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Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragon Empires Primer (PFRPG)

3.60/5 (based on 11 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragon Empires Primer (PFRPG)
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The distant continent of Tian Xia rests on the opposite side of the world from the Inner Sea region, and it shows. From the treacherous jungles of naga-ruled Nagajor to the sorcerous kingdom of Dtang Ma, and from the trackless and unforgiving deserts of Shaguang to the wondrous city of Goka, countless opportunities can be found for any character or adventure in amazingly expansive Tian Xia. While the extensive Dragon Empires Gazetteer unveils dozens of the mystical continent’s secrets, the Dragon Empires Primer provides information pertinent to creating characters for campaigns set in this vast and diverse region. This volume of Pathfinder Player Companion provides players and Game Masters alike with all of the settingspecific traits and trappings they need to customize and play characters in the Dragon Empires.

    Inside this Pathfinder Player Companion, you’ll find:
  • Overviews of all of Tian Xia’s nations, including important details for players to integrate into their characters’ backstories and new character traits for every region to give characters boons that further tie them to their homelands.
  • Rules for Tian Xia’s five most prominent races: the shapeshifting kitsune, ophidian nagaji, transmigratory samsarans, avian tengus, and shadowy wayangs.
  • Four new archetypes with distinctly Tian flavors, including the lotus geisha (bard), sword saint (samurai), white-haired witch (witch), and yokai hunter (ranger).
  • New feats for combative characters that bolster prowess in martial arts and swordplay.
  • An extensive look at the gods and philosophies of the Dragon Empires, as well as rules for the moon subdomain.
  • A new bloodline for sorcerers tainted with oni blood, and a new school of magic for wizards who wish to harness the power of the mysterious void.
  • New rules mechanics for establishing and maintaining one’s honor in the Dragon Empires.

This Pathfinder Player Companion works best with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 version of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game, but can be easily incorporated into any fantasy world.

Written by Tim Hitchcock and Colin McComb

Each bimonthly 32-page Pathfinder Companion contains several player-focused articles exploring the volume’s theme as well as short articles with innovative new rules for social, magic, religious, and combat-focused characters, as well as traits to better anchor the player to the campaign.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-386-6

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

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3.60/5 (based on 11 ratings)

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Really Good, But Flavour Over Crunch

4/5 —

The Dragon Empires Primer is an impressive player-focussed companion to the GM-focussed Dragon Empires Gazetteer. Although not a lot of published Pathfinder adventures are set in Tian Xia (the fantasy Asian counterpart to the fantasy European countries of much of the Inner Sea), Paizo has done an impressive job providing groups with enough detail to get started. This 32 page book provides a flavourful overview of the region with some new “crunch” (class options, etc.) in the final quarter. Some players will be disappointed with that distribution of lore to crunch, but I didn’t mind as I’m a setting-oriented gamer.

Love that cover art—-that could be a poster. It’s reprinted as the inside back cover minus the text. The inside front cover is a surprisingly detailed map of Tian Xia. The book itself is divided into six sections: The Dragon Empires, Archetypes, Combat, Faith, Magic, and Social.

“The Dragon Empires” (20 pages) provides players with an introduction to adventuring in Tian Xia. A useful sidebar reminds readers of the difference between a loose analogue and a direct translation. Importantly, the section grounds several fantasy races into the setting: kitsune, nagaji, samsarans, tengus, and wayangs all receive some focus, as do the various human ethnicities grouped as Tians. The rest of the section is then devoted to several pages of nation overviews (each covered in half a page). Each nation gets a couple of regional traits, and I liked the colourful banners included for each one. The traits aren’t super original, but they’re flavoured well (I do need to call out “wayang spellhunter” as I recall it has proven very problematic in play). The nation descriptions are really interesting, readable capsules—good inspirations for players choosing a background for their character. I never knew there was a nation of aasimars, a kraken-ruled nation, a Taldan colony, and a communist nation in Tian Xia. Likewise, even the Darklands under Tian Xia are very different than that under the Inner Sea.

“Archetypes” (2 pages) introduces four new ones. Bards get the “lotus geisha”—essentially it makes bardic performance a little better, but it only benefits one character instead of a group. “Sword saints” for samurais could be a fun, first-strike build. The “white-haired witch” for (naturally) witches is pretty neat, though I could see it as repetitive in actual play. I’m not really sure about the “yokai hunter” for rangers—it’s a special kind of undead hunter.

“Combat” (2 pages) consists of several new martial arts-flavoured feats. Monks are the class most likely to benefit from this section. I really liked a couple of them like “Hold the Blade” and “Quivering Palm Versatility”, but there are some high prerequisites for some of them.

“Faith” (2 pages) lists the major deities of Tian Xia. It’s mostly flavour and lore, but interesting and potentially useful for character backgrounds.

“Magic” (2 pages) introduces a new oni bloodline for sorcerers—it looks pretty good. There’s also a new elemental school, void, for wizards--the “real weakness” power is *really* good considering there’s no save against it.

“Social” (2 pages) introduces a new rules sub-system, Honor Points. I like the idea of an honour-tracking system, but I haven’t used this one and I’m always a little sceptical. I’d be willing to try it, though.

And that’s the book. All in all, I really enjoyed it, but I do understand how players hoping to see page after page of new feats, equipment, etc. (especially back in 2011 when there wasn’t as much Pathfinder material out there) would be disappointed by a Player Companion book that probably would be better suited to the Campaign Setting line. But if you go in with your expectations suitably managed, you’ll surely find something valuable for adventuring in the Dragon Empires.

A nice entry

4/5 —

This book is a nice entry to Tian Xia, directed at players.
You find lots of good background information about different regions and deities here.
The races are all great and fun to play.
Archetypes are all very cool in idea and concept, the execution isn´t the best though unfortunately.
The feats are interesting and usefull enough though, just as the magic school and sorcerer bloodline.

The book suffers from the fact that most of the really useful content is printed in other books, from Dragon Empires Gazeteer to the Advanced Race Guide, as well as the archetypes having mechanical problems.
It would be very awesome if some of them receive updates/reprints/errata.
I also feel the sword saint could be a swashbuckler archtype.

The pro of the book is definately the Tian Xia Background info as well as the introduced races.

Should you be a fan of Tian Xia or like it: buy!

3/5 —

I've reviewed this book over on RPGGeek.com.

Good introduction to a fascinating setting

4/5 —

Read my full review on my blog.

Dragon Empires Primer presents a broad overview of the setting from a player perspective. As it serves the same basic purpose as the Inner Sea Primer (which provides an overview of the Inner Sea region), it shares the same style of layout and structure as that book, with half-page entries on each of the nations and main regions, along with new races, archetypes and feats, brief descriptions of the setting’s gods, and a system for keeping track of characters’ honour. Each nation’s entry also includes a pair of regional traits for characters from that land. It’s important to point out, however, that people expecting in-depth detail won’t find it here. Half a page is not a lot of space to describe an entire nation with anything more than the broadest strokes. What the book does do is provide an introduction to the setting, one to whet the appetites of players, and it does this very well. It provides just enough information to get players thinking about the types of characters they might like to play in the setting, and sets the stage for later, more in-depth development, provided by either the GM or future supplements.

Some use to players, a waste for DMs

1/5 —

So......I bought the Dragon Empires Primer PDF after getting the Gazeteer and finding that it left out some info on the Dragon Empires that would be included in the Primer. Like kitsune racial feats, and regional traits. What a waste this turned out to be.

Not only is most of the Primer just condensed or copied descriptions from the Dragon Empires Gazeteer (meaning I basically paid twice for most of the Primer's content), but there's hardly any new or useful info in the Primer for anyone who already has the Dragon Empires Gazeteer. Only 2 regional character traits for each country/region, 3 kitsune racial feats (all based on changing to fox form and back, quickly; nothing for their spell-like abilities or other racial traits), 1 bard archetype (Lotus Geisha), 1 samurai archetype (Sword Saint), 1 ranger archetype (Yokai Hunter), 1 witch archetype (White-Haired Witch), 10 new combat feats (only 1-3 of which are any use to non-monks....and 5 of the new feats are worse than core feats or just fairly pointless), 1 new samurai order (for evil samurai, and nothing new or special about it), 1 new sorcerer bloodline (the Oni Bloodline, which has a standard sorcerer skill as its bloodline class skill), 1 new wizard school (the void elemental school, which is a bit odd and requires both the Advanced Player's Guide and Ultimate Magic since some of its spells are only in those sources), 1 new wizard spell, and 2 pages describing Honor mechanics for the Dragon Empires as an optional rule.

The new material only occupies around 9 pages, and at least 1-2 of those are worthless to DMs. All in all.....the Dragon Empires Primer just isn't worth it for a DM, unless money and value are non-issues to you. Just get the DE Gazeteer PDF, if even that, which is only somewhat more detailed but more useful to DMs.

Players, at least, will get enough out of the Primer to at least make some characters hailing from the Dragon Empires, but only just. The 4 class archetypes are interesting enough and should be capable enough in a Dragon Empires campaign (perhaps the Jade Regent Adventure Path), though the Lotus Geisha and Yokai Hunter and some regional traits are unlikely to be as useful in some other parts of Golarion. The Void Elemental wizard school is neat and Call the Void is a cool spell, but with an error (it says victims can't cast spells with somatic components, when it should say verbal components, since victims can't speak in the airless void), and you'll need the APG and Ultimate Magic if you want to use its other spells. A few of the combat feats are actually useful, like Sleeper Hold, but most are weaker/more-limited than core feats.

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chrids wrote:
can't wait to see the kitsune, love me some shapechangers.

What the Sheet Phantom said!

Oh, and when it says "details on five new races", does that mean we'll get the full racial write-ups in this book, or will it just be a teaser?
James Jacobs wrote:
Steelfiredragon wrote:

whats the dference between this one and the gazzateer(sorry for my spelling)

I want one of them, which ever has the write ups for the races..

its the gazateer that I wantright?

They'll both have the info for the races. The Gazetteer (which is aimed primarily at GMs) will have a bit more info, but the Primer (which is aimed primarily at players, not GMs) will have a bit of the flavor text and all of the rules for the new races.

Ah, never mind my previous comment, I should have just read a little more first. D'oh!

Paizo Employee Creative Director
LoreKeeper wrote:

You do realize that the Lotus Geisha could refer to the position. Obviously a bard archetype that emphasizes yoga in its performances.

HA! nope.

It's mostly called the "Lotus Geisha" becasue we wanted a vaguely Asian-themed word to differentiate the archetype from the generic geisha that appears in Ultimate Magic (which doesn't really do what I felt a geisha should do—the Lotus Geisha has a much stronger focus on enhancing enchantment effects, for one...).

Mmm... I wonder if the Lotus Geisha or normal gaisha might be appropreate to play a goze, inspired by Sara, from Samurai Champloo. Or perhaps there is some other way to do it.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

I really hope this book has some martial arts style feats or some combat feats that are good for polearm-wielding characters.

I reached this desire after just trying to find appropriate feats for a polearm/reach weapon -using Inquisitor for PFS and reviewing Ultimate Combat and the other Pathfinder books I have and only finding one in Faiths of Purity for worshipers of Shelyn. Beyond that and the Fighter archetype there doesn't seem to be much for polearm or reach weapon users that aren't Fighters.
James Jacobs wrote:
LoreKeeper wrote:

You do realize that the Lotus Geisha could refer to the position. Obviously a bard archetype that emphasizes yoga in its performances.

HA! nope.

It's mostly called the "Lotus Geisha" becasue we wanted a vaguely Asian-themed word to differentiate the archetype from the generic geisha that appears in Ultimate Magic (which doesn't really do what I felt a geisha should do—the Lotus Geisha has a much stronger focus on enhancing enchantment effects, for one...).

Out of interest, is the "drunken monk" touched on again in the new Dragon Empires content? I think of it as one of the most recognized tropes for the setting - so maybe like the lotus geisha a reprisal exists for it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
LoreKeeper wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
LoreKeeper wrote:

You do realize that the Lotus Geisha could refer to the position. Obviously a bard archetype that emphasizes yoga in its performances.

HA! nope.

It's mostly called the "Lotus Geisha" becasue we wanted a vaguely Asian-themed word to differentiate the archetype from the generic geisha that appears in Ultimate Magic (which doesn't really do what I felt a geisha should do—the Lotus Geisha has a much stronger focus on enhancing enchantment effects, for one...).

Out of interest, is the "drunken monk" touched on again in the new Dragon Empires content? I think of it as one of the most recognized tropes for the setting - so maybe like the lotus geisha a reprisal exists for it.

We've done some "drunken master" stuff already for monks in the Advanced Player's Guide (the "drunken master" monk archetype appears on page 110 of that book), and so we didn't really feel the need to do much more—especially with space taken up by some things that really haven't been covered all that well specifically for Tian Xia.

When will we see the final cover art?
Paizo Employee Creative Director
Dragon78 wrote:
When will we see the final cover art?

Good question! Can't say for sure. I don't make those decisions.

Yay more Witch stuff - the Witch is my favorite class & one of the reasons i left 4E for Pathfinder.

i hope there is a photo for the White Haired Witch too :)

Excited for the book.

Is there any way we can request Feiya avatar photo to be added? She doesnt have an avatar photo :(

Can you reveal what other archetypes will be in the primer? I'm hoping for one monk archetype - it's just so appropriate for the region.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
LoreKeeper wrote:

Can you reveal what other archetypes will be in the primer? I'm hoping for one monk archetype - it's just so appropriate for the region.

Not yet.... but soon, hopefully! (Although I have revealed that one of the four is the lotus geisha, a bard archetype... and I think I've revealed that another is the white-haired witch, a witch archetype that starts to blur the line a little between witch and rogue.)

James Jacobs wrote:
Not yet.... but soon, hopefully! (Although I have revealed that one of the four is the lotus geisha, a bard archetype... and I think I've revealed that another is the white-haired witch, a witch archetype that starts to blur the line a little between witch and rouge.)

So its an ironically named archetype then? ;)

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
LoreKeeper wrote:

Can you reveal what other archetypes will be in the primer? I'm hoping for one monk archetype - it's just so appropriate for the region.

Not yet.... but soon, hopefully! (Although I have revealed that one of the four is the lotus geisha, a bard archetype... and I think I've revealed that another is the white-haired witch, a witch archetype that starts to blur the line a little between witch and rouge.)

The names of all four were announced in the previews of "Faiths of Corruption": Lotus Geisha, Sword Saint, Spirit Hunter, and the White-Haired Witch. We just don't know what classes the Sword Saint and Spirit Hunter go to.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
LoreKeeper wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Not yet.... but soon, hopefully! (Although I have revealed that one of the four is the lotus geisha, a bard archetype... and I think I've revealed that another is the white-haired witch, a witch archetype that starts to blur the line a little between witch and rouge.)

So its an ironically named archetype then? ;)

Lame.

FORTUNATELY not enough time had passed and I was able to change that error!
Paizo Employee Creative Director
Ashanderai wrote:
The names of all four were announced in the previews of "Faiths of Corruption": Lotus Geisha, Sword Saint, Spirit Hunter, and the White-Haired Witch. We just don't know what classes the Sword Saint and Spirit Hunter go to.

OH! Cool; glad I wasn't half-remembering something we hadn't announced yet!

In that case... I don't see a problem pulling the curtain back a tad more:

Lotus Geisha: bard archetype
White-Haired Witch: witch archetype
Sword Saint: samurai archetype
Yokai Hunter: ranger archetype (note the name change from "spirit hunter!")

No monk archetypes, in other words. There's some kung fu type feats though!
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Ashanderai wrote:
The names of all four were announced in the previews of "Faiths of Corruption": Lotus Geisha, Sword Saint, Spirit Hunter, and the White-Haired Witch. We just don't know what classes the Sword Saint and Spirit Hunter go to.

OH! Cool; glad I wasn't half-remembering something we hadn't announced yet!

In that case... I don't see a problem pulling the curtain back a tad more:

Lotus Geisha: bard archetype
White-Haired Witch: witch archetype
Sword Saint: samurai archetype
Yokai Hunter: ranger archetype (note the name change from "spirit hunter!")

No monk archetypes, in other words. There's some kung fu type feats though!

Awesome! I am glad to see an official Samurai archetype come into the game.

I knew that with a name that included the word, "hunter", that the Spirit Hunter - now Yokai Hunter - would be either a ranger or inquisitor archetype. Too bad it isn't for the inquisitor though. I haven't been too thrilled with any of that class's archetypes so far.

I was hoping that the witch archetype would add a tad bit of monk and martial arts to the witch's abilities. I hope the archetype doesn't disappoint - I don't like any of the witch archetypes so far and it is probably my favorite class; right there with magus and alchemist.

That is pretty epic though! The APG's cavalier didn't move me much - but the samurai alternate archetype has been great for me thus far:

Not for Jade Regent players still in part 1:

I GM this one for my players and have adapted the samurai resolve ability to remain standing on negative hitpoints for the undead Tsutamu such that he could keep going once he reached 0 hit points. He even managed to drop the target of his challenge to regain one resolve, allowing him to remain standing one more turn. It became a very memorable finale to the marsh arc with the players having to pull together in creative ways to get through the encounter.

Also I've got a very enjoyable (samurai) character with a cheesy over-the-top background that gets himself into trouble on a regular basis. Due to his background he's sworn to protect a particular party member; and he drops whatever he's doing whenever she's in trouble. This has led to some great moments making unlikely leaps (in heavy armor) and running away from boss-fights to help his sworn-charge against a minion.

I can't wait to find out about the four new player races and more about the Tengu.

Also the Oni bloodline for Sorcerers sound very interesting to me

I would still like to see martial art achtypes for all of the classes one day.
Shadow Lodge
James Jacobs wrote:
Ashanderai wrote:


Sword Saint: samurai archetype

Will Samurai's be getting more orders?

Paizo Employee Creative Director
dartnet wrote:
Will Samurai's be getting more orders?

Not really... There IS a new order called the "Order of the Black Daimyo" but it gets no new powers—it basically uses the normal samurai order but changes flavor text a little—these are lawful evil samurai who fight more for battle and sword glory than they do for anything else.

Nice new cover.

I love the cover art for the Dragon Empires series. It's as if the artist have just been waiting for the opportunity to do this kind of thing.

December... it's not thaaaat far away.
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Neat cover.

Is that suposed to be a Samurai or an Oni?
Dragon78 wrote:
Is that suposed to be a Samurai or an Oni?

Maybe it's Samurai Oni? Toho Studios used to have a Samurai Joker...

It's obviously a pirate, who pilfered some samurai's stuff.

Or an Oni blooded Tiefling pirate that stole a samurai's equipment.
Grand Lodge

I guess I'm in the minority when I say I'm not terribly interested in an Asian-themed setting. I hope Paizo puts out some other campaign content too.
Contributor
Hive.Star wrote:
I guess I'm in the minority when I say I'm not terribly interested in an Asian-themed setting. I hope Paizo puts out some other campaign content too.

That is the plan—check out our upcoming Player Companion books here or the Campaign Setting material here!

I, on the other hand am very interested in asian cultures/mythologies, as well as many other cultures. I like when fantasy games incorporate real world myths and cultures.
Grand Lodge
Dragon78 wrote:
I, on the other hand am very interested in asian cultures/mythologies, as well as many other cultures. I like when fantasy games incorporate real world myths and cultures.

Eh, it's just too played-out for me. I'm already in an L5R campaign.

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
Dragon78 wrote:
I, on the other hand am very interested in asian cultures/mythologies, as well as many other cultures. I like when fantasy games incorporate real world myths and cultures.

Me, too.

The cover art in all its glory
Heine Stick wrote:
The cover art in all its glory

Oh yeah!

Just noticed that the preorder date got moved back to January. Shame I'm really looking foreword to this book.

On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Paizo Employee Creative Director
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?

Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Owner - House of Books and Games LLC
James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Wait a sec ... I thought Ninja was an archetype, and that's why PCs couldn't multiclass rogue/ninja!

Now it's a full base class?
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
gbonehead wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Wait a sec ... I thought Ninja was an archetype, and that's why PCs couldn't multiclass rogue/ninja!

Now it's a full base class?

Actually it is an Alternate Class, so it is a bit of a grey area.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
gbonehead wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Wait a sec ... I thought Ninja was an archetype, and that's why PCs couldn't multiclass rogue/ninja!

Now it's a full base class?

Where did I say ninja's a base class?

Ninja is still an archetype. As is samurai.

You can have an archetype for an archetype. We've done one already for the antipaladin, for example.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Justin Franklin wrote:
gbonehead wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Wait a sec ... I thought Ninja was an archetype, and that's why PCs couldn't multiclass rogue/ninja!

Now it's a full base class?

Actually it is an Alternate Class, so it is a bit of a grey area.

Only real difference between "Archetype" and "Alternate class" is that an "Alternate class" gets its own art by Wayne Reynolds and gets all of its abilities plugged in for you on a table.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Justin Franklin wrote:
gbonehead wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Wait a sec ... I thought Ninja was an archetype, and that's why PCs couldn't multiclass rogue/ninja!

Now it's a full base class?

Actually it is an Alternate Class, so it is a bit of a grey area.
Only real difference between "Archetype" and "Alternate class" is that an "Alternate class" gets its own art by Wayne Reynolds and gets all of its abilities plugged in for you on a table.

But if you make an archetype for an alternate class can it only replace abilities from the original class then?

Paizo Employee Creative Director
Justin Franklin wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Justin Franklin wrote:
gbonehead wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
SquishyPoetFromBeyondTheStars wrote:
On a side question does any one know (or willing to share) if there are any Ninja archetypes in this book?
Nope; there's 4 archetypes in the book—one for bards, one for samurai, one for witches, and one for rangers.

Wait a sec ... I thought Ninja was an archetype, and that's why PCs couldn't multiclass rogue/ninja!

Now it's a full base class?

Actually it is an Alternate Class, so it is a bit of a grey area.
Only real difference between "Archetype" and "Alternate class" is that an "Alternate class" gets its own art by Wayne Reynolds and gets all of its abilities plugged in for you on a table.
But if you make an archetype for an alternate class can it only replace abilities from the original class then?

Nope. A samurai archetype has to be a samurai. A ninja archetype would have to be a ninja.

These types of archetypes are going to be VERY rare. So far, I believe that there's only 2, maybe 3 in existence, of which only 1 has yet been published.

I am more interested in the Oni bloodline then the archtypes anyway.

I still would like to see martial arts style archtypes for every class one day.

Well even though it got pushed back at least it is only about a month wait between this and Gazeteer.

I would also like to hardcover books like the innersea guide done for the other continents some day.
Dragon78 wrote:

I am more interested in the Oni bloodline then the archtypes anyway.

Well, if you simply must have a game-balanced Oni bloodline for sorcerers, then Rite Publishing has one in their Wyrd of Questhaven PDF. It's also in their big In the Company of Monsters PDF, along with about a thousand other amazing gameable tidbits.

And hey, right now they're on sale!

I am not a fan of third party products, in fact the only one I got for 3.5 was the Tome of horrors I.

I hope it is early january when it comes out.
James Jacobs wrote:
dartnet wrote:
Will Samurai's be getting more orders?
Not really... There IS a new order called the "Order of the Black Daimyo" but it gets no new powers—it basically uses the normal samurai order but changes flavor text a little—these are lawful evil samurai who fight more for battle and sword glory than they do for anything else.

You may have just convinced me to make a rival for a certain cocky, self absorbed, chaotic good Taldan cavalier of the cockatrice that one of my players is playing in my Jade Regent game.

will the gods be in this??
Contributor
Steelfiredragon wrote:
will the gods be in this??

Yes, as well as in Dragon Empires Gazetteer.

With a significant portion of the primer dedicated to races and gods (essentially reprints from the gazetteer) what portion and content in the primer is dedicated to delicious freshness?
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