All the trickery and wild power of the fey are yours to command with Pathfinder Player Companion: Legacy of the First World. Let the wilderness inspire your heroes with a spectrum of new ways to play fey-touched characters, along with new powers for classes seeking to strengthen their bonds with nature. Choose whether you draw your might from the vitality of the land, the brutality of vicious beasts, or even your faith in the fey realm's inscrutable masters, the Eldest.
Inside this book, you'll find:
Character options for worshipers of the enigmatic Eldest, allowing members of all classes to manifest their god's influence in unexpected ways.
New racial options for both gnomes and gathlains, two player-character races closely tied to the First World.
A host of new archetypes, feats, magic items, spells, and other fey-inspired character options!
This Pathfinder Player companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but it can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-941-7
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Legacy of the First World is a 32-page, full-colour entry in Pathfinder's Player Companion line of softcover books. As the title indicates, it covers the First World, which in the official campaign setting of Golarion, refers to a sort of "first draft" of reality from which the fey originate. I've never really gotten much into the fey during my years playing Pathfinder, but there's some intriguing stuff in this book and I could imagine trying to work more into my games. As with too-many books in this line, Legacy of the First World is essentially a collection of several (15) two-page sections assigned to several (10) different freelancers, with the predictable result that there's some wide disparities in writing quality, consistency between sections, and understanding of what's makes for useful gameplay mechanics. In other words, there's certainly some good material in this book, but it has to be sifted out of plenty of dross. The interior artwork is pretty solid, and I like the bold and vibrant use of color. You can judge the cover art for yourself--it looks pretty cool to me (it's reproduced without text as the inside back cover).
As for those two-page sections, they're a real hodgepodge of new spells, archetypes, magic items, character options, and more. There's no way I can cover everything, but I'll try to hit the high- (and low-) lights quickly.
* "Introduction": Along with a bit of background about the First World and a Rules Index, this section discusses specific regions of Golarion that have been particularly influenced by fey, like Darkmoon Wood in Andoran. Each of the region descriptions is accompanied by a new regional trait, and they're all really good--useful and flavourful. I thought the Witchmarket was a fantastic concept (a travelling fey merchant caravan that buys and sells particularly unusual commodities like the buyer's middle name or the ability to see dogs!). I'll surely work it in somewhere.
* "Fey Origins": This section adds new fey-themed alternate racial traits for all of the Core races. Some of them are pretty powerful, like a constant detect magic for elves. There are also a few new story feats (a concept originated in Ultimate Campaign), but frankly what you get for accomplishing the goals is rarely worth it.
* "Legacy of Gnomes": Here we get an alternative racial trait allowing gnomes to play as a Bleachling, and two related feats (pretty mild in effect). There's a new alchemist archetype called the First World Innovator, which looks interesting: fewer bombs, but more variations on what they do. There's also some new alchemist discoveries and alchemical items.
* "Legacy of Gathlains": These humanoid plant-flesh creatures receive several new alternate racial traits (good and balanced), favored class options, and some new feats (hydroponic adaptation is good, but the rest aren't).
* "Touched by the First World": A new "fey-touched" creature template is added here, but the best parts are a new "Pranked" curse for oracles and a "Whimsy" oracle mystery--both are great! There's a new archetype for bards ("First World Minstrel"), but it's pretty forgettable.
* "Fey-Scarred": The theme here is how to fight evil fey, and the section introduces several new alternate racial traits. There's also a really good new hunter archetype ("Feykiller") and some new spells.
* "Scions of the Traitor": This section is for worshippers of Count Ranalc, an interesting member of The Eldest (powerful fey figures). It contains a new slayer archetype called "Ankou's Shadow" which is potentially super-powerful (but with little flavour) and a new rogue archetype called "Shadow Scion" (looks solid).
* "Grown of the Feasting Flower": The Green Mother (another of The Eldest) is the theme of this section. There's a new shaman archetype called "Gasping Vine", but I found it mostly duplicative of existing options. A new witch archetype called "Seducer" isn't bad. There are also several new hexes and spells--thirsting entanglement could be good.
* "Beneath the Towering Twins": A weird member of The Eldest called Imbrex is the premise for a new summoner archetype called the "Twinned Summoner" and . . . I don't get it. There are also some additional evolutions and new teamwork feats, with "conduit casting" a standout.
* "Illuminated by the Lantern King": This section contains what's probably my favorite archetype in the book, the "Fey Prankster" for bards. I could see a lot of creative fun to be had with this one. The section also has a new bloodrager bloodline called "shapechanger" and a separate sorcerer bloodline with the same name but different effects.
* "Servant of the Melancholy Lord": I really like the feel of the Lost Prince, the member of the The Eldest around which this section is themed. There's a new oracle archetype called "Hermit" which doesn't really fit well, but I like the oracle curse "Reclusive." A new psychic discipline, "Sorrow", is okay, but the 13th level ability doesn't really fit the theme. An interesting new feat type for characters who usually adventure solo is introduced, which is a smart idea--there are a lot of play styles out there, and one GM and one PC is a quite-common one.
* "Born of the Three": Magdh the Three is The Eldest here, and the section contains a well-designed new monk archetype called "Nornkith." There are also several interesting new spells and items.
* "Devotee of the Hooded": Followers of Ng the Hooded may be interested in a new cavalier archetype called "Hooded Knight" (frankly, it's not that good), but a new cavalier order called "Order of the Blossom" is an attractive, interesting option.
* "Child of the Water Lord": Followers of a serpentine beast named Ragadahn could choose a new barbarian archeype called "Deepwater Rager", which is useful on land and water and comes with an awesome ability called "Spiraling Charge". There's also an okay new skald archetype called "Serpent Herald" and some new rage powers and bardic masterpieces.
* "Timekeeper of the Many": Last up is a wizard archetype called "Chronomancer". I was really excited to read this and it does turn out to be kinda good, but it needs some more gonzo (yet somehow not unbalancing) stuff to really be memorable. The section has some new time-themed spells, of which, temporal divergence could be fun.
And that's the book. Like I said, a real mix of stuff. It'd be worth a buy if you plan on having a fey-themed character or you're a GM planning on running a campaign that involves the fey. Otherwise, it's not a must-have.
I think this is the most would-play archetypes (plus mysteries, bloodlines, etc.) I've seen in a player's companion. That's combined with good traits and interesting story feats! A few racial options are a bit much (elf getting constant detect magic or bonus AC versus chaotic creatures is a nuisance for the GM, and gathlain kineticists do half again as much damage as other kineticists), but other than that, things are very nice.
Traits! Two particularly notable ones, but all good. Intelligence has been stealing charisma's thunder thanks to traits, so grab one of these to make your sorcerer as good at identifying spells as a wizard- or go for something fun, like crafting. Retry a hex against somebody once per day? Don't mind if I do.
Archetypes! There's an alchemist that gets a pool of points to spend on random effects (or rerolls for bad results). Very nice for anybody who wants a character with some gambling built in. Two new oracle curses, a new mystery, and an archetype! The mystery is great, with very cool and useful abilities that don't rely on charisma-to-everything. Swift action invisibility! Rod of Wonder effects! Move-action teleportation! Speaking of invisibility, there's a nifty bard archetype that trades out the usual inspire courage for handing out some fey abilities. The rogue will love having swift-action invisibility handed out! It's a versatile list. Ankou's Shadow is the first archetype to really make me want to play a slayer. At-will modified Mirror Image using your shadow, and as you level up, your shadow-selves become more and more independent. Oh, and the swift-action See Invisibility is really nice to have available too. Rogue with built-in darkvision and short-range teleportation is nice. Seducer is a charisma-based witch (still prepared casting) with hexes that get bonuses against anybody attracted. Twinned Summoner is a really classy option to have your eidolon fake being you. Nice to have an unkillable body-double! There's a very serious chunk of material dedicated to making this work even better with an unchained summoner. Psychics get a sorrow discipline, complete with their own private demiplane of solitude. Chronomancer is a wizard that can get back some spell slots when enemies made that save to negate or had good spell resistance, along with options for save rerolls and eventually more flexibility on contingencies.
Shapechanger bloodline for sorcerer gets its own section. It starts off with the underwhelming arcana of +1 CL to personal transmutations, and moves on to what seems like a mildly spiced-up version of the boring and generally useless first level "grow claws" power. Third level, though, is where it really hits. Once per day, boost a minute-per-level personal polymorph to ten minutes per level. That pushes it up into useful for social encounters, or a couple of combat encounters! Then at ninth, it becomes an HOUR per level. Since that stacks with extend spell, by the time you get Form of Dragon I at 12th, you can live your life as a dragon. The other abilities are really cool, too- transmuting yourself into an instantaneous AoE of claws and teeth, modifying your polymorphs with different movement forms, and a solid capstone in the vein of aberration bloodline. New favorite bloodline.
Spells! I don't care if it's not terribly effective- turning somebody's skeleton into jagged cold iron is awesome. Always love getting more fungal spells. The chronomancy spells are the star of the show, though, providing balanced time magic spells for a range of levels.
Feats! Hate teamwork feats? Have the opposite! 0-level Selective Spell metamagic… that only excludes you. Increase your channel's healing… when you exclude everybody else. Spend rage for extra attacks… so long as allies keep their distance. They're pretty cool, actually.
After the combination train wreck/dumpster fire that was Legacy of Dragons, I was completely prepared to write this book off as a part 2 to the Legacy of Trash. Consider my complete surprise, then, when I found that this book was not only good, it was great. Just about everything in here oozes with Fey style, and mechanically just about everything holds their own. The only notable exceptions are the Seducer Witch, which unfortunately falls into the realm of "surprise villain archetype" due to how its class features work based on seduction, and the First World Innovator Alchemist, which is one archetype that I'm still debating over. The rest of the book is rock solid though.
Some great alternate racial traits for core races, as well as some flavorful love for Gathlains that really play up their natural symbiosis.
A Cha focused witch that can hand out some hefty party bonuses if your party is willing to get frisky.
A flavorful slayer archetype, and a Shadowdancer-lite rogue archetype
some cool teamwork feats (Conduit Casting is begging for a blaster Sorc/Magus wombo combo)
some neat oracle options in the hermit archetype and reclusive curse, and new Loner feats give some use to team oriented abilities if the party isn't interested (Skalds in a party that doesn't want strength can get a larger bonus, for example)
a cool and flavorful monk archetype that tragically lacks an unchained version
Stealth horseshoes with 1/day invisibility. Your charge target literally won't know what hit it.
A time manipulation focused wizard and a host of potent temporal spells
All in all, quality work. Nothing's particularly stronger than existing content, but that's alright because it's interesting and makes you want to play it, and you won't feel weaker for it.
Some of the content is pretty bad though, and not including an unchained version of a monk archetype is pretty unforgivable, so it loses a star on that, but still, would recommend
The Jabberwocky and Linnorms are still technically dragons, though I wonder if there are any other types of dragons unique to the first world or at least were created/evolved there.
Two things:
1. Jabberwocky is the name of a poem, the creature cited in the poem is called The Jabberwock:
"Beware The Jabberwock, my son...
And as in uffish thought he stood The Jabberwock with eyes of flame...
And hast thou slain The Jabberwock, come to my arms, my beamish boy..."
Although, I don't know what the Pathfinder calls the creature in the Beastiaries, but I expect they keep to the name for the creature and not confuse it with the title for the poem.
2. I don't know about in Pathfinder, but if you want fairies, dragons, and fairy dragons, I recommend reading the Fablehaven book series by Brandon Mull, it is 5 books long (and dragons don't really enter the mix until book 4), and it is technically written for children, but it is one of my favorite series to this day, so adults can definitely enjoy it!
Come to think of it we don't anything about fairy dragons in the Pathfinder setting. It would be nice for them to get a revisited/unleashed treatment one day.
1. Jabberwocky is the name of a poem, the creature cited in the poem is called The Jabberwock:
"Beware The Jabberwock, my son...
And as in uffish thought he stood The Jabberwock with eyes of flame...
And hast thou slain The Jabberwock, come to my arms, my beamish boy..."
Although, I don't know what the Pathfinder calls the creature in the Beastiaries, but I expect they keep to the name for the creature and not confuse it with the title for the poem.
2. I don't know about in Pathfinder, but if you want fairies, dragons, and fairy dragons, I recommend reading the Fablehaven book series by Brandon Mull, it is 5 books long (and dragons don't really enter the mix until book 4), and it is technically written for children, but it is one of my favorite series to this day, so adults can definitely enjoy it!
Never watched the show or could get into the original movie.
Some alternate versions of the fey sorcerer bloodline would be cool, a first world/fey themed oracle mystery, some fey based witch hexes, etc.
An alchemist archetype that replaces bombs with pixie dust, replace mutagen with alterself/polymorph potion/elixir, and replaces alchemy with spell casting(druid or sorcerer/wizard spell list) would be cool.
Hm! Should tie in nicely to the Campaign Setting book. :)
so what does that have to do with the caompaign setting book is it just a reprint but that doesnt fall inline with the campaighn
This isn't a reprint, but I presume they thought that Legacy of the First World would go nicely with the semi-recently released The First World, Realm of the Fey campaign setting book.
I presume they thought that Legacy of the First World would go nicely with the semi-recently released The First World, Realm of the Fey campaign setting book.
Exactly right. You don't need one product to find the other valuable, but the more you know about the Eldest, for example, the more closely tied some of the Legacy of the First World rules will seem.
I really hope that the swashbuckler will get a fey/first world themed archetype.
Some fey/first world themed feats would be cool especially if they grant fey themed abilities like low-light vision, DR2/cold iron, SR, spell powers, etc.
I hope there will be some fun stuff for the wood kinetiicst element, sorcerer/bloodrager bloodline, oracle mystery/curse, witch hexes, and other interesting options for classes that are not related to feats, spells, archetypes, and magic items.
Dragon, the Feyborn alternate racial trait from Heroes of the Wild grants low-light vision. The rest of your suggestions could be worth a feat, perhaps two.
I am more hoping for some form of fey based spells and/or fey focused summoning spells.
In the First World campaign setting book they already gave a list of alternative fey creatures for the summon monster and summon nature's ally spells. For Pathfinder Society they ruled that you could take these alternative creatures if you worship one of the Eldest and give up the outsiders normally on those lists. I'm looking forward to filling the battlefield with leprechauns.
I really enjoyed the campaign setting book and look forward to this one.
While it is correct, they actually first appeared in Advanced Race Guide.
I know, I thought about linking it as well, but it has considerably less information about them, so I figured it was probably best to just provide the most recent source available on the PRD.
That's an awesome cover... My two favorite classes are in it! =O
Legacy of Dragons was an interesting book, and introduced a way to bring draconinc flavor and traits into our characters without the need of them being actual dragons.
I'm really happy to see the fey type getting a Legacy book right after the dragons, as this is my second favorite type right after dragons. Ironical, right? Luck me! *-*
I hope the second book is just as useful and filled with flavorful options just as the first.
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