Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide

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Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide
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Ready to go beyond the basics? Expand the limits of what's possible with the Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide! This 272-page Pathfinder Second Edition rulebook contains exciting new rules options for player characters, adding even more depth of choice to your Pathfinder game! Inside you will find brand new ancestries, heritages, and four new classes: the shrewd investigator, the mysterious oracle, the daring swashbuckler, and the hex-slinging witch! The must-have Advanced Player's Guide also includes exciting new options for all your favorite Core Rulebook classes and tons of new backgrounds, general feats, spells, items, and 40 flexible archetypes to customize your play experience even further!

The Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide includes:

  • Four new classes: the investigator, oracle, swashbuckler, and witch!
  • Five new ancestries and five heritages for any ancestry: celestial aasimars, curious catfolk, hagspawned changelings, vampiric dhampirs, fate-touched duskwalkers, scaled kobolds, fierce orcs, fiendish tieflings, industrious ratfolk, and feathered tengu!
  • 40 new archetypes including multiclass archetypes for the four new classes, Pathfinder favorites like the cavalier, dragon disciple, shadowdancer, and vigilante, and brand-new archetypes like the familiar master and the shield-bearing iron wall!
  • New class options for all twelve classes from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook including champions of evil, genie and shadow sorcerers, zen archer monks, rogue masterminds, spellcasting rangers, and more!
  • Even more exciting new rules, from rare and unique backgrounds to investigative skill feats, from spells and rituals like reincarnate and create demiplane to new items including special wands with unusual effects and exciting potions worthy of a witch's cauldron.

ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-257-0



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Player's Guide... but ADVANCED

5/5

It gave us four beloved classes (some being reworked as time of writing) with unique flavor and original mechanics, showing what insane feats (pun intended) the system is capable of reaching. Excellent resource for GMs and players alike.


Very good

5/5

Now more or less replaced by Player Core 1 and 2. Was very good though.


4/5


APG meets Expectations as it Concludes the Original Vision of PF2

5/5

The Advanced Player's Guide is the capstone piece to the original vision for Pathfinder Second Edition. The PF2 CRB was a whopping 640 pages and Paizo still had more content ready to go in it that they just could not release due to space issues. Everything that was left out was designated to be released over the next year in either the Lost Omens line of books or in the Advanced Players Guide. Things that were not quite fully fleshed out for the original release were then worked out. Four additional classes were put through a playtest and are featured in the APG; the Investigator, Oracle, Swashbuckler, and Witch. Five new ancestries are in the APG while three more were released in the Lost Omens Character Guide in 2019.

One of the new concepts in PF2 is that of Versatile Heritages. Instead of having separate ancestry categories for Aasimar, Tiefling, Changling, Dhampir, and Duskwalker, they are now what is called a versatile heritage. These modify the ancestry choice the player made for the character via the heritage selection. This is a very interesting concept as it provides many additional options for players. These five are just the first of multiple waves of versatile heritages which will be released over time by Paizo.

For those who have been desiring more options for characters, the APG delivers. The four new classes have their dedications for multiclassing along with 38 new archetypes. In addition, each of the 12 original classes gained some new options to choose from as did each of the original ancestries. Not all of the options are as viable as other options, but much of that will depend on the theme of a campaign and how GMs choose to allow players to select archetypes. I can envision some GMs designating some archetypes as free additional choices for players in that they can take one with no additional feat penalties because they give added depth to the campaign's theme such as the dandy or celebrity. Other GMs could emphasize select archetypes like the gladiator as a free archetype for their campaign's theme. The potential for some very interesting campaign themes definitely exists with these archetypes.

One of the things I was watching for in this book was the dreaded power creep. I do not see it present. None of the archetypes seems to overwhelm any of the original classes in terms of raw power while instead they augment them. This was a goal of Paizo from the beginning and it seems to have been met. The APG does what it was intended to do. It expands the options available to players at the initial creation of their characters and as those characters level up over time. Perhaps the best part of that is the APG continues to expand upon building characters as concepts and not as a collection of soulless numbers. While the numbers are important to determining how well a character can do something, the concept behind the character matters more. PF2 put the role back into roleplaying and the APG continues that vision.

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Can't-miss book for anyone at the table

5/5

Especially, and this is obvious, the Advanced Player's Guide is a terrific resource for players--but that doesn't mean GMs don't have a lot to gain from it!

Just on the strength of classes and ancestries, this book is about 150% the size of the core rulebook. Every existing class gets a major boost of options and feats and the same goes for existing ancestries. Adding in four new classes and five new ancestries on top of that is an amazing boon. True, some get more (or better) options than others, but I would say just on character creation alone, this book well beyond justifies its price point.

And that's just the base.

Add in universal heritages, which seem mechanically reasonable but almost unreasonably bursting with flavor, lore, or character development hooks. Add in the massive chunk of archetypes, which enables so many different nuances of character concepts without always landing on the somewhat clunky multiclassing rules. Add in a shot in the arm to spell lists, item lists, skill and general feat lists, and so on?

I just don't know that more needs to be said. This book is bursting with great content--and it's guaranteed to turn the heads of pretty much any player with at least a couple of its options!


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Paizo Employee Webstore Coordinator

9 people marked this as a favorite.

Announced for July! Product image and description are not final and may be subject to change.

Silver Crusade

12 people marked this as a favorite.

Evil champions yussss


2 people marked this as a favorite.

That looks like a lot more than 5 ancestries: Aasimar, tiefling, duskwalker, kobold, orc, catfolk, ratfolk, tengu, dhampir, changeling? That's at least 10!

Designer

36 people marked this as a favorite.

The planar scions (aasimar, duskwalker, tiefling), changelings, and dhampirs are heritages you can take with any ancestry, giving you far more options overall for your character than if they were a separate ancestry. So 5 of each is 10!


8 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

KOBOLD ALARMS ACTIVATED!

Ahem. I mean, Huzzah!

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Placeholder pic is from final encounter with Alaznist huh :D

Sovereign Court

Mark Seifter wrote:
The planar scions (aasimar, duskwalker, tiefling), changelings, and dhampirs are heritages you can take with any ancestry, giving you far more options overall for your character than if they were a separate ancestry. So 5 of each is 10!

This sounds awesome!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I’m really excited for this! My players and I have definitely been looking forward to PF2 getting fleshed out with more options!


Very excited about the news, and certainly looking forward to the book !!!!
Swashbuckler has always been my kind of hero!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Mark Seifter wrote:
The planar scions (aasimar, duskwalker, tiefling), changelings, and dhampirs are heritages you can take with any ancestry, giving you far more options overall for your character than if they were a separate ancestry. So 5 of each is 10!

It was suggested on Discord that the heritages and ancestry's be grouped in their respective groups in the description. Otherwise it gets a little confusing.


Mark Seifter wrote:
The planar scions (aasimar, duskwalker, tiefling), changelings, and dhampirs are heritages you can take with any ancestry, giving you far more options overall for your character than if they were a separate ancestry. So 5 of each is 10!

*Happy Dance*

Preordered!

ALL ABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOARD!!


I was gonna chime in with something specific, but it is all just too much. There is just so much there. I hope we get the Bigby's Hand spells and more shadow spells. I'm glad we have they confirmed my favorite, Create Demiplane, though. I am excited.

Liberty's Edge

7 people marked this as a favorite.

Vigilante and Cavalier confirmed as Archetypes? Excellent. Ditto Evil Champions, Zen Archer Monks, and Spellcasting Rangers being things again.

The Mastermind Rogue as a major thing worth talking about is effectively new, and that also sparks my interest quite a bit. An Int-related Racket should be very interesting to examine and possibly compare to Investigator...

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16, 2011 Top 32

11 people marked this as a favorite.

Can I be a neutral champion ala the Neutral Planet from Futurama? I have no strong feeling either way.

Grand Lodge Contributor

6 people marked this as a favorite.
Deadmanwalking wrote:

Vigilante and Cavalier confirmed as Archetypes? Excellent. Ditto Evil Champions, Zen Archer Monks, and Spellcasting Rangers being things again.

The Mastermind Rogue as a major thing worth talking about is effectively new, and that also sparks my interest quite a bit. An Int-related Racket should be very interesting to examine and possibly compare to Investigator...

What's all this racket?


4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Deadmanwalking wrote:

Vigilante and Cavalier confirmed as Archetypes? Excellent. Ditto Evil Champions, Zen Archer Monks, and Spellcasting Rangers being things again.

The Mastermind Rogue as a major thing worth talking about is effectively new, and that also sparks my interest quite a bit. An Int-related Racket should be very interesting to examine and possibly compare to Investigator...

I'm curious if the Mastermind Rogue will be the foil to the Investigator, rather than overlapping with it. They had some class archetypes like that in Ultimate Intrigue, right?


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Meanwhile, I'm rolling a series of Will saves at work to not scream in excitement with each sentence I read of the description.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Shadowdancers! YEEEES, and its an archetype- in 5e I was stuck with a Monks-Only version!

Zen Archer Monks... I wonder if that's feat support, or a class archetype for them? Either way, it makes me happy to know that we're getting weapon-monk support!

If Mastermind Rogues have an int inclination (and it would be weird if they didn't) they're going to be drowning in skills... but that just means they can take a bunch of specific lores instead!

The classes of course are cool and appreciated, but I'm trepiditious about what direction some of them will be taken in after seeing the feedback on the forums. I'm sure it'll turn out alright though.

My players will appreciate the inclusion of non-good champions, and I'm vaguely excited for Shadow Sorcerers as well.

Last but not least, is the presence of the ancestries and heritages, I'm really stoked to see the Orc stats that presumably follow the physical/mental boost pattern, and to be able to apply Tiefling/Aasimar/etc to other ancestries- this is really going to enhance the character building experience, and flesh the f$~* out of our homebrew world.


3 people marked this as a favorite.

Super curious to see what sneaks in here for Barbarians and Fighters more than anything else. I'd also love to see a Gloomblade/Soulknife/"you make your weapon" archetype, and having Vigilante back is such a treat.

The ancestries alone make me wanna grab this.


Definitely looks like a must purchase

Also makes me wonder whether I should delay any 2E game until this comes out .

If my 1E AP gets back on track (2 books to go) then the prospect of an “enforced” 2E delay is offset by allowing this book to be included !

Liberty's Edge

Oh man I hope that this reworking of them means tiefs will be Society legal again.


4 people marked this as a favorite.

Can we get alternate casting rules for all casters, please? Vancian magic blows.

Silver Crusade

3 people marked this as a favorite.

A complete alternate system overhaul like that is more likely to be found in something like the Gamemastery Guide.


The-Magic-Sword wrote:
If Mastermind Rogues have an int inclination (and it would be weird if they didn't) they're going to be drowning in skills... but that just means they can take a bunch of specific lores instead!

IMHO if Mastermind Racket allows INT Key Stat, it's plausible it could allow INT bonus to increase existing proficiencies, still within normal level limits. Starting INT could only enable Expert, with later INT boosts potentially adding ~2 more max proficiency skills beyond norm for Rogue, but # of Skill Feats is the same, and heavy INT focus detracts from core stats including non-INT skill modifiers. Right now Archetypes allow bonus skill increases, but this would bring it "in house" (and not stack, since level limits still apply).

I do like the anti-Investigator vibe, which I can also see being option for Investigators themselves. This reassures me on my worry Investigator may step on Rogue's toes too much, if they have specific anti-Investigator Racket, I feel like they are "on the job" for that concern.

This also reminds me of an idea I had for general skill Feat allowing 1-action usage of Knowledge skills to gain advantage or debuff VS target like CHA skills, based on "understanding" their instinctual movements etc. Since it wouldn't stack with everything, doesn't seem problematic,and at opportunity cost of other skill feats, mostly an additional 3rd 1-action option for INT-based characters not thrilled with Recall Knowledge.

Quote:
I'm really stoked to see the Orc stats that presumably follow the physical/mental boost pattern

I'm really don't understand excitement at predicting the most formulaic implementation. I think diverging from the pattern actually holds most promise here, and isn't necessarily that disruptive, if one considers +2 STR/CON -2 DEX with DEX undermining CON somewhat. I once suggested a further divergence in having TWO flaw stats (DEX and INT) but with modification to Class/Key Stat stage adding additional boost to STR/CON, but using normal "only one boost per stat per stage" rule, so if Class boosts STR (or CON) the additional Orc bonus could only apply to other stat, for same max (with 18 vs 16 CON only amounting to +1 half of boost tiers, anyways).


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I would like to see if there's confirmation from Mark or someone else whether it's just Evil Champions in this book, or if there'll also be Neutral ones as well. Even hearing a no would help me out grasping this.

Overall, super SUPER happy and cannot wait for the release next year!


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Ok, this was already on my buy list. Now its on I want it tomorrow list.


5 people marked this as a favorite.
Xethik wrote:
Deadmanwalking wrote:

Vigilante and Cavalier confirmed as Archetypes? Excellent. Ditto Evil Champions, Zen Archer Monks, and Spellcasting Rangers being things again.

The Mastermind Rogue as a major thing worth talking about is effectively new, and that also sparks my interest quite a bit. An Int-related Racket should be very interesting to examine and possibly compare to Investigator...

I'm curious if the Mastermind Rogue will be the foil to the Investigator, rather than overlapping with it. They had some class archetypes like that in Ultimate Intrigue, right?

Moriarty and Sherlock coming in the same book?

Dope.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Quandary wrote:
The-Magic-Sword wrote:
If Mastermind Rogues have an int inclination (and it would be weird if they didn't) they're going to be drowning in skills... but that just means they can take a bunch of specific lores instead!

IMHO if they do this it seems likely they would allow applying INT bonus skill to increase existing proficiencies, not exceeding normal level limits for increases that isn't overly powerful. It mostly amounts to more Expert skills in endgame, with later INT increases adding 1 more max proficiency skill beyond norm for Rogue. I do like the anti-Investigator vibe, which I can also see being option for Investigators themselves.

This also reminds me of an idea I had for general skill Feat allowing 1-action usage of Knowledge skills to gain advantage or debuff VS target like CHA skills, based on "understanding" their instinctual movements etc. Since it wouldn't stack with everything, doesn't seem problematic and at opportunity cost of other skill feats.

Quote:
I'm really stoked to see the Orc stats that presumably follow the physical/mental boost pattern
I'm really don't understand excitement at predicting the most formulaic implementation. I think diverging from the pattern actually holds most promise here, and isn't necessarily that disruptive, if one considers +2 STR/CON -2 DEX with DEX undermining CON somewhat. I once suggested a further divergence in having TWO flaw stats (DEX and INT) but with modification to Class/Key Stat stage adding additional boost to STR/CON, but using normal "only one boost per stat per stage" rule, so if Class boosts STR (or CON) the additional Orc bonus could only apply to other stat, for same max (with 18 vs 16 CON only amounting to +1 half of boost tiers, anyways).

Basically, the promise of one physical stat, one mental stat, especially with the third boost- has to do with the nature of the asymmetrical balance of different ancestries for the existing classes.

It widens the thematic field- since no one has Strength/Constitution by default it means that ancestries aren't as severely overspecialized to be good at one thing (in the case of the orc, hitting things- since it would give them a de facto casting stat) and that other ancestries (which would have had a physical/mental balance anyway)are still competitive for those builds as well.

Also that suggestion is... complicated, at best.

Really, I'm looking forward to it because when orcs get a boost to Wisdom (spoilers, but you can reverse engineer it from their monster stat block) it means that they'll make wonderful clerics and druids, in addition to wonderful fighters and barbarians.


Ezekieru wrote:
I would like to see if there's confirmation from Mark or someone else whether it's just Evil Champions in this book, or if there'll also be Neutral ones as well.

I'm pretty sure if it included Neutral Champions, they would have said so. Just Tenets of Evil will require quite a bit Feat and Focus spell support, nearly equal to full Class (considering they probably want to match APG expansion of Good Champion options), so I'm not surprised they wouldn't do Neutral at the same time.

Although with Duskwalker Ancestry being in the book, a Pharasmin/Soul Cycle Neutral Champion Tenet/Cause would have made alot of sense. "Just Neutral" is unsatisfying as core element, so I might guess there will be very few common Neutral Tenet Feats and abilities, with more focus on specific Cause (e.g. Soul Cycle, Druidism) compared to Champions of Good.

Designer

10 people marked this as a favorite.
VestOfHolding wrote:
Meanwhile, I'm rolling a series of Will saves at work to not scream in excitement with each sentence I read of the description.

Aww, thanks!

This is only my second time writing one of these descriptions and I had some help from Jason too, so it's great to hear that it's having the desired effect!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

zen archer monks! I like that a lot! and i hope they can bane enemies from another plane with his arrows!


The-Magic-Sword wrote:

Basically, the promise of one physical stat, one mental stat, especially with the third boost ... means that ancestries aren't as severely overspecialized to be good at one thing ... and that other ancestries (which would have had a physical/mental balance anyway)are still competitive for those builds as well.

Really, I'm looking forward to it because when orcs get a boost to Wisdom (spoilers, but you can reverse engineer it from their monster stat block) it means that they'll make wonderful clerics and druids, in addition to wonderful fighters and barbarians.

As far as I can tell, the stats I proposed would make perfectly wonderful Orc Druids. CON is useful to everybody, and STR is also universally relevant, Druid Medium Armor also requires some to avoid penalties. On reflection though, I do think my proposal is too good over-all, just not especially for fighters/barbarians/etc whose array would be similar anyways. Because while I counterposed DEX agaisnt CON, STR (enabling armor) can supplant DEX re: AC and INT is easiest penalty to ignore if not a Key Stat, since -1 skill is just minor hit to versatility (and 1/3 skills are INT based, STR only having 1). Really only +INT +DEX Wizards would be bad off, wanting to reverse both bonus and flaw, although still better off with CON bonus than trying to negate "conventional" pattern with -INT +STR that didn't include +DEX.

Even using +STR +WIS and -INT -DEX as base would tend to allow too many "universally relevant" bonuses with penalties that are weak or solvable via other means (heavy armor). The "extra flaw, extra bonus" model might be workable for other stat combos that avoid universal synergy, such as INT and CHA bonus (weak general relevance) and STR/DEX/CON flaws (strong relevance). But even if that might be balanced, it could still be "too complicated" as basic element of character building, as you say.

Sorry for derail.

Did anybody say... Ratfolk!!!!?!?!?

Sovereign Court

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I’m surprised and glad vigilante is coming so soon, excellent.


The Sash-Ringing, the Trash-Singing, Mash-Flinging, The Flash-Springing...

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Delirious2019 wrote:
The Sash-Ringing, the Trash-Singing, Mash-Flinging, The Flash-Springing...

Luckily we have an Investigator to take care of urban legends.

Silver Crusade

9 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Kobold vigilantes? Sold.

Silver Crusade

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Plushies gonna solve all the mysteries!

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Delirious2019 wrote:
The Sash-Ringing, the Trash-Singing, Mash-Flinging, The Flash-Springing...

I don't get the reference .-.

Silver Crusade

CorvusMask wrote:
Delirious2019 wrote:
The Sash-Ringing, the Trash-Singing, Mash-Flinging, The Flash-Springing...
I don't get the reference .-.

It involves hamburgers underwater.

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Even more confused now ._.;


16 people marked this as a favorite.
CorvusMask wrote:
Even more confused now ._.;

It's from Spongebob, an early episode about an urban legend called "The Hash-Slinging Slasher."

Folks, when someone doesn't get a reference, doubling down on being obtuse isn't fun for anyone. C'mon.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Familiar master archetype was exactly the sort of thing I was hoping we'd get- take a thing, and focus on it. I'm curious if the dedication will grant a familiar, opening it up to many classes, or improve an existing one, focusing on witches and gnomes/human wizard/sorcerers.

Cool to see vigilante included as an archetype- PF1's version was very good at blending in another class's flavor, so it makes sense.

I'm looking forward to my rogue being able to create demiplanes.

Very curious what the evil champions play out like!

More ancestries (or planar heritages) are the biggest request for my group, so getting five of each is great.

Bloodlines, yesss…

And, of course, the new classes!

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Oh oki so thats why underwater bugers


2 people marked this as a favorite.
James Martin wrote:
Can I be a neutral champion ala the Neutral Planet from Futurama? I have no strong feeling either way.

I would love to see this.

Dark Archive

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Xenocrat wrote:
keftiu wrote:
CorvusMask wrote:
Even more confused now ._.;

It's from Spongebob, an early episode about an urban legend called "The Hash-Slinging Slasher."

Folks, when someone doesn't get a reference, doubling down on being obtuse isn't fun for anyone. C'mon.

If only there were an interconnected series of computers with vast distributed databases that was easily searchable via a copy and paste to find related discussions and images about a confusing text string.

Alas.

You jerk, I googled them individually and all it resulted in was some youtuber's called 88 Fingers Edward musics :p And I didn't do enough sleuthing to realize their music is apparently inspired by cartoon shows

Dark Archive

4 people marked this as a favorite.

20 of the 40 PF1 classes covered in the first year. Possibly even more through archetypes not mentioned........ XD


2 people marked this as a favorite.
John R. wrote:
20 of the 40 PF1 classes covered in the first year. Possibly even more through archetypes not mentioned........ XD

Gotta speedrun through the PF1E content to get to the truly original stuff for the next 10 years!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I am on fire about the duskwalker, genie bloodline, and Iron wall. Would love to see the Barbarian options (Hoping for a no-magic and a storm style barb, but really I'd be happy just to know XD) I can't even let myself think about the 30-some archetypes!


Along with others here I'm hoping for a Neutral Champion Order... other than one with "Druish" tendencies I can't think of another neutral champion other than maybe a "Knight of Meh".

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