paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)paizo.com Recent Reviews of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)2021-11-20T02:15:36Z2021-11-20T02:15:36ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): A Must-Have for Heavy RP Games (5 stars)Jhaemanhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2020-08-20T12:54:30Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Okay, let's get into <b><i>Ultimate Intrigue</b></i>! As the title implies, the purpose of this book is to help flesh out more subtle elements of the game: things like spreading rumors, rallying a crowd, stealing secrets, and other classic cloak-and-dagger stuff. I've used bits and pieces of it in previous campaigns, but read through it carefully (and incorporated a fair bit of it) for my current <i>Curse of the Crimson Throne</i> campaign, as that adventure path is designed around urban political strife. Boiled down to brass tacks, the book is a 256 page hardcover comprised of six chapters. The full-colour artwork is very strong throughout, and the cover is great (though Merisiel's legs are like three times longer than her torso!). There's a very short two-page introduction that summarises each chapter—which is what I'm going to do anyway.</p>
<p>Chapter 1 is "Classes" (60 pages). The big deal here is a new base case, the Vigilante. The concept is that the character has both a normal (social) identity and a masked identity, with certain class options only working while in the associated guise. There are also several safeguards to help keep anyone from figuring out that Bruce Wayne is really Batman. I have a Vigilante character in Pathfinder Society, and one of my players runs one in <i>Curse of the Crimson Throne</i>. I think the class is perfect for an urban campaign mostly set in a single city (especially with lots room for intrigue), but it doesn't work as well with the more traditional "travelling adventuring party" campaign. It's a bit too obvious when five newcomers arrive in town, only for one of them to "disappear" and a new costumed avenger show up. I know there are also some gamers who dislike what can seem like the awkward introduction of comic book super heroes into their fantasy role-playing. For me, I think the concept works well—though as I said, only in particular types of campaigns.</p>
<p>A large chunk of the chapter is devoted to new archetypes for other classes. More specifically, alchemists, bards, cavaliers, druids, inquisitors, investigators, mesmerists, rangers, rogues, skalds, spiritualists, swashbucklers, and vigilantes get some love. Frankly, a lot of the archetypes are fairly forgettable, but there are exceptions—for example, a Daring General Cavalier would be great in military campaigns, the Dandy Ranger could be really useful in an urban campaign, and a couple of the vigilante archetypes are perfect if you want to play the Hulk or Spider-Man. Although the rogue archetypes aren't very good, there are several excellent rogue talents that focus on making the character harder to track through divination, etc. It's worth nothing that this book came out during the period when the hardcover line was still setting-neutral, so there won't be any Golarion-specific flavour with the archetypes (for better or worse depending on your preferences).</p>
<p>Chapter 2 is "Feats" (24 pages). There's something like 110 new feats in the chapter, and probably something for everyone. Given the book's theme, many of the feats are related to sneaking around, hiding and disguising spells, stealing stuff, making plans, figuring out when you're being to lied to, etc. A few that I particularly like include Brilliant Planner (giving you the chance to have just what you need just when you need it), Call Truce (giving a slim chance to actually end combat peacefully when its underway), and Drunkard's Recovery (silly but fun). A couple of important feats are Conceal Spell (which hides the pesky manifestations that spells create in Pathfinder) and Fencing Grace (adding Dex to damage with rapiers, a favourite of swashbucklers everywhere). Overall, I thought the options presented were well-written and plausible in terms of desirability. </p>
<p>Chapter 3 is "Mastering Intrigue" (68 pages). This is probably the most important chapter in the book for GMs. It offers tons of useful advice, as well as clarification on some tricky game mechanics, to help run intrigue-based games. The pages about how common magic spells can be handled while still preserving mysteries, secrets, and misdirection is pure gold. The chapter also introduces seven new rules sub-systems, any or all of which can be incorporated into a campaign to flesh out certain aspects of gameplay. "Influence" is a sub-system that deepens the process of persuading a person or organisation to support you. Instead of a simple single Dipomacy check, PCs need to make certain skill checks to learn a person's interests and weaknesses, and then other skill checks to take advantage of what they've learned. The process operates through multiple phases of tracked successes and failures, and can be tied to mechanical favours and benefits. It's become a very popular facet of many Pathfinder Society scenarios, and I think it's a pretty clever way to handle things—though it can be a bit clunky at first. "Heists" is a sub-system that contains some excellent advice to GMs on how to structure things so players don't obsess over unimportant trivia and are willing to violate that old canard of "don't split the party." "Infiltration" contains some quick advice, but that's about it. "Leadership" deepens the feat of the same name, adding lots of rules for interacting with other sub-systems both in this book and in <i>Ultimate Campaign</i>. I'm personally still not persuaded that the Leadership feat chain is a good inclusion to the game. "Nemeses" is all about adding a recurring villain; I think it's trying to systematise something that could be handled just fine without it. Though there are some fun suggestions on evil plots to foil. "Pursuit" is a little like the Chase sub-system from the <i>GameMastery Guide</i> but stretched out over hours and days cross-country instead of in minutes through alleyways. I could imagine using it. "Research" is probably my favourite of the sub-systems, and one I've used in multiple campaigns. In essence, it gives the PCs a reason to use things like libraries and archives by giving them bonuses to their Knowledge checks, but then makes gaining different thresholds of information the result of multiple successful checks. Overall, a great chapter—I wish the Influence and Research sub-systems had been in the <i>Core Rulebook</i>, because they really add a lot to the non-combat aspects of the game.</p>
<p>Chapter 4 is "Social Combat" (25 pages). The idea here is to present GMs with options on how to handle social conflicts—things like debates, trials, cutting repartee, etc. There's also a "verbal duels" sub-system. I'm just not sure about it—it's something I'd have to see in practice. However, a really useful part of the chapter is advice to the GM on how to handle the various social skills in the game—Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive—as well as the intrigue skills like Disguise, Perception, and Stealth. The advice here is excellent, and I just stopped in the middle of this review to reread it.</p>
<p>Chapter 5 is "Spells" (40 pages). You can judge from the length of the chapter that there's a ton of new spells, and every spellcasting class will find something. One of the fun things the chapter introduces is a new "ruse" descriptor for spells, which means the spell is easily mistaken for another even by observers trained in Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana). It's a good way to mislead folks who have played way too much Pathfinder. There are some really clever spells in this section, with a couple of my favourites including <i>false resurrection</i> (instead of bringing back a soul, you stuff a demon into the body!) and the hilarious <i>shamefully overdressed</i>.</p>
<p>Chapter 6 is "Gear and Magic Items" (22 pages). There are some new mundane pieces of equipment (weapons like the cool wrist dart launcher, alchemical items, etc.) but most of the chapter is new magic items with an intrigue theme. The one that really stuck out at me was the <i>launcher of distraction</i>, which is perfect for assassination attempts because it makes it seem like the attack is coming from somewhere else.</p>
<p>Overall, I think <b><i>Ultimate Intrigue</b></i> is an excellent book. It's pretty much a must-have in my opinion for any campaign that's going to involve a lot of role-playing or that moves beyond traditional dungeon crawling and wilderness encounters. Even readers not involved in "intrigue campaigns" per se are sure to find plenty of material they can use.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Okay, let's get into <b><i>Ultimate Intrigue</b></i>! As the title implies, the purpose of this book is to help flesh out more subtle elements of the game: things like spreading rumors, rallying a crowd, stealing secrets, and other classic cloak-and-dagger stuff. I've used bits and pieces of it in previous campaigns, but read through it carefully (and incorporated a fair bit of it) for my current <i>Curse of the Crimson Throne</i> campaign, as that adventure path is designed around urban political strife. Boiled down to brass tacks, the book is a 256 page hardcover comprised of six chapters. The full-colour artwork is very strong throughout, and the cover is great (though Merisiel's legs are like three times longer than her torso!). There's a very short two-page introduction that summarises each chapter—which is what I'm going to do anyway.</p>
<p>Chapter 1 is "Classes" (60 pages). The big deal here is a new base case, the Vigilante. The concept is that the character has both a normal (social) identity and a masked identity, with certain class options only working while in the associated guise. There are also several safeguards to help keep anyone from figuring out that Bruce Wayne is really Batman. I have a Vigilante character in Pathfinder Society, and one of my players runs one in <i>Curse of the Crimson Throne</i>. I think the class is perfect for an urban campaign mostly set in a single city (especially with lots room for intrigue), but it doesn't work as well with the more traditional "travelling adventuring party" campaign. It's a bit too obvious when five newcomers arrive in town, only for one of them to "disappear" and a new costumed avenger show up. I know there are also some gamers who dislike what can seem like the awkward introduction of comic book super heroes into their fantasy role-playing. For me, I think the concept works well—though as I said, only in particular types of campaigns.</p>
<p>A large chunk of the chapter is devoted to new archetypes for other classes. More specifically, alchemists, bards, cavaliers, druids, inquisitors, investigators, mesmerists, rangers, rogues, skalds, spiritualists, swashbucklers, and vigilantes get some love. Frankly, a lot of the archetypes are fairly forgettable, but there are exceptions—for example, a Daring General Cavalier would be great in military campaigns, the Dandy Ranger could be really useful in an urban campaign, and a couple of the vigilante archetypes are perfect if you want to play the Hulk or Spider-Man. Although the rogue archetypes aren't very good, there are several excellent rogue talents that focus on making the character harder to track through divination, etc. It's worth nothing that this book came out during the period when the hardcover line was still setting-neutral, so there won't be any Golarion-specific flavour with the archetypes (for better or worse depending on your preferences).</p>
<p>Chapter 2 is "Feats" (24 pages). There's something like 110 new feats in the chapter, and probably something for everyone. Given the book's theme, many of the feats are related to sneaking around, hiding and disguising spells, stealing stuff, making plans, figuring out when you're being to lied to, etc. A few that I particularly like include Brilliant Planner (giving you the chance to have just what you need just when you need it), Call Truce (giving a slim chance to actually end combat peacefully when its underway), and Drunkard's Recovery (silly but fun). A couple of important feats are Conceal Spell (which hides the pesky manifestations that spells create in Pathfinder) and Fencing Grace (adding Dex to damage with rapiers, a favourite of swashbucklers everywhere). Overall, I thought the options presented were well-written and plausible in terms of desirability. </p>
<p>Chapter 3 is "Mastering Intrigue" (68 pages). This is probably the most important chapter in the book for GMs. It offers tons of useful advice, as well as clarification on some tricky game mechanics, to help run intrigue-based games. The pages about how common magic spells can be handled while still preserving mysteries, secrets, and misdirection is pure gold. The chapter also introduces seven new rules sub-systems, any or all of which can be incorporated into a campaign to flesh out certain aspects of gameplay. "Influence" is a sub-system that deepens the process of persuading a person or organisation to support you. Instead of a simple single Dipomacy check, PCs need to make certain skill checks to learn a person's interests and weaknesses, and then other skill checks to take advantage of what they've learned. The process operates through multiple phases of tracked successes and failures, and can be tied to mechanical favours and benefits. It's become a very popular facet of many Pathfinder Society scenarios, and I think it's a pretty clever way to handle things—though it can be a bit clunky at first. "Heists" is a sub-system that contains some excellent advice to GMs on how to structure things so players don't obsess over unimportant trivia and are willing to violate that old canard of "don't split the party." "Infiltration" contains some quick advice, but that's about it. "Leadership" deepens the feat of the same name, adding lots of rules for interacting with other sub-systems both in this book and in <i>Ultimate Campaign</i>. I'm personally still not persuaded that the Leadership feat chain is a good inclusion to the game. "Nemeses" is all about adding a recurring villain; I think it's trying to systematise something that could be handled just fine without it. Though there are some fun suggestions on evil plots to foil. "Pursuit" is a little like the Chase sub-system from the <i>GameMastery Guide</i> but stretched out over hours and days cross-country instead of in minutes through alleyways. I could imagine using it. "Research" is probably my favourite of the sub-systems, and one I've used in multiple campaigns. In essence, it gives the PCs a reason to use things like libraries and archives by giving them bonuses to their Knowledge checks, but then makes gaining different thresholds of information the result of multiple successful checks. Overall, a great chapter—I wish the Influence and Research sub-systems had been in the <i>Core Rulebook</i>, because they really add a lot to the non-combat aspects of the game.</p>
<p>Chapter 4 is "Social Combat" (25 pages). The idea here is to present GMs with options on how to handle social conflicts—things like debates, trials, cutting repartee, etc. There's also a "verbal duels" sub-system. I'm just not sure about it—it's something I'd have to see in practice. However, a really useful part of the chapter is advice to the GM on how to handle the various social skills in the game—Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Sense Motive—as well as the intrigue skills like Disguise, Perception, and Stealth. The advice here is excellent, and I just stopped in the middle of this review to reread it.</p>
<p>Chapter 5 is "Spells" (40 pages). You can judge from the length of the chapter that there's a ton of new spells, and every spellcasting class will find something. One of the fun things the chapter introduces is a new "ruse" descriptor for spells, which means the spell is easily mistaken for another even by observers trained in Spellcraft or Knowledge (arcana). It's a good way to mislead folks who have played way too much Pathfinder. There are some really clever spells in this section, with a couple of my favourites including <i>false resurrection</i> (instead of bringing back a soul, you stuff a demon into the body!) and the hilarious <i>shamefully overdressed</i>.</p>
<p>Chapter 6 is "Gear and Magic Items" (22 pages). There are some new mundane pieces of equipment (weapons like the cool wrist dart launcher, alchemical items, etc.) but most of the chapter is new magic items with an intrigue theme. The one that really stuck out at me was the <i>launcher of distraction</i>, which is perfect for assassination attempts because it makes it seem like the attack is coming from somewhere else.</p>
<p>Overall, I think <b><i>Ultimate Intrigue</b></i> is an excellent book. It's pretty much a must-have in my opinion for any campaign that's going to involve a lot of role-playing or that moves beyond traditional dungeon crawling and wilderness encounters. Even readers not involved in "intrigue campaigns" per se are sure to find plenty of material they can use.</p>Jhaeman2020-08-20T12:54:30ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG) (1 star)The Despherhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2019-02-01T22:04:01Z<p>Don't get me wrong I love Paizo books, I love their work, and I'm proud to own almost all of their publications.</p>
<p>However, Ultimate Intrigue is the one book I regret buying. It's even more than that, it's the one book i regret they ever published.</p>
<p>We need rules and systems, ok. We need a magic system because magic isn't a real thing. We need a combat system otherwise playing with your grilfriend become home abuse. But we don't need a social system because it's a ROLEPLAYING game. Either you want intrigue heavy campaign and you roleplay them, or you want to dungeon crawl or investigate (that's fine too) and you don't play intrigues. You can even do both and it's great.</p>
<p>Aside from that massive problem, the book suffers from "a turn normal actions into feats/class ability" syndrome. I can't count the number of time where players made me fighters to wizards or rogues with a dual identity. We didn't need the Vigilante, and still don't. And I loved when wizard use to get clever and ask for linguistics/bluff roll to blend a spell into a phrase. Now you need a feat for it. Thanks, Ultimate Intrigue. If that was not enough, some of these nonsense feat are built in feat tax chains.</p>
<p>But the one thing I hate the most about this book is the stupid FAQ it bestowed upon us to promote itself (https://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9tza). That makes a whole school of magic (illusion) utterly useless, and destroys a lot of others (enchantment).</p>
<p>Now I know I can just refuse to use it. But i use to love pathfinder for the clarity and perfect sense with out need to houserule much. </p>
<p>Now it's gone.</p><p>Don't get me wrong I love Paizo books, I love their work, and I'm proud to own almost all of their publications.</p>
<p>However, Ultimate Intrigue is the one book I regret buying. It's even more than that, it's the one book i regret they ever published.</p>
<p>We need rules and systems, ok. We need a magic system because magic isn't a real thing. We need a combat system otherwise playing with your grilfriend become home abuse. But we don't need a social system because it's a ROLEPLAYING game. Either you want intrigue heavy campaign and you roleplay them, or you want to dungeon crawl or investigate (that's fine too) and you don't play intrigues. You can even do both and it's great.</p>
<p>Aside from that massive problem, the book suffers from "a turn normal actions into feats/class ability" syndrome. I can't count the number of time where players made me fighters to wizards or rogues with a dual identity. We didn't need the Vigilante, and still don't. And I loved when wizard use to get clever and ask for linguistics/bluff roll to blend a spell into a phrase. Now you need a feat for it. Thanks, Ultimate Intrigue. If that was not enough, some of these nonsense feat are built in feat tax chains.</p>
<p>But the one thing I hate the most about this book is the stupid FAQ it bestowed upon us to promote itself (https://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1fm#v5748eaic9tza). That makes a whole school of magic (illusion) utterly useless, and destroys a lot of others (enchantment).</p>
<p>Now I know I can just refuse to use it. But i use to love pathfinder for the clarity and perfect sense with out need to houserule much. </p>
<p>Now it's gone.</p>The Despher2019-02-01T22:04:01ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): I'm tired of paizo trying to stuff this book down our face (1 star)bluesman95https://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2017-04-01T16:24:22Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>If I was playing a home campaign this book might be more fitting, </p>
<p>For society play this verbal debate and other ideas for this book really bog down the game play. I like social aspect of games and role playing but as I said society play it slows the game way down to try and get people up to snuff on the mechanics</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>If I was playing a home campaign this book might be more fitting, </p>
<p>For society play this verbal debate and other ideas for this book really bog down the game play. I like social aspect of games and role playing but as I said society play it slows the game way down to try and get people up to snuff on the mechanics</p>bluesman952017-04-01T16:24:22ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): An amazing new class in a hit and miss supplement (4 stars)Michael Sayrehttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-11-01T18:47:20Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>So, Ultimate Intrigue took a long time for me to come to a complete opinion on.</p>
<p>The Vigilante class introduced in this book is, in my opinion, easily the best non-spellcasting class Paizo has ever created. It breaks up its social options and combat options in such a way that you have a great character able to participate in all areas of the game without having to choose whether you want to be competent in combat or in the myriad other facets of the game like exploration, social encounters, etc. It has deep and well-designed talents that allow you to pick any of a variety of different ways to participate in combat, with or without weapons, and numerous tools for allowing players to influence the story with safe houses, contacts, and more.</p>
<p>At PAX Prime 2016 I had the opportunity to visit Paizo's Pathfinder demo area and play their pregenerated vigilante character. I honestly didn't expect it to go terribly well; after all, the vigilante is a class built around balancing two identities and moving between different social strata, so you'd think that this would require a more controlled environment where you know the other players in advance and have time to plan out how your character fits into the game world with your GM ahead of time, right? Turns out, I was wrong. The vigilante class is well-crafted enough that even while playing a 1st level pregen I was able to easily deal with situations in and out of combat, and it took me about 60 seconds of conversation to establish with the group that I had a secret identity they were privy to and might need them to cover for my character from time to time if he needed to swap identities. It didn't hurt matters that the only downside to anyone learning a vigilante's secret identity is that, well, they know his or her secret identity. You can go all Tony Stark if you want, announce that you are Iron Man, and carry on as normal. Very few of the vigilante's abilities actually require you to maintain truly secret identities, and the only real hit you take is that you're a bit easier to find by magical means (though even this can be addressed with clever use of the Safe House Social Talent).</p>
<p>The book also elaborates on the intent behind numerous spells that often prove problematic for GMs in games where they want to have a focus on gritty investigation of mystery, such as the various <i>detect</i> spells, <i>speak with dead</i>, etc.</p>
<p>I think my biggest disappointments with the book, and the reason I can't give it 5 stars, lie in the feats and archetypes. I'll start with the feats, and a bit about why I see most of them as representative of missed opportunities.</p>
<p>To start with, Pathfinder's skill system is heavily dated. When Paizo brought it over from 3.5, they combined a few extraneous skills, but otherwise did little to update things, meaning the core area of the rules covering everything in the game that isn't casting spells or hitting things is now well over a decade old and out of date. Several skills don't even actually work, or work well, as written, have interactions you're just supposed to kind of assume or make up (Ride and Handle Animal are a mess, Stealth requires one to check out FAQs and blog posts online to use as intended, Bluff and Diplomacy have more than a few vague areas and inconsistencies, etc.), so what better book to address, update, and expand these core components of the game than a book about playing skill and intrigue heavy campaigns? Unfortunately, Paizo chose not to go that route, instead relying on feats to stretch skills over their gaps and issues, leading to many of the feats in the this book providing skill uses that I've seen GMs at hundreds of tables houserule as basic functions of those skills to begin with. Instead of formalizing intuitive uses of existing skills into their basic function, they added a feat tax to allow characters to do things many people already thought they could do. While there is a section in the book going over several of the vague areas in a few key skills, these are primarily common sense clarifications instead of the full address the skills could have used.</p>
<p>The archetypes, like many Paizo hardcovers, are all over the place. Some of them are interesting and dynamic, like the Masked Performer bard archetype, some show an attempt at embodying a cool and modern concept but fail to achieve that concept in the actual execution, like the Magical Child vigilante archetype, and some are just plain bad, so obviously terribly designed that you almost wonder if the person who wrote them has ever actually played Pathfinder, like the Brute vigilante archetype.</p>
<p>Now, don't let the above wall of negativity mislead you; there is a lot of great stuff in this book, including perhaps the most inspired and well-crafted class Paizo has ever produced, a class that introduces really interesting design concepts, plays with components of the class chassis we haven't seen classes treat as quite so malleable before, and is a genuinely fun and interesting class to play in and of itself. Despite many of the feats ranging from useless to frustrating, there are still quite a few that are interesting and viable, and while the archetypes are very hit or miss, that's generally true of Paizo books in general and probably shouldn't be held against this one in particular.</p>
<p>My final verdict on Ultimate Intrigue is 4 stars, and a strong recommendation to pick it up, if for no other reason than to add the Vigilante class to your game (though there definitely are other reasons to add this book to your collection).</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>So, Ultimate Intrigue took a long time for me to come to a complete opinion on.</p>
<p>The Vigilante class introduced in this book is, in my opinion, easily the best non-spellcasting class Paizo has ever created. It breaks up its social options and combat options in such a way that you have a great character able to participate in all areas of the game without having to choose whether you want to be competent in combat or in the myriad other facets of the game like exploration, social encounters, etc. It has deep and well-designed talents that allow you to pick any of a variety of different ways to participate in combat, with or without weapons, and numerous tools for allowing players to influence the story with safe houses, contacts, and more.</p>
<p>At PAX Prime 2016 I had the opportunity to visit Paizo's Pathfinder demo area and play their pregenerated vigilante character. I honestly didn't expect it to go terribly well; after all, the vigilante is a class built around balancing two identities and moving between different social strata, so you'd think that this would require a more controlled environment where you know the other players in advance and have time to plan out how your character fits into the game world with your GM ahead of time, right? Turns out, I was wrong. The vigilante class is well-crafted enough that even while playing a 1st level pregen I was able to easily deal with situations in and out of combat, and it took me about 60 seconds of conversation to establish with the group that I had a secret identity they were privy to and might need them to cover for my character from time to time if he needed to swap identities. It didn't hurt matters that the only downside to anyone learning a vigilante's secret identity is that, well, they know his or her secret identity. You can go all Tony Stark if you want, announce that you are Iron Man, and carry on as normal. Very few of the vigilante's abilities actually require you to maintain truly secret identities, and the only real hit you take is that you're a bit easier to find by magical means (though even this can be addressed with clever use of the Safe House Social Talent).</p>
<p>The book also elaborates on the intent behind numerous spells that often prove problematic for GMs in games where they want to have a focus on gritty investigation of mystery, such as the various <i>detect</i> spells, <i>speak with dead</i>, etc.</p>
<p>I think my biggest disappointments with the book, and the reason I can't give it 5 stars, lie in the feats and archetypes. I'll start with the feats, and a bit about why I see most of them as representative of missed opportunities.</p>
<p>To start with, Pathfinder's skill system is heavily dated. When Paizo brought it over from 3.5, they combined a few extraneous skills, but otherwise did little to update things, meaning the core area of the rules covering everything in the game that isn't casting spells or hitting things is now well over a decade old and out of date. Several skills don't even actually work, or work well, as written, have interactions you're just supposed to kind of assume or make up (Ride and Handle Animal are a mess, Stealth requires one to check out FAQs and blog posts online to use as intended, Bluff and Diplomacy have more than a few vague areas and inconsistencies, etc.), so what better book to address, update, and expand these core components of the game than a book about playing skill and intrigue heavy campaigns? Unfortunately, Paizo chose not to go that route, instead relying on feats to stretch skills over their gaps and issues, leading to many of the feats in the this book providing skill uses that I've seen GMs at hundreds of tables houserule as basic functions of those skills to begin with. Instead of formalizing intuitive uses of existing skills into their basic function, they added a feat tax to allow characters to do things many people already thought they could do. While there is a section in the book going over several of the vague areas in a few key skills, these are primarily common sense clarifications instead of the full address the skills could have used.</p>
<p>The archetypes, like many Paizo hardcovers, are all over the place. Some of them are interesting and dynamic, like the Masked Performer bard archetype, some show an attempt at embodying a cool and modern concept but fail to achieve that concept in the actual execution, like the Magical Child vigilante archetype, and some are just plain bad, so obviously terribly designed that you almost wonder if the person who wrote them has ever actually played Pathfinder, like the Brute vigilante archetype.</p>
<p>Now, don't let the above wall of negativity mislead you; there is a lot of great stuff in this book, including perhaps the most inspired and well-crafted class Paizo has ever produced, a class that introduces really interesting design concepts, plays with components of the class chassis we haven't seen classes treat as quite so malleable before, and is a genuinely fun and interesting class to play in and of itself. Despite many of the feats ranging from useless to frustrating, there are still quite a few that are interesting and viable, and while the archetypes are very hit or miss, that's generally true of Paizo books in general and probably shouldn't be held against this one in particular.</p>
<p>My final verdict on Ultimate Intrigue is 4 stars, and a strong recommendation to pick it up, if for no other reason than to add the Vigilante class to your game (though there definitely are other reasons to add this book to your collection).</p>Michael Sayre2016-11-01T18:47:20ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Pathfinder presents Batman! (4 stars)NeoZen104https://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-09-02T01:44:37Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>No seriously. The vigilante class is freaking batman. Look at the art for chapter one and for the character. HE'S BATMAN. Of course they also have archetypes if you want to make Hulk, Sailor Moon, even He-Man. With the archetypes from other books the list goes on.
<br />
My favorite part, and I cannot wait to test this properly in a game, is the social combat. It works a lot like playing craps or roulette. You get a pool of Determination points which you use to place a bet then you roll off with your social skills check! Seriously it sounds like lots of fun!</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>No seriously. The vigilante class is freaking batman. Look at the art for chapter one and for the character. HE'S BATMAN. Of course they also have archetypes if you want to make Hulk, Sailor Moon, even He-Man. With the archetypes from other books the list goes on.
<br />
My favorite part, and I cannot wait to test this properly in a game, is the social combat. It works a lot like playing craps or roulette. You get a pool of Determination points which you use to place a bet then you roll off with your social skills check! Seriously it sounds like lots of fun!</p>NeoZen1042016-09-02T01:44:37ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Some good, some bad (3 stars)Elegant Egotisthttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-06-25T01:43:43Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>There is really a good amount of cool things in here like the vigilante evne thought i dont like the dual identity system. it feels like a better fighter, which is something i've wanted for a while. but the problem is there's too many rules for things that didnt really need them, so it kind of drags down everything because of it. Some clarification is okay, but this was too much of putting rules on things that didn't need it for me.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>There is really a good amount of cool things in here like the vigilante evne thought i dont like the dual identity system. it feels like a better fighter, which is something i've wanted for a while. but the problem is there's too many rules for things that didnt really need them, so it kind of drags down everything because of it. Some clarification is okay, but this was too much of putting rules on things that didn't need it for me.</p>Elegant Egotist2016-06-25T01:43:43ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Good, but not great (3 stars)Donald Robinsonhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-06-22T19:17:00Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>The best portions of this book are hands down the Class chapter followed by feats, spells, and items (pretty much in order). I thoroughly enjoyed vigilante as a class during the playtest and love it just as much now. I know that this class is not a good option in any sense for normal adventuring; however, for certain adventures vigilante comes out swinging.</p>
<p>Feats are mixed for me. Some run into the problem of feat taxes while a couple feats seem to be a different approach to a previously released feat.</p>
<p>Spells and items were mostly a gloss-over for me. Each spell and item aides players in different aspects as expected. There were not really anything in these sections that screamed to me a "must have" for my next character. Some spells also come off as being able to ruin a GMs plan. Not because they are powerful. Rather these few spells are like skipping a few chapters ahead in a book because your need to know outways your interest in the story. With spoilers about the latest shows and movies posted EVERYWHERE, spells like <i>greater detect magic</i> are a painful reminder. </p>
<p>Finally, the new mechanics presented within this book are... okay. They serve as nice suggestions and advice for experienced GMs and players. A new GM trying to implement the expanded mechanics found in chapters 3 and 4 might struggle to assign DCs and putting together an appropriate challenge. I think these sections could have included fuller examples at the very least for new GMs; just something to model after.</p>
<p>The book scores about average for me (65 out of 100 points). This is definitely the weakest book in the Ultimate line, but still worth adding to a collection (at least in pdf form).</p>
<p>For a full review and how I determined my score: <a href="http://www.thedmdr.com/2016/06/ultimate-intrigue-product-review_22.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ultimate Intrigue Product Review</a>.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>The best portions of this book are hands down the Class chapter followed by feats, spells, and items (pretty much in order). I thoroughly enjoyed vigilante as a class during the playtest and love it just as much now. I know that this class is not a good option in any sense for normal adventuring; however, for certain adventures vigilante comes out swinging.</p>
<p>Feats are mixed for me. Some run into the problem of feat taxes while a couple feats seem to be a different approach to a previously released feat.</p>
<p>Spells and items were mostly a gloss-over for me. Each spell and item aides players in different aspects as expected. There were not really anything in these sections that screamed to me a "must have" for my next character. Some spells also come off as being able to ruin a GMs plan. Not because they are powerful. Rather these few spells are like skipping a few chapters ahead in a book because your need to know outways your interest in the story. With spoilers about the latest shows and movies posted EVERYWHERE, spells like <i>greater detect magic</i> are a painful reminder. </p>
<p>Finally, the new mechanics presented within this book are... okay. They serve as nice suggestions and advice for experienced GMs and players. A new GM trying to implement the expanded mechanics found in chapters 3 and 4 might struggle to assign DCs and putting together an appropriate challenge. I think these sections could have included fuller examples at the very least for new GMs; just something to model after.</p>
<p>The book scores about average for me (65 out of 100 points). This is definitely the weakest book in the Ultimate line, but still worth adding to a collection (at least in pdf form).</p>
<p>For a full review and how I determined my score: <a href="http://www.thedmdr.com/2016/06/ultimate-intrigue-product-review_22.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ultimate Intrigue Product Review</a>.</p>Donald Robinson2016-06-22T19:17:00ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Ultimate Failure! (1 star)Marco Massoudihttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-05-18T05:19:44Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>GOOD:
<br />
-Metamorph Alchemist Archetype, Umbral Stalker Inquisitor Archetype, Cipher Investigator Archetype.
<br />
-Crime Inquisition.
<br />
-10 out of 107 Feats: Fleeting Spell, Improved Bravery, Measure Foe, Ranged Feint, Sliding Dash, Studied Spell, Stylized Spells, Swipe and Stash, Unimpeachable Honor, Walking Sleight.</p>
<p>BAD:
<br />
-The Vigilante Archetypes are confused, most are underpowered/unplayable ones only usable for NPCs (for example: the "Hulking Brute" - think Marvel´s Hulk - archetype which grows large but does NOT get any strenght bonus).
<br />
-97 Feats are underpowered/superspecialized and complicated.
<br />
-most of the 101 spells just suck.</p>
<p>UGLY:
<br />
-The vigilante is a character concept, that doesn´t work without a given concept for the discovery of his secret identity - it is nowhere mentioned what happens in that occasion!!!
<br />
-Chapter 3 is overcomplicated, yet useless.
<br />
-Verbal Dueling makes roleplay obsolete and is boring.</p>
<p>Resume:
<br />
Über-specific rules that are useless in a normal game and spells like "Greater detect magic" make it a nightmare being the DM.
<br />
The first Pathfinder Hardcover book that i would absolutely not recommend.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>GOOD:
<br />
-Metamorph Alchemist Archetype, Umbral Stalker Inquisitor Archetype, Cipher Investigator Archetype.
<br />
-Crime Inquisition.
<br />
-10 out of 107 Feats: Fleeting Spell, Improved Bravery, Measure Foe, Ranged Feint, Sliding Dash, Studied Spell, Stylized Spells, Swipe and Stash, Unimpeachable Honor, Walking Sleight.</p>
<p>BAD:
<br />
-The Vigilante Archetypes are confused, most are underpowered/unplayable ones only usable for NPCs (for example: the "Hulking Brute" - think Marvel´s Hulk - archetype which grows large but does NOT get any strenght bonus).
<br />
-97 Feats are underpowered/superspecialized and complicated.
<br />
-most of the 101 spells just suck.</p>
<p>UGLY:
<br />
-The vigilante is a character concept, that doesn´t work without a given concept for the discovery of his secret identity - it is nowhere mentioned what happens in that occasion!!!
<br />
-Chapter 3 is overcomplicated, yet useless.
<br />
-Verbal Dueling makes roleplay obsolete and is boring.</p>
<p>Resume:
<br />
Über-specific rules that are useless in a normal game and spells like "Greater detect magic" make it a nightmare being the DM.
<br />
The first Pathfinder Hardcover book that i would absolutely not recommend.</p>Marco Massoudi2016-05-18T05:19:44ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Solid Book (5 stars)Deadmanwalkinghttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-20T12:13:03Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p><b>Chapter 1:</b></p>
<p>This includes the new Vigilante Class and a wide variety of Archetypes for many Classes. It's a really solid chapter, all things considered. Vigilante's a good class in any game that actually uses social skills, and a really good one in any game that stays in populated areas for a while before moving on.</p>
<p>The archetypes are a mixed bag in terms of quality (as is inevitable when there are this many), with some definite duds in there, but there are a couple of Rogue Archetypes that actually make Rogues excellent skill characters, a Swashbuckler Archetype that trades Charmed Life for a more reliable bonus vs. mind effecting stuff, and good socially or urban focused archetypes for a lot of different Classes. The Vigilante archetypes are all solid, too (with one exception).</p>
<p>All told, very good chapter.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 2:</b></p>
<p>Where the Feats are. The Feats are mostly fairly niche, or focused on purely social stuff (and a disproportionate number have Persuasive or Deceitful as a prerequisite), but many are good for a specifically focused game on, well, Intrigue. But even for as more typical Pathfinder game, there are several very nice Feats included (a line that enhances Bravery, allowing it to apply to far more things, and allowing you to provide it to your allies is particularly notable).</p>
<p>Solid, if not remarkable chapter.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 3:</b></p>
<p>This chapter discusses how to actually run intrigue games, and includes various subsystems for Leadership, Heists, Influencing people, and the like. It also includes an amazing ten pages on how some of the game's more troublesome spells actually operate. That section would almost be worth the price of admission all by itself for many GMs.</p>
<p>Very good chapter indeed, probably the best in the book.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 4:</b></p>
<p>Focuses on social conflicts of various sorts. It includes an interesting subsystem for verbal dueling, for example. But the best bit is the ten pages on skill interactions, which clarify such things as when someone is unaware of an opponent, what you can get people to do by making them like you with Diplomacy, and what happens when you pass a Bluff check to say the sky is green. It's another invaluable bit for GMs everywhere.</p>
<p>Also very nice, probably the second best chapter.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 5:</b></p>
<p>The spells chapter. Seems like a pretty typical spells chapter, though obviously with an intrigue/social focus. </p>
<p>Looks to be perfectly acceptable as spell chapters go.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 6:</b></p>
<p>The Equipment chapter. The mundane equipment is cool enough (wrist-mounted dart launchers are neat), and some of the magic items are really nice, especially for GM use (the armor that makes you a duplicate of someone else, including for scrying purposes, is especially neat). </p>
<p>Nothing super exceptional for PCs, but a solid chapter.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p><b>Chapter 1:</b></p>
<p>This includes the new Vigilante Class and a wide variety of Archetypes for many Classes. It's a really solid chapter, all things considered. Vigilante's a good class in any game that actually uses social skills, and a really good one in any game that stays in populated areas for a while before moving on.</p>
<p>The archetypes are a mixed bag in terms of quality (as is inevitable when there are this many), with some definite duds in there, but there are a couple of Rogue Archetypes that actually make Rogues excellent skill characters, a Swashbuckler Archetype that trades Charmed Life for a more reliable bonus vs. mind effecting stuff, and good socially or urban focused archetypes for a lot of different Classes. The Vigilante archetypes are all solid, too (with one exception).</p>
<p>All told, very good chapter.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 2:</b></p>
<p>Where the Feats are. The Feats are mostly fairly niche, or focused on purely social stuff (and a disproportionate number have Persuasive or Deceitful as a prerequisite), but many are good for a specifically focused game on, well, Intrigue. But even for as more typical Pathfinder game, there are several very nice Feats included (a line that enhances Bravery, allowing it to apply to far more things, and allowing you to provide it to your allies is particularly notable).</p>
<p>Solid, if not remarkable chapter.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 3:</b></p>
<p>This chapter discusses how to actually run intrigue games, and includes various subsystems for Leadership, Heists, Influencing people, and the like. It also includes an amazing ten pages on how some of the game's more troublesome spells actually operate. That section would almost be worth the price of admission all by itself for many GMs.</p>
<p>Very good chapter indeed, probably the best in the book.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 4:</b></p>
<p>Focuses on social conflicts of various sorts. It includes an interesting subsystem for verbal dueling, for example. But the best bit is the ten pages on skill interactions, which clarify such things as when someone is unaware of an opponent, what you can get people to do by making them like you with Diplomacy, and what happens when you pass a Bluff check to say the sky is green. It's another invaluable bit for GMs everywhere.</p>
<p>Also very nice, probably the second best chapter.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 5:</b></p>
<p>The spells chapter. Seems like a pretty typical spells chapter, though obviously with an intrigue/social focus. </p>
<p>Looks to be perfectly acceptable as spell chapters go.</p>
<p><b>Chapter 6:</b></p>
<p>The Equipment chapter. The mundane equipment is cool enough (wrist-mounted dart launchers are neat), and some of the magic items are really nice, especially for GM use (the armor that makes you a duplicate of someone else, including for scrying purposes, is especially neat). </p>
<p>Nothing super exceptional for PCs, but a solid chapter.</p>Deadmanwalking2016-04-20T12:13:03ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): I really like this one. (4 stars)Mine all mine...don't touchhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-18T17:24:56Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I found the vigalante interesting and a fun class. I had no problems with any of the skills or feats but then i am not an optimized player so a feat thats not all that useful but fun doesnt bother me. The advise section was a bit vague and for an experienced player not as useful as i would haved. All in all i am happy with my purchase.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I found the vigalante interesting and a fun class. I had no problems with any of the skills or feats but then i am not an optimized player so a feat thats not all that useful but fun doesnt bother me. The advise section was a bit vague and for an experienced player not as useful as i would haved. All in all i am happy with my purchase.</p>Mine all mine...don't touch2016-04-18T17:24:56ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Feat taxes for skill uses make them less relevant, not more (1 star)BigNorseWolfhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-11T02:48:24Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I'm seeing a lot of what I was afraid of here: Rumormonger like options. Options that don't expand the use of skills, bur rather by their existence constrain the use of skills only to people with a feat or special ability- feats skill focused characters don't have to spare.</p>
<p>One of the reasons people complain about caster/skill disparity is that the expanding system has expanded the capabilities of magic. "Abilities" that already do what the skill does constrains them and makes just getting a spell to do it an even better option.
<br />
According to this book you need a feat (or usually two, with one a pretty bad feat tax) to</p>
<p>Call for a truce</p>
<p>Plant something on someone (which i've seen used in pfs more than taking something off of someone)</p>
<p>use knowledge geography to know where you're going with a tport</p>
<p>Use aid another at range instead of... whatever aid anothers range was before.</p>
<p>Get a sense of how your bluff is going</p>
<p>Figure out what relationship two people have</p>
<p>Bluff check to help out someone with a disguise</p>
<p>size someone up</p>
<p>Those are basic skill uses and making a socialite burn what few feats they have on them in a book that was supposed to help them be more relevant is patently absurd. Those uses should have been included as an expanded use of the system and then feats added to work within the new system to make them work better, or even added as alternate skill unlocks.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I'm seeing a lot of what I was afraid of here: Rumormonger like options. Options that don't expand the use of skills, bur rather by their existence constrain the use of skills only to people with a feat or special ability- feats skill focused characters don't have to spare.</p>
<p>One of the reasons people complain about caster/skill disparity is that the expanding system has expanded the capabilities of magic. "Abilities" that already do what the skill does constrains them and makes just getting a spell to do it an even better option.
<br />
According to this book you need a feat (or usually two, with one a pretty bad feat tax) to</p>
<p>Call for a truce</p>
<p>Plant something on someone (which i've seen used in pfs more than taking something off of someone)</p>
<p>use knowledge geography to know where you're going with a tport</p>
<p>Use aid another at range instead of... whatever aid anothers range was before.</p>
<p>Get a sense of how your bluff is going</p>
<p>Figure out what relationship two people have</p>
<p>Bluff check to help out someone with a disguise</p>
<p>size someone up</p>
<p>Those are basic skill uses and making a socialite burn what few feats they have on them in a book that was supposed to help them be more relevant is patently absurd. Those uses should have been included as an expanded use of the system and then feats added to work within the new system to make them work better, or even added as alternate skill unlocks.</p>BigNorseWolf2016-04-11T02:48:24ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Tone deaf advice and mechanics (1 star)Mort the Cleverly Namedhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-10T14:08:38Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Intrigue can be a difficult subject to deal with in Pathfinder and similar games. Unlike a story with a single author who can arrange just the right events, choices, and reveals for a compelling story a Pathfinder GM has to contend with a group of players with powerful abilities making their own decisions alongside tableside issues of player knowledge, time useage, and so on. Unfortunately, while Ultimate Intrigue occasionally mentions these things it does not interact with or address them, essentially explaining what intrigue IS without making it easier to pull off.</p>
<p>The advice segments use many pages on rambling descriptions not specific to the game, then vaguely handwave how to accomplish these events given the actual system. The Vigilante has a secret identity, but issues like the effects of being found out, changing identities, or even integrating it into a game are unexplored. When there is specific advice it is often terrible, for example fixing Leadership by making cohorts essentially NPCs you pay and increasing the cost of monster cohorts with "disruptive" abilities to the point they are nearly useless. Various spell "clarifications" are poorly thought out, for example <i>detect poison</i> firing off of low doses of things not normally considered poison, meaning things like salt or the arsenic in fruit would set it off. Heists are a difficult subject that have been done well by games like the Leverage RPG, but this book wastes tons of time describing them then handwaves the difficulties with a few sentences of vague advice.</p>
<p>The mechanics similarly have many issues. In the advice segments they have tables of DCs that appear completely ignorant of how Pathfinder scaling and divergence works. Various feats are required to do with skills what one would assume you could do anyway, limiting those skills for all players. Elsewhere there is advice on "calling for a ceasefire" that is so handwavey the feat may or may not be an improvement. Dual Identity is seemingly simple but actually very complex, with those complexities and anything but the most standard situation of "Bruce Wayne goes to a dinner party and changes costume in a closet" totally ignored.</p>
<p>I'm sure people will vehemently disagree with me, and I wish I could go into greater depth rather than a broad review like this. However it would take far more than a single review to get into the individual issues of underdevelopment, tone deafness, and mechanical failure of each part. I would recommend avoiding this book, and if you really want another ladle full of archetypes, feats, and magic just wait for it to be on an SRD.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Intrigue can be a difficult subject to deal with in Pathfinder and similar games. Unlike a story with a single author who can arrange just the right events, choices, and reveals for a compelling story a Pathfinder GM has to contend with a group of players with powerful abilities making their own decisions alongside tableside issues of player knowledge, time useage, and so on. Unfortunately, while Ultimate Intrigue occasionally mentions these things it does not interact with or address them, essentially explaining what intrigue IS without making it easier to pull off.</p>
<p>The advice segments use many pages on rambling descriptions not specific to the game, then vaguely handwave how to accomplish these events given the actual system. The Vigilante has a secret identity, but issues like the effects of being found out, changing identities, or even integrating it into a game are unexplored. When there is specific advice it is often terrible, for example fixing Leadership by making cohorts essentially NPCs you pay and increasing the cost of monster cohorts with "disruptive" abilities to the point they are nearly useless. Various spell "clarifications" are poorly thought out, for example <i>detect poison</i> firing off of low doses of things not normally considered poison, meaning things like salt or the arsenic in fruit would set it off. Heists are a difficult subject that have been done well by games like the Leverage RPG, but this book wastes tons of time describing them then handwaves the difficulties with a few sentences of vague advice.</p>
<p>The mechanics similarly have many issues. In the advice segments they have tables of DCs that appear completely ignorant of how Pathfinder scaling and divergence works. Various feats are required to do with skills what one would assume you could do anyway, limiting those skills for all players. Elsewhere there is advice on "calling for a ceasefire" that is so handwavey the feat may or may not be an improvement. Dual Identity is seemingly simple but actually very complex, with those complexities and anything but the most standard situation of "Bruce Wayne goes to a dinner party and changes costume in a closet" totally ignored.</p>
<p>I'm sure people will vehemently disagree with me, and I wish I could go into greater depth rather than a broad review like this. However it would take far more than a single review to get into the individual issues of underdevelopment, tone deafness, and mechanical failure of each part. I would recommend avoiding this book, and if you really want another ladle full of archetypes, feats, and magic just wait for it to be on an SRD.</p>Mort the Cleverly Named2016-04-10T14:08:38ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Flawed Masterpiece (4 stars)Cole Deschainhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-10T02:05:13Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Let me get the reason I knocked a star off of this out of the way first: There are a couple of little editorial snarls that ring a little false(LE Antipaladins not explicity mentioning swapping out Anarchic for Axiomatic weapon properties, Vigilantes not having Knowledge: Nobility as a class skill, that sort of thing), and a couple of missed opportunities (such an archetype for letting a Vigilante just use its social persona, rather than having to play dress-up and run around skulking in alleyways)</p>
<p>I love everything else.</p>
<p>I almost passed on this book- the Vigilante's concept didn't ding my trolley, and I have a lot of experience running political scenarios.</p>
<p>But boy would I have missed out- this book is loaded with options, some of them expected (The Cardinal, a politically-oriented Cleric archetype), some of them less so (The Dandy is a Court-centered Ranger with favored Nations rather than Enemies).</p>
<p>All told, easily the best fluff-light book I've picked up-for ANY system-in quite some time.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Let me get the reason I knocked a star off of this out of the way first: There are a couple of little editorial snarls that ring a little false(LE Antipaladins not explicity mentioning swapping out Anarchic for Axiomatic weapon properties, Vigilantes not having Knowledge: Nobility as a class skill, that sort of thing), and a couple of missed opportunities (such an archetype for letting a Vigilante just use its social persona, rather than having to play dress-up and run around skulking in alleyways)</p>
<p>I love everything else.</p>
<p>I almost passed on this book- the Vigilante's concept didn't ding my trolley, and I have a lot of experience running political scenarios.</p>
<p>But boy would I have missed out- this book is loaded with options, some of them expected (The Cardinal, a politically-oriented Cleric archetype), some of them less so (The Dandy is a Court-centered Ranger with favored Nations rather than Enemies).</p>
<p>All told, easily the best fluff-light book I've picked up-for ANY system-in quite some time.</p>Cole Deschain2016-04-10T02:05:13ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Fey contents (5 stars)Livenhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-06T08:43:24Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>This book is awesome for all of those who want to create more skill-monkey character than fighters. But the best adding of this product for me is the fey contents. Finally we have a fey eidolon for the unchained summoner, archetypes for druids, mesmerists, summonner, and feat for druid and ranger.
<br />
To put it into a nutshell: a must have for all fey-like character !</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>This book is awesome for all of those who want to create more skill-monkey character than fighters. But the best adding of this product for me is the fey contents. Finally we have a fey eidolon for the unchained summoner, archetypes for druids, mesmerists, summonner, and feat for druid and ranger.
<br />
To put it into a nutshell: a must have for all fey-like character !</p>Liven2016-04-06T08:43:24ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Surprisingly Awesome (5 stars)Ryskyhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-02T22:26:51Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I actually didn't have high hopes for this book, and so I didn't really bother with the Vigilante playtest.</p>
<p>But I like Paizo and what they produce so I kept my subscription, especially since I really liked Unchanined and Occult Adventures.</p>
<p>I was not disappointed.</p>
<p>Verbal Duels and the Vigilante class both look like they're gonna be a lot of fun, can't wait to try them out. Also hey, parkour stuff!</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I actually didn't have high hopes for this book, and so I didn't really bother with the Vigilante playtest.</p>
<p>But I like Paizo and what they produce so I kept my subscription, especially since I really liked Unchanined and Occult Adventures.</p>
<p>I was not disappointed.</p>
<p>Verbal Duels and the Vigilante class both look like they're gonna be a lot of fun, can't wait to try them out. Also hey, parkour stuff!</p>Rysky2016-04-02T22:26:51ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG) (5 stars)Gorbaczhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-02T12:15:18Z<p>I was kind of trying to type in a coherent review that went on about stuff like how this book is crazy cool for all the clarifications on how spells and skills work or finally having a LE antipaladin or how some of the archetypes are awesome. However, my wife is still running around the apartment giggling about how she can now finally play Sailor Venus in Pathfinder so well that's 10 bucks well spent there.</p><p>I was kind of trying to type in a coherent review that went on about stuff like how this book is crazy cool for all the clarifications on how spells and skills work or finally having a LE antipaladin or how some of the archetypes are awesome. However, my wife is still running around the apartment giggling about how she can now finally play Sailor Venus in Pathfinder so well that's 10 bucks well spent there.</p>Gorbacz2016-04-02T12:15:18ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): Very Disapointed (2 stars)Dragon78https://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-02T11:46:12Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I have to say that I haven't been this disappointed since Ultimate Magic. I will list the things I did like and the things I didn't.</p>
<p>The Good
<br />
-Section on various problem spells like divinations, enchantments, etc. The only thing missing was true seeing.
<br />
-Section on many skills was useful.
<br />
-A few good spells, feats, magic items, and archetypes.
<br />
-The Vigilante is a interesting concept.
<br />
-A Paladin archetype with some alignment flexibility.
<br />
-The artwork.</p>
<p>The Bad
<br />
-I like the idea of the Vigilante class but taking most of the options out of the base and making them prestige classes was a mistake. If we had most those options in the base class you get really interesting concepts. Plus making some abilities avenger or stalker only limited the choices of those prestige classes.
<br />
-Disappointed in many of the archetypes I was excited about. Especially the druid one that was originally going to be a spontaneous caster.
<br />
-Many archetypes seemed to be giving up more then they were getting.
<br />
-The design of the magical child didn't give it anything stereotypical of a magical girl except for transformation and a magical pet/guide. There is no way to get anything else like holy, healing, or purifying based powers or at will energy blast. Plus the loss of perception puzzles and annoys me very much.
<br />
-No feats that give extra skill points
<br />
-To many feats had a lot requirements.
<br />
-Still no polymorph spells to change into fey, oozes, constructs, and outsider subtypes other then elementals.
<br />
-The weird dislike of dex to damage feats continue with a slightly nerfed reprint and another specialty feat. Why not just a feat that lets you choose one weapon that is weapon finesse friendly.
<br />
-Wasn't impressed with most of the spells or feats.
<br />
-No archetype should lower classes skill points.
<br />
-I didn't care much for any of the optional rules but then again Pathfinder Unchained is the only book that there are stuff like that I like.
<br />
-No new racial feats, even one that adds +2 to one or two racial skill bonuses would have been nice.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>I have to say that I haven't been this disappointed since Ultimate Magic. I will list the things I did like and the things I didn't.</p>
<p>The Good
<br />
-Section on various problem spells like divinations, enchantments, etc. The only thing missing was true seeing.
<br />
-Section on many skills was useful.
<br />
-A few good spells, feats, magic items, and archetypes.
<br />
-The Vigilante is a interesting concept.
<br />
-A Paladin archetype with some alignment flexibility.
<br />
-The artwork.</p>
<p>The Bad
<br />
-I like the idea of the Vigilante class but taking most of the options out of the base and making them prestige classes was a mistake. If we had most those options in the base class you get really interesting concepts. Plus making some abilities avenger or stalker only limited the choices of those prestige classes.
<br />
-Disappointed in many of the archetypes I was excited about. Especially the druid one that was originally going to be a spontaneous caster.
<br />
-Many archetypes seemed to be giving up more then they were getting.
<br />
-The design of the magical child didn't give it anything stereotypical of a magical girl except for transformation and a magical pet/guide. There is no way to get anything else like holy, healing, or purifying based powers or at will energy blast. Plus the loss of perception puzzles and annoys me very much.
<br />
-No feats that give extra skill points
<br />
-To many feats had a lot requirements.
<br />
-Still no polymorph spells to change into fey, oozes, constructs, and outsider subtypes other then elementals.
<br />
-The weird dislike of dex to damage feats continue with a slightly nerfed reprint and another specialty feat. Why not just a feat that lets you choose one weapon that is weapon finesse friendly.
<br />
-Wasn't impressed with most of the spells or feats.
<br />
-No archetype should lower classes skill points.
<br />
-I didn't care much for any of the optional rules but then again Pathfinder Unchained is the only book that there are stuff like that I like.
<br />
-No new racial feats, even one that adds +2 to one or two racial skill bonuses would have been nice.</p>Dragon782016-04-02T11:46:12ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): One of the Best (5 stars)Shasazarhttps://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-02T03:12:35Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>This book couldn't have been better aimed at my group if the devs knew us personally. It is a cornucopia of social class options and systems as well as one of the best value for money books in the Pathfinder line.</p>
<p>I can't wait to put this all to use when Crimson Throne gets its big hardcover later this year.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>This book couldn't have been better aimed at my group if the devs knew us personally. It is a cornucopia of social class options and systems as well as one of the best value for money books in the Pathfinder line.</p>
<p>I can't wait to put this all to use when Crimson Throne gets its big hardcover later this year.</p>Shasazar2016-04-02T03:12:35ZPathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG): One of the Best Supplements Yet (5 stars)Pyromancer999https://paizo.com/products/btpy9j6p?Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Ultimate-Intrigue2016-04-01T01:42:16Z<p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Just finished up reading my PDF copy of this. This book is pretty amazing. It gives a lot of support for mystery-type(and of course, political intrigue) games, and also has a bunch of other interesting things.</p>
<p>Other Interesting Things:</p>
<p>-Fey Trickster and Enimga archetypes for the Mesmerist have transformed it from a class that I dislike to one that I would love to play, at least for these archetypes. I really like fey stuff and the Enigma is really good at what it does.</p>
<p>-Cipher is as glorious as I was given to believe. Really, really good for stealth builds.</p>
<p>-Urushiol + Skinshaper = Best Druid combo forever.</p>
<p>-Secret Broker definitely takes the cake for most ingenious mechanics for an archetype in this book, with how it deals with the exchange of secrets.</p>
<p>-As a student who spends a lot of time hiding in the library, the library portion was nothing short glorious. </p>
<p>Most of the material in this book was pretty great, but the stuff in the spoiler was what stuck out to me the most. This was a really well-made book, and I had somewhat high expectations when I started to read it. It was a privilege to read and I can't wait to use it in my next game.</p><p><b>Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue (PFRPG)</b></p><p>Just finished up reading my PDF copy of this. This book is pretty amazing. It gives a lot of support for mystery-type(and of course, political intrigue) games, and also has a bunch of other interesting things.</p>
<p>Other Interesting Things:</p>
<p>-Fey Trickster and Enimga archetypes for the Mesmerist have transformed it from a class that I dislike to one that I would love to play, at least for these archetypes. I really like fey stuff and the Enigma is really good at what it does.</p>
<p>-Cipher is as glorious as I was given to believe. Really, really good for stealth builds.</p>
<p>-Urushiol + Skinshaper = Best Druid combo forever.</p>
<p>-Secret Broker definitely takes the cake for most ingenious mechanics for an archetype in this book, with how it deals with the exchange of secrets.</p>
<p>-As a student who spends a lot of time hiding in the library, the library portion was nothing short glorious. </p>
<p>Most of the material in this book was pretty great, but the stuff in the spoiler was what stuck out to me the most. This was a really well-made book, and I had somewhat high expectations when I started to read it. It was a privilege to read and I can't wait to use it in my next game.</p>Pyromancer9992016-04-01T01:42:16Z