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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Pathfinder Unchained (OGL)

4.60/5 (based on 16 ratings)
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Pathfinder Unchained (OGL)
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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

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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Great Options for Pathfinder

5/5 —

I'm a huge fan of the rules options in Pathfinder Unchained. They do a great job of creating fixes to some of the potential issues with the Pathfinder system without upsetting the entire rule system.

I'm one of those weird people who loved playing my TWF core rogue through all 11 levels of PFS, but I have to admit that the unchained rogue is an improvement. I also actually prefer the unchained summoner to the base summoner; even though the new one may seem less powerful, it's more thematically appropriate. I'm considering playing a summoner for the first time.

I've been using some of the alternate rules systems in my Hell's Rebels campaign, and I like how they are working out. I'm using automatic bonus progression at least in part because I know some of my players like to ignore the Big 6, or spend all their gold on +6 stat items as soon as possible to the exclusion of other items. This way I know their AC is still going up, and they'll end up more balanced. I can now also let them craft---using the much more engaging dynamic item creation rules---without worrying too much about wealth by level.

Some of the rules I wouldn't personally implement. I feel like alignment affirmations will just lead to alignment arguments at the table, and in my experience, multiclassers don't need the boost from partial base attack bonus increases. But I am glad that these options exist for tables that want them.

Great ways to tinker with the game

5/5 —

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

Pathfinder Unchained offers a plethora of alternatives to modify the core Pathfinder rules in different ways, including possible solutions to various criticisms of the game. Some of the alternatives result in only minor changes to game-play, while others result in much more drastic changes. It's quite a remarkable book and I like it a great deal. If there's something about the Pathfinder rules that you really don't like, or you just feel like tinkering with the rules a bit, Pathfinder Unchained may just have what you're looking for.

The rulebook I've been waiting for

5/5 —

Read my full review at my blog.

Pathfinder Unchained is a fantastic book, assuming you are interested in what it has to offer. As a game master, this feels like the rulebook I’ve been waiting for, as it is filled with heaps of ideas for improving or changing my games. The revised action economy and simplified monster creation system are highlights for me. Players may not find as much value, as there isn’t much directly for players beyond the updated monk, barbarian, rogue and summoner classes.

Neat Ideas To Improve Games

5/5 —

It's really nice to get a book that delivers what it promises. Pathfinder Unchained delivers all manner of variant rules for nearly every part of the game. Some are to simplify things, some are significant changes to core rules, and some are welcome changes to rules that have become sacred cows.

Buy this book if you are interested in having a number of variants available, to pick, choose, and modify as you see fit. As noted in other reviews, this is a toolbox. It's something to take pieces out of, and use as you progress. It's great for trying out in one-shots, or in smaller groups, and then expanding as needed to full campaigns.

Not everything herein will be your cup of tea. I highly doubt I will use all of the rule changes presented in this book in various games. I still think they're valuable. It's interesting to see various rules cut apart and reworked; at the very least it gives you an idea how those rules fit into the overall scheme of the game.

I will add that I would like to see more classes and rules examined under this lens. I don't know that I'd use many of them, but it's a good way to think about the game and how rules interact with each other.

An Excellent Toolbox

5/5 —

This is an excellent "toolbox" book for any GM or gaming group.

The rules systems are interesting and well-designed. Not every one is exactly what I would want out of such a subsystem, but that's not the point. A lot of them *are* exactly what I would want if I were implementing that type of rule, but even where they aren't it's really helpful to have the writeup anyway—even if a particular system isn't quite what you're looking for, it should give you a great place to start in figuring out the solution that works best for your group. You don't have to start from scratch. Here you have a book full of interesting ideas to consider and good rules to implement those ideas or to take inspiration from in writing your own rules if that would work better for you.

Not all of the systems are appropriate for the game I'm currently running, but the three I've chosen to implement (automatic bonus progression, background skills, staggered advancement) have all been good additions, and I'm looking forward to trying out the others in future games. I figure the clearest sign that the book is a success is this: I can't imagine running a home game now without looking through Unchained for a system or two to implement. I have a few favorites that I'll probably always use (and advocate for with my GM when I'm playing), but the best sign is that I can see myself going back to the toolbox regularly to see which systems will fit the particular game at hand.

I guess I should say a word about the classes, too. They all look like fine revisions to me. (I've only done careful work with the Monk, but I'm very happy with that one. The others look solid on a read-through.) I expect I'll use them as the standard versions of those four classes from now on.

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OMG! 1st post :-)
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

WANT!
Shadow Lodge
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I know it's only a mock up image, but the cover is awesome!
Sovereign Court

Wooohooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3 people marked this as a favorite.

THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WANTING!!!

August? Wasn't it supposed to be a Spring release?
Dark Archive

I am interested.
3 people marked this as a favorite.
boldstar wrote:
THIS IS WHAT I HAVE BEEN WANTING!!!

If they also give the fighter (and the bard) some love I agree.

I want this book so badly.

Edit:
I hope they make the use of skills more Epic at higher levels.
13 people marked this as a favorite.

This should totally be called Pathfinder Unearthed.
2 people marked this as a favorite.

I wonder if this is a Pathfinder 1.5?

Okay. Add this to the list of awesome books I want.
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Curious at to why those iconics are depicted given the content describes new versions of the barbarian, summoner, rogue and monk… Oh. Perhaps it is a mockup. Ooops.

Would like to know which authors are contributing as well.
Scarab Sages
5 people marked this as a favorite.

Was at the banquet when they announced this, got the impression that this is going to be kind of like a "Pathfinder Essentials"; JB indicated that they were going to make the Barbarian easier to run at the table, present a nerfed and better balanced version of the Summoner, a full BAB monk, and hinted at "improving" the Rogue. Should be interesting.
5 people marked this as a favorite.

I really hope they don't plan on making a Pathfinder 4th ed version kind of a book.
Ssalarn wrote:
Was at the banquet when they announced this, got the impression that this is going to be kind of like a "Pathfinder Essentials"; JB indicated that they were going to make the Barbarian easier to run at the table, present a nerfed and better balanced version of the Summoner, a full BAB monk, and hinted at "improving" the Rogue. Should be interesting.

Cool. What news had they on the Shaman and the Skald?

Um, isn't this a Spring Hardcover, not a Summer one, or has that changed? Also, this looks awesome - reminds me of the old Arcana Unearthed book
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Ssalarn wrote:
Was at the banquet when they announced this, got the impression that this is going to be kind of like a "Pathfinder Essentials"; JB indicated that they were going to make the Barbarian easier to run at the table, present a nerfed and better balanced version of the Summoner, a full BAB monk, and hinted at "improving" the Rogue. Should be interesting.

Full BAB monk. That is all I needed to hear. Thanks Ssalarn...

3 people marked this as a favorite.

This product is off the chain.
Dark Archive
5 people marked this as a favorite.

Hmmm... interesting. So this is the PF version of UA?
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Ssalarn wrote:
Was at the banquet when they announced this, got the impression that this is going to be kind of like a "Pathfinder Essentials"; JB indicated that they were going to make the Barbarian easier to run at the table, present a nerfed and better balanced version of the Summoner, a full BAB monk, and hinted at "improving" the Rogue. Should be interesting.

Wait, what? Why would you need a simpler version of th barbarian? I never thought it was overly complicated.

Silver Crusade
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Blave wrote:
Ssalarn wrote:
Was at the banquet when they announced this, got the impression that this is going to be kind of like a "Pathfinder Essentials"; JB indicated that they were going to make the Barbarian easier to run at the table, present a nerfed and better balanced version of the Summoner, a full BAB monk, and hinted at "improving" the Rogue. Should be interesting.
Wait, what? Why would you need a simpler version of th barbarian? I never thought it was overly complicated.

Two words: rage cycling.

1 person marked this as a favorite.

5 kinds of shiny

Is this going to have any kind of public Playtest?

I'm super interested!
3 people marked this as a favorite.

I have mixed feelings about this one.

I hope there will be a playtest.
5 people marked this as a favorite.

Curse you, Paizo! Curses, I say! So many things coming out this summer and so little money!!!
Scarab Sages
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

So is this like Book of Nine Swords was for 3.5? A preview into the Next edition of PF?

Because "Alternative Action Economy" hints at that for me.

I will say that I'm very interested in this "Magic item generator" system.
Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Majuba wrote:
This should totally be called Pathfinder Unearthed.

"Unchained" has a very specific meaning for this title. The rules presented in Pathfinder Unchained are not "chained" to the assumption of backwards-compatibility.

Lantern Lodge RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4
7 people marked this as a favorite.
Stratagemini wrote:

So is this like Book of Nine Swords was for 3.5? A preview into the Next edition of PF?

Because "Alternative Action Economy" hints at that for me.

I will say that I'm very interested in this "Magic item generator" system.

This is assuredly not a preview of or prelude to any future edition of Pathfinder RPG.

Rather, it's a chance to be able to make "changes" that fans have been asking for over the years (and ones the developers have wanted to make over the years) without fundamentally changing the core rulebook and forcing everyone to play under the new rules. It's options, ideas, alternates, and something you can piecemeal insert into your ongoing games.
6 people marked this as a favorite.

As with all Paizo releases, I'll reserve judgement after I have it in my hands. I am quite interested to see what they do though.
3 people marked this as a favorite.

is this optional rules as in really optional or is this optional rules as in these will be required for PFS
Silver Crusade
4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Robert Brookes wrote:
Stratagemini wrote:

So is this like Book of Nine Swords was for 3.5? A preview into the Next edition of PF?

Because "Alternative Action Economy" hints at that for me.

I will say that I'm very interested in this "Magic item generator" system.

This is assuredly not a preview of or prelude to any future edition of Pathfinder RPG.

Rather, it's a chance to be able to make "changes" that fans have been asking for over the years (and ones the developers have wanted to make over the years) without fundamentally changing the core rulebook and forcing everyone to play under the new rules. It's options, ideas, alternates, and something you can piecemeal insert into your ongoing games.

Well, that won't stop people, in particular the ones with a long-standing axe to grind with Paizo, to run around the Internet screaming "paid beta of PF 2.0 out next year - WotC did that to you with Bo9s and now Paizo is doing it again".

10 people marked this as a favorite.

I wish Book of Nine Swords had been a paid beta, it was not similar to 4E. You can argue its maneuver system was put into 4E, but only if you squint and really work it backwards. It if anything felt more like 3.5 trying to do wuxia or something similar.

Dot for great interest.
7 people marked this as a favorite.
David Neilson wrote:
I wish Book of Nine Swords had been a paid beta, it was not similar to 4E. You can argue its maneuver system was put into 4E, but only if you squint and really work it backwards. It if anything felt more like 3.5 trying to do wuxia or something similar.

+1. If 4E had been based on Bo9S I probably would have been a lot more interested in it.

Dot...dot....DDDOOOTTT!!!!!!!!!
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Gorbacz wrote:
Well, that won't stop people, in particular the ones with a long-standing axe to grind with Paizo, to run around the Internet screaming "paid beta of PF 2.0 out next year - WotC did that to you with Bo9s and now Paizo is doing it again".

Heck, it probably won't even stop people *without* grudges from continuing the "Pathfinder 2.0 is coming!!" chant like they've already been doing for some time now.

The irony is, even if there were a Pathfinder 2.0 coming, once it was announced, those people would then start bragging about how "they knew it was coming" because they'd seen the writing on the wall- no matter if it is 5, 10, or 15 years after the fact. :p
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Ok, so this is closer to a book of errata and rules amendments. It just so happens to have some redesigns on a number of "problematic" classes.

Summoner, I can understand. It tends to require a different kind of system mastery than most casters, and is even more accounting heavy due to the malleable eidolon. Rogue makes sense too. A number of traits, alternate class archetypes, and other sundry things make the rogue seem totally lackluster to practically everything.

Monk is a little hazy on the revamp, though I understand that full BAB reduces language for Flurry of Blows. May also make it easier to qualify for various maneuver feats, which tend to be the Monk's niche. But the Barbarian is the real oddity. I get that rage cycling is a problem, and that some rage power combos are a GM's nightmare. But I honestly can't think of much else they'd consider revamping.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
1 person marked this as a favorite.

I wonder if this is Paizo's attempt to make a more rules light version, kind of like Dungeon World (but obviously not quite that light)? I just recently read through the basic rules for DnD Next, and it seems like they decided to go in a more rules light direction. Seems to be all the rage these days. I love me some pathfinder and complex systems, but it's so much easier to get my friends and family to come back to the table with a game like Dungeon World, so I'm all for this.

I hope they keep the malleability of the eidolon. Its a really cool mechanic in my opinion.
Scarab Sages
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Lamontius wrote:

is this optional rules as in really optional or is this optional rules as in these will be required for PFS

I would hope Brock and co. carefully evaluate the new rules and import the best of the book while omitting the rest from PFS play.

At a minimum, I would like to see the monk and rogue updates make it into the allowed resources.

I think the 'pool' may be the way forward for pathfinder.....arcanist, ninjas,magus, etc already going this way

I think this would be a good move
Scarab Sages
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Kalvit wrote:
Summoner, I can understand. It tends to require a different kind of system mastery than most casters, and is even more accounting heavy due to the malleable eidolon. Rogue makes sense too. A number of traits, alternate class archetypes, and other sundry things make the rogue seem totally lackluster to practically everything.

The summoner we currently have is the first iteration of brand new class concept. It was bound to have many unforeseen issues. Unchained will give the developers the opportunity to correct many of those issues provide a more refined set of abilities. Hopefully they don't nerf the class into the ground.

On the subject of summoners: I would like to see the synthesist revamped and given far more attention than it received in Ultimate Magic. The archetype is a very popular concept, but poorly implemented under current rules.
Scarab Sages
1 person marked this as a favorite.
David Neilson wrote:
I hope they keep the malleability of the eidolon. Its a really cool mechanic in my opinion.

To a certain degree, yes.

What is bad is the option to dump nearly ALL evolution points into offense, creating an unbalanced eidolon.

I'm actually more interested in this than in the ACG.

dot for interest.....
Dark Archive

well over a year to wait to see all the fun stuff paizo will come out with this
1 person marked this as a favorite.

*shudders with delight*
Grand Lodge
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Robert Brookes wrote:

This is assuredly not a preview of or prelude to any future edition of Pathfinder RPG.

Rather, it's a chance to be able to make "changes" that fans have been asking for over the years (and ones the developers have wanted to make over the years) without fundamentally changing the core rulebook and forcing everyone to play under the new rules. It's options, ideas, alternates, and something you can piecemeal insert into your ongoing games.

I do wonder why you are so sure of that, and why it cannot be both.

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Gorbacz wrote:
Well, that won't stop people, in particular the ones with a long-standing axe to grind with Paizo, to run around the Internet screaming "paid beta of PF 2.0 out next year - WotC did that to you with Bo9s and now Paizo is doing it again".

Uhm, I'd be delighted if it were that. Either way, I'll definitely be picking it up.

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