Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Wilderness

The Shifter--oh what a pot-stirring that class has created! I like it. Is it perfect? No, but it is more or less what I thought it would be and I like it. It has a Beorn-like feel to it, for me rather than a Master of Forms. Being perhaps the first shifter in true fantasy adventure (from Tolkien), I think being Beorn-ish is what the Shifter should be. Thank you, Paizo! Is it going to replace the rather over powered Druid? Uh, no. If you like the Druid, stick with the Druid. I like the Shifter, thank you. With a total of 12 pages devoted to this, it is ridiculous to base a review entirely on this part of the book.
Plenty of fun wilderness-ish archetypes--my favorite being the Star Watcher (Investigator), whose alchemy is altered by creating starcharts for extracts and reading them to activate as well as starknife goodness!
I love the Hazards section. I grin at the thought of using those when I GM. The Wilderness Exploration rules are intriguing and useful, but the main reason for purchase? That might be for the 100+ possible animal companions and familiars! Fantastic!

For an explanation of how I use the five star review method, see my entry on So What's the Riddle Like Anyway? HERE.

Ultimate Wilderness is the latest entry in Paizo’s line of Ultimate guides for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Each book of this line tries to expand the PFRPG ruleset covering a specific area to such a degree that further hardcover books are rendered unnecessary; hence the “Ultimate” part of the title. In this case we have a book covering wilderness adventuring, the next most common area for RPG adventures outside of dungeons. As such it seems odd that we have had to wait eight years for this volume; I would have expected it a lot sooner.

The first chapter covers Wilderness Heroes, giving us three new PC races and a new class—the Shifter. The Gathlain is the first race, which were first introduced in the Advanced Race Guide as an example of what could be built with the Race Builder ruleset and then later as an entry in Bestiary 4. Small, fey creatures with wings made of wood, the gathlain are an intriguing and unique creation. Here they get a full six page overview including alternate racial traits, favored class options, archetypes, equipment, feats, magic items, and spells.

I especially like the Fey Prankster rogue archetype which grants the gathlain control over plants to aid in trapping and tricking their opponents and the ability to cast an illusion stealing the appearance of one creature or object and swapping it with another. This fits in with classic faerie tales and fey tropes, taking what was once an exercise in rule-testing and creating something deep and memorable.

The second race is the Ghoran, a race that appeared initially in the Inner Sea Bestiary and then later as an entry in Bestiary 5. As a PC race they have been modified slightly, removing some plant immunities so they work better within the rules. They are essentially humanoid flower people and they get a five page spread similar to the gathlain. I like how the leafshifter shifter archetype allows for topiary forms instead of actual animal forms when shapeshifting. Rather cool!

Vine Leshys are a new leshy designed specifically to be a PC race. Like the modified ghorans, they lack the primary plant immunities to keep balance with other PC races. They get a full six page write up and are full of neat little leshy type items like a feat that lets you heal using sunlight and leshy spells that let you grasp items and creatures with an extendable vine or summon a swarm of tiny leshys to overwhelm your foes.

After the three new races come the new class, the shifter. The shifter is a Full BAB martial class with the ability to draw upon aspects of animals to enhance her combat abilities. She augments her lack of weaponry (her weapon proficiency list is small and select) and armor (limited to non-metal, light and medium plus shields except tower shields) with claw attacks that increase in damage over time and an AC bonus based off Wisdom like a monk. Indeed, the shifter seems to be a hybrid monk/ranger with a limited druidic wild shape as well (starting at 4th level).

The core of the class seems to stem from using the powers from an animal aspect to enhance their combat strikes and—over time—add more aspects to further improve their melee combat abilities. For example, a shifter gets one animal at first level and might choose bear as her aspect. She would then get four minutes a day at first level (3+level minutes per day) enhancing her Constitution score by 2. She would use these in one minute increments, so she would likely have four encounters a day with one extra hit point and a +1 to Fort saves.

At fourth level, she could use wild shape to become a dire bear. At fifth level she would gain a second aspect—let’s say owl. For eight minutes a day in one minute increments, she could gain a +4 bonus on Stealth or the +2 bonus to her Constitution. She would also be able to wild shape into a Medium sized owl. At 8th, these abilities go up: +4 bonus to Con and +6 bonus on Stealth.

At 9th the Shifter gains chimeric aspect, allowing her to use two minor aspects simultaneously, in this case both the bonus to con and the stealth bonus. This adding continues on creating a versatile combatant over time.

What the shifter is NOT is a class whose primary ability is shapeshifting. Although an important aspect of the class, it only becomes versatile around 10th level, where the shifter has three aspects and can wild shape four times a day. If you are looking for a flexible shapeshifter at 1st level, this isn’t it.

Overall, I like the class. While limited in shapeshifting, it is a full BAB martial with some very unique combat options. With the right feats and magic items, it could very easily fulfill the role of melee combatant in a party while retaining a good range of skills (4 + INT) and unique natural world connectivity.

The second chapter covers archetypes and class options. There are eighty-five archetypes in this section, covering most of the base classes to some extent. There are some excellent ideas here; I especially like the Brawler archetypes as they trade out only a few abilities each to gain the flavour that is being looked for. The Venomfist only loses close weapon mastery and knockout to gain toxic unarmed strikes—they do a bit less damage in return for poisoning opponents! This could be combined with the feral striker archetype—-which loses martial flexibility for gaining a shifter aspect. A third level snake aspect venomfist using snake style combat would have bonuses for and against attacks of opportunity with poison strikes that can do bludgeoning or piercing damage. That’s just great!

My favorite is the oozemorph—a shifter archetype that is much more flexible in shapechanging abilities, being a person who becomes an ooze that can take humanoid form for initially short periods of time. This has some strong limitations for the first three levels, but eventually becomes much more versatile in shapechanging appearance than the core shifter—including the ability to appear as just about anyone!

Many of the archetypes are updated reprints form the Player Companion line of products, so will be familiar to those who have copies of the various issues in question. By placing these in the PRD (eventually) they open them up to more use for the general public, so I don’t mind the reprints. Others do not like this practice, so judge for yourself.

In addition to the archetypes we have a large number of other options with ties to the natural world: six alchemist discoveries, seventeen barbarian rage powers, a new cavalier order (Order of the Green, dedicated to the Green Faith), two new druid domains (Erosion and Vermin), the Wood Element for kineticists (updated and repaired from its initial appearance in Occult Origins), four slayer talents, four witch hexes, six witch patrons, two psychic disciplines (Ferocity and Symbiosis), a shaman spirit (Wood), an eidolon subtype (Plant), and four warpriest blessings based on natural disasters. All in all, a massive amount of material to use in creating wilderness based adventurers.

The third chapter covers new feats, most of which run the gamut from meh to really good, as per usual. I see feats as a means of customizing a character to fit the vision a person has for it in their head, so I like the selection and variety presented. As always a feats usefulness is mostly dependent upon how often the circumstance in which it will be useful comes up. For some designs and play styles, what is useless to one player may be critical to another.

Some of the more interesting feats work with rules found later in the book, such as Cultivate Magic Plants under Item Creation and the Natural Poison Harvester feat chain which makes harvesting poisons from natural settings easier and with better results. There are four more combat styles with a nature focus and five new teamwork feats.

Chapter four is the heart of the book for me: Mastering the Wild. Here we have the additional rules and flavour text for really bringing wilderness adventures to life and separating them from dungeons and urban outings. The first section codifies exploration and allows a GM to prepare a wilderness area for the party to explore and quickly without having to become overburdened by every rock and bush. It works much like the research rules from Ultimate Intrigue, but with more danger and physical challenges.

We are then given an overview of the First World which is almost all flavour text. I like this, as there is enough information out there mechanically for the fey that what we really need is a thematic overview for writing adventures involving the First World. They do include a series of hazards and haunts connected to the FW to help with mood setting.

Next up are rules for foraging and salvaging, expanding on the basic survival skill roll. These really are straight forward rules without much complication that add a level of verisimilitude to the process of finding supplies and equipment in the wilderness.

The overview on the Green Faith is much like the First World: lots of flavour as mechanics are already established. It establishes the various druidic orders that make up the Faith as well as its hierarchy. Details on the roles various adventure classes play in the faith and how alignment ties in are also discussed. Two green faith archetypes accompany the section: one for druids and one for Inquistors. Pretty much everything a GM needs to incorporate the Green Faith into their adventures without much fuss. Nice!

Then comes a section on harvesting poisons from the natural world and crafting antitoxins. It comes with a list of fourteen natural poisons, their effects, and how they can be found in the wilderness. This can be used either as a skill challenge for a group looking for a specific poison or as a list of new poisons for use in the game.

Hazards and Disasters make up the next section and cover everything form common brambles to volcanic eruptions with thin ice, earthquakes, and fording rivers in between. These are great additions to those found in the Core Rulebook and may be the most useful six pages in the book for running wilderness adventures. I particularly like the vampire orchids, whose pollen can put you to sleep so they can drain your blood! A nasty twist of the field-of-flowers-making-you-sleepy encounter.

Herbalism is then covered with a series of eighteen different herbs, where they can be found, how they can be prepared, and what their uses are in game. Simple rules for gathering and preparing are presented which wouldn’t slow down the game much. It could—like the natural poisons—simply be used as a list of available new items of course.

Six pages are then spent on explaining how to use spells already in the game effectively in wilderness settings. This is in many ways a strategy guide on how to use magic to make exploration and travel easier. Even simple spells like create food and water and purify food and drink are shown to go a long ways toward making survival much easier.

Trophies and Treasures is a ruleset that covers making money from animals and things you might find in a wilderness setting. A simple set of skill rolls can transform a monster without treasure into a treasure itself! The section comes with monster types and subtypes and what items may be “harvested” for fun and profit.

A more robust weather system covers seven pages, allowing a GM to make more believable weather patterns should he wish to expand on what is in the CRB. I myself prefer usisng weather as appropriate to the mood of the story, but for others who want a more sandbox generic experience these tables and rules will be of great use. There is also a section on severe weather, covering the mechanics and effects a party would have to deal with should they find themselves caught in a weather event.

The last section of chapter four deals with traps built by survivalists and trappers using natural items. A list of ten traps ranging from CR 1 to CR 5 are presented, including classics like the deadfall and spring snare.

Chapter five covers animal companions and familiars, and it is quite extensive. It lists magic item slots for various animal body types, a list of fifty-two animal companions (including grizzly bears—which are eventually Large sized!—plant, and vermin companions), sixteen animal companion archetypes, nine variant familiars (same stats as an already established familiar but with flavour changes), forty-six familiars (favorites: ravenous tumbleweed, giant tardigrade, and razor fern), fourteen familiar archetypes, thirty-one companion tricks, and twelve companion feats.

There is something there for almost everyone who has an animal friend. A lot of the familiars and rules come from Familiar Folio and Animal Archive, but as I stated above, I regard moving this from the companion line to the main line as a good thing.

Chapter six covers a list of new spells for the game with a wilderness bent. Some are reprints, some are new, but all follow the standard addition of magic found in most books. A few of the spells—such as snowball—are updated and corrected on the way in. Also included at the very end of the chapter are five nature based rituals. I love rituals; they feel more like magic to me than regular spells in the game do. I really like return to dormancy; although designed for kaiju, it could work quite well on the spawn of Rovagug like the Tarasque.

The final chapter covers wilderness adventuring gear and magic items. They include carrier backpacks (for carrying you cat familiar and the like around along with your gear), a cooler chest (for perishables), and a goblin fishing lure (why fish would want to eat something that looks like a goblin head is anyone’s guess).

The coolest addition to magic items are Magic Plants, cultivated from seeds, roots, and cuttings by spellcasters for their magical properties. There are sixteen plants in all, each one having a magic effect from the use of its leaves, bark, or fruit. I like the helping hands vines, whose hand shaped leaves help people trying to scale the walls they are growing against. Neat visual image!

Final Thoughts: I like this book a lot. There are loads of new character options for the main line of the game (admittedly, some of these were available in Golarion specific soft-cover expansions earlier), great sets of simple rules for expanding on wilderness adventuring, and many new items and animals to interact with. The overviews of the First World and Green Faith are solid and will help build an atmosphere appropriate to the setting and creatures involved. The shifter may disappoint those who wanted it to be something other than it is, but it seems a solid new character class to me. All in all a great book and a must for wilderness themed adventures in the Pathfinder game. Five out of Five Stars.

Nice to get some consolidation of books in.