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Pathfinder Chronicles: Seekers of Secrets—A Guide to the Pathfinder Society (PFRPG)

4.50/5 (based on 4 ratings)
Pathfinder Chronicles: Seekers of Secrets—A Guide to the Pathfinder Society (PFRPG)
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Note:This product has been superseded by the Pathfinder Society Field Guide.

At long last, the gates of the Grand Lodge have been thrown open, offering an inside glimpse of the Pathfinder Society! Packed with information about the most famous group of explorers on Golarion, this 64-page sourcebook is a must for any campaign that involves the Society, whether as employers or rivals.

    Inside, you’ll find:
  • How to join the Pathfinder Society, and the rights and responsibilities of Society members
  • The origin and secrets histories of the Pathfinder Society
  • A detailed gazetteer covering the Pathfinder Society’s reception and activities in every nation of the Inner Sea Region
  • Detailed maps and descriptions of the Grand Lodge of Absalom and the Society’s newest lodge in Magnimar, plus profiles of 15 high-ranking and notorious Pathfinders
  • Thirteen new kinds of mystical ioun stones, three new variants for each type, and rules on how to implant these bizarre magic items into living flesh
  • Rules for the mysterious compasses known as wayfinders, and how their ancient magic interacts with ioun stones
  • Three new Pathfinder prestige classes, along with sample characters for each
  • New feats and spells to help characters uncover ancient secrets—and protect their own!

This book is fully legal for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Paizo’s massive world-wide organized play campaign. To learn more about Pathfinder Society Organized Play, visit paizo.com/pathfindersociety!

By Tim Hitchcock, Erik Mona, James L. Sutter, and Russ Taylor

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-178-7

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

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

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4.50/5 (based on 4 ratings)

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Great Flavour for PFS GMs and PCs

5/5 —

Seeker of Secrets is all about the in-world Pathfinder Society: its history, ethos, leaders, lodges, and more. It's thus a great way for GMs to add more depth and description for the scenarios they run, while players can add better background for their characters and take advantage of the prestige classes and magic items in the last third of the book. The book is a 64-page softcover with full color art (that's a mixed bag, to be frank, though there's a great illustration of noteworthy Pathfinder Eando Kline on page 4).

The cover is fun, with a classic image of a rogue paying too much attention to treasure while a monster sneaks up behind her (and her friends shouting in the background is a nice detail). The inside front cover is a map of the Inner Sea noting the location of Pathfinder lodges. It's interesting to see several in close proximity in some areas while other large regions have hardly any. The inside back cover is a reproduction of the cover art, sans title and logo. Running along the bottom of the pages throughout all three chapters are illustrations and capsule descriptions of various Venture-Captains in the Pathfinder Society. These are the "face" of the organisation for most players, and it's good to have another way to make them come alive.

Chapter 1 ("Welcome to the Pathfinder Society") takes up 26 pages. It provides a good general overview of the Society: the duties that every PFS player knows ("Explore, Report, Cooperate"), the organisation's internal leadership structure, a timeline history (which comes up in some noteworthy scenarios), the in-world application process to join (which seems much more rigorous than most PFS characters I've seen could actually meet!), and a lengthy discussion of the role that the Pathfinder Society could fill in a more traditional campaign (e.g., having the PCs be part of a team sent on expeditions instead of the cliched "you're in a tavern and there's only one table free" beginning). The chapter spends several pages with a one or two paragraph description of how the Pathfinder Society operates in each region of the Inner Sea (including those where they don't have lodges or aren't legally allowed to operate, such as Hermea, the Hold of Belkzen, and Ilizmagorti). It makes for interesting reading, and there's some great ideas there, like an all-undead team for secret missions in Geb, an all elf crew to investigate murders in Kyonin, etc. There's a brief mention of rival groups (like the Aspis Consortium) and I wish this had been fleshed out much more. Last, there's a few new feats and five new spells--the best of which, teleport trap, is perfect for a big bad guy's lair (as I can personally testify).

Chapter 2 ("Where Secrets Sleep") is 12 pages long, and focusses on detailing the various Pathfinder lodges around the Inner Sea. Lodges are where agents receive their mission briefings, but they can also serve as places to rest, train, and do research in between missions. Lodges definitely don't follow a uniform plan, and are very much a reflection of the locale and the venture-captain in charge: from a back room behind a bait-and-tackle shop to a luxurious estate. Apart from capsule descriptions of various lodges, the chapter provides a map and detailed description of the Society's central headquarters (the Grand Lodge in Absalom) and of its first foray into Varisia (Heidmarch Manor in Magnimar). There's a lot of very flavourful description that should help GMs (and scenario writers) bring these places to life.

Chapter 3 ("Tools of the Trade") finishes the book off with about 22 pages of new magic items and prestige classes. The chapter starts with a one-page summary of various past volumes of the (in-world) Pathfinder Chronicles, and there's some really intriguing bits there. Several pages in the chapter are devoted to an extensive discussion and list of ioun stones that I think is more complicated and less interesting than the space is worth. A few new wayfinders are introduced, but they're so expensive I can't see PCs ever being able to afford them (or wanting to even if they had the cash). Then, there's a complicated set of tables setting out various resonance abilities when ioun stones are implanted in wayfinders. Just not my cup of tea. Some other new magic items are included. I think the best part of this chapter is the three new prestige classes: the Pathfinder Delver (archaeologists and dungeoneers), the Pathfinder Savant (spellcasters skilled in learning the magic of other classes), and the Student of War (an intelligence-based tactical fighter and leader; I used this for my sadly-departed PC Sarabian, and thought it was pretty cool). None of these prestige classes are super-powered, but I think they're all solid and worth taking. An NPC (complete with description, stat block, and artwork) for each prestige classes is also included--though I'm not really sure why.

Overall, Seekers of Secrets is a fantastic and under-used resource for players and GMs in Paizo's "Organized Play" division. It's a really nice package and one I've referred to multiple times.

Solid book, mostly focused on background information . . .

4/5 —

I remember early on in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play circles, finding out what ioun stones did with wayfinders was a big deal. Strangely, that mystery seemed less important by the time this book came out, but the explanation was still a lot of fun.

While there are some very useful spells, magic items, and gear in the book, this is mainly a book to explain the history and mindset of the Pathfinder Society. While it would be very nice if people interesting in playing Pathfinders would get a feel for the organization, if someone isn't the type of player to care about that, they aren't really going to get that much out of the book.

Still, if you want to know how you may have been trained, how the organization started, what the lodges look like, and what the current clack within the Society might be, this is a good book to pick up.

The book does seem to meander a bit when it comes to describing how Pathfinders view different regions of the setting, because there seems to be little difference between what Pathfinders see in a region and what general adventurers see in that same region.

Great looking book

4/5 —

This book is a very interesting read. A lot of detail into the background of PFS. It is also a beautifully presented book. There is material in here that I will plug into the Magnimar leg of the RotRL campaign I am running.

I have marked it down to a 4 star product. Basically is it really worth the $20 that is being asked for it? I think $15 is closer the mark. I get excited when I start reading but as I near the end of the book I feel empty... as their is not a lot of mechanics for new feats/spells as this item's summary leads you to believe.

I would recommend this book to roleplayers who like details and background information for character development and to GM who want some details for PFS in their campaigns. This book is not for character optimisation.

A GREAT sourcebook, cover to cover!

5/5 —

I just finished reading Seekers of Secrets. What a great sourcebook. Very well written and interesting all the way thru.
There are many plots, NPC's, and adventure hooks to be found in this volume of the Pathfinder Chronicles line.
My only minor complaint is that in a few places, the authors used unnecessarily obscure words. I don't have the book handy right now or I would give you an example. It just seemed like a few "showing-off-my-huge-vocabulary" moments crept in a few times too many.
That said, this is a fantastic Pathfinder RPG book. It details the Pathfinder Society, which is a big part of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, and does it well.
Buy this one!

—

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Grand Lodge
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

Sweet!
Scarab Sages
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

This rocks!
Liberty's Edge

arrrrgggg!!!!! why isn't it june yet?
Dark Archive

Shiny! Excellent birthday present for me! I just love giving myself birthday presents.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Is this another "by James Jacobs" placeholder, or is he actually writing it?
Liberty's Edge

Very Cool!
Sovereign Court

I realize this may be too early but what about feats, prestige classes, magic items, etc.? Will we be seeing any of that?
Callous Jack wrote:
I realize this may be too early but what about feats, prestige classes, magic items, etc.? Will we be seeing any of that?

I'm not trying to be a wise guy, but...

In the description they wrote:


The unplumbed secrets of the Society’s vast Grand Lodge in the fabulous city of Absalom stand ready for your campaign, accompanied by a host of new magic items, feats, and spells appropriate for Pathfinder Society characters and fully legal for use in Paizo’s massive Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign!

You got your feats and magic items covered.. along with spells..

So all you need to know is whether there are any new prestige classes or not.

:D
Sovereign Court
Watcher wrote:

I'm not trying to be a wise guy, but...

That's what I get for speed-reading through the whole thing and missing some of it.

D'oh!
Liberty's Edge

This one looks very interesting. I have a soft spot for secret societies and such.

The Pathfinder organization has this Indianna Jones adventure feel that I think works very well.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
yoda8myhead wrote:
Is this another "by James Jacobs" placeholder, or is he actually writing it?

It's another placeholder.

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
houstonderek wrote:
arrrrgggg!!!!! why isn't it june yet?

Because those of us in Arizona want to enjoy 1 of our two seasons. Not Summer is just starting where highs will be in the 50s to 70s for the next 6 months. The other season called "A/C" has similar characteristics, but you can't go outside.

Very cool.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
yoda8myhead wrote:
Is this another "by James Jacobs" placeholder, or is he actually writing it?
It's another placeholder.

Aaaawwwww... I thought it was totally awesome that you were the writer for this book. :(

Of course, I'm sure that whoever is the writer will be most excellent, I've yet to find fault with any of Paizo's various products.

June is my B-Day month as well... it will be a very nice present to myself.
I only wish it were coming out sooner. I intend to run "Crucible of Chaos" for gaming group #2 and told them that I want them to have ties to the Pathfinder Society, and this little gem would be awesome to have... now! (Or sooner than June anyway.) ;)
On the other hand, we aren't ready for that yet, I'm still trying to close the 4e Forgotten Realms game with "Scepter Tower of Spellgard" hoping for a TPK so I can take 'em back to v.3.5 and Pathfinder (to stay) ;) Shhhh... don't tell them.

Anyway... looking forward (eagerly so) to this book.
Grand Lodge
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Will the crunch in this one be PFRPG, 3.5, or close enough to be either one? It says that this can be used with the Pathfinder Society organized play and since by August that will be in the PFRPG format all the crunch in the book will be valid for more than two months.
Paizo Employee Creative Director
Dreamweaver wrote:
Will the crunch in this one be PFRPG, 3.5, or close enough to be either one? It says that this can be used with the Pathfinder Society organized play and since by August that will be in the PFRPG format all the crunch in the book will be valid for more than two months.

We're hoping to make the crunch in this book work for both 3.5 and for PFRPG, as much as possible. In fact, the majority of the crunch in books we're releasing now should be compatible with PF RPG; things like spells and feats and magic items are going to be relatively unchanged, after all; we're taking care that, in writing the new stuff, it's easy to use for either game.

Liberty's Edge

Is Erik writing this?
Dark Archive
Stegger wrote:
Is Erik writing this?

James Jacob.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
joela wrote:
Stegger wrote:
Is Erik writing this?
James Jacob.

Actually, I'm not writing it (and there's an "s" at the end of Jacobs, FWIW). My name's used as a placeholder for products that we have to announce before the product has authors assigned, and it often takes us a bit to update the website.

And yes, Erik's writing part of this book.
Dark Archive
James Jacobs wrote:
joela wrote:
Stegger wrote:
Is Erik writing this?
James Jacob.

Actually, I'm not writing it (and there's an "s" at the end of Jacobs, FWIW). My name's used as a placeholder for products that we have to announce before the product has authors assigned, and it often takes us a bit to update the website.

And yes, Erik's writing part of this book.

Thanks for the clarification.

Liberty's Edge

Thank you for the update!
Dark Archive
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

So when do the Darklight Sisterhood get their own book? :D Come on you know they deserve it.
Scarab Sages

Nice, can't wait to see it, and I greatly hope we can see other organizations detailed too (hint, Hellknights and Riftwardens, hint) ;)
Paizo Employee Creative Director
Dark_Mistress wrote:
So when do the Darklight Sisterhood get their own book? :D Come on you know they deserve it.

We've probably said all we'll ever be saying about the Darklight Sisterhood, honestly.

Paizo Employee Creative Director
Dyvynarth wrote:
Nice, can't wait to see it, and I greatly hope we can see other organizations detailed too (hint, Hellknights and Riftwardens, hint) ;)

As a followup to my previous post... We try to create more than we can ever follow up on. In doing so, we're trying to leave significant portions of Golarion open for individual GMs to make their own. Hellknights, with the upcoming Cheliax AP, are going to get some extensive coverage during the Council of Theives Adventure Path, but Riftwardens don't yet have much on the schedule at all.

Dyvynarth wrote:
Nice, can't wait to see it, and I greatly hope we can see other organizations detailed too (hint, Hellknights and Riftwardens, hint) ;)

Off topic...

But if we're discussing the detailing of Hellknights and Riftwardens, I'd like to chime in for Magesmiths!

(As mentioned in RotFL)

Cross posted with James: I wager we'll never see magesmiths referenced again, but a guy can ask! You do have Magnimarian Golemworks to consider, so it might be a viable class...
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Firmly believing that the squeaky wheel gets the most grease, yoda8myhead proceeds to ask the same question he asked in another thread...

So who are the official authors on this one, Vic?
Contributor
yoda8myhead wrote:

Firmly believing that the squeaky wheel gets the most grease, yoda8myhead proceeds to ask the same question he asked in another thread...

So who are the official authors on this one, Vic?

Erik, Tim Hitchcock, James Sutter, and Russ Taylor, with some additional material by yours truly.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
yoda8myhead wrote:

Firmly believing that the squeaky wheel gets the most grease, yoda8myhead proceeds to ask the same question he asked in another thread...

So who are the official authors on this one, Vic?

Erik, Tim Hitchcock, James Sutter, and Russ Taylor, with some additional material by yours truly.

...and... updated listing.

Contributor

I'm just trying to add a little excitement to Vic's life by sometimes emailing him about these, sometimes posting in the thread, sometimes an exploding cake....
Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
I'm just trying to add a little excitement to Vic's life by sometimes emailing him about these, sometimes posting in the thread, sometimes an exploding cake....

...or sometimes waiting until yoda8myhead sends an exploding cake.

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
Vic Wertz wrote:
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
I'm just trying to add a little excitement to Vic's life by sometimes emailing him about these, sometimes posting in the thread, sometimes an exploding cake....
...or sometimes waiting until yoda8myhead sends an exploding cake.

I hope your office closure tomorrow doesn't result in my most recent delivery going off with no one there to see it.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer
yoda8myhead wrote:
Vic Wertz wrote:
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
I'm just trying to add a little excitement to Vic's life by sometimes emailing him about these, sometimes posting in the thread, sometimes an exploding cake....
...or sometimes waiting until yoda8myhead sends an exploding cake.
I hope your office closure tomorrow doesn't result in my most recent delivery going off with no one there to see it.

We'll have the mailman forward any packages from you directly to Cosmo's house.

Dark Archive
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Dark_Mistress wrote:
So when do the Darklight Sisterhood get their own book? :D Come on you know they deserve it.
We've probably said all we'll ever be saying about the Darklight Sisterhood, honestly.

I was kidding... mostly. :D

houstonderek wrote:
arrrrgggg!!!!! why isn't it june yet?

It's almost June! Only 11 months to go!

Spoiler:
I want this book! Can't wait for September!
The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6

I'm hoping you'll all find this one worth the wait - especially since the delay means it will be a full Pathfinder RPG product. Paizo got some of the best to do the bulk of this book, I'm flattered I got to tag along for the rest :)
Russ Taylor wrote:
I'm hoping you'll all find this one worth the wait - especially since the delay means it will be a full Pathfinder RPG product. Paizo got some of the best to do the bulk of this book, I'm flattered I got to tag along for the rest :)

Honestly I wanted it OGL, not PFRPG, but I get the impression the difference isn't that significant.

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
Wolf Munroe wrote:
Honestly I wanted it OGL, not PFRPG, but I get the impression the difference isn't that significant.

I worked on a lot of rules-related material for the book, and most of what I turned over would work equivalently in either system.

Russ Taylor wrote:
Wolf Munroe wrote:
Honestly I wanted it OGL, not PFRPG, but I get the impression the difference isn't that significant.
I worked on a lot of rules-related material for the book, and most of what I turned over would work equivalently in either system.

Sweet.

Sovereign Court

Pushed back to September?
*weep*

SO cool, I just love the whole PF Society, I have yoinked it for my current 4E campaign, and will keep it when we swap to PFRPG once it is finished :-)
The Exchange

I'm really looking forward to this one I must say. :) September, next month, not terribly long to wait. I dearly love the Pathfinder Society.
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy

Aw :-( I was so sure we'd see a final cover for this one since Princes of Darkness and Sixfold Trial went live today. I guess that gives me something else to look forward to next week.
Contributor
yoda8myhead wrote:
Aw :-( I was so sure we'd see a final cover for this one since Princes of Darkness and Sixfold Trial went live today. I guess that gives me something else to look forward to next week.

Seekers isn't quite out the door yet. ;)

Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
Sean K Reynolds wrote:
yoda8myhead wrote:
Aw :-( I was so sure we'd see a final cover for this one since Princes of Darkness and Sixfold Trial went live today. I guess that gives me something else to look forward to next week.
Seekers isn't quite out the door yet. ;)

Now is it out the door? It says it's expected next month, so I hope it is! And that we can see the cover! And that we can have the final back cover text! And for a million dollars?

Dark Archive
yoda8myhead wrote:
And for a million dollars?

You need to say that in an Austin Power's accent.

Spoiler:
Support the Pathfinder wiki.

Contributor

I hope, hope, hope that this product goes to the printer today. We're starting to think it's cursed.

DAMN YOU EANDO KLINE AND YOUR MUMMY'S CURSE!
Dark Archive

SKR posted on Twitter that SoS is out the door (to the printers, I presume).
Paizo Employee Director of Brand Strategy
joela wrote:
SKR posted on Twitter that SoS is out the door (to the printers, I presume).

W00t!

Dark Archive

Now it is off to the printers any chance to see the final cover?
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