Get ready to shake up your game! Within these pages, the designers of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game unleash their wildest ideas, and nothing is safe. From totally revised fundamentals like core classes and monster design to brand-new systems for expanding the way you play, this book offers fresh ideas while still blending with the existing system. With Pathfinder Unchained, you become the game designer!
Pathfinder Unchained is an indispensable companion 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 a new era.
Pathfinder Unchained includes:
New versions of the barbarian, monk, rogue, and summoner classes, all revised to make them more balanced and easier to play.
New skill options for both those who want more skills to fill out their characters' backgrounds and those seeking streamlined systems for speed and simplicity.
Changes to how combat works, from a revised action system to an exhaustive list of combat tricks that draw upon your character's stamina.
Magic items that power up with you throughout your career—and ways to maintain variety while still letting players choose the "best" magic items.
Simplified monster creation rules for making new creatures on the fly.
Exotic material components ready to supercharge your spellcasting.
New takes on alignment, multiclassing, iterative attacks, wounds, diseases and poisons, and item creation.
... and much, much more!
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-715-4
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Having completed a couple of adventure paths as GM and gearing up for my third, I felt I had enough experience under my belt to see about implementing some of the alternative rules systems from Pathfinder Unchained. The book presents 254 pages of different or additional ways to do things in Pathfinder, and it’s certainly worth a look if you’re planning a new campaign—chances are there’s something for every GM. These aren’t little things like a new feat, but major redesigns of entire classes, monster creation, magic, and more. The only caveat is that the more you stray from the Core rules, the more unresolved issues are likely to arise, so think carefully through the implications of a change and make sure players are willing to buy in to any adjustments. Anyway, there’s a ton of material to discuss, so let’s get to it!
I’m not a big fan of the cover. The golem or animated statue or whatever it is has a crazy narrow waist that really annoys me for some reason, even though I do acknowledge the whirling chains are a nice nod to the book’s title. The introduction (2 pages long) notes that Pathfinder was released seven years earlier (at that point) and that it’s time to offer a workshop full of tools for GMs to select from to update and customise their game. It provides a brief but useful overview of the major new changes, and is worth a skim.
Chapter 1 is “Classes” (36 pages) and contains the most widely adopted changes across the Pathfinder community. The chapter presents new “Unchained” versions of the Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, and Summoner, and even PFS allows them because they are almost unanimously accepted as more playable (and better balanced) revisions. The Unchained Barbarian has simplified calculations for rage duration (though it still lasts too long, in my opinion) and makes it easier to use rage powers. The Unchained Monk has a simplified Flurry of Blows and new ki powers for versatility. The Unchained Rogue gets skill unlocks (discussed later) and important abilities like debilitating injury, weapon finesse, and (eventually) Dex to damage. The Unchained Summoner is frankly a nerf, but a much-needed one; the biggest change is to the eidolon, but it also fixes the Summoner spell list. I’m happy with all the class revisions, and I only wish Paizo got around to making Unchained versions of some of the other problematic classes out there. The chapter also contains a new method to compute BABs and saves to help multiclass characters, but it looks too complicated to me. Finally, there’s a new “staggered advancement” mechanism that sort of allows a character to partially level up as they go instead of doing it all at once when they reach a new XP threshold; I think it’s more effort than its worth.
Chapter 2 is “Skills and Options” (44 pages). It starts with an optional “Background” skills system, which essentially gives each PC a free rank each level to spend on a non-combat oriented skill like Craft, Perform, etc. I tried it once in a previous campaign but found it was rarely used to flesh out a character and was instead just dumped into learning another language or another point in a Knowledge skill. I do like the expanded skill uses for Craft, Perform, and Profession—they’re easy to integrate into a campaign because they essentially give the GM a list of uses and DCs to make those skills more valuable in ordinary gameplay (such as using Craft to determine what culture made an item, for example). Another optional change is a consolidated skill list that cuts the number of skills in a third! This is essentially what Starfinder did, and I’m not a fan at all because it makes for too much homogeneity within a group. Another proposal is “grouped skills” which makes PCs more broadly skilled but less specialised; complicated but interesting. Next, there are alternative Crafting and Profession rules. I like the changes to Crafting (simplifies and details DCs better) but it doesn’t address magical item crafting which, frankly, is the most likely to be used and abused. The changes to Profession are only for running a business. Perhaps most pertinent are the “Skill Unlocks” for Unchained Rogue (or any other PC who takes a particular feat)—these allow a character who has 5, 10, 15, and 20 ranks in a skill to gain a particular ability with that skill. These aren’t game-changers for the most part, but they do speed up their use or remove penalties, and are worth having for the most part. Last, there’s a new way to handle multiclassing; essentially, you give up feats to get the secondary powers of another class. I found it interesting but ultimately unsatisfactory.
Chapter 3 is “Gameplay” (46 pages) and is a real grab bag of options. The first involves alignment: either making it a bigger part of the game by tracking PCs’ alignment more finely and providing bonuses accordingly, or removing it altogether (which would require a *lot* of GM legwork). Some people like the revised action economy (a version of which was implemented in PF2), which changes the admittedly initially confusing dichotomy of Free/Swift/Immediate/Move/Standard/Full to just “Simple” and “Advanced”. However, I’ve also heard issues with how it handles certain classes. Another proposal is to remove iterative attacks; it looks interesting but too complicated for easy adoption. Next are “stamina points” and “combat tricks”—basically, a pool of points to use for a bonus on an attack or to do certain tricks that improve combat feats; I could certainly see using this. Also tempting is the idea of “wound thresholds”, which means there’s a degradation of fighting ability the more hit points are lost—this would create some new tactical considerations though it would also require some more GM tracking. Last are Starfinder-style disease and poison progression tracks, which make them *much* deadlier (I think they’re too hard to integrate at this stage in Pathfinder, however).
Chapter Four is “Magic” (38 pages). It starts with “Simplified Spellcasting”, in which a spellcaster only prepares spells for their three highest spell levels with all lesser spells grouped in a pool; this provides them even more flexibility, which is anathema to those (like me) unhappy with the caster/martial disparity at higher levels. Next are “Spell Alterations”, and some of these are more my jam: limited magic, wild magic, spell crits and fumbles, and material components have a cost for every spell (old school!). I know a lot of groups use the “Automatic Bonus Progression” rules, which provide a fixed bonus at each level so that the “Big Six” magic item slots can be used for more interesting and flavourful things than just stat boosting gear. Next are magical items that scale; I think one or two of these in a campaign could be really fun (and manageable), though I wouldn’t want to overdo it just because of the complications. Last up is a new way of handling magic item creation that involves the whole party overcoming challenges in order to add unique powers to items; it’s certainly flavourful and worth considering.
Chapter Five is “Monsters” (62 pages). It presents a whole new (and allegedly much faster) way of creating monsters. It’s the method adopted in Starfinder, and is based on arrays and grafts rather than building a creature from the “ground up”. I’m personally not a fan of it (I like knowing monsters follow the same “rules” as everyone else), but I do sympathise with the homebrewers out there who want a faster way to stock a dungeon with custom creations.
And that’s Pathfinder Unchained. If you’ve been playing or GMing for a while and have a good sense of the Core rules, it’s certainly worth a look.
Some of the suggested mechanics are worth the entire price
Automatic Bonus Progression is enough to justify the entire price of the book. Better versions of the Rogue and Monk, as well as fixes to the summoner and streamlining the barabarian seal the deal. There is a lot of other good stuff in here as well. Well worth it!
I love the idea of this book, I wish this happened more often. They took what they saw wrong with their game and spent proper time and effort to come up with proper solutions. It's pretty rare for a company to spend this much effort on tweaking things. The new proposed mechanics for combat and skills are unique and great ideas to help customize your groups' gaming experience.
I hope they release more books like this in the future. I've love for more variations for multiclassing, and I'm still waiting for a summoner archetype that removes the class summon monster ability and focuses more on the eidolon.
Highly recommend it, especially for anyone interested in how someone goes about making a gaming system. It provides awesome insights.
It's been a while since it took me so long to digest a Pathfinder book, and boy, did Unchained ever keep me digesting. More optional rules than you can shake a stick at, to be implemented in modular or wholesale fashion, to tweak your game to your heart's content, and with top-notch art throughout, to boot. Excellent work by Paizo and one of their finest offerings in a while.
As for the negatives, the only thing I can really point out is that the writing can be somewhat scattershot and unfocused in a couple of reasonably complex sections, which would have benefited greatly from examples or bolded formulae.
This book is a great addition. Options are optional, and it's great that this book has so many. It really makes customizing a campaign easy. Of you'll like you never use every option, or likely even half of them in a single you play or run, but having them really gives you a great toolbox to use. Some people are finicky about house rules, so having an official batch of "house rules" to choose from is nice for people who prefer to stick to official products. No book is perfect, but being this book isn't really being forced on anyone (of course I suppose none of the supplements are), and that is a giant bag of options that you can pick and choose from to enhance the game, for those who'd like it enhanced, I give this product 5 stars, especially if I am comparing it to the usefulness of the average Pathfinder product.
So how do Legacy weapons work? Do they simply level up with you or is there something you have to take to make it work first?
Basically, there are 3 classes of legacy items (called scaling items). They level up with you, and consume a percentage of your WBL based on class (5,15,30). They gain certain benefits once you hit certain levels, and once you gain the last benefit they no longer consume WBL for subsequent levels. No other costs besides WBL.
Sorry when you mean it consumes Wealth by Level it does what exactly?
Basically, if you have a single top tier item (30%) the GM is supposed to give you 30% less treasure every encounter. If you have 80% worth of scaling items, you get 20% treasure. The book suggests a number of methods of implementing this depending on if everyone in the party has a scaling items, just a couple, or what.
That said, I have another option that is more mathematically elegant than the final solution in the book but was deemed too complex to understand due to involving a two-dimensional table.
If it doesn't require Tensors, then it isn't mathematically complex enough!
(Also, ask me sometime about my Quaternion-based facing mechanics. No more "divide-by-zero" problems at the table!)
-Skeld, patiently awaiting his PDF
Just a two-dimensional matrix look-up. You don't even have to calculate the determinant!
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Matrix Dragon wrote:
You know... I just thought of something. The unchained barbarian no longer gives strength bonuses, right?. That means it is possible to run a Dex based barbarian now! Yessss :D
Urban Barbarian allows this already with what we had until now. :)
That said, I have another option that is more mathematically elegant than the final solution in the book but was deemed too complex to understand due to involving a two-dimensional table.
If it doesn't require Tensors, then it isn't mathematically complex enough!
(Also, ask me sometime about my Quaternion-based facing mechanics. No more "divide-by-zero" problems at the table!)
-Skeld, patiently awaiting his PDF
Just a two-dimensional matrix look-up. You don't even have to calculate the determinant!
So was your system invertible or no?
Since the matrix is 5 by 6, you can't use the invertible matrix theorem to find an inverse.
If you mean overclocking, you spend a swift and a spellcraft check to raise the caster level or the DC by 2, chance of hurting yourself if you flub the check.
If you mean overclocking, you spend a swift and a spellcraft check to raise the caster level or the DC by 2, chance of hurting yourself if you flub the check.
Hopefully it's a really high Spellcraft check, or any Int-based caster of sufficient level will always be supercharging every spell.
If you mean overclocking, you spend a swift and a spellcraft check to raise the caster level or the DC by 2, chance of hurting yourself if you flub the check.
Hopefully it's a really high Spellcraft check, or any Int-based caster of sufficient level will always be supercharging every spell.
If it is spellcraft any int based caster already has the advantage. I'd imagine a concentration style check (caster level + casting modifier) would be a better way to do it and more fair to all casters.
If you mean overclocking, you spend a swift and a spellcraft check to raise the caster level or the DC by 2, chance of hurting yourself if you flub the check.
Hopefully it's a really high Spellcraft check, or any Int-based caster of sufficient level will always be supercharging every spell.
If it is spellcraft any int based caster already has the advantage. I'd imagine a concentration style check (caster level + casting modifier) would be a better way to do it and more fair to all casters.
Not entirely. The full casters besides cleric and oracle will always be better, since they can afford to max out their casting stat early.
So does the Unchained Monk lose any features, or is it just straight the boost they needed?
They lost their high will save and some of their other abilities got turned into key powers that you have to select. This does invalidate some archetypes, unless its faq'd that gaining an ability as a ki power allows you to give it up for an archtype.
Losing a High Will save is kind of an odd design choice considering it was meant to represent the mental fortitude gained from significant sacrifice and training at a monastery.
Is there a Ki Power to increase will saves that's meant to represent such training?
Losing a High Will save is kind of an odd design choice considering it was meant to represent the mental fortitude gained from significant sacrifice and training at a monastery.
Is there a Ki Power to increase will saves that's meant to represent such training?
Losing a High Will save is kind of an odd design choice considering it was meant to represent the mental fortitude gained from significant sacrifice and training at a monastery.
Is there a Ki Power to increase will saves that's meant to represent such training?
IT was probably due to them needing a good wisdom normally, and since it seems they believe in full BAB and all good saves as a bad thing, they cut the save that is boosted by a stat you are going to use anyways.
You know... I just thought of something. The unchained barbarian no longer gives strength bonuses, right?. That means it is possible to run a Dex based barbarian now! Yessss :D
Urban Barbarian allows this already with what we had until now. :)
Huh. You know, I never really paid attention to that archetype. At least now with this version you can have your damage bonus AND extra hit points ;)
Question about the Stamina and improved feat uses.
I read that it incorporates Combat feats from ALL the core RPG Paizo products.
Is there guidelines or rules to applying and increasing such power in Combat Feats outside of the core books? Such as in the Player Companions or even other products?
So does the Unchained Monk lose any features, or is it just straight the boost they needed?
They lost their high will save and some of their other abilities got turned into key powers that you have to select. This does invalidate some archetypes, unless its faq'd that gaining an ability as a ki power allows you to give it up for an archtype.
That makes absolutely no sense. Monks are supposed to be disciplined in mind, body, and spirit. Wisdom is their forte. But their Will saves are...weak?
That goes completely against the concept of a Monk. Why do they have poor Will?That HAS to be a typo.
I'm surprised that no one has mentioned that one of the unchained monk's ki powers allows him to fly.
Honestly, the entire class is seriously the "Every Dragonball Z character ever" class now.
Do I get to yell really loud, charge up my Ki and then unleash a blast of energy capable of blowing up mountains?
if you roll well enough, and target only bonsai mountains, you can, since there is a ki power that gives quinggong monk powers and discordant blast does 3d6 sonic damage. It might take a couple tries though.
So does the Unchained Monk lose any features, or is it just straight the boost they needed?
They lost their high will save and some of their other abilities got turned into key powers that you have to select. This does invalidate some archetypes, unless its faq'd that gaining an ability as a ki power allows you to give it up for an archtype.
That makes absolutely no sense. Monks are supposed to be disciplined in mind, body, and spirit. Wisdom is their forte. But their Will saves are...weak?
That goes completely against the concept of a Monk. Why do they have poor Will?That HAS to be a typo.
they lost high will saves and became the masters of the full attack, pretty sure its not a typo but a balance change for game mechanics reasons.
Losing a High Will save is kind of an odd design choice considering it was meant to represent the mental fortitude gained from significant sacrifice and training at a monastery.
Is there a Ki Power to increase will saves that's meant to represent such training?
IT was probably due to them needing a good wisdom normally, and since it seems they believe in full BAB and all good saves as a bad thing, they cut the save that is boosted by a stat you are going to use anyways.
I'm simply going to assume it was a typo from earlier editing of Unchained Monk and they forgot to fix it. Cause there is no way I am letting Monks run around with a weak Will save.
Regarding the Monk becoming incompatible with some of its Archetypes:
Is Maneuver Master still possible?
diamond body is now a ki power so no.
Can't they just trade out whatever ki power they would've got at that level instead? Would make sense to me.
Its possible that paizo will make a ruling that allows it, but presently there is nothing in previous rules or in the Unchained text that supports such an interpretation. I would be happy if they did make such a ruling as I would love a drunken master with the new monk.
Losing a High Will save is kind of an odd design choice considering it was meant to represent the mental fortitude gained from significant sacrifice and training at a monastery.
Is there a Ki Power to increase will saves that's meant to represent such training?
IT was probably due to them needing a good wisdom normally, and since it seems they believe in full BAB and all good saves as a bad thing, they cut the save that is boosted by a stat you are going to use anyways.
I'm simply going to assume it was a typo from earlier editing of Unchained Monk and they forgot to fix it. Cause there is no way I am letting Monks run around with a weak Will save.
If it is a typo, its featured in more than one place as they specifically mention in the rework summery that they changed the monk's save progressions.
I'm simply going to assume it was a typo from earlier editing of Unchained Monk and they forgot to fix it. Cause there is no way I am letting Monks run around with a weak Will save.
Paizo will never let a class with full BAB and all good saves go to print, regardless of how balanced it is.
Regarding the Monk becoming incompatible with some of its Archetypes:
Is Maneuver Master still possible?
diamond body is now a ki power so no.
Can't they just trade out whatever ki power they would've got at that level instead? Would make sense to me.
Its possible that paizo will make a ruling that allows it, but presently there is nothing in previous rules or in the Unchained text that supports such an interpretation. I would be happy if they did make such a ruling as I would love a drunken master with the new monk.
Unlike some of the other classes, monk's rework is so large that almost no archetype makes sense any more (and some, like qinggong, as has been mentioned earlier, the Unchained Monk can take the powers on its own, without needing the archetype any more at all). In a home game, you can easily work with your GM to include monk archetypes on a case-by-case basis. For example, drunken master would be fairly easy to figure out and would probably work out when you did so, but zen archer would not be a good choice for most games, since zen archers based on the normal monk are already very effective archers, so combining Unchained would probably make one that was too strong.
You could also pull a super-duper reverse unchaining to get the ki powers (and only the ki powers) on pre-Unchained versions of every other archetype with ease: simply make them all qinggong powers of the appropriate level, and since qinggong stacks with other archetypes, you now can use ki powers with pre-Unchained monks!
I'm simply going to assume it was a typo from earlier editing of Unchained Monk and they forgot to fix it. Cause there is no way I am letting Monks run around with a weak Will save.
Paizo will never let a class with full BAB and all good saves go to print, regardless of how balanced it is.
You could be right, but then again they did put the divine protection feat in print.
Then why not poor fortitude instead of poor will? Thematically I can't think of a reason, so perhaps there's a design reason?
I mean I'll get over it and play Monks anyway, cause they're awesome, just curious is all.
It sounds like the monk is being slightly, ah, untethered I believe the word is, from the monastic ties it used to have.
In which case it makes a lot of sense for Wisdom to be the one that goes, as high fortitude and reflexes kind of go with the whole "body is a weapon". thing.
They should allow the Monk to choose, to represent different styles of training. Maybe one style doesn't enhance mentally but physically only. Or another Monk could have enhanced reflexes and mind, but not body.
Best bet...but still silly. For a character based on the perfection of mind, body, and spirit it makes sense for all good saves.
And aren't there monster types with full BAB and all good saves? I thought Outsiders or Dragons got this?
@Cheapy
wow I actually feel kind of dumb for not catching that in the first place
doubly so since I JUST had the "class name =/= stat block" conversation with a friend
Still waiting on the PDF, really pumped to dig into it. I'm practically quivering in antici
It sounds like the monk is being slightly, ah, untethered I believe the word is, from the monastic ties it used to have.
In which case it makes a lot of sense for Wisdom to be the one that goes, as high fortitude and reflexes kind of go with the whole "body is a weapon". thing.
It sounds like the monk is being slightly, ah, untethered I believe the word is, from the monastic ties it used to have.
In which case it makes a lot of sense for Wisdom to be the one that goes, as high fortitude and reflexes kind of go with the whole "body is a weapon". thing.
So, the monk became the brawler 2.0?
No, not really. The ki pool is still the primary mechanic, and honestly, the new ki talents just enhance the monk's mysticism. Wisdom is still important as well, thanks to AC bonus, ki pool, and ki talents. You just don't have a good Will to start, but since you're heavily encouraged to have a good Wisdom, your Will save won't be terrible. Its just that giving full BAB, d10 HD, and Good saves across the board isn't the most balanced designed choice one could make.
Yep, you should totally get the 50 pieces of ammunition in the case of choosing ammunition. 50 per day is pretty slick compared to needing to rebuy every 50, huh?
Oh my. If this means what I think it means for a ninja shuriken-specialist, I think I'm going to swoon...
How does the Monk look from an Ability Dependency perspective? I was hoping this new iteration would alleviate the MAD problem the vanilla monk had.
Without an agile amulet of might fists and weapon finesse, you would still want strength for hit and damage. As before, you get dodge to ac from both wisdom and dexterity, and ki still is based on wisdom, your hit dice went up to a d10 but con still matters for hp. Long story short, no real change to how mad a monk is.
It sounds like the monk is being slightly, ah, untethered I believe the word is, from the monastic ties it used to have.
In which case it makes a lot of sense for Wisdom to be the one that goes, as high fortitude and reflexes kind of go with the whole "body is a weapon". thing.
So, the monk became the brawler 2.0?
No, not really. The ki pool is still the primary mechanic, and honestly, the new ki talents just enhance the monk's mysticism. Wisdom is still important as well, thanks to AC bonus, ki pool, and ki talents. You just don't have a good Will to start, but since you're heavily encouraged to have a good Wisdom, your Will save won't be terrible. Its just that giving full BAB, d10 HD, and Good saves across the board isn't the most balanced designed choice one could make.
