Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Class Guide (OGL)

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Class Guide (OGL)
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A New Breed of Hero

Adventure like never before with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide! Explore new heights of heroism with 10 new base classes, each with 20 levels of amazing abilities. Incredible powers also await existing characters, with more than a hundred new archetypes and class options. Prepare characters for their most legendary adventure ever with massive selections of never-before-seen spells, magic items, and more!

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide is a must-have companion volume to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 15 years of system development and an open playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into the new millennium.

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Class Guide includes:

  • Ten new base classes—the magic-twisting arcanist, the ferocious bloodrager, the cunning investigator, the daring swashbuckler, the formidable warpriest, and others.
  • Variant class abilities and thematic archetypes for all 29 base classes, such as the counterfeit mage and the mutagenic mauler.
  • Nearly a hundred new feats for characters of all classes, including style feats, teamwork feats like Coordinated Shot, and more.
  • Hundreds of new spells and magic items, such as feast on fear and skullcrusher gauntlets.
  • An entire armory of amazing equipment, from vital new adventuring gear to deadly alchemical weapons.
  • ... and much, much more!

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-671-3

Errata
Last Updated - 7/22/2015

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

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Archives of Nethys

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3.20/5 (based on 51 ratings)

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A Great (if errata-filled) Book for Players

4/5

This book has gotten a lot of flack for two reasons: (1) A number of people were upset by the large amount of errata posted after the book came out. (2) A number of people were upset by the perceived power-creep that this book carried with it, especially in the archetype section.

Both of these are reasonable complaints that I largely agree with.

That said, this book also contains a cornucopia of player options that are great fun. A number of the classes it introduced are now mainstream: it’s hard to imagine playing the game without options like the Brawler, the Investigator, the Slayer, the Bloodrager, the Hunter, or the Warpriest. Or to play without archetypes like the Bolt Ace (Gunslinger), Mutation Warrior or Martial Master (Fighter).

Moreover, the book introduced a number of feats that improve on the available build options available to most players (Extra Hex! Slashing Grace!). Likewise, although the spells in this book seem to have flown under the radar, there are a lot of nice and interesting spells are introduced in this book (Glue Seal, Communal Align Weapon, Wall of Blindness/Deafness, Wall of Nausea, Anti-Incorporeal Shell, Adjustable Disguise, Adjustable Polymorph, Investigative Mind, etc).

Easily 5 stars worth of good material here. Given the unusually large amount of errata, I feel compelled to deduct a star. But all that said, it’s hard to imagine playing Pathfinder without this book -- after the Core Rulebook and Advanced Players Guide, it’s probably the best book for players to pick up.


Unbalanced, uninspired and rushed.

1/5

This book still sticks out as one of Paizo's biggest missteps. It was extremely rushed and it shows.

At least half of the new classes don't even need to exist as anything other than archetypes. Even among the ones that actually work, most feel very uninspired.

There are a few good things in it, but not really enough to justify buying it. It's not worth your money and it's best not to encourage sloppy work.

Hopefully Paizo learns from this and prioritizes quality over quantity and speed from now on.


A continuing disappointment

1/5

The ACG had problems. Many problems. And it continues to have problems.

From concept ("Let's make ten classes as complicated and broken as the magus, or more so!"), to out-of-whack game design, to simply poor editing, the ACG is a mess. The book's philosophy seems to be "create a new utterly unbalanced mechanic, and proliferate it as far as possible." The (quickly issued) errata pulled some of it a bit more into line, but it just doesn't come close to correcting it.

Even something as simple as alchemical items are way out there. Holy Weapon Balm costs 5gp more than holy water, and does 1400% more damage. And that doesn't even include increasing damage to incorporeal creatures.

Even two years after it was released, I continue to be impressed with the complete disregard for balance and sense in this book. If power creep had happened this much every year, we'd be looking at 9999 damage caps by now. The ACG stands out for its insanity.

Perhaps pulping it for the cover error would have been the better move.


The first real dud in my Pathfinder collection

1/5

I am extremely disappointed in this product, and glad I only purchased the PDF version. As other reviewers have pointed out, the new classes are poorly balanced when compared to the preexisting ones, and would be a better fit for a book like Unchained, much like Unearthed Arcana's gestalt characters.

There's far too many feats and toys dedicated to these new classes, which drastically lessens this book's universal appeal, and even though some contrivances are provided to make some of said feats accessible to other classes, it ends up painting the book's title as a misnomer - it isn't an "advanced class guide" any more than it is a guide mostly about ten new classes, that are "advanced" only in the sense that they're more powerful than the others.

It's my fault for not properly researching the book before buying it, so buyer beware if you're expecting to find a literal advanced class guide, as opposed to a lengthy introduction to ten new ones.


Overall disappointing

2/5

Okay, there's a lot here that's just terribly rushed and it shows, like the editing here is painful at points. The classes themselves range wildly in value, and there's a lot of examples of Paizo's classic retro nerfing of things to help make options here look better. This was an obvious rush to gencon book, and it shows. While not everything in it is bad, and there's some salvageable content, you could easily continue to play the game without this book and miss out on absolutely nohthing.


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Arachnofiend wrote:
Could I get some information on the Bounty Hunter? How does her CMB boosts stack up next to the Lore Warden?

Lore Warden Wins


Cheapy wrote:
JBurz wrote:
Are ALL Shaman Hexes Wisdom-based now, or not? I've seen some conflicting information in this thread. I'm interested in the Channel hex from the Life mystery, specifically.
They aren't all, and channel isn't a hex.

Right, my bad on that... but any word on if Life Spirit Channel keys from Wisdom or Charisma now?


Which is sort of to be expected, given the relative power level of that archetype.


JBurz wrote:
Cheapy wrote:
JBurz wrote:
Are ALL Shaman Hexes Wisdom-based now, or not? I've seen some conflicting information in this thread. I'm interested in the Channel hex from the Life mystery, specifically.
They aren't all, and channel isn't a hex.
Right, my bad on that... but any word on if Life Spirit Channel keys from Wisdom or Charisma now?

If I were a betting man, I'd bet you'd be disappointed at the answer.

Grand Lodge

Arachnofiend wrote:
Could I get some information on the Bounty Hunter? How does her CMB boosts stack up next to the Lore Warden?

Not really well, it only pumps one maneuver under very specific circumstances.


Cheapy wrote:
JBurz wrote:
Cheapy wrote:
JBurz wrote:
Are ALL Shaman Hexes Wisdom-based now, or not? I've seen some conflicting information in this thread. I'm interested in the Channel hex from the Life mystery, specifically.
They aren't all, and channel isn't a hex.
Right, my bad on that... but any word on if Life Spirit Channel keys from Wisdom or Charisma now?
If I were a betting man, I'd bet you'd be disappointed at the answer.

It is as I feared. Thanks for the help.


Hah! I knew I should've made that bet with TOZ.


9mm wrote:
Arachnofiend wrote:
Could I get some information on the Bounty Hunter? How does her CMB boosts stack up next to the Lore Warden?
Not really well, it only pumps one maneuver under very specific circumstances.

Gah, that's a shame. There go my dreams of a dirty trick slayer. :c

Grand Lodge

Arachnofiend wrote:
9mm wrote:
Arachnofiend wrote:
Could I get some information on the Bounty Hunter? How does her CMB boosts stack up next to the Lore Warden?
Not really well, it only pumps one maneuver under very specific circumstances.
Gah, that's a shame. There go my dreams of a dirty trick slayer. :c

I wouldn't say that, it's one of the few ways to get dirty trick on iteratives without quick dirty trick, and the only reasonable way to deal damage while using dirty tricks.


Keep in mind that you can use studied target to boost your CMB, and at most, you're trailing by +3. (it's +2 to CMB for the lore warden? holy crap.)


Got mine. So much content in here it's staggering. Going to take a long time to read through and understand everything. Lots of fantastic character options and evocative ideas though I gotta say. Kudos to paizo!


Aleron wrote:
Got mine. So much content in here it's staggering. Going to take a long time to read through and understand everything. Lots of fantastic character options and evocative ideas though I gotta say. Kudos to paizo!

Agreed


I hate to get back onto this topic, but with the post by Jason, I gather then, that the only reason there is a Dex to Damage feat in the ACG was to boost a lackluster feat?

So what about the promises in the blog and in the playtest about including an intentional Dex to Damage feat? Instead we only get one because another feat needed a boost of some sort?

Kind of comes across to me as a promise that only accidentally got fulfilled.

That is very disappointing.

However, I am glad to hear about the Fencing Grace feat.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

Have to salute Paizo for non-obvious class interpretations. Love the Shelynite Forgepriest on page 131. Weapons and armor as art forms.

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

11 people marked this as a favorite.

Tels, the gift horse. You are looking in its mouth.

Sczarni

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Question. For the bloodrager, can they select feats that specifically require the rage ability?

Silver Crusade

Ross Byers wrote:
Have to salute Paizo for non-obvious class interpretations. Love the Shelynite Forgepriest on page 131. Weapons and armor as art forms.

MUST HAVE


Verzen wrote:
Question. For the bloodrager, can they select feats that specifically require the rage ability?

Answer

Bloodrager: BloodRage wrote:

......

Bloodrage counts as the barbarian’s rage class feature
for the purpose of feat prerequisites, feat abilities, magic
item abilities, and spell effects.

Basically

Bloodrage == Rage


1 person marked this as a favorite.

In other words "get raging vitality"


Ah...the feats Twist Away and Steadfast Personality help the Swashbuckler's single high saving throw. I wouldn't say entirely but if you want to shore up those defenses they do a pretty neat job of it. Interesting!


Ross Byers wrote:
Tels, the gift horse. You are looking in its mouth.

I know. It's just, they made multiple promises about the feat, and then it only came to pass by sheer coincidence. So it feels like a promise they didn't intend to keep.

I'm aware it didn't happen, but just imagine the reaction the forums would have had if they hadn't felt Slashing Grace needed a buff? In that event, it seems, based off Jason's post, we never would have gotten a Dex to Damage feat at all!

I suspect there would be a lot more removed posts in this thread if that had happened.

Sczarni

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

How about the Skald rage song ability? Does it count as a song for the purposes of extra performances feat?


Verzen wrote:
How about the Skald rage song ability? Does it count as a song for the purposes of extra performances feat?

answer,

RageSong wrote:

......

A raging song counts as the bard’s
bardic performance special ability for any effect that
affects bardic performances. A skald may learn bard
masterpieces (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 21).
.....

So I think, yes.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

I think I saw someone ask about the inquisitor archetype that gets slayer toys, don't think I saw anyone give a response

In a nutshell they drop judgment and all of its improvements for sneak attack studied target and some slayer talents.


Any feats, spells, or enchantments that would be particularly useful for bludgeoning weapons?

Liberty's Edge

Tels wrote:
Ross Byers wrote:
Tels, the gift horse. You are looking in its mouth.

I know. It's just, they made multiple promises about the feat, and then it only came to pass by sheer coincidence. So it feels like a promise they didn't intend to keep.

I'm aware it didn't happen, but just imagine the reaction the forums would have had if they hadn't felt Slashing Grace needed a buff? In that event, it seems, based off Jason's post, we never would have gotten a Dex to Damage feat at all!

I suspect there would be a lot more removed posts in this thread if that had happened.

I think you're reading way too much into Jason's comment. I think the Dex-to-damage was included into Slashing Grace as opposed to being its own separate thing because the Feat was too weak, not that that's why it was included at all.

The primary reason for a Dex-to-damage Feat was pretty clearly that people thought they needed one. The 'this Feat's too weak' thing was just why Slashing Grace got a boost instead of them doing something else.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, Contributor

4 people marked this as a favorite.

I had a reply about this new Dex to damage gripe... but I deleted it out of respect for the dev teams request that we let it drop.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Do wish slashing grace applied to light weapons, like Daggers, though.

Sczarni

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Aren't daggers slashing AND piercing? Does Slashing Grace forbid the use of light weapons? If it did, that would crush my dream build... (Warpriest wielding two wakizashis)


Verzen wrote:
Aren't daggers slashing AND piercing? Does Slashing Grace forbid the use of light weapons? If it did, that would crush my dream build... (Warpriest wielding two wakizashis)

Yes, light weapons don't qualify. One-handed slashing only.

Liberty's Edge

Verzen wrote:
Aren't daggers slashing AND piercing? Does Slashing Grace forbid the use of light weapons? If it did, that would crush my dream build... (Warpriest wielding two wakizashis)

It does indeed prohibit light weapons, it was posted in-full earlier (the only thing that has been).

EDIT: Ninja'd.

Sczarni

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

One-handed slashing doesn't forbid light one handed slashing weapons as far as I am aware...


Light weapons and one-handed weapons are separate categories, even when light weapons are wielded with one hand.

Liberty's Edge

Verzen wrote:
One-handed slashing doesn't forbid light one handed slashing weapons as far as I am aware...

'Light' and 'one-handed' are separate categories and treated as such by the rules.

EDIT: And ninja'd again!


Let's get back on topic about the ACG,
and not the Dex Damage issue, it you want it, take it elsewhere.


Sure thing. Any good news for bludgeoning weapons?

Scarab Sages

Wildmonsters wrote:

I think I saw someone ask about the inquisitor archetype that gets slayer toys, don't think I saw anyone give a response

In a nutshell they drop judgment and all of its improvements for sneak attack studied target and some slayer talents.

Thank you, I was curious about this. Do they get access to a combat style at 2?

Sczarni

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Well, that just doesn't make much sense from a logistics stand point. Shorter weapons are easier to maneuver and can hit vital areas that require precision over larger clunky longswords that were designed to hack...


verzen, if you look through the thread from the beginning you will see that all of these issues have already been discussed.

And the Paizo people asked us to move on to other topics.


Maybe we can convince them to create a "lightened grace" to get dex to damage on light weapons :/

Scarab Sages

Again, the dex to damage discussion is not the thing to focus on. We got a very nice preview of the rapier fix, and we can only hope there will be one for light weapons. As pointed out earlier in the thread, dwarves get the benefit of slashing grace with hand axes as a fcb, so there is precedent for a light weapon to get the dex to damage.

Liberty's Edge

Yeah, we've drifted from asking how the Slashing Grace Feat works (which seems valid for this thread, given that it's an ACG Feat) to complaining about how it works (which isn't).


I also had questions about magus archetypes. I haven't noticed any get mentioned. Any chance for some brief descriptions?

Scarab Sages

Gisher wrote:
I also had questions about magus archetypes. I haven't noticed any get mentioned. Any chance for some brief descriptions?

there was mention of a CHA based spontaneous magus.


Oh, that's right. I did see that one earlier.


Can anyone explain the Blade Adept Arcanist archetype and the Rageshaper Bloodrager? what exactly do they get, and or lose? Does the rage shaper have some kind of wildshape or polymorph mechanic? Does the arcanist have a mechanic to be a viable martial with 1/2 BAB?

Thank you for you time


1 person marked this as a favorite.

This next week is going to feel like a month. :)


Druid and Oracle: what kinda archetypes are they rockin' these days?


Brawler questions

-skill points per level
-do any archetypes swap out brawlers flurry?
-do any archetypes/feats change what weapon groups you can flurry?
-I remember a concern being how often one could use martial versatility to grab multiple feats. How many times per day could a level 11 Brawler grab max feats in a usuge?
-capstone?

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