Pathfinder Player Companion: Black Markets (PFRPG)

3.50/5 (based on 2 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Black Markets (PFRPG)
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Good Deals, Bad People

When the right tool for the job is on the wrong side of the law, it's time to look for it in the black markets! This player-focused volume includes dozens of items and rare spells not sold in any legal shop but still of great use to adventuring characters, as well as spells, feats, and character archetypes to help keep those illegal goods hidden. From new poisons and portable traps to necromantic magic items and eldritch smuggling tools, Pathfinder Player Companion: Black Markets has every underhanded implement you may desire when legality isn't a concern! Inside this book, you'll find:

  • Rules for running your own black markets and managing your under-the-table business dealings when you're between adventures.
  • New poisons of every description, from magic-infused poisons to nefarious necrotoxins that blend necromancy with deadly substances, as well as the eldritch poisoner alchemist archetype.
  • A guided tour of the largest and most unique black markets in the Inner Sea region, from the Nightstalls of Katapesh to the Tarnished Halls of Numeria.
  • Feats, traits, and spells to emphasize characters' criminal dealings and improve their mastery of the underworld economy.
  • New cursed magic items, portable traps, and grafts of undead flesh to fill your backpack and prepare you for any challenge.

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-789-5

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

Hero Lab Online
Archives of Nethys

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3.50/5 (based on 2 ratings)

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Good Collection of Nefarious Concoctions

4/5

Black Markets is a Pathfinder Player Companion that I bought just so I could use some small option in a Pathfinder Society character. I wasn't expecting much, but after reading through the book, I came away pretty impressed and with several ideas of things to incorporate into my games. The theme of the book, as the back cover blurb indicates, is "Good deals, bad people". In other words, the book is about unlawful items and activities that one might find hidden away in some seedy back alley. But you definitely don't need to be playing an evil PC to find some worthwhile material inside.

Like every entry in the Player Companion line, Black Markets is a 32-page full-colour book. The cover art is great, and gives a good feel for what's inside. The art is reused, sans logo, as the inside back cover. The inside front cover notes seven places of "Illicit Trade in the Inner Sea Region", and each place receives a brief description of what can be found there along with a little flavour. Some of these places are described in further detail in the interior of the book, but not all of them are.

The first four pages of the book include a summary of what's inside for particular classes, a rules option index, and an introduction that contains a brief but good overview of how different nations in Golarion feel about black markets. They're everything from an "unavoidable fact of life" in the River Kingdoms to "disgraces to proper society" in Cheliax.

From a GM's perspective, one of the major things the book does is create rules for black markets: how hard they are to find, what types of materials are available there, how much items will cost, and what risks customers face in visiting them. This smartly takes the form of an adaptation of the settlement stat blocks from the GameMastery Guide. The book introduces a handful of new feats for PCs who plan to interact regularly with black markets, and then proceeds to give sample stat blocks (and associated character traits) for six specific ones: the Dusk Market in Westcrown, Nightstalls in Katapesh, the Red Silk Route in Absalom, the Tarnished Hills in Numeria, the Wagons of Light in Geb, and the nomadic-fey-run Witchmarket. I think it's a great idea, and I've used the rules to create a black market stat block for Korvosa in my upcoming Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign (because I know, sooner or later, somebody's going to want to buy something that's not quite legit)!

Next, the book supplements the Downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign by creating several new nefarious downtime activities: creating alibis, blackmailing someone, planning a heist, smuggling, and more. I thought they were good, though some are far more likely to be an NPC sort of thing than a PC activity.

Some characters, like my Norgorber-worshipping Siegfried of Daggermark, are into poisons. The book spends two pages detailing the concept of "infused poisons"--which, with the associated feat, allow you to combine the effects of a poison with a spell effect. For examine, the "liquid influence" poison both gives the target Wisdom damage and puts them under the effect of a suggestion spell. It's a really clever concept. There's also some new undead-themed poisons called "necrotoxins".

Two pages are then spent introducing "necrografts," a concept that may be familiar to Starfinder players. Essentially, skilled necromantic surgeons implant new body parts or replace body parts with undead flesh to augment a living creature's abilities. For examine, you could get a necrograft leg that allows you to travel overland longer than normal before becoming exhausted. Although the concept is a fun one, I'd say most are way over-priced for what they do.

Cursed magical items have been in D&D and its heirs since the beginning, and Black Markets devotes two pages to them. In particular, it gives rules for magic users intentionally creating cursed items. Some new ones are introduced here, with my favourite being the spendthrift spectacles (that cause the wearer to wildly overpay for items) and the style-stealing vambrace that threatens to cut off the wielder's own hand every time they land a critical hit in combat!

Pesh, an addictive narcotic, is the subject of the next two pages. There are a handful of new pesh-related feats and then some new pesh-related spells. Given the severity of the addiction rules in Pathfinder, I don't think most of the options are very practical.

Next up: nonmagical, portable traps that will definitely appeal to some characters. There's also one magical portable trap: portable pits that replicate the various pit line of spells. These can be pretty nasty!

Evil clerics and anyone adventuring in Rahadoum might find value in the two pages on "hidden holy items", though I thought they were largely mediocre.

Two pages detail secret signs and spells related to the concept. I liked a couple of the latter, but I'm guessing this is mostly an NPC section.

A section on smugglers introduces a few new archetypes. I once had a Pack Mule character (a fighter archetype that allows a PC to carry a great amount of weight), but alas, he died. I like the Relic Raider, a rogue archetype that specialises in dealing in curses and haunts--not something for an average campaign, but could be cool perhaps in something like Carrion Crown.

A section labelled "Duplicitous Archetypes" introduces two: The Eldritch Poisoner, an alchemist specialising in poison that does ability score damage, which could be really powerful against living foes (though anything immune to poison will be perfectly fine) and the Hoaxer, a fun concept that looks clunky in practice.

Last up is several new spells. The only one that jumped out at me was curse of keeping, which prevents the target from dropping, selling, or giving away anything in their possession! I could imagine some fun story ideas for that one.

Overall, I think the book is a really nice supplement for GMs and PCs. Not everything inside is going to fit every campaign or concept, but on the whole the material is well-written and interesting.


Worth it for Necrotoxins & Undead Grafts!

3/5

GOOD:
Necrotoxins - poisons crafted with the "craft wondrous item" feat and "Craft (alchemy)" skill.
Undead Grafts - body prothestics made from dead flesh!
Cursed Magic Item creation rules and prices.
The six Golarion Black Market descriptions.

BAD:
The Pack Mule Fighter Archetype.
Most feats and spells are rather specialized.

UGLY:
The Black Market rules are for a GM not player.


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patternscribe wrote:

I've searched through the posts here, and have done a bit of searching online, but I still need help understanding one of the Bard Archetype: Hoaxer class skills.

At 5th level you gain Curse Crafter (Ex) which replaces Lore Master. If you look up the rules for crafting cursed items found elsewhere in the product you find "Intentionally crafting cursed items requires the same item creation feats and skill checks as does crafting a normal item of that type, but in addition to such requirements, intentionally cursed items require bestow curse or major curse as a spell prerequisites." (emphasis mine)

As a bard, you never gain direct access to *either* of those spells. So my question becomes, does this ability grant the hoaxer the ability to fulfill that requirement innately as part of its design (can cast the spell as if learned, but only in conjunction with crafting an item) mediated by the hoaxer bard level (determining which version of the spell could be used)? Or does it mean that unless you find someway of acquiring those spells, you will never be able to do more than craft the faux magic items(an awesome ability but as the sole recourse not outstanding).

Thank you for your time and assistance with this ^_^

The general rule is that if something doesn't say it grants an ability, it doesn't grant that ability.

In the case of spell pre-requisites, Bards can try Use Magic Device (a skill they can be pretty good with) on scrolls or wands to provide the spell, or collaborate with a spellcaster who does have access to the needed spells (as mentioned in general for crafting normal items).


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Any crafter can add +5 to the DC for every missing spell prerequisite. You're not prevented from trying if you can't cast all the "required" spells.


Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

I've never liked that rule. It just negates the requirement to use magic to create magic items. Makes no sense to me, save as a sop to players who want things to be easy.

Dark Archive

Ed Reppert wrote:
I've never liked that rule. It just negates the requirement to use magic to create magic items. Makes no sense to me, save as a sop to players who want things to be easy.

I absolutely agree.

With buying or crafting magic items that give you +X on spellcraft, everyone can craft any wondrous item without a chance for failure.

That and the fact that you can make what you can use best for half-price, have ruined the wonder of finding magical items.

I consider the magic item creation rules "broken" and either switch to "automatic bonus progression" or don´t allow the rules at all nowadays.


Does the ring from the Talisman of Scrying count against other rings worn ?

can more than one Talisman be linked to the same ring ?

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