alternative, creating a multiclass role card for each character, but each of those was limited to five power feats and that doesn't really give players the flexibility they deserve. I think that [/b]Whipstitch[/b]'s idea is much more elegant and might be modified by setting a limit on the number of power feats that the player might check on the normal role card, forcing progression in both classes and imposing some level of cost.

The only number that really works for such a limit is five [on the normal role card]. With Core/Cure, characters will then have two to five power feats on the normal role card and the rest (out of six) on the multiclass archetype role card. With most of the classic APs, characters will have three to five power feats on the normal role card and the rest (out of seven) on the multiclass archetype role card. With Wrath, characters will have three to five power feats on the normal role card and the rest (out of 10+) on the multiclass archetype role card.

The limitation would be implemented via a modification to wording on the multiclass archetype role card, something like:

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in addition if do not have the [class] trait. A character may have no more than one multiclass archetype role card. You may check no more than five power feat boxes on your normal role card and all other power feats must be selected on this multiclass archetype role card. You gain the [class] trait.

The million dollar question concerns whether or not a multiclass character (whatever the multiclass archetype role cards end up as) is as potent as a character who uses a normal role card. This can be difficult to determine since there are three basic combinations of power feats:

2 base class power feats and 4 multiclass power feats
3 base class power feats and 3 multiclass power feats
4 base class power feats and 2 multiclass power feats

(I'm not including bonus power feats or end of adventure path power feats in these combinations.)

And that is complicated by the fact that each character has one HAND SIZE power feat in the base class and another in the multiclass.

And the combinations might vary if Model 2 (something to offset the weakness of capping multiclass characters to their base class powers) offers more power feats in their base class.

There are two key points at which players make important choices regarding their characters. The first is when characters are selected (normally before starting the adventure path, but potentially later as dead characters are replaced or new characters are added to the party) and the second is when roles are selected. These choices affect potential overall party capabilities, and they also have an opportunity cost in terms of the characters and roles that aren’t selected. The current concept with the multiclass archetype roles is that the multiclass archetype role (a) is chosen instead of the normal roles available to characters, and (b) necessarily limits the potential progression in the character’s original class. I’ve mentally identified this model as Model 1.

The impact of (b) shouldn’t be understated and Whipstitch has proposed a possible solution. I’m working on my own solution, which is a variation on Whipstitch’s proposed solution and which I’ll present in a subsequent reply. Since both solutions build on what we’re doing here with Model 1, though, I’m going to focus on that model for now.

I really like where foxoftheasterisk went with Model 1. I think it is a definite improvement over my original idea. I’ve made a few tweaks in developing the concept and extending it to all of the Core/Curse characters. First, I moved the statement about gaining the Class trait to the initial instruction. That was mostly to see how it would look. I could definitely see the argument for leaving it in the Powers section as foxoftheasterisk showed. Second, I used the scaling # for the card types, though there were a few for which I used fixed numbers. I think both options need to be considered/playtested. Third, I included 10 feat boxes. I see this as a way to give players more flexibility in tailoring their character to the overall needs of the group.

My general trend was to tie skills and proficiencies with the corresponding deck modifications -or- other powers. In such cases, only one skill and one proficiency was gained, the lone exception (I think) being the Bard since Arcane and Divine are tied at the hip. If a proficiency and deck modification weren’t granted with the skill, there might be either a second skill or another power.

So you’ll see three basic patterns:

□ Gain the skill <Skill: Skill>. You are proficient with <Proficiency>. <Power>. <Rebuilding modification power>.

In general, these are limited to one skill and one proficiency. The only exception I recall is for the Bard because all members of that class have both the Arcane and Divine skills/proficiencies so it seemed appropriate to tie them to a single power.

Most of these don’t include a power, but when they do, it is because the power is tied to the skill/proficiency. The first example of this (with a power) is the Alchemist.

There are a few times where the character only gains the skill -or- proficiency and the rebuilding modification, such as the Barbarian with armor.

□ Gain the skills <Skill> and <Skill>.

The only times a power feat only grants a single skill is when I couldn’t tie the skill to a power. Some discussion about the powers might determine that some of these need to change, tying the skill to a power.

□ <Power>.

If I remember correctly, none of the powers has more than three feat boxes, including the initial feat box. Having four feat boxes would make the character a one-trick pony (okay, two or three tricks depending on their original class powers). Where possible, feat boxes have been limited to one or two per power, and I’ve tried to avoid sequential feat boxes so that players have more agency in tailoring the character. This wasn’t always possible, however, where the iconic character’s base powers had the sequential feat boxes. There may be a few instances where the deck modifications have sequential feat boxes that allow the player to modify the number of the new favored boon in their deck, and these probably need to be examined to see if there are alternatives.

I see this multiclass archetype role concept as a way to sub-optimize in terms of individual power for the sake of improving the party’s overall capabilities (i.e., filling certain gaps, mostly in terms of skills). There are a few very interesting combinations that I can see, however, and that’s just with the characters with which I am familiar. There may be (many?) more interesting combinations with classes with which I am less familiar. Taking the Cleric Multiclass Archetype, for example, allows for any character to become a healer. Most characters might benefit from the Rogue’s power feat to add 1d6 to their combat check. And that’s just the Core characters – the possibilities increase considerably when you consider the swath of classic characters.

ALCHEMIST MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Alchemist trait. You gain the Alchemist trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ On a local combat check (□ or a local check to defeat an Obstacle or Trap barrier), you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Alchemical or Attack card) to add 1d4 and the Acid, Fire, or Poison trait.

□ Gain the skill Craft: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Alchemical. During recovery, when you would banish an Alchemical boon or an Arcane Attack spell, you may discard it instead. (□ Then you may recharge a new Alchemical item whose level is 0.) When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) Alchemical items as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +1. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 Attack spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ Gain the skills Disable: Dexterity +1 and Ranged: Dexterity +1.

□ On your check that invokes Acid, Fire, or Poison, add 1d6.

BARBARIAN MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Barbarian trait. You gain the Barbarian trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) Melee weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +1. On your Strength check or your check against a monster, you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Fortitude skill.

□ Closing your location does not prevent you from exploring (□ and after you close your location, you may draw a card)(□ and you may heal a weapon).

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2. At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

BARD MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Bard trait. You gain the Bard trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 and Divine: Charisma +1. You are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-2 (□ #-1)( □ #) spells as weapons or armors.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Instrument. On a local non-combat check (□ or another local character’s combat check), you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1. At the end of your turn, you may discard a card to recharge (□ or to shuffle into your deck) a card from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # allies as weapons or armors.

BRAWLER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Brawler trait. You gain the Brawler trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. For your combat check, you may use Melee + 1d8 (□ or Melee + 1d12 and add the Magic trait).

□ On your check against a monster on which you do not play a weapon or a spell, you may recharge an ally to add 1d4 plus that card’s level.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # allies as weapons, spells, or armors.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +1. When you discard or bury a card as damage, it counts as up to 2 (□ 3) cards.

□ When you defeat a monster, you may heal a card (□ or an ally).

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +1.

CHAMPION MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Champion trait. You gain the Champion trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) weapons as items or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When you attempt a check before you act, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.

□ You are proficient with Armor. On a local check, you may discard an armor or the top card of your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait. (□ If you would discard an armor or a blessing for this power, you may recharge it instead.) (□ You may also do so if you would discard a spell for this power.) When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 armors as items or allies.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Fortitude: Constitution +1.

CLERIC MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Cleric trait. You gain the Cleric trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Melee: Strength +2 and Diplomacy: Charisma +1. You are proficient with Armor (□ and Weapon). When rebuilding, you may treat up to 2 armors as weapons, items, or allies.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +2. You are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # Divine spells as weapons, armors, or allies.

□ On a local check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait.

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a Divine card to (□ remove a scourge from a local character or) heal a local character a card (□ or 2 cards).

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

DRUID MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Druid trait. You gain the Druid trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Perception: Wisdom +2 and Survival: Wisdom +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # Animal allies and spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ Gain the skill Divine: Wisdom +1. You are proficient with Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ For your combat check, you may bury (□ or discard) a card or recharge an Animal ally to use Survival +1d4 plus the card’s level and add the Animal and Melee traits.

□ When you would recharge an Animal ally for its power (□ or for your character power), you may shuffle it into your deck instead.

□ On a local check (□ at a Wild location or) that invokes the Animal trait, add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

FIGHTER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Fighter trait. You gain the Fighter trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 Melee weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 Ranged weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Armor. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-2 armors as spells, items, or allies.

□ On a local combat (□ or your Diplomacy) check, you may reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a weapon or an armor from your hand or discards.

□ You may avenge by discarding (□ or recharging) a card.

INVESTIGATOR MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Investigator trait. You gain the Investigator trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Disable: Intelligence +1. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #)(□ #+1) items as weapons, spells, and armors.

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Intelligence +2. For your check that invokes Finesse, you may recharge (□ or reload) a card to use Knowledge instead of Acrobatics or Stealth, and add the card’s level.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. On a local check against a barrier, you may bury an item to add your Perception.

□ At the end (□ or start) of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location.

□ You are proficient with Alchemical. On your check to recharge an Alchemical item whose level is lower than #, you automatically succeed.

MONK MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Monk trait. You gain the Monk trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Melee: Strength +1 and Acrobatics: Dexterity +2.

□ For your combat check, you may recharge a card to use Acrobatics or Melee + 1d6 (□ 1d10 and add the Magic trait) plus the card’s level and add the Bludgeoning and Melee traits.

□ On your combat or Acrobatics check, you may freely play 1 blessing (□ or 2 blessings).

□ When you play a blessing on your check, you may recharge it instead of discarding it. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # blessings as weapons, spells, or armors.

□ Gain the skill Fortitude: Constitution +2. When you suffer Combat (□ or any) damage, reduce it by 1.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +1.

RANGER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Ranger trait. You gain the Ranger trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +1 and Survival: Constitution +2.

□ On any combat check, you may recharge a card or reload a weapon to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your check that invokes the Axe or Bow trait, add 1d6 (□ 1d8); against a Giant monster, add another 1d4.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2. At the end of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location. (□ Then, you may shuffle your location.)

ROGUE MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Rogue trait. You gain the Rogue trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skills Disable: Dexterity +2 and Stealth: Dexterity +2. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) items as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Acrobatics: Dexterity +2. When you encounter a card, if you are the only local character (□ or it is not your turn), you may evade it.

□ You are proficient with Weapon. When you would recharge or discard a Knife weapon for its power, you may reload it instead. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 Knife weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your combat check (□ or on a local check to acquire), you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to add 1d6.

□ When you encounter a bane, you may recharge a card to ignore a bane’s before acting powers.

SKALD MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Skald trait. You gain the Skald trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Knowledge: Charisma +1. You are proficient with Arcane and Divine. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # spells as armors, items, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Melee: Strength +2. You are proficient with Weapon. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) weapons as armors, items, or blessings.

□ You are proficient with Instrument. At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card with a card of the same type (□ or a weapon or an Instrument card) from your discards.

□ Gain the skill Diplomacy: Charisma +1. On a local Strength check (□ or a local check against a monster), you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Diplomacy.

□ At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

SORCERER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Sorcerer trait. You gain the Sorcerer trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Charisma +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to # (□ #+1) spells as weapons, armor, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Diplomacy: Charisma +2 and Knowledge: Intelligence +1.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a card (□ or recharge a spell) to use Arcane + 2d4 (□ 2d6) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Force, and Magic traits. This counts as playing an Arcane spell.

□ On your check to recharge an Arcane spell (□ or an Arcane item), you automatically succeed. (□ You may instead shuffle it into your deck.)

WIZARD MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

When you would gain a role card, you may use this card in place of one of your character's roles if you do not have the Wizard trait. You gain the Wizard trait.

HAND SIZE □ +1

□ Gain the skill Arcane: Intelligence +2. You are proficient with Arcane. When rebuilding, you may treat up to #-1 (□ #) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skills Craft: Intelligence +1 and Knowledge: Intelligence +2.

□ At the start of your turn, you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is a spell, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ On your turn, you may recharge a spell to examine the top card of your location. If you do, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On a local check against a Magic card, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

Whipstitch has described one of the concerns I was alluding to in one of my previous posts: switching to these multiclass archetype roles, as written, means that the original class powers are effectively limited to the base powers. Most of the Core/Curse characters have one power feat for a Hand Size increase and three power feats for Power improvements. Two of the characters, Amiri and Kyra have only two Power improvements since one power feat is for a Proficiency. Since characters are generally limited to 6 total power feats throughout an adventure path, and since most players will choose at least one Hand Size increase, a multiclass character can be fairly evenly split in terms of how they assign their power feats to Powers for each of their classes, with each having either 2 or 3 power feats assigned. As previously presented, the multiclass archetype roles might allow a player to focus their power feat progression in the multiclass rather than in the original class, and that seems counterintuitive given the likelihood that their skills will be optimized for the original class. There are likely some combinations of classes, however, where the character’s skill might do a decent job of supporting [some of] the powers of the multiclass. For example, Valeros might take the Sorcerer Multiclass Archetype role, gaining much more potent Arcane skill via his higher Charisma than if he had chosen the Wizard Multiclass Archetype role, which would rely on his low Intelligence. And the Bard Multiclass Archetype is also a great fit for Valeros as both Arcane and Divine are tied to Charisma. Valeros wouldn’t gain quite as much from the Barbarian or Cleric Multiclass Archetype roles, though there would still be ways for them to help.

The versions I’ve presented previously provide a large power jump when the multiclass archetype role is taken due to the skills and proficiencies, but the combination of the “capping” of the original class powers and the locking of every power allowed by the multiclass behind a power feat box means that the power progression will taper off. The character’s capabilities become broader in that their skills and proficiencies will likely increase and they’ll have access to new powers that they wouldn’t otherwise have, but the overall potency is less than the more focused potency possible if the character were to use one of their roles. Overall, just as with the Blackjack role, the multiclass archetypes necessarily limit the progression in the original class power progression, but the higher number of options allows for interesting tailoring to the needs of the party/adventure path.

The concept of using a multiclass archetype role in addition to a regular role is intriguing. If that were to be done, the initial multiclass progression would have to be severely downgraded from what I’ve presented previously. Fortunately…

foxoftheasterisk has provided an alternative to the ideas that I’ve presented, and I think that alternative has a lot of potential. It fixes some things that were bugging me about my previous ideas, and I think it allows for a little bit more tailoring of characters (I’ll describe that in more detail when I preset my revised ideas).

I had developed another round of drafts, but after seeing foxoftheasterisk’s idea, I’m revising my ideas. I’ll present them here once I get them all done.

D'oh! The Ranger Multiclass Archetype's first power should read:

Gain the Ranger trait and the skills Ranged: Dexterity +1 (□ +2) and Fortitude: Constitution +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

I forgot to change Survival to Fortitude.

Most of the drafts in my previous post are fairly straightforward adaptations of the base skills and powers of each of the iconic characters in the Core Set and the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. My basic methodology was:

HAND SIZE
In most cases, only one HAND SIZE feat was included. The Wizard was the only exception, and I guess that was because I had one spare feat box after working everything else out.

PROFICIENCIES
All of the character’s base proficiencies were included, and those that were locked behind feat boxes (e.g., the Barbarian Amiri having □ Armor) were similarly locked on the multiclass archetype role.

Basic Power
The class name was included as a trait. My theory here is that the class trait is one of the criteria for determining which class decks the character can use [in Guild play]. I don’t recall off the top of my head, but there may also be cards that have effects based on class traits. Even if there aren’t, this builds in forward compatibility.

The core skill of the class was included. There may be one or two additional skills, and when I had to choose, I chose based on the skill(s) that were necessary to other powers or which seemed the most thematic to the class and ignored those which seemed based on the character. For example, the Fighter Multiclass Archetype doesn’t include the Diplomacy: Charisma skill even though it is on Valeros’ sheet since that seems like a Valeros thing and not a Fighter thing. Meanwhile, the Investigator Multiclass Archetype only includes Disable: Intelligence, Knowledge: Intelligence, and Perception: Wisdom, ignoring Diplomacy: Charisma. In some cases, the ignored skills are available later as power feats.

The deck modification allows the character to include the favored card type of the new class, counting cards of that type as other cards in the character’s deck list. In doing this, I assumed that the character might have 0 such cards on their deck list (e.g., Valeros has 0 spells and does not have card feat options to include them, so if he were to take a spellcasting multiclass, he needs to be able to replace other cards in his deck list with a reasonable number of spells). In determining the cards that could be replaced, I generally looked at the deck list of the character that represents the multiclass (e.g., Ezren for the Wizard Multiclass Archetype) and use the three card types with the lowest starting number. Ezren starts with 1 weapon, 0 armors, and 0 blessings, so those are the card types that a character taking the Wizard Multiclass Archetype may use for spells. In cases where the multiclass has multiple favored card types, there were only two card types (i.e., Bard, Champion/Paladin) that they can replace. The Monk, too, may only replace two card types, largely because most characters can take some number of blessings and I didn’t think it would be smart to give the character too many. In some cases, a specific trait was identified on the iconic character (e.g., Melee Weapon for the Barbarian Amiri). I preserved most of those, except for the Fighter Valeros, whose favored card was a Sword Weapon. Again, that seems more of a Valeros thing and not necessarily a Fighter thing, so modifying that to just Weapon allows players to customize their characters a bit more.

I’ve started with the scaling # as the basis for the number of new favored cards the character may take, and that might be modified based on the number of such cards that the iconic character starts with.

Feat Box Powers
For the most part, these were lifted straight from the character’s base powers, though each was locked behind a power feat box even when most were not on the iconic character sheet. The idea here is that the player chooses one such power feat when taking the multiclass archetype role, selecting subsequent power feats throughout the rest of the adventure path. This is one part of the effort to prevent these roles from overpowered.

There were a few cases where the initial efforts didn’t yield 10 power feat boxes. The first steps in those cases were to see if there were skills that were ignored in the baseline power of the multiclass archetype role, and if any of those seemed appropriate to the class, allow them as power feats. If there were none of those, or if there were still power feat boxes remaining, the next step was to look at the iconic character’s roles and see if there were power feats that were common to both roles. On at least one occasion there was. On other occasions, there were some similar, but not identical, power feats. In those instances, I chose the power feat that seemed to be either the least powerful (e.g., the Cleric Multiclass Archetype’s healing power improving from 1 card to □ 2 cards instead of □ 1d4 cards) or I found some sort of compromise (e.g., the Cleric Multiclass Archetype includes a power feat to remove a scourge from a local character in the healing power, though that only appears in one of Kyra’s roles).

I think the first thing that needs to be discussed is the skills. Each of those eats up a power feat because I’ve started each at +1 with a power feat to improve that to +2. In many cases, using those power feats meant that some of the iconic character’s power feats aren’t included on the role card. I wonder if simply putting them at +2 without the power feat would free up potential power feats that could be used elsewhere, including the possibility of including power feats that I had to omit or which aren’t on the iconic character’s sheet but which might allow for more customization of the character to represent broader views of the class. In addition, I’m wondering if we should allow up to three skills among those that are automatically gained when taking the multiclass. Most of the classes allow for two, but there are a few that have three. Since most of the iconic characters have three or more skills, and most (but not all) of these seem to be representative of the character, this might simplify things. An alternative might be to include any skill that the character has at +2 or which seems essential to the class as one which is automatically gained when the multiclass archetype role is selected, with others available as a power feat. For example, the Fighter class in the PFRPG 2e allows for Fighters to be archers, which would require the Ranged skill (arguments could be made for tying it to either Strength, is WotR Imrijka, or Dexterity, as RotR Harsk) as a power feat. In many cases, I adjusted the power feat skills to start at +2, and that should probably be standardized across all the multiclass archetypes, or, if we go with the second option I described for the skills, start those at +1 with a +2 power feat.

There were some exceptions to things, and these really need to be discussed, too.

Alchemist (Fumbus)
The main thing here was the omission of Attack spells and the Arcane: Intelligence skill. This includes leaving Attack spells out of the favored cards (i.e., the types with which you can replace other cards in the character’s deck list), the Arcane skill, and the Attack boons in two of the powers. I was worried that leaving these in might make a character too powerful if the original class had Arcane spells, and I figured there are enough Alchemical items in the various APs and character decks to give a Alchemist multiclass character sufficient quantities of the cards to be effective. I don’t know if this assumption is correct, though, and it bears examination.

Champion (Seelah)
I made her Divine: Charisma skill +1 instead of +0. The previous Paladins (RotR Seelah, WotR Seelah, and CD Koren, Raz, and Seelah) all had Divine skills starting at +1 or more. My interpretation of Core Set Seelah’s Divine skill being Diplomacy +0 is that she’s intended to have more limited use of Divine spells, most likely having to discard them after playing them. It also allows her to roll 1d8 instead of 1d4 for any skill she doesn’t have (when attempting a check before acting). I’ll have to examine the PFRPG 2e Champion a bit more to try to figure out the intent with regard to the class’s Divine spellcasting abilities. If it is intended to be lower, this might be an exception to the +2 for starting skills (assuming we change to that).

Druid (Lini)
I made the favored card type spells instead of Animal allies. I think this was an oversight on my part – I didn’t really look at Lini’s favored card and mentally assumed that she would favor spells since she’s a Divine spellcaster. I think I should change this to Animal allies or Divine spells, with the starting number adjusted from #-1 to #. In this way, a non-Divine spellcasting (e.g., a Fighter or a Rogue) character might take the Druid Multiclass Archetype and gain the ability to keep and use Divine spells.

Ranger (Harsk)
I had to leave one of the class’s base power feats off (shuffling the location after examining it at the end of the turn). This could be included if we make Survival one of the skills that is automatically gained when taking the multiclass. And if we also get rid of the +2 power feats for the skills, there would also be room for a power feat to gain the Perception skill (or make Perception an automatic skill and push Fortitude to the power feat).

One thing that I considered and experimented with, but which I dropped, was a power feat allowing the character to improve the skill die of the new class’s core skill by one level, up to a maximum of d10. The concept here was that it might give players a bit of flexibility. For example, if Valeros were to take the Wizard Multiclass Archetype role, he would be extremely limited in his effectiveness as a Wizard due to his Intelligence of d4. By allowing him to improve that to d6, he would become a little better (but he’d still be a chump Wizard a la Flenta). Limiting the improvement to a d10 prevents the character from becoming overpowered. It’s kind of a radical idea, so I wasn’t sure how it would be received. When a few of the roles couldn’t incorporate that power feat without sacrificing other powers, I decided to drop it en toto. If the revisions to the skills allow, I may try this out in the next version.

I’ll begin working on the revisions, but I’ll hold off on posting them pending feedback.

I also plan to look at the other classes for which there were classic characters but which weren’t covered in the Core Set or Curse of the Crimson Throne and which haven’t been dropped/relegated to sub-classes in PRFPG 2e. So I’m looking at the Gunslinger, Kineticist, Magus, Medium, Oracle, Psychic, Summoner, Witch, and Swashbuckler. Those won’t be posted until after the next draft of the core classes. Some of those will be interesting

Unfortunately, other classic character classes either haven’t been covered yet in PFRPG 2e (e.g., Hunter, Mesmerist, and Spy (Arueshalae)); have been replaced by other classes that haven’t been covered in PACG (e.g., the Medium has been replaced by the Animist and the Occultist has been replaced by the Thaumaturge); or has become a subclass/class archetype of another class or a core archetype (e.g., the Antipaladin has been absorbed into the Champion, the Assassin is now a core archetype, the Cavalier is now a core archetype, the Inquisitor has become the Vindicator archetype of the Ranger, the Spiritualist is now a type of Summoner, the Warpriest is a sub-class of the Cleric. The class archetypes are not part of this project and will probably be best covered as distinct characters (perhaps revisions or alternatives to the original class deck characters in the hypothetical remasters), with the character having that class archetype at the base level or as one of its roles (and the other role possibly being an alternative class archetype). The core archetypes, meanwhile, are not part of this project (yet?), though they might bear some similarities to the multiclass archetype roles.

Thank you for the heads up. Like Whipstitch, I've purchased those which were missing from my collection.

I think the class trait power should not be behind a checkbox, though - it's very weird that you're likely to skip it if you're multiclassing from a similar enough class.

I’m inclined to agree with you, but I didn’t want to come out the gate with the examples looking overpowered. If we remove that power feat box (which seems likely barring strenuous objections from other players), we would have to add at least one more power feat box somewhere (possibly more if we increase the total number of power feat boxes on each card, as discussed later).

…the proficiencies should probably be in the same power checkbox as the card swapping and skill, rather than free on the card.

That was my original thought, too, until I saw the Blackjack card and figured that the core proficiency(ies) of the multiclass should be automatic, with additional proficiencies possible as power feats. For example, one would not be much of a Fighter without the Weapon proficiency, nor would one be much of a Wizard without the Arcane proficiency. If we remove the power feat box on the trait, skill, and deck building modification, this is probably moot, however.

I also would make the amount you can swap in a static number, rather than #-2 or so. Especially #-3 seems wrong, since if you're gaining a role at level 3 (as is typical) you wouldn't get to add any immediately. Seems much more sensible to have it just be, say, 2 (with a feat to bump it to 4, perhaps).

That’s a fair point. I was basing #-3 on the classic APs giving the role and power feat as a reward at the end of adventure 3 rather than Curse of the Crimson Throne giving it after finishing the first scenario in that adventure. In that, I could see #-2 as the “worst” version, with some being #-1 or # (assuming we preserve the scaling number).

My thought behind the scaling number was that the character would just be starting out in the new class while still advancing in their original class, so the favored card type of the new class might not be as high in quantity as the original class’s favored card type. And since the multiclass archetype roles wouldn’t otherwise allow for modifying the character’s deck list, the scaling would sort of represent that.

Something else to keep in mind is that the character might already have card slots in their deck for the new favored card type, with the multiclass archetype role simply offering a way to get more cards of that type (albeit, at the expense of other card types that might be useful). This isn’t always the case, but in most such instances, the character’s skills probably don’t support them choosing certain classes as a multiclass archetype role anyways. For example, neither Seelah nor Valeros is likely to take the Wizard Multiclass Archetype since they each have an Intelligence of D4, and Kyra isn’t likely to take the Rogue Multiclass Archetype since she has a Dexterity of D4. With a Strength of D12, though, Amiri might take the Fighter Multiclass Archetype, resulting in having favored card types of Melee Weapon (Barbarian) and Weapon (Fighter Multiclass Archetype) and the ability to take even more weapons in her deck from the multiclass. That’s not much of a multiclass change, but it illustrates some interesting possibilities with this idea.

There are arguments for either a higher limit or no limit, however, especially after looking at the characters in the Core Set and the number of their favored card types in their decks. Personally, I think there should be some limit, and I prefer a scaling limit, but that would be something that would need to be discussed and considered/playtested.

(I believe you've got this [the deck building modification] backwards - you want to be able to treat weapons as spells, items, or blessings, so you can add more weapons to the deck.)

You are absolutely correct – I definitely got it backwards. Thanks for catching that mistake.

The template should be:

“When building your deck, you may treat [quantity, whatever we ultimately decide upon] [multiclass favored card type(s)] as [possible replacement card type(s)].”

My only concern is power creep. I thought Blackjack was a bit overtuned. I would want archetypes to be more about flavor than power level.

It really is rather limiting having only 8 power feats to work with, though, huh? Not overly limiting, I think, but it is a bit surprising. (For reference, Blackjack had 10—but I think we’re all agreed that Blackjack was rather high-powered, to make it feel like a reward, and that we shouldn’t try to match it.) These do seem, if anything, slightly underpowered, but I think that’s correct for a role that can be applied to any character without restriction.

I’m not opposed to increasing to 10 feat boxes. My thinking with the original 8 was based on criticisms of Blackjack being too powerful. Realistically, a character is only likely to have up to 4 of the feat boxes [on the multiclass archetype role card] checked at the end of the adventure path. Most of the classic APs allow for 7 total power feats at the completion of the adventure path (Wrath of the Righteous allows 11, but that’s the anomaly), so having more power feat boxes on the multiclass archetype role card will give a little more room for customizing the character throughout the AP. The trick, I think, is ensuring that the multiclass doesn’t necessarily eclipse the base class of the character, but having 6 more power feat boxes (if we increase from 8 to 10) means we’ll have limited options (such as hand size).

So I’ve revised the original three and come up with first drafts of the other classes covered in the Core Set and the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. I’ve gone with 10 power feat boxes this time around, and the initial power isn’t locked behind a feat box. They’re listed in alphabetical order by class name.

ALCHEMIST MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Alchemical

Gain the Alchemist trait and the skill Craft: Intelligence +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) Alchemical items as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ On a local combat check (□ or a local check to defeat an Obstacle or Trap barrier), you may discard a card (□ or recharge an Alchemical card) to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Acid, Fire, or Poison trait.

□ During recovery, when you would banish an Alchemical boon, you may discard it instead. (□ Then you may recharge a new Alchemical item whose level is 0.)

□ On your check that invokes Acid, Fire, or Poison, add 1d6.

BARBARIAN MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Weapon □ Armor

Gain the Barbarian trait and the skills Melee: Strength +1 (□ +2) Fortitude: Constitution +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-2 (□ -1) Melee weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On your Strength check or your check against a monster, you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Fortitude skill.

□ Closing your location does not prevent you from exploring (□ and after you close your location, you may draw a card).

□ At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

BARD MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Arcane Divine Instrument

Gain the Bard trait and the skills Arcane: Charisma +1 (□ +2), Diplomacy: Charisma +1 (□ +2), and Divine: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-2 (□ -1) spells or allies as weapons or armors.

□ On a local non-combat check (□ or another local character’s combat check), you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ At the end of your turn, you may discard a card to recharge (□ or to shuffle into your deck) a card from your discards.

BRAWLER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES

Gain the Brawler trait and the skills Melee: Strength +1 (□ +2), Fortitude: Constitution +1 (□ +2), and Diplomacy: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to # allies as weapons, spells, or armors.

□ For your combat check, you may use Melee + 1d8 (□ or Melee + 1d12 and add the Magic trait).

□ On your check against a monster on which you do not play a weapon or a spell, you may recharge an ally to add 1d4 plus that card’s level.

□ When you discard or bury a card as damage, it counts as up to 2 (□ 3) cards.

□ When you defeat a monster, you may heal a card.

CHAMPION MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE
(For those not in the know, the Paladin class has been renamed Champion in Pathfinder RPG 2e, so I’m using that class name here.)

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Armor Divine Weapon

Gain the Champion trait and the skills Melee: Strength +1 (□ +2), Divine: Charisma +1 (□ +2), and Diplomacy: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) weapons or armors as items or allies.

□ When you attempt a check before you act, you may use Divine instead of any listed skill.

□ On a local check, you may discard an armor or the top card of your deck to add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait. (□ If you would discard an armor or a blessing for this power, you may recharge it instead.) (□ You may also do so if you would discard a spell for this power.)

CLERIC MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Armor Divine □ Weapon

Gain the Cleric trait and the skill Divine: Wisdom +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-2 (□ -1) blessings as weapons, items, or allies.

□ On a local check against an Outsider or Undead bane, add 1d4 (□ 1d6) and the Magic trait.

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a Divine card to (□ remove a scourge from a local character or) heal a local character a card (□ or 2 cards).

□ Gain the skills Fortitude: Constitution +2 and Perception: Wisdom +2.

DRUID MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Divine

Gain the Druid trait and the skills Divine: Wisdom +1 (□ +2) and Survival: Wisdom +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) spells as weapons, armors, or items.

□ For your combat check, you may bury (□ or discard) a card or recharge an Animal ally to use Survival +1d4 plus the card’s level and add the Animal and Melee traits.

□ When you would recharge an Animal ally for its power (□ or for your character power), you may shuffle it into your deck instead.

□ On a local check that invokes the Animal trait, add 1d4.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +2.

FIGHTER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Armor Weapon

Gain the Fighter trait and the skill Melee: Strength +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-2 (□ -1) weapons as spells, items, or blessings.

□ When building your deck, you may treat up to #-2 armors as spells, items, and blessings as armors.

□ On a local combat (□ or your Diplomacy) check, you may reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ At the end of your turn, you may recharge a weapon or an armor from your hand or discards.

□ You may avenge by discarding (□ or recharging) a card.

INVESTIGATOR MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES

Gain the Investigator trait and the skills Disable: Intelligence +1 (□ +2), Knowledge: Intelligence +1 (□ +2), and Perception: Wisdom +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) items as weapons, spells, and armors.

□ For your check that invokes Finesse, you may recharge (□ or reload) a card to use Knowledge instead of Acrobatics or Stealth, and add the card’s level.

□ On a local check against a barrier, you may bury an item to add your Perception.

□ At the end (□ or start) of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location.

MONK MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

Gain the Monk trait and the skills Melee: Strength +1 (□ +2) and Acrobatics: Dexterity +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to # blessings as spells or armors.

□ Gain the skill Perception: Wisdom +1.

□ For your combat check, you may recharge a card to use Acrobatics or Melee + 1d6 (□ 1d10 and add the Magic trait) plus the card’s level and add the Bludgeoning and Melee traits.

□ On your combat or Acrobatics check, you may freely play 1 blessing (□ or 2 blessings).

□ When you play a blessing on your check, you may recharge it instead of discarding it.

□ When you suffer Combat damage, reduce it by 1.

RANGER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Weapon

Gain the Ranger trait and the skills Ranged: Dexterity +1 (□ +2) and Survival: Constitution +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ On any combat check, you may recharge a card or reload a weapon to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ Gain the skill Survival: Wisdom +2.

□ On your check that invokes the Axe or Bow trait, add 1d6 (□ 1d8); against a Giant monster, add another 1d4.

□ At the end of your turn, you may examine the top card of your location.

ROGUE MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
□ Weapon

Gain the Rogue trait and the skill Stealth: Dexterity +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 items or knife weapons as spells, armors, or blessings.

□ Gain the skill Disable: Dexterity +2.

□ When you would recharge or discard a Knife weapon for its power, you may reload it instead.

□ When you encounter a card, if you are the only local character (□ or it is not your turn), you may evade it.

□ On your combat check (□ or on a local check to acquire), you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to add 1d6.

SKALD MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Arcane Divine Instrument Weapon

Gain the Skald trait and the skills Melee: Strength +1 (□ +2) and Diplomacy: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) weapons as armors, items, or blessings.

□ At the start of your turn, you may exchange a card with a card of the same type (□ or a weapon or an Instrument card) from your discards.

□ On a local Strength check (□ or a local check against a monster), you may bury a card from your hand (□ or discards) to add your Diplomacy.

□ At the end of your turn, you may move; any local characters may move with you.

SORCERER MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
Arcane

Gain the Sorcerer trait and the skill Arcane: Charisma +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to # (□ +1)( □ +2) spells as weapons, armor, or blessings.

□ For your combat check, you may discard a card (□ or recharge a spell) to use Arcane + 2d4 (□ 2d6) plus the card’s level and add the Attack, Force, and Magic traits. This counts as playing an Arcane spell.

□ On your check to recharge an Arcane spell (□ or an Arcane item), you automatically succeed. (□ You may instead shuffle it into your deck.)

WIZARD MULTICLASS ARCHETYPE

HAND SIZE □ +1 □ +2

PROFICIENCIES
Arcane

Gain the Wizard trait and the skill Arcane: Intelligence +1 (□ +2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-1 (□ -0) spells as weapons, armors, or blessings.

□ At the start of your turn, you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is a spell, you may draw it. (□ Then you may recharge the top card of your deck.)

□ On your turn, you may recharge a spell to examine the top card of your location. If you do, you may discard (□ or recharge) a card to explore.

□ On a local check against a Magic card, you may recharge a card to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

I can’t take credit for this idea. The person who inspired this was foxoftheasterisk in this discussion.

And now I have a bold idea of my own to propose. Like how the old CDs can be paired with Ultimate decks, the new Essential decks can be paid with a new kind: Archetype decks! These would feature both archetypes that were classes in 1E—such as Cavalier and Vigilante—but also new and more eccentric ones like Gladiator, Acrobat, and Field Propagandist. Like the Ultimate decks, these Archetype decks would include one new character that exemplifies the titled archetype, but the real focus would be a number of new archetype roles (I'm thinking three) that can be applied to any character, like Blackjack in Curse! (For example, the Vigilante archetype deck might include the Vigilante, Dandy, and Assassin archetype roles.)

I'm thinking you can pair any two of the five deck types together (Class/Character, Ultimate, Essential, Archetype, and Adventurer's Pack); also that only the old Class/Character decks get two packs, all others only one. Also thinking that, once we have Essential decks for the twelve Core classes, Adventurer's Packs would be removed as an option for new characters.

I have to admit that I was a bit confused by this at first. I was approaching it from my understanding of the first edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and the archetypes were represented in the role cards. For example, Magus CD Seltyiel’s Bladebound role comes from the archetype of the same name in the Ultimate Magic rulebook and his Myrmidarch role comes from the archetype of the same name in the Ultimate Combat rulebook. Meanwhile, Fighter CD Tontelizi is based on the Polearm Master archetype in the Advanced Player’s Guide, with his Halberdier role realizing that archetype to its fullest.

Here’s a secret: I’ve never played the PFRPG. I have hundreds of dollars’ worth of PFRPG rulebooks, however, because I figure that understand the roleplaying game will help me to ensure that my PACG homegrown rules efforts remain faithful to the setting. PACG was killed just as the 2nd edition of the PFRPG came out, so while I have a few of the rulebooks, I never examined them in any depth. So I didn’t realize that archetypes had changed in the second edition of the game. Seeing foxoftheasterisk’s idea, I felt compelled to research the second edition in a little more depth (spending a lot more money to get more of the rulebooks in the process). After learning about the changes, I realized that foxoftheasterisk’s idea is brilliant. And while my larger hopes and dreams for the future of PACG might not ever be realized (see the linked discussion if you’re curious), foxoftheasterisk’s idea might result in something that we could make happen right now, even if only in an unofficial fan-driven capacity.

I’m looking at this less in terms of deck’s (foxoftheasterisk’s idea) and more as roles.

The way I see it, we could create role cards for the various archetypes from PFRPG 2e, making them available on Drive Thru Cards. This would give players a little more variety in their continued playing of the game.

The model for this idea is the Batman Blackjack role, which one character may select instead of one of their usual roles while playing the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP. Where Blackjack represents a sort of Vigilante archetype, under this model, instead of choosing one of their usual roles, a character may choose a multiclass archetype role. They would retain their base powers representing their original class, but would then add new feats representing their progression in an additional class. Like the Blackjack role card, these multiclass archetype role cards would have only 8 power feats, with the base 4 power feats remaining valid.

Blackjack card front | back

This creates a very interesting design space and poses some interesting challenges. Some characters are more suited to certain multiclass archetypes than others. Also, the mechanics of the PFRPG are different from those of the PACG. Where a multiclass archetype might be adopted at the 2nd level in PFRPG, roles are typically selected after completing adventure 3 in PACG, and that’s roughly equivalent to the 10th level (?) in the PFRPG. The PACG isn’t a roleplaying game, but it represents concepts of the PFRPG at an abstract level.

The three main challenges I see are in the areas of skills/subskills, deck lists, and proficiencies.

Fighters, for example, typically have the Melee subskill, a lot of weapons and armor cards on their deck lists, and weapon and armor proficiencies. Characters from other classes/backgrounds might not have those, so a Fighter Multiclass Archetype role would somehow have to confer those for the character to accurately represent the concept. Meanwhile, Wizards typically have a high Intelligence skill and the Arcane subskill, a lot of spells on their decks lists, and the Arcane proficiency. Since other characters often don’t have those, a Wizard Multiclass Archetype role would somehow have to confer them. And since any character from any class/background might adopt any of the Multiclass Archetype roles (minus the one for their actual class – that would be dumb), each Multiclass Archetype role would have to allow for that variation.

Alternately, there might be multiple such roles for certain classes, allowing players to choose the one that works best for them. And I could see this concept applying to prestige classes (or whatever that concept in PFRPG 2e) and subclasses. Taking the PFRPG 1e concept of prestige classes, use the Hellknight as an example. The Hell’s Vengeance Character Deck 1 gave us Linxia, whose class trait is Hellknight. She has two roles: Enforcer and Knight of the Rack. The character and her roles do a great job of representing a “pure” Hellknight. In PFRPG 1e, the Hellknights were represented by two prestige classes. The Hellknight prestige class was found in the Inner Sea World Guide and represented combat-oriented Hellknights, often coming from classes like the Cavalier and Fighter. Hellknight Signifers, meanwhile, were spellcasting Hellknights found in the Paths of Prestige rulebook. Such Hellknights might come from various arcane and divine spellcasting backgrounds such as Wizards, Clerics, etc. So instead of a single Hellknight Archetype role card, there might be a role card for the [combat] Hellknights and another for the Hellknight Signifers [spellcasters], allowing characters to select the Hellknight role that is appropriate to their background.

I think that most Multiclass Archetype role cards would be a one-size-fits-all approach, though there may be some exceptions. There would probably be room to create more such roles to allow for different varieties further down the road, but my initial efforts will focus on an “iconic” version for now. The prestige classes, meanwhile, might have as much variation as the class requires. I’ve illustrated how there may be multiple such roles for Hellknights; the Low Templar, meanwhile, might need only a single such role card. I don’t plan to tackle those until after the initial batch of Multiclass Archetype role cards are completed, however (even though it’s fairly obvious that I’ve latched onto the Hellknights ;) ).

Anyone who has observed my homegrown PACG rules efforts over the years knows that I’ve rarely been right on target, always relying on input from others to find workable solutions. So I recognize that my ideas might need some tweaking. My intent here is to let you know what I’m thinking on the front end, allowing you to slap me with a dose of sanity before I go too far.

So here’s what I’m thinking so far:

Each Multiclass Archetype role card would grant the appropriate class trait and proficiencies associated with the class. For example, the Fighter Multiclass Archetype role card would grant the Fighter trait and the Weapon and Armor proficiencies.

Each Multiclass Archetype role card would grant the appropriate subskill. In cases where a class might have multiple subskills, these might be presented as feat options, allowing the player to tailor the character a little. For example, using Core Set Merisiel as a guide, a Rogue might choose either the Acrobatics, Disable, or Stealth subskills. One of those would be chosen when the role is chosen while the others might be selected later. Or perhaps, since all of the official Rogue characters appear to have the Disable subskill, that would be the default subskill granted by the multiclass role and other subskills might be available as subsequent feats.

Some method for modifying deck lists would have to be allowed. My thinking at this point is that the role would allow for the favored card of the class (e.g., Weapon for Fighter, Spell for Wizard) would be allowed as a modification the same way that Mummy’s Mask Mavaro may treat any weapons, spells, and armors as items when building his deck. The allowances would vary from class to class. For example, and this is off the top of my head so don’t hold me to it, the hypothetical Fighter Multiclass Archetype might say something like “When building your deck, you may treat any spells, items, and blessings as weapons.” These might even be limited in a way. For example, they might be restricted to #-2 such weapons (or something like that).

The above three elements would be part of the default feat that must be chosen when taking the multiclass role.

Each such role might have +1 or +2 Hand Size power feats, like the Blackjack role.

Other power feats would represent typical feats for the multiclass, most likely drawing upon the corresponding iconic character and the two roles allowed to them, especially if one of those roles is considered more typical than the other.

These roles wouldn’t affect skill dice or skill feats, nor would they affect the cards list or card feats (except in the Mavaro-like manner that I described).

Such characters wouldn’t become as effective as “pure” characters at max progression. For example, Core Set Merisiel won’t be as effective a Rogue if she were to take the Wizard Multiclass Archetype role instead of the Liberator or Waylayer roles, nor will she be as effective a Wizard as Mystic Diviner/Wizened Explorer Ezren.

Why would someone want to do this? Variety is the basic answer. I think the most obvious strategic reason (to me) is to shore up some gap(s) in the party. This would be especially true in cases where either there is duplication (e.g., having Enora and Ezren in the same party) or in smaller parties, especially solo and two-character efforts. In such cases, the gap(s) in capabilities would be covered by multiclass roles. Using the aforementioned Wizard Multiclass Archetype Merisiel, she’ll provide basic Rogue and Wizard capabilities that might be missing if she didn’t take the multiclass role, especially if the party doesn’t have any Arcane spellcasters.

So how might this look? Here are three hypotheticals. Note that I’m developing these on the fly, so I don’t expect these to be “final” by any means. I’ll go with three basic classes: Fighter, Rogue, and Wizard. In all three cases, I’m drawing largely upon the iconic character in the Core Set, but I’m also referring to the previous classic characters of those classes.

Each of these would have something along the lines of the text on the front of the Blackjack card:

POWERS

This role card adds to your existing character card’s skills, cards list, proficiencies, hand size, and powers rather than replacing them. When you gain a power feat, you may choose it from either your character or role card.

Note that I’ve added “skills” due to the addition of the class trait and the subskill(s) and “cards list” due to the modification of the deck building, both as described above.

Fighter Multiclass Archetype

PROFICIENCIES
Armor Weapon

□ Gain the Fighter trait and the skill Melee: Strength +1 (□+2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-3 (□-2) spells, items, and blessings as weapons.

□ When building your deck, you may treat up to #-3 spells, items, and blessings as armors.

□ Gain the skill Ranged: Dexterity +1.

□ On a local combat check, you may reload or recharge a weapon or an armor to add 1d4 (□ 1d6).

□ You may avenge by discarding a card.

Rogue Multiclass Archetype

HAND SIZE □ +1

PROFICIENCIES
□ Weapon

□ Gain the Rogue trait and the skill Stealth: Dexterity +1 (□+2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-3 (□-2) spells, armors, and blessings as items.

□ When you encounter a card, if you are the only local character, you may evade it.

□ Gain the skill Disable: Dexterity +1.

□ On your combat check, you may discard a card to add 1d6.

Wizard Multiclass Archetype

HAND SIZE □ +1 □ +2

PROFICIENCIES
Arcane

□ Gain the Wizard trait and the skill Arcane: Intelligence +1 (□+2). When building your deck, you may treat up to #-2 (□-1) weapons, armors, and blessings as spells.

□ At the start of your turn, you may examine the top card of your deck; if it is a spell, you may draw it.

□ On your (□ a local) check against a Magic card, you may recharge a card to add 1d4.

The variation in hand size feats is based on the typical hand size for the multiclass and the likelihood of the character’s base class having a different hand size. Fighters tend to have smaller hand sizes and other classes tend to have larger hand sizes, so a character gaining the Fighter multiclass probably doesn’t need more hand size feats than their normal character card allows. Wizards tend to have larger hand sizes and other classes tend to have smaller hand sizes, so a character gaining the Wizard multiclass might need more hand size feats. Rogues are in the middle, with other classes having more or fewer cards in their hands, so allowing the additional hand size feat to a character gaining the Rogue multiclass seems reasonable.

You'll also note that I went with Stealth instead of Disable for Merisiel, despite what I said earlier. This was because Merisiel's powers reflect being stealthy.

Everything else should be familiar from the Core Set characters. The logic I’ve followed is that those are “iconic” characters, representing the standard version of that class, so their skills, proficiencies, and powers should be suitable for the multiclass versions.

It should be fairly easy to imagine how the multiclass archetype roles for the other classes included in both the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne will look; and classes which appeared in the classic products but which aren’t included in the later products are probably easily imagined, too.

Again, I’m not saying that these are how they should/will be – those simply serve as examples of a starting point. Discussion and feedback will be very helpful in improving these.

I really appreciate all the thoughtful and honest responses, even those that shoot my ideas down. I know that I’m not the only person who enjoys this game and wants to see it reinvigorated, and I know that my vision isn’t necessarily representative of what others would like to see. It’s always good to compare notes and, maybe, see if something positive can come out of discussion.

The biggest challenge here is that whatever direction they would hypothetically go with needs to be able to generate enough revenue to continue further development and maintain profitability. On the Pathfinder Quest crowdsourcing, I had mentioned PACG needing some love and crowdsourcing to be a potential solution to that as they could gauge interest and profitability before actual production. It got some traction, but also a very noncommittal "hey, thanks for letting us know what you like" reaction from Paizo. I stand by Kickstarter or whatever being a great way to market and revitalize PACG by introducing it to people in a modern way.

I’m deliberately avoiding the funding aspect. I fully understand how important the funding aspect is, but that’s a decision that must be made inside the boardroom and based on data that is not available to me. I would support official crowdfunding campaigns the same as I would support a traditional publishing/funding model. While I’m not opposed to private/fan efforts, I see those as having much more limited chances of success and overall support compared to the official efforts that I’m focused on.

I strongly disagree with revamping Core in any way.

… any future should build off of Core as it is, rather than a redesigned Core.

The only “changes” about the Core Set that I’ve proposed have been the inclusion of character tokens (using the same card backs as the banes and boons) and increasing the font size of the storybooks. I don’t see those as significant revamps/redesigns. Yes, the character tokens don’t exist in the [current] Core Set and I can’t recall any cards off the top of my head that might result in characters being trapped in locations, but that mechanic was used in the classic APs and including such character tokens as a matter of forward compatibility seems prudent. This would also provide backward compatibility, allowing [post-]Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne characters to be used in classic APs without having to proxy character tokens. If they were ever to revisit PACG, there may be ways to get tokens without having to add them to the Core Set (which might affect other cards). These might include using the updated character decks, errata packs, etc. Regardless, I firmly believe that tokens need to be reintroduced. I absolutely agree with the view that the standees are superior [to tokens] for indicating a character’s location, but standees can’t be shuffled into locations in a way that makes their placement random/unknown. You can see some of the standees that I use in my blog post (scroll down to the bottom). Under my vision, the existing Core Set would remain perfectly valid. Since the Core Set is no longer in production, however, and since the Core Set would be a necessary component for any future AP if the line were to be renewed, there would have to be additional runs for as long as the product line continues to be supported. In a way, though the Core Set revitalized some things, its requirement for future APs painted Paizo into a corner of sorts regarding the need to continue production for the duration of the product line (never mind the fact that the product line was aborted shortly after the Core Set was released). In this, the classic APs provided a different sort of flexibility with regard to production (i.e., each AP being self-contained allowed production of an AP to end without affecting the rest of the product line).

… the original Core Set should always be compatible with new APs.

Agreed.

The real first AP should be what was already being developed with Return of the Runelords IF they still have any resources available from the previous cycle. I freely suggest this without hesitation, not from a preference standpoint, but from a cost one. If they have previous development collateral, this would save some cost and time on their part. If they DON'T have the development collateral from it, then I digress and don't really care what AP they chose.

This is a very logical argument; and we already know that it wasn’t Jade Regent (dangit!). If any of the in-development and analysis material remains available to future developers, that material should be utilized to the fullest extent. And if the expansions I’ve suggested aren’t used, or are used in a very limited manner and none would be created for the Tian Xia setting, my hoped for sequencing of Jade Regent becomes moot. If an expansion for the Tian Xia setting would be on the table, however, I would definitely want that AP as early as possible in the sequencing.

The biggest changes I'm willing to sign off on there are updated traits and names to reflect changes in the PF2E remaster (e.g. Aiuvarin instead of Half-elf, Force Barrage instead of Force Missile)…

…I wouldn't change heritage traits on the cards (eg Aiuvarin instead of Half-elf).

I had to think about this suggestion a bit. I had seen some of the name changes when reading the Pathfinder Wiki entry for Oloch (i.e., Dromaar replaced half-orc). I hadn’t formed a solid opinion when composing my initial post, however. After consideration, I definitely agree with updating names of spells and the like, but I disagree with renaming the races. “Aiuvarin” is an Elven word and “Dromaar” comes from an Orcish word. While these names are apropos in the setting, they become obscure to players, especially those who might not be familiar with the roleplaying game. The use of the English (okay, Common) names preserves accessibility, especially when new players are likely to ask “What is an Aiuvarin?” and receive the response “It’s a half-elf.” The game generally (but not always) simplifies race names. For example, we don’t see “Ilverani,” “Vourinoi,” “Aiudeen,” etc. Instead, all are referred to simply as “Elf.” Using thematic names should only be done when it is necessary (e.g., I could see “Drow” instead of “Elf,” but only if it is necessary to reflect rules impacts such as something only applying to Drow cards and not to Elf cards).

… the name should be Setting Expansion, rather than Core Set Expansion…

I prefer the name you suggested and will use it from now on.

I'm not sure the Core Set Expansion is needed to be separate from the AP.

(And all the other comments about my suggested expansions…)

Realistically, my theoretical setting expansions (to use foxoftheasterisk’s superior name) would really only be viable if each supported two or more APs, and the more APs any expansion supports, the more cost-effective it becomes. That would depend upon long-term sustainability of the product line. So while I really like the idea of the expansions and firmly believe that they would be beneficial for supporting both official products and community-created efforts, I could see them not being used, or perhaps being used on a much smaller scale (i.e., only where necessary).

…the old Class Decks should still be allowed to be played with the new sets, even when a new version is made.

I could live with that. In my mind, the intent of updated decks would be to replace the old decks, but I can understand how some players might want to continue using the old decks with new Core products. While I still prefer the hard separation, I think both sides can be appeased by giving players conversions of the other cards in the decks. We already took care of the characters and I believe that other hobbyists have worked on similar efforts for the other boons in those decks, so officially codifying those products (with corrections, of course) would be a workable solution.

What I'm not sure about is what to call the new character decks. "[Class] Core" is nice thematically and for RPG consistency, but would absolutely lead to confusion when the game has a "Core Set" that's something completely different, especially among new players (who are likely to be told "just buy any Core deck and you can join"). The next obvious choice is "[Class] Class Deck", but that's already been taken by the old versions and a different name would be greatly preferred. "Base" is out for the same reason as "Core".

Thesaurus, help me. "Essence"? Actually, "Essential [Class]" might work. It's not ideal, but I'm having trouble finding what is. "Essential Fighter", "Essential Sorcerer", "Essential Bard"... it has a decent ring to it.

Yup, this was difficult for me, too. I know the "~ Core" idea is meh.

At this point, I’m of the opinion that simply referring to them collectively as “character decks” and then calling each by its name (e.g., Fighter Deck and Warpriest Deck), appending something like "Updated" or "Revised" to those decks that are updated from classic to [post-]Core would be easiest. Another alternative is to follow the precedent of PFRPG 2e and use the “Remastered” designation.

And now I have a bold idea of my own to propose. Like how the old CDs can be paired with Ultimate decks, the new Essential decks can be paid with a new kind: Archetype decks! These would feature both archetypes that were classes in 1E—such as Cavalier and Vigilante—but also new and more eccentric ones like Gladiator, Acrobat, and Field Propagandist. Like the Ultimate decks, these Archetype decks would include one new character that exemplifies the titled archetype, but the real focus would be a number of new archetype roles (I'm thinking three) that can be applied to any character, like Blackjack in Curse! (For example, the Vigilante archetype deck might include the Vigilante, Dandy, and Assassin archetype roles.)

At first I was confused by this suggestion because I only understood archetypes in the contest of PFRPG 1e, and the roles often reflected various of those archetypes. After gaining an understanding of how the archetypes have changed in PFRPG 2d, however, I think this is a great idea.

A variation on this idea is that the new class decks might include an archetype role card that isn’t associated with one of the characters in the deck. So you would have the three characters and all three cards associated with them (Character, Role, and Token), plus one card that has two archetype roles. Any character from any deck/AP/Core Set might choose one of the archetype roles and, in Guild play, use the character deck from which the archetype role card comes. The trade-off here, though, is that there would be that one of the boons would have to be replaced (or the instruction card might be replaced) with this archetype role card. So the [theoretical] Swashbuckler character deck would include three complete characters as well as a general use Swashbuckler role card. Depending on the variability or requirements necessary for a multiclass archetype, one role would be for characters from other classes to take the Swashbuckler as a multiclass, and one might provide either an alternative or, if the first is sufficient, provide an alternative role that any Swashbuckler character might choose. This is an elegant solution for general use roles, and is better than an idea I suggested back in 2017 (though I’m certainly not the first one to come up with that idea).

I’m totally down with extending the concept of the add-on decks, allowing players to use two decks for their characters in Guild play. In such cases, the default would be to use whatever deck the character appears in and one other deck (in the case of a multiclass archetype role, the second deck would be the deck that includes that role card). There might be guidelines about the second deck, most likely along the lines of allowing any add-on deck or a deck based on traits the character has. For example, if my hypothetical Elves Character Deck were ever created, any Elf character might use that deck in addition to their main deck (e.g., Merisiel from the Thief Class Deck or the updated Thief Deck (whatever that might end up being called) could pair that deck with the Elf [Character] Deck). Similarly, that is the sort of concept I was working towards with my Non-Gunslinger Gunslingers and Harrower Character Deck projects. In the first, I was creating characters who used guns, but who were actually either multi-classed Gunslinger-X or were other classes (one was a Ranger, one was an Inquisitor, and one was a Goblin Barbarian). In the second, I was creating characters who used the Harrows in different ways, each from a different class (one was a Witch, one was a Magus, and one was a Summoner). Each of the six characters would theoretically be able to use their parent deck (Non-Gunslinger Gunslingers, whatever that ended up being called, and Harrowers) as well as the class deck for their class.

It is interesting how, outside of characters, people don't even try to port cards from set to set.

Well, in most cases those other cards aren’t really necessary. Most of the time, the boons necessary for an AP are included in the AP. The exceptions I can think of relate to characters, and occasionally specific roles, for which suitable boons are only found in the AP in which the [version of the] character is found. For example, Sea Witch Feiya (S&S) needs Hshurha blessings, Lirianne (S&S) needs Firearms, Fallen Arueshalae (WotR) needs those Corrupted cards, etc. Having the corresponding character decks might help, but if those aren’t available to you (or if you just want more of the “right” boons), you’ll need to add the cards from the AP. Many characters don’t need this, however, so there is much less focus on adding boons from other sets.

My rub a genie lamp wish would honestly be for them to sell the engine to someone else so they could remake the game with a new IP.

I’m invested in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and would be more than happy to continue throwing my money at that. I’m not at all opposed to the engine being used for some other IP/setting, but my interest here is in seeing it continue under Paizo. I have no idea if I would have any interest in any other IP/setting.

Thanks for the information on the characters, Parody.

Speaking as someone who ran tables of the organized play variant of PACG for all seasons, and has a stack of at least 10 PACG base sets…

You just made me remember something else that I’ve been thinking about. With the legacy model of an AP being self-contained in a single box, it was possible to play multiple APs at once. With the Core Set model, however, and the arrangement of each AP requiring the Core Set, you would only be able to play one AP at a time unless you have additional copies of the Core Set. This is an [unexpected?] inefficiency in the Core model compared to the legacy model, especially since we only ever saw one AP for the Core Set. Had the product line not been aborted, however, some players (especially those involved in Guild play) would have run into this problem. Realistically, this wouldn’t have been a problem for most of us. I suppose the lower cost of the Core Set offsets the inefficiency somewhat, but it’s still something to be considered.

And on the track of something I didn’t bring up before, if PACG were ever to be reinvigorated, I would love to see a master living rulebook (digital). This would be a single rulebook that incorporates all of the rules in their most current format, allowing players to download a single file instead of having to consult multiple rulebooks. The individual rulebooks would still be available, as now, but if you want to read about Traders and The Harrow and Plunder, you can check the living rulebook instead of having to open Mummy’s Mask, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Skull & Shackles. Come to think of it, that might be something for Pathfinder Infinite (hmmm…maybe a new project with which to divert myself…).

In my mind, a Setting Expansion should cover levels 3–6, as that's where Core starts to really drop off.

New APs as expansions similar to Curse, focusing on levels 4-6+ (mainly) with 3-4 sheets à 110 cards sounds great…

I don’t think the expansions (or the APs, for that matter) should be limited to levels 3/4 or higher. While I could see the preponderance of cards being of those levels, there should definitely be room for lower level cards where necessary to the theme/AP.

As for the size of the box, I was able to easily fit everything from CoCT inside its box even when sleeved - in PerfectSize sleeves. So I do not see the need to change its size; as for the Core box, it's size would not suffice for many APs, but is there a need for it? Original pre-Core boxes are huge: they fit enormous amounts of cards when fitted with cardboard inserts like in Core (all my S&S, WotR and ~ 12 character decks + extra cards for Seasons.

While I could see it being possible to store the Curse of the Crimson Throne cards in the original box when sleeved, they wouldn’t be upright (unless I’m remembering incorrectly, but this discussion indicates that I’m remembering correctly). They might be stored sideways, which I suppose is fine. Actually, I can’t be certain that my memory is correct since I decided that the Curse of the Crimson Throne box was too small and got rid of it when Paizo/Lone Shark killed the game. Do you have any pictures of your game box with the cards stored within? I went in the opposite direction, storing all the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne cards in the Core Set box, sleeved and with dividers and other stuff. Had the line been continued, we would have quickly reached a point where the size of the box would have been insufficient to permanently store more cards. In this, I could see a system whereby an AP’s cards would be permanently stored in the original (redesigned) AP box, and added to the Core Set box when playing that AP. With the additional pipe dream of Guild season/year cards also being stored in the corresponding AP box, and often having multiple seasons/years per AP, having a little additional room in those boxes would be important if we ever got officially available cards. My classic AP boxes ended up being filled almost to capacity, with a little room for season/year cards [had that ever happened]. You can see an image of my Wrath of the Righteous Base Set with the Broken Token PACG organizer, all sleeved cards, and my dividers here. The total card count for the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne is a bit lower than the classic APs (990 cards versus 1,160 cards), but there is no way that the current Core Set box would be able to store more than two (three?) sets’ worth of AP cards [if all cards were fully sleeved] along with the other stuff that is in there like the standees, tokens, etc. You can see a picture of my Core Set box with all of the Curse of the Crimson Throne contents added, all cards sleeved, and my homemade dividers included here. The AP boxes (if we were ever to get more) would have to be able to serve as permanent storage solutions with the Core Set box only working for the current AP in play being added.

Unfortunately, Brother Tyler, I think it literally is a pipe dream, at least as you envision it.

Oddball says to knock it off with them negative waves. ;)

I mean, you’re not wrong, but let an old man have his dreams.

In my quest to play as much PACG content as possible, I’m in the process of adapting Guild APs, adventures, and scenarios to standard table play. Most of the time, the changes required are pretty easy to figure out. Questions have been posed in the past and I've generally followed the recommendations made therein.

Examples:

1) Scenarios can be played in any order in Guild play because you never know who is going to show up at the table and what scenarios their character(s) may have completed. In standard table play, however, you are generally working through with a consistent group, so scenarios are usually completed in a specific order.

2) When a scenario reward allows any player to use a loot card (e.g., Season of the Shackles 0-1F: The Treasure of Jemma Redclaw reward says “For the rest of the Adventure Path, when setting up each scenario, 1 character may temporarily replace an item in her deck with the loot Besmara’s Tricorne and another character may temporarily replace a weapon in his deck with the loot Vindictive Harpoon.”), change it to the standard wording of “Loot: [card name(s)]”. Instructions to return the loot to the game box after use are omitted.

In addition, I’m adjusting to Core Set rules principles. So instead of a set progression for feats, I’m going with hero points.

Any time a reward allows a character to choose cards of a specific type from their class deck, they instead take it from the vault.

Bonus deck upgrades are ignored. I’m actually on the fence about this one – it might be better to allow the character to choose an additional card [of a specified type, if identified in the reward] from the vault.

Unlocking the ability to use certain characters is ignored. We allow any player to use any character [with the appropriate deck].

Rewards that allow players to choose a Guild character to treat a card as if it’s in their class deck box are modified so that the card reward applies to the character as a normal reward (e.g., Season of the Shackles AP reward is: “Each player chooses 1 of his Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild characters. That character may treat the loot Councilor’s Ring as if it is in his Class Deck box.” That makes sense in Guild play, but doesn’t work in standard play. So that would be changed to: “Each character may take the loot: Councilor’s Ring.” Or something like that, supporting use of that loot card in Season of the Righteous 1-P Dread Lord Rising.)

The Guild content that is giving me the most problem is the events/opens (e.g., The Hao Jin Cataclysm, The Cosmic Captive, etc.). Those events/opens are designed around multiple tables playing the same scenario concurrently, sometimes alongside PFRPG tables, and they often include instructions from a game overseer. While some of these event/open packages include instructions for the game overseer to make announcements that affect game play (e.g., The Protean’s Prank), most others do not. Are the instructions for these event/open packets available anywhere? If any such material is not available, I’ll post specific questions here and hope that someone can help me develop the adaptations.

Warning: Wall-O-Text

I would have been more than happy to continue throwing my hard-earned money at Paizo and Lone Shark Games as long as they continued to pump out great PACG content. I was consistently impressed with their ingenuity in improving the game and making things different. As with many, I was sorely disappointed upon learning that the game would no longer be supported. Though fans have fought the good fight to keep the game alive, the lack of new products and official content has led to a natural decline, which is unfortunate since this is such a great game with so much potential and a wealth of material for continued development.

What if the game was renewed, however?

I don’t have an inside track on this, so this is just my view of a possible path forward. My ideal outcome, naturally, is that Paizo and Lone Shark Games decide to resurrect the game. In a (far) distant second place, Lone Shark Games passes the torch to someone else who is going to pour their heart and soul into the game, paying due homage to Mike Selinker and his crew of creatives.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Now this is just my thinking right now. Admittedly, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. But I’m just one person with a limited viewpoint and other players have their own viewpoints and experiences. Practically speaking, a real plan would have to be the result of multiple people working together, comparing notes, and collaborating to create something better collectively than any one person might develop individually. So while I’m an advocate for these ideas, I’m not wedded to them and hope to foster some discussion that might lead to even better ideas with other players’ input.

My focus here is solely future products following on from Core/Curse. I’m leaving the classic products in the rearview mirror (sort of). That’s not to say that I don’t care about them, but I’ve previously discussed my ideas for them in the Possibilities for Drive Thru Cards as continuing support for official products and Now that the game is dead, what can we design? discussions (and maybe some others). I’d still like to see a lot of that stuff happen, but I’m really focused on looking forward from Core in this discussion.

One important thing to get out of the way is that I believe that Society play was (and will be) a vital element of the PACG hobby and the design space needs to incorporate Society play into its planning and development.

HOT TAKES

I have one significant hot take, so I’ll get that out of the way.

I think that continued development of post-Core PACG products should eventually lead to a hard separation between the classic products and the post-Core products. Yes, all those classic products can be used in the [post-]Core products, but it’s odd having two different cards that have the same name, but which function [slightly] differently and have different formats. Using those classic cards, including the class/character/adventure decks, with [post-]Core products was an excellent and player-friendly design decision as a transitional step, but the continued product development should have eventually led to all those classic products being replaced (or perhaps updated in official products). Players could still use them with the classic APs, including the PACS products, so they would have remained useful.

And a slightly less “hot” take is my view that the character tokens should have the same card backs as the banes and boons. Having the double-sided cards was all fine and dandy in the early APs, but as soon as they introduced mechanisms for tokens to be shuffled into locations, trapping characters in those locations, the double-sided nature of the tokens became problematic. All future products and reprints of Core products should use the single-sided character token cards (and I discussed how this can be implemented for the classic products in the previously linked topic about Drive Thru Cards).

I’m not proposing changing any card formats. Some people like the new format and some people don’t, but I’m more focused on making up for lost time and developing new content that we can enjoy. Even those who don’t like the new format can (probably) agree that it is serviceable. Okay, the one format change I urgently recommend is larger font size in the storybooks (I’m old). Aside from that, I would leave format alone.

You may disagree with one or more of those, and that’s fine. I don’t know that I’m “right,” but I can’t be wishy washy about these things when laying out my vision of a possible future that is driven by those views.

Okay, now that the hot takes are out of the way, it’s time to focus on the meat and potatoes of my vision. I don’t see any need to wrangle over adventure paths – we could go round and round about who wants what. Suffice to say that the Pathfinder RPG has provided us with a plethora of options, and the ongoing Society play will likely continue to serve as a basis for parallel development of “Season/Year of…” products. Instead, there are two product types that I’d like to focus on:

• Character decks (updating [most of] the existing decks and then expanding)
• Core Set expansions (giving us settings without full APs)

Long time fans of the game already understand character decks, which include the class decks, what I call “special decks” (e.g., Occult Adventures 1 and 2, Hell’s Vengeance 1 and 2, and Pathfinder Tales), what I call “race decks” (e.g., Goblins Burn! and Goblins Fight!), and the “Ultimate” decks. Core Set expansions are something new, though they, or something like them, have been suggested in previous discussions.

CHARACTER DECKS

Updating the character decks seems like a no-brainer to me, especially since we’ve seen a few of the classic iconic characters replaced in the second edition of the Pathfinder roleplaying game (e.g., Damiel has been replaced by Fumbus as the iconic alchemist, Lirianne has been replaced by Nhalmika as the iconic gunslinger, Balazar has been replaced by Ija as the iconic summoner, Alahazra has been replaced by Korakai as the iconic oracle, and Rivani has been replaced by Thaleon as the iconic psychic) and there are also some new classes (e.g., inventor, guardian, thaumaturge, exemplar, animist, and commander). Updated versions of character decks would be the trigger for separation between classic and Core – so when an updated version of the Fighter class deck is created, the original Fighter class deck would no longer be usable with [post-]Core products; and once all the classic character decks are replaced (or those that will be updated/replaced, anyways – see later), that hard separation would finally be in place.

There are a few complications in the wake of the Core Set changes, however.

One of the great things about the classic character deck model is that a player could participate in Society play with only a single character deck purchase. Most of those decks include a generic version of the iconic character for that class as well as two or three additional characters. With the iconic (generic?) versions of 12 characters included in the Core Set, we now face the complication of how to support Society play for users of those classes when those players want to use the iconic characters.

• Would the player be expected to use (i.e., have) the Core Set? This increases barrier to entry.
• Would the table coordinator provide the necessary cards on loan from the Core Set? This creates a risk of cards being accidentally taken by players.
• Would those cards be duplicated in the character deck? This seems mildly inefficient, though it would be effective.
• Would the iconic character be left out of the corresponding character deck, allowing three other characters to be featured while owners of the Core Set and APs can use characters of that class with the character deck? This seems counterintuitive [to me].

Ultimately, the least bad option (to me) is to duplicate the cards of the iconic characters in their corresponding character decks. Actually, I lean towards variation on this, which is to include the Core character card, the revised token (remember, I’m advocating for character token cards to have the same card back as the banes and boons), and include a totally new role card with two generic roles for each iconic character. Others may have different opinions or may see options that I’m missing.

Another question to ponder is whether or not to preserve [most of] the non-iconic characters that appear in the classic decks. In truth, there may not be a one-size-fits-all answer, with some non-iconic classic characters being modernized to Core Set rules and some being dropped. This will definitely be true in the case of the first run of character decks that included four characters. My general view of character deck composition is that one character should be human, one should be from one of the other core races (elf, half-elf, dwarf, halfling, gnome, or half-orc), and one can be from any race, including the more exotic races. On occasion, a half-elf may substitute for a human, but then the other core race character couldn’t be a half-elf or an elf. An example of this substitution is the Magus CD which features the iconic Seltyiel, a half-elf, as well as angelkin and dwarf magi. Obviously, this wouldn’t apply to the race decks, nor does it have to be followed 100% of the time (e.g., the classic Oracle CD features the iconic Alahazra, a human, as well as lizardfolk and pitborn oracles – both exotic), but it provides good diversity in characters and allows players with different preferences to find characters that work for them. It also allows players to go for racially themed teams with diverse abilities (e.g., I’m looking forward to trying out a team of six half-orcs). Choosing which characters to drop would prove an interesting challenge, especially as there is almost certainly someone somewhere who loves that character that is in the crosshairs.

An example of this is a hypothetical Gunslinger Core deck. With Lirianne, a half-elf, being replaced as the iconic gunslinger by the dwarf Nhalmika, Angban, also a dwarf, breaks my preferred deck composition. So as much as I like Angban, I would want to replace him with a human or half-elf character (since the third gunslinger, Skizza, is a ratfolk and fills the exotic race slot). I expect that fans of Angban would not support this, and I don’t blame them. In this hypothetical case, Lirianne might be retained since she’s a half-elf.

Getting the early class decks to three characters will be interesting. For my money, the easy answer is to take the “evil” characters out first. This doesn’t work for all decks, unfortunately. I’m pretty sure that Zarlova (cleric), Wrathack (ranger), Wu Shen (rogue), and Darago (wizard) are evil. I have no idea if any of the bards, fighters, or sorcerers are evil - perhaps Valendron (sorcerer). Assuming we want to leave the original characters in the decks and simply modernize them to Core, removing those evil characters (and including the iconic characters) would leave us with the target of three characters per deck. What would I do with those evil characters? Well, I think the Hell’s Vengeance decks are ripe for sequels. After the first two are modernized to Core principles, we could see 3, 4, 5, etc. Actually, I’m on the fence about that - I could see something else to support the more villainous characters, but I’ll bring that up later.

Updating the “Ultimate” decks would be interesting. While it’s great to have a samurai, ninja, arcanist, vigilante, and shifter, I envision dedicated character decks with three characters (including the iconic) for each of those characters. I could see updated “Ultimate” decks replacing those iconic characters with non-iconic characters. In this, I would plan for the class-based character decks to be developed before the updated “Ultimate” decks. And it should go without saying that the Core Set expansion (see later) for Tian Xia would include Hayato and Reiko.

Once [most of] the classic decks are updated, I would love to see character decks for the classes that don’t have decks (e.g., swashbuckler, arcanist, cavalier, etc.). I would also love to see character decks for each of the [major] races. The concept that the Goblins Burn! And Goblins Fight! Decks covered would work very well for other races, allowing boons, archetypes, and prestige classes for those races to be represented.

And what would we call new character decks that modernize the old decks? For my part, I’ve been leaning towards incorporating “Core” into the name – Fighter Core or Core Fighter, Gunslinger Core or Core Gunslinger, etc. Those might be dumb names, though they align with the PFRPG Second Edition product names such as GM Core and Player Core. If someone has a better idea, I’m all ears. Once the Core version of the character deck is released, the classic version would no longer be usable with [post-]Core games, but would remain usable with the classic games (and vice versa). And we might even get to see multiple decks for classes, giving players even more versatility. That would be much further down the road, however.

CORE SET EXPANSIONS

The second type of product would be expansions to the Core Set. Technically, I suppose character decks and APs are expansions, but I’m talking about sets that expand the options of the Core Set. These would be built around representing locales within the setting of Golarion and would probably include some rules that expand the possibilities. They would include:

• locations
• banes
• boons
• characters (four to six)
• a simple adventure (similar to The Dragon’s Demand)

These would be representative of the theme of the expansion. As many characters as possible would be iconics that fit the theme (without being presented in the Core Set or other Core Set expansions). For example, one Core Set expansion would provide stuff to represent seafaring adventures, including a lot of stuff that was present in the Skull & Shackles AP, but also stuff for seafaring adventures in other areas of Golarion. Jirelle is a natural fit for that, and so are Nahoa, the iconic exemplar, and Korakai, the iconic oracle. Another Core Set expansion would provide stuff to represent wilderness adventures, with suitable characters (the shifter, animist, and shaman stand out). Meanwhile, other Core Set expansions might cover Tian Xia, Osirion, the Darklands, the Worldwound, etc.

The Core Set expansions would better support sandbox creativity, giving hobbyists more tools to work with in developing content that other hobbyists can use. They would also support one (or more!) APs, including Society play. So a hypothetical expansion supporting seafaring adventures would work for a Skull & Shackles reboot as well as subsequent APs, adventures, and scenarios that feature seafaring.

Some subsequent APs might require the inclusion of specific Core Set expansions. Even if a Core Set expansion costs the same as an AP (assuming the $50 price of Curse of the Crimson Throne sets the standard), that would still be cheaper than the previous model of having to buy a base set as well as five adventure decks (2-6) and maybe a character add-on deck for the AP (running about $180 plus tax for a complete AP). More importantly, these would give players more sandbox tools for creating their own gaming content (and sharing that content with others!).

Previously, I brought up the evil characters and updating the classic Hell’s Vengeance CDs and then giving them sequels to include other evil characters. I can see two alternatives to this. The first is to create CDs for each of the classes represented by the iconic villains, so there would be a CD for hellknights, a CD for antipaladins, etc. Another option is to create a variation on the Core Set expansion that includes the six iconic villains and the other non-iconic evil characters (including those that were removed from other classic character decks), as well as suitable boons (more blessings for the evil gods, of course!). This set might include the rules for corruption/redemption, too.

I envision the Core Set expansions consisting of about three decks each (some standardized number), being slightly smaller than the Core Set.

Each Core Set expansion box would be of sufficient size to store all cards standing up and sleeved. The storybook becomes the lowest common denominator in terms of length and width. I would probably want to store my Core Set expansion cards and storybook in the Core Set (meaning I would want the Core Set box to be a little deeper to accommodate multiple storybooks over time).

For what it’s worth, I like the physical size of the storybooks that were included in the Core Set and the Curse of the Crimson Throne (minus the font size, as I already mentioned).

ADVENTURE PATHS

While I’m not here to dicker over which APs I want to see and in what order (Jade Regent should be first! There, I said it*), the basic composition and incorporation of APs is important. I distinguish between boxed set APs (such as Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne) and Society APs (such as Season of the Runelords and Year of Rotting Ruin).

With the Core Set expansions including cards relevant to the AP, this allows for more AP-specific stuff to be in the AP while retaining the same card count as Curse of the Crimson Throne (550 cards). It also allows Society play packets to lean on the Core Set expansions instead of/in addition to the APs.

Note that classic APs consisted of almost 1,100 cards each (including the AP, adventure decks 2-6, and the character add-on deck) while Curse of the Crimson Throne consisted of 990 cards (including the 440 that are in the Core Set). I don’t know if the 550 card count for the Curse of the Crimson Throne would be retained if the Core Set expansions that I suggest are implemented. I might be possible to shrink the card count down to three decks or so, further reducing the cost per AP when some Core Set expansions might apply to multiple APs.

APs would not feature iconic characters. Instead, they would feature non-iconic characters that are designed for the AP. Such characters would have one generic role that might render them usable in any AP, and one role that is tailored for the AP in which they are included. Curse of the Crimson Throne gave us four characters (not including the Blackjack role), and that seems like a good model to follow for APs. In addition, APs might include new role cards for a few (four to six?) iconic characters that are in the Core Set or the Core Set expansion that supports the AP (one role card providing two roles). These roles would reflect the needs of the AP. So I would start with identifying suitable iconic characters from the Core Set and applicable Core Set expansion, then fill in the ability gaps with the AP-specific characters (while observing the theme of the AP).

SHORT-TERM PLAN

My initial focus would be:

• Re-designing the Core Set box so that it can accommodate all Core Set cards, all cards for a single Core Set expansion, all cards for an AP, and all storybooks for those
• Re-designing Curse of the Crimson Throne to factor in a suitable Core Set expansion,
• Creating character decks for the characters that currently appear in Curse of the Crimson Throne, but which will be replaced in the reissue
• Updating classic character decks
• Finishing the Year of Reborn Strife

That’s actually a little more involved than it seems.

The re-designing of the Core Set box is probably easiest as it only entails slightly more depth to the box (that may be easier said than done, I know). The box is already of sufficient size to hold all the suggested cards.

Re-designing Curse of the Crimson Throne includes:

• Figuring out the theme of the supporting Core Set expansion
• Determining if any of the current iconic characters (Hakon, Kess, and Quinn) need to be in the AP or the Core Set expansion (I could see Varian staying in the AP and Kess and Quinn staying in the expansion, but Hakon seems ill-suited for either)
• Filling out the characters in both the AP and the expansion
• Possibly expanding cards in the AP and the expansion to get each up to 330 or so cards (i.e., we would need about 110 additional cards total between the two)

We would also have to create three new character decks, for the skald, brawler, and investigator. And if we determine that any other iconic characters (who aren’t in the Core Set) would be suitable to the expansion, we would also need to develop on those character decks.

I’m not sure how much work was done on the Year of Reborn Strife, but I have no doubt that most of us would like to see that AP completed.

The remaining workload would be devoted to getting as many of the classic character decks as possible updated.

Important: The AP boxes would be sized to fit all the cards within standing up and sleeved! This includes a reissue of Curse of the Crimson Throne. I guess the storybook becomes the lowest common denominator in terms of length and width.

LONG-TERM PLAN

My assumption is that a renewal of PACG would follow the previous pattern of one AP per year, along with a Season/Year of… Society play AP and character decks.

In my mind, the basic sequence each year would be:

• Core Set expansion
• AP
• character decks
• promo stuff

All three would be related – the Core Set expansion supports the AP that follows, and the iconic characters that are in the Core Set expansion are the ones for which character decks will be published. Lone Shark Games appears to have been able to get about six character decks done per year. With four (or fewer) iconic characters in an expansion, that allows for two or more other character decks to be done. This would allow for the classes in the Core Set to be covered over time. Since the community has already done considerable work in converting those characters and the boons, updating might be quicker and we might see more than six decks per year when this first kicks off. Eventually, though, we would have room for more race decks, etc. And in cases where a previously published Core Set expansion supports an AP in development, the development time that would be devoted to the expansion might be diverted to other things like character decks, promos, Society play, etc.

Eventually, we might even see the classic APs reissued under Core Set rules and format. I’m not sure if that’s really necessary, but it’s worth bringing up as an option. I count 25 Pathfinder RPG 2e APs, and that number will continue to grow. And the 1e APs remain an option, too, with 19 of those (not including the five that have already been released as PACG APs). And then there are all the standalone adventures and scenarios – fertile ground for small releases.

Now that’s actually quite a bit of work, and I don’t think anyone that hasn’t been involved in the design process can really appreciate how much work is required and the resources required to perform that work to a high level. Much of that work depends upon the size of the team involved.

If you’ve stuck with this wall of text post from beginning to end, I’m impressed (and grateful). I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have about my ideas, and I have no doubt that there will be other opinions, and I’m more than happy to hear them and to discuss them (and possibly change my mind).

Will any of this amount to anything? I don’t know. I doubt that anything will happen unless someone gets the ball rolling, though, so this is me giving the ball a push.

* My rationale for Jade Regent being first (after redesigning Curse of the Crimson Throne, of course) is that the “Ultimate” character decks need to be updated early in the process to support Society play and the movement of Hayato and Reiko to a Core Set expansion supporting Tian Xia (necessary as part of a Jade Regent release year) means that new characters would be needed to replace them (and the other characters) in the “Ultimate” character decks. Removing those two characters from the stable, even temporarily, rubs me the wrong way, so they need to be taken care of early. That and I really like the Tian Xia theme. Besides, this is my pipe dream. ;)

No.

Page 7 of the Core Set Rulebook:

"...When a character displays a card, it is not part of that character's hand, deck, or discards, but it still belongs to that character..."

The same verbiage can be found in the legacy AP rulebooks (it's on page 8 in the Mummy's Mask rulebook).

In the Ivory Labyrinth/Cultist of Baphomet instance, the sequence doesn't really matter.

My interpretation...

Moving to Blackburgh happens regardless of the type of bane you encounter.

In the case of defeating the villain or a henchman, after moving to Blackburgh and permanently closing the Ivory Labyrinth* you would then move to a random location.

* There's a FAQ or discussion somewhere that makes it clear that you can attempt to permanently close a location even if a power moves you to another location before you get to that step. At least, I think there is. I'm going through the FAQ now to find it. In the case of the Ivory Labyrinth, "attempt" isn't the right word since all you have to do is discard 3 cards.

I see this as a way for players to choose an "easy" or "hard" mode with their interpretation.

The "easy" mode is to ignore closed locations, allowing members to defeat other henchmen and close those locations while still being able to win if they get an Enemy Ship on the top of the other locations.

The "hard" mode (which I prefer) is that you can't win if you close any locations because you don't have an Enemy Ship on the top of those locations.

My preference for the "hard" mode interpretation is my view that the thematic intent was that you're supposed to beat every Enemy Ship in the regatta, getting an Enemy Ship on the top of each location, either by defeating them or through other powers (e.g., the Augury spell). The other henchmen are in there as additional challenges, but the regatta doesn't end just because you defeat, say, Hirgenzosk.

It's important to remember that each henchman card's power says "...you may immediately attempt to close the location this henchman came from..." The key word is "may" in this case. In most scenarios, you want to close the location. In this scenario, you don't (based on my "hard" mode interpretation). So your decision should be to not attempt to close the location when you defeat a henchman.

Ultimately, the developers left his open to interpretation (though I don't know if that was deliberate). They could very easily have included a "During this Scenario" power to state that locations couldn't be closed, making the "hard" mode intent clear. Lacking that clarity, however, and lacking FAQ/errata guidance, players are left to choose the interpretation that works for them.

1) Loot cards [that aren't in characters' decks] are kept in a separate section in the box (or the vault, to use Core Set terminology). They are distinct from other types of cards (e.g., Monsters, Cohorts, Weapons, Blessings, etc.) and are not dealt into locations unless specified by the scenario rules (and off the top of my head, I can't think of any time where a scenario directs any loot cards to be dealt into locations).

2) Cards that are "removed from the game" are not available for use in the future. They should be kept in a separate section of the box. If you have card dividers, you should have one for cards that have been removed from the game (there are a number of PACG card divider files available at the Board Game Geek website if you want to download some - shameless plug: you can see the dividers I made, which are available at the BGG, here).

The closest the Mummy's Mask rulebook comes to stating this is on page 23, though that refers only to cohorts:

"If you would banish a cohort, remove it from the game instead; it may not be used in future scenarios, even if it's listed on your character card."

While you've specified that you're looking for a ruling based on the Mummy's Mask rulebook, the issue was clarified in the Core Set rulebook which was published later and which serves as a reference for the intent of previous rulebooks (not counting where things actually changed). In this case, the relevant ruling can be found on page 4 of the Core Set rulebook:

"Cards that are not in the vault [what was called the "box" in previous rulebooks] should be kept in the box separately from those that are. If you are instructed to remove a card from the game, separate it from the vault using the Removed from Game divider."

In this, you have to separate the concepts of the "vault" and the "box." The "box" is just the physical container for all of the cards and other components of the game, whereas the "vault" contains those cards that are available for use in the game. Cards can be in the box while not being in the vault. This concept wasn't articulated clearly in previous versions of the game, including Mummy's Mask, creating some confusion.

3) Scenario rewards are taken from the box (the "vault" in Core Set terminology). In the case of loot, you should have all loot cards [that aren't currently in play] stored in the same section of the box ("vault") and you would draw loot granted as a scenario reward from there (not counting loot - or any other card - that has been removed from the game).

That's an incredible amount of work that you did, Jenceslav. Thanks! While it's not quite what I'm working towards, it will definitely be very helpful if I move forward.

At this point, I'm doing two basic things:

1. Transferring the various APs from cards to a printed file.
2. Adjusting the Society APs to regular play.

The reason for the first is that my gaming group is getting a little longer in the tooth and reading the small print on the cards has become challenging for many of us. Also, having some rewards spread across two or more cards makes it easy to forget some things, especially "During This Scenario" powers. And this is especially true in the case of the Season of Tapestry's Tides AP where numerous scenarios and adventures have rewards that are powers that can be used for the rest of the adventure path. By consolidating all of these rules/rewards onto a single page that uses much larger font than the cards, it's easier to read and remember everything. The lone exception (so far) is that all of the reward powers for the Season of Tapestry's Tides are recorded on a separate sheet and checked off as we earn each one (which is still much easier than writing them down on Chronicle Sheets or referring back to various pages through the course of game play. An added bonus is that I can update things based on FAQ entries, ensuring that we're using the latest official rules for each adventure/scenario.

Another added bonus is that these files are formatted for mini binders, and though those are larger than 3 cards (Adventure Path, Adventure, Scenario), each mini binder contains all of the APs that use a boxed set. This allows me to easily refer to a large number of scenarios for inspiration in my own efforts at Adventure Path/Adventure/Scenario creation - I simply have to peruse through five or six mini binders rather than refer to a large number of cards and Society files.

The reason for the second is simply to make it easier to play through the Society APs as a regular party, just like playing through the boxed APs.

Something I'm not doing [yet] is updating text to Core wording. Some of the players in my group are resistant to learning new things. While Core wording is much more economical, incorporating that wording into these files would complicate things with the group. Aside from the adjustments from Society to regular play and FAQ updates, the only changes I'm making are using "their" in place of "his" and "her" (except in the narrative text) and fixing any spelling/grammar errors (though I'm sure I'll make my own in this endeavor). One day, once this group completes/masters the classic APs and gets to the Core Set/Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, I'll update these files to use the Core wording. In the meantime, I'm keeping things as consistent as possible with the old wordings.

As for the "in this order/in any order" issue, there are also examples in other APs: Demon's Heresy (Wrath of the Righteous 3), The Half-Dead City (Mummy's Mask 1), and Pyramid of the Sky Pharaoh (Mummy's Mask 6) also allow for some of the scenarios to be completed in any order. In practice, I've changed all of the Society adventures so that the scenarios are completed in A-F order except where the narrative suggests that scenarios can be completed in any order. In this, City of Secrets (Season of the Runelords 2), Lost at Sea (Season of the Shackles 1), and a Pirate's Life (Season of the Shackles 2) allow for some of the scenarios to be completed in any order. Other exceptions include the optional (generally P) adventures/scenarios. In all of the other cases, however, the narrative suggests a sequence for at least the majority of scenarios, so it was just easier to apply the "in this order" change in the vast majority of cases, allowing the Read the Following Aloud and Development text to be read aloud without amendment.

Here's an example of what one of these scenarios looks like: Best Served Col (Skull & Shackles 5)
Both sides of that Scenario card are shown in the Paizo blogs (here) and the FAQ update is also freely available on the Paizo website, so I'm not giving anything away. I'm fairly confident that the files for the boxed APs can similarly be shared, but the Society APs/scenarios can't be shared because they give too much away that people would normally have to pay for (though the files don't include the card images).

Thanks again!