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Pathfinder Player Companion: Antihero's Handbook (PFRPG)

4.30/5 (based on 3 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Antihero's Handbook (PFRPG)
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Join the Moral Minority!

Not all adventurers are exemplars of heroism, righteousness, and justice, but that doesn't mean they can't get the job done. With Pathfinder Player Companion: Antihero's Handbook, you'll find new rules options for characters on the shady side of morality. Whether you need a less-than-heroic background to justify your character's flaws, are looking to join an antiheroic organization, or seek ways to play corrupt or cowardly adventurers, this book has just what you're after. Featuring new archetypes, alchemical items and discoveries, and magic items, Antihero's Handbook is the perfect guide for anyone not willing to stick to the straight and narrow.

Inside this book, you'll find:

  • New archetypes, including a vigilante who changes identities even more radically than most, a rogue who handles jobs discreetly, and a gunslinger who talks big to keep his enemies off their game.
  • A new bloodrager bloodline, corruption, and phantom emotional focus to help bring an adventurer's dark past to bear in the present with still darker power.
  • New drawbacks, feats, poisons, and even cursed items that antiheroic adventurers can use to further their questionable causes, often at the expense of their reputation—or their allies!

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: 978-1-60125-973-8

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

Hero Lab Online
Archives of Nethys

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4.30/5 (based on 3 ratings)

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Excellent book, no regrets about this purchase!

5/5 —

I bought this book for the Ex-Paladin Archtype. Upon reading it, I rolled an Ex-Cleric! Solid player book, review below more eloquently and fulsomely addresses its contents. For me: I am confident it was a good purchase.

Pretty good

4/5 —

The amazing:
* Ex-classes: Finally more depth to failing a class' tenets than 'get atonement as soon as possible'!
* More vigilante talents in the tradition of Ultimate Intrigue: Combat Expertise without Int 13 and a Cleave focused talent
* Cursed items: Become overly talkative, turn into a compulsive kleptomaniac or hit your allies with electricity - great ideas, at least for GMs

The good:
* The introduction and backgrounds show a multitude of interesting approaches to creating an antihero
* Drawbacks are mostly vicious, but always creative
* Traits tend to be weak, but there are some interesting ones - and some of both groups are creative
* Seven 'flawed teamwork' feats: Think betrayal feats from Champions of Corruption, but both sides can abuse their partner for better results, for example treat them as conduit for touch spells
* Ex-paladin archetype (vindicative bastard): Focuses more on supporting her allies and has an pretty cool capstone (desintegrates a foe who took out one of her allies!)
* Creative social talents for the vigilante, such as pretending to be clumsy to become a better pickpocketer
* Vigilante archetype (splintersoul): Works more effectively with two very different alignments, can multiclass with paladin etc. for a softer code of conduct, and use startling / frightening / stunning appearance after a quick identity change
* Suffering phantom is very thematic
* Catalyst corruption is a nice tool for a GM, as the temptation of evil comes up a lot
* Investigator archetype (ruthless agent) is basically a crossbreed with the interrogation side of an inquisitor - very thematic
* Alchemist discoveries (grow spines, build bombs quickly and throw sand bombs) are creative and seem useful

The solid:
* Five regular feats, three about combat, standout is maybe a stacking bonus on AOO as long as you miss (!) with them
* Hunter archetype (colluding scoundrel) focuses on making someone else the tank
* Ex-cleric archetype (channeler of the unknown) is maybe weaker as a plain cleric, but flavorful: Kill your enemies in the name of the Outer Gods! (or similar entities)
* Ex-druid archetype (planar extremist): Gets an eidolon (without evolutions) and bloodrage and an aura - well, not more patchwork than the normal druid, I guess
* Ex-monk archetype (sin monk): Nice idea, get a bunch of different bonuses for sin points (which replace ki points), and literally burden others with your sins; the capstone is weird though (after coming back from death you turn into a NPC?!)
* Bloodrager bloodline (martyred) is ok, but not exciting
* Antiheroic organizations are described shortly, somewhat inspiring for PCs
* Rogue archetype (discretion specialist) is odd: Quite good at social skills (including talking people out of their memory) and prohibiting a foe's retreat, but sacrifices two talents (at important levels) to be able to dress / remove a corpse

The bad:
* Gunslinger archetype (blatherskite) seems unfocused (I might miss a reference though)
* Description of heroic organizations for antiheroes - with too much emphasis on the organizations themselves (at least if you did read a lot about them already) and with not much more than 'well, they need antiheroes for the rough tasks'

So overall it's a pretty good book with a lot of options, it just lacks a WOW effect and might be handicapped by its topic - I got the impression players often prefer the pure hero of holy light or the bad*** fiend. Quite some similarities to Agents of Evil - which is also a pretty good book.

A few good options

4/5 —

This Companion has a few good options, like a lot of Companion Books tend to have, and some cool flavor text + decent art.

Nothing stands out as super amazing, so it's a 4 out of 5 for me.

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Maybe the bloodrager bloodline will be the vigilante bloodline:)
Silver Crusade
5 people marked this as a favorite.

I wouldn't mind seeing an Evil/Villianous bloodline. Not a fiend one, your family was just composed of people who were that f@#&ing Evil.

Maybe the Bloodline and Corruption could be the same (there's precedent, as one book already did a series of Oracle curses that were also corruption)?
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Rysky wrote:
I wouldn't mind seeing an Evil/Villianous bloodline. Not a fiend one, your family was just composed of people who were that f&+*ing Evil.

I could actually see that.....not really any difference than the idea of doing a Destined bloodline really :P

A good counter to the destined bloodline would be a fated bloodline. You know like bad luck, misfortune, a negative fate, etc.

Getting a few new drawbacks? I'm interested in seeing what those are like. Hopefully their descriptions don't get forgotten as they were for the 'Spymaster' book.

It would be nice to expand the drawbacks list.
2 people marked this as a favorite.

back cover of the elemental master's handbook had a ad for the antiheroes handbook. intrigue by this sentence, "find the perfect anti-heroic background for your character, Breathe life into a fallen paladin or ex cleric, or learn how a antihero might fall into a more reputable organization."

do you think we'll be getting special rules to play a paladin that has fallen? (not anti paladin) or are they going to release a neutral or chaotic alternate class/archetype of it?

"Breath life into a fallen paladin"?...wouldn't that be a antipaladin?
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dragon78 wrote:
"Breath life into a fallen paladin"?...wouldn't that be a antipaladin?

Not necessarily. There are plenty of reasons why a paladin would fall without it resulting in an antipaladin.

Silver Crusade
4 people marked this as a favorite.

A playable fallen Paladin as an archetype would be a very welcome addition and fill a niche that is not currently occupied
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

A Mostly Fallen paladin?
4 people marked this as a favorite.
DeciusNero wrote:
A Mostly Fallen paladin?

Maybe they're a Stumbled Paladin.

5 people marked this as a favorite.

"Paladins? I can tell you about the Paladins. See, once when I was young I was a Paladin. Upholder of the law, the good, the king and the temples, that was me. Until I found out that the king is a sadisic prick, the temples are more intested in making money than helping people, the laws are there to keep the people down under the heel of the aristocracy and good? Good is what get you killed fighting the monsters in the wilderness instead of fighting the monsters in the castles."

"Paladins are either willfully blind to what is truly going on or simply fools on a fool's errand. As I was neither blind nor a fool I left their company and now do what I need to do to survive. So for enough money, I'll work for you. And maybe I get to live another day."

if it's a archetype, i wonder if it would allow people to play paladins of chaotic deities such as Caydan or desna. every GM i played with has said if i pick a deity as a paladin, he/she has be LG or NG. i would like to be a chaotic paladin without the chevalier prestige class (still a great option though)
2 people marked this as a favorite.

Sir Andrew,

Chaotic paladins are Chaotic Warpriests...
1 person marked this as a favorite.

Well technically chaotic paladins are antipaladins;)
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dragon78 wrote:
Well technically chaotic paladins are antipaladins;)

only if they're also evil

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I can't wait for the eventual murder hobo's handbook;)
8 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Dragon78 wrote:
I can't wait for the eventual murder hobo's handbook;)

You mean the Core Rulebook?

I've already seen like 20 different murder hobos... Trust me, they aren't paladin material.
3 people marked this as a favorite.

Would love to see some callous archetypes for Monks, Brawlers and Fighters!
8 people marked this as a favorite.
DeciusNero wrote:
A Mostly Fallen paladin?

"It just so happens that your friend here is only mostly fallen. There's a big difference between mostly fallen and completely fallen. Now, mostly fallen is slightly empowered. Now, completely fallen, well, with completely fallen, there's usually only one thing that you can do."

"What's that?"

"Go through his clothes and look for loose change."
Lantern Lodge

anyone with a subscription have the PDF yet?
Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber
Ronin_Knight wrote:
anyone with a subscription have the PDF yet?

Shipping doesn't start until tomorrow.

4 people marked this as a favorite.
David knott 242 wrote:
Ronin_Knight wrote:
anyone with a subscription have the PDF yet?

Shipping doesn't start until tomorrow.

♪♫ Oh the Sun will come out, Tomorrow...♪♫

Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

They started shipping a lot earlier than I would have thought. I've got my PDF and time to kill. Fire away.
Silver Crusade
Kvantum wrote:
They started shipping a lot earlier than I would have thought. I've got my PDF and time to kill. Fire away.

What's the Bloodrager Bloodline like, If I may ask?

Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Spoiler:
The Martyred Bloodline.
Feats and spells focused around endurance.
* You can imbue your melee attacks with either good- or evil-aligned damage
* You gain fire resistance and a bonus to saves vs. fear or pain effects.
* You can reroll a save during a bloodrage.
* You can take a penalty to your AC to grant an ally a bonus to an ability score.
* Your martyred ancestor watches over you at all times, making you harder to kill and easier to raise even if you are killed.

Kvantum wrote:
They started shipping a lot earlier than I would have thought. I've got my PDF and time to kill. Fire away.

Any details on the new Vigilante archetype?

And thanks in advance.
Dark Archive
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Emily D. wrote:
Kvantum wrote:
They started shipping a lot earlier than I would have thought. I've got my PDF and time to kill. Fire away.

Any details on the new Vigilante archetype?

And thanks in advance.

Spoiler:
The Splintersoul. Do you want to be able to play really split identities? Like A Paladin/Vigilante multiclass that's LG in their social identity but N in Vigilante identity? As long as you don't actively commit an evil act as a Vigilante, then go for it! You don't have access to Paladin abilities as a Vigilante, but otherwise, it works now.

Any interesting bits for Monks, Brawlers or unarmed builds in general?

Any race-related things?
Silver Crusade
Kvantum wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Cool!

Thankies for answering :3
Dark Archive
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Secret Wizard wrote:
Any interesting bits for Monks, Brawlers or unarmed builds in general?

Spoiler:
There's the Sin Monk archetype, for fallen ex-Monks. You slowly corrupt and begin to wallow in your vices, and eventually if you die, you come back as a sinspawn.
Silver Crusade

Of i can ask another, is there anything for Barbarians?
Kvantum wrote:
Secret Wizard wrote:
Any interesting bits for Monks, Brawlers or unarmed builds in general?
** spoiler omitted **

That sounds fantastic! Do you know if it's Unchained compatible?

Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Secret Wizard wrote:
Kvantum wrote:
Secret Wizard wrote:
Any interesting bits for Monks, Brawlers or unarmed builds in general?
** spoiler omitted **
That sounds fantastic! Do you know if it's Unchained compatible?

Unfortunately, no, it's not Unchained-compatible by a strict reading of the text.

Now you could easily just swap out Ki powers and class features at the appropriate levels, but strictly RAW it is not compatible.
Kvantum wrote:
Secret Wizard wrote:
Kvantum wrote:
Secret Wizard wrote:
Any interesting bits for Monks, Brawlers or unarmed builds in general?
** spoiler omitted **
That sounds fantastic! Do you know if it's Unchained compatible?

Unfortunately, no, it's not Unchained-compatible by a strict reading of the text.

Now you could easily just swap out Ki powers and class features at the appropriate levels, but strictly RAW it is not compatible.

Bummer but thanks!

Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Rysky wrote:
Of i can ask another, is there anything for Barbarians?

Spoiler:
There are certainly a few of the Flawed feats that might be of benefit, and the previously-mentioned Vigilante archetype might allow for a Barbarian social identity with a Lawful-aligned vigilante identity.

What are the new cursed items like?
Kvantum wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Of i can ask another, is there anything for Barbarians?
** spoiler omitted **

Oh neat, Thankies!

... flawed feats ?

anything for paladin or fallen paladin?
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Master Pugwampi wrote:
David knott 242 wrote:
Ronin_Knight wrote:
anyone with a subscription have the PDF yet?

Shipping doesn't start until tomorrow.

♪♫ Oh the Sun will come out, Tomorrow...♪♫

♪♫ Yesterday, all these spoilers seemed so far away...♪♫

I think Kvantum is taking a nap now but I'm sure he'll be back soon! Or else we'll get answers from our always knowledgeable, Skeld.
Dark Archive
5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Sir_Andrew wrote:
anything for paladin or fallen paladin?

Sorry all, yes, had some other duties to attend to.

There's an amazing fallen paladin archetype, the Vindictive Bastard. It kind of blends in some Inquisitor touches while replacing everything "paladin-y".

Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:

Oh neat, Thankies!

... flawed feats ?

Yep. Basically, something bad has to happen to you then you get to do something cool in response. Bloody Mess lets you use the blood from a heavy wound or critical hit to Intimidate the creature that attacked you, for example.

Silver Crusade
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Kvantum wrote:
Sir_Andrew wrote:
anything for paladin or fallen paladin?

Sorry all, yes, had some other duties to attend to.

There's an amazing fallen paladin archetype, the Vindictive Bastard. It kind of blends in some Inquisitor touches while replacing everything "paladin-y".

Oooooooooo, we even share the same name and everything!

Silver Crusade
Kvantum wrote:
Rysky the Dark Solarion wrote:

Oh neat, Thankies!

... flawed feats ?

Yep. Basically, something bad has to happen to you then you get to do something cool in response. Bloody Mess lets you use the blood from a heavy wound or critical hit to Intimidate the creature that attacked you, for example.

Oooooo, neat.

Dark Archive
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Luthorne wrote:
What are the new cursed items like?

Things like the Bloodbite sword, kind of a Vicious weapon that you can never turn the effect off from, nor can you ever use a different weapon; or the Overcharged Staff, a Staff of Electricity that has a nasty habit of its spells also leeching out to affect your allies as well...

Any spells of note, Kvantum?
Dark Archive
2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Thomas Seitz wrote:
Any spells of note, Kvantum?

Spoiler:

None, and not just of note. I mean, none at all. Lots of new alchemy options, though, and some nice new magical items, including a coin every single Desnan worth their starknife will want to get their hands on. Crooked gamblers, too.
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