Pathfinder Society
Welcome to Pathfinder Society Organized Play!
On Golarion, the world of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, the Pathfinder Society is an organization of explorers, vagabonds, sages, and treasure hunters determined to plumb the depths of the darkest tombs, and collect relics and lore from bygone ages. They travel the world braving traps, monsters, assassins, dangerous natives, and worse, all in order to preserve the secrets of the past and to advance understanding of Golarion's many cultures. Some Pathfinders are dedicated explorers who risk life and limb in the pursuit of ancient lore, or lost historical relics. Just as many Pathfinders are little more than feckless mercenaries, glory hound adventurers, and gold hungry tomb raiders. Regardless of their intentions, every member shares one common dream: to contribute to the Pathfinder Chronicles, printed editions of secret lore coveted by the Society wherein only the most impressive finds and bravest exploits of the Pathfinders are immortalized. Pathfinders also follow a loose code that governs their actions: Explore, Report, and Cooperate.
Pathfinders are a diverse bunch of scoundrels and wanderers. Their loyalties lie on all shores of the Inner Sea, and beyond their adventures as Pathfinders, they often find themselves mixed up in the murky politics of Absalom and the five nations who seek to control the City at the Center of the World from behind the scenes. The campaign centers on the sprawling city of Absalom, where five factions engage in a shadow war for control of the city's politics and economy (more on Factions in Chapter 3.) As you play, the outcome of your adventures, your actions, and your deeds affect events on a global scale turning the tide of secret wars between some of Golarion's most powerful nations.
In Pathfinder Society Organized Play, you play a member of the Pathfinder Society, seeking fortune and glory all over the face of Golarion. At the same time, your character works for one of the five competing nation-based factions, all with their own motivations and secret agendas.
Pathfinder Society Organized Play is a constantly evolving mega-campaign played by thousands of players and the adventures you experience are shared by players around the world. Play is organized into Seasons, throughout which the actions and achievements of you and your fellow Pathfinders create an ongoing storyline. Season 0 launches at Gen Con in 2008. Season 0 is Paizo's playtest season, a chance for us to explore possibilities and determine the best structure for our organized play system. This allows us to perfect Pathfinder Society Organized Play for Season 1 launch in August 2009, when we will begin using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game as the official roleplaying game of the Society. For more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, visit paizo.com/pathfinderRPG
We've built this campaign for you - we hope you enjoy it!
- Paizo
Creating a characterCreating a character for Pathfinder Society is not much different from creating a PC for your regular home campaign, with a few minor alterations. Here's a quick preview of what you'll see in the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play:
Faction:
Every Faction has its own unique history, culture, style and specialty. Each has their own modus operandi in the ongoing shadow war for control of Absalom, and each offers the Pathfinders in their service different boons. Choosing your Faction is as important as choosing your character class or race; it defines your character in the campaign, and ties your Pathfinder to one particular nation's destiny. Before you choose your Faction, peruse each carefully and pick the most exciting one. Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed until the end of Season 0 (June of 2009), so choose wisely:
- Andoran [paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/factions/andoran] - Cheliax [paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/factions/cheliax] - Osirion [paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/factions/osirion] - Qadira [paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/factions/qadira] - Taldor [paizo.com/pathfinderSociety/factions/taldor]
Are you born and bred in Cheliax and a firm devotee to the cause of Asmodeus, or are you a former slave of the Chelish regime who escaped to Andoran and now you serve your adopted homeland in their struggle for freedom? You don't necessarily have to be from a nation to be a member of their faction (for example you may play an Ulfen barbarian from the Land of the Linnorm Kings in the service of Taldor's empire). The majority of loyal faction members are most likely patriots born and raised in their homeland with family ties and at least some sense of nationalism, but anything is possible.
Race and Class:
All of the core races and classes in the PHB are available in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Yes, even gnomes.
Abilities:
In Pathfinder Society Organized Play, all characters are created equal. No dice are used to generate your Pathfinder. Instead, every character's ability scores are generated using a point-buy system similar to the one featured in the Pathfinder RPG Beta Release [paizo.com/pathfinderRPG]. You shall tailor your PC's abilities to best suit your vision of who they are, and to best fulfill your favorite tactical combinations.
Skills:
All of the skills in the PHB are available to your character—even the Craft and Profession skills.
Feats:
All of the Feats in the PHB are available to your PC with one notable exception: Item creation does not exist in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, therefore the item creation feats are not available. In place of Scribe Scroll at first level, wizard PCs may choose Spell Focus instead.
In addition to the feats in the PHB, characters in Pathfinder Society Organized Play also have access to special Faction Feats that further tie them to their nation of choice and offer them unique abilities catering to the flavor of these diverse cultures.
Alignment:
You cannot play an evil character in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 gp. All good and neutral alignments are allowed though (EXCEPT NEUTRAL EVIL... nice try, buddy).
Character Background, Physical Features, and Beliefs: Above we've crafted the mechanical skeleton of your character. Now it's time to flesh them out. Let's give your character some personality and some fun quirks to roleplay. Make them a real person with motivations, distinctive physical and emotional traits, and a unique and interesting personal history.
Items and Equipment:
After completing all of the above, your Pathfinder is alive! He or she is a whole person dedicated to a faction hailing from a distinct racial background, with a chosen class, abilities, skills, and feats, not to mention a rich character background, distinctive physical traits and personal beliefs. The only thing missing is their clothes. That's right. Your character is naked right now! They are also completely unarmed and have no food.
Every character in Pathfinder Society Organized Play begins the campaign with 150 gp of spending cash. All the armor, weapons and equipment in Chapter Seven of the PHB are available for purchase as well as a bevy of items and special weapons from the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover. (Sorry, folks, no firearms for now.)
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To assist game sessions beginning on time, players are encouraged to bring their own D&D 3.5 Edition PHB characters to the game - please refer to the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organised Play document for character creation guidelines.
A selection of Fastplay characters will be available for players who arrive without their own character. New characters begin play at first level.
Please note, Pathfinder RPG Beta Release characters are NOT legal in Season 0 Pathfinder Society games.
Go to the Pathfinder Society - Melbourne, Australia thread to ask any questions, discuss character options or anything Pathfinder related before the Con.
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A preview of some Pathfinder Society scenarios:
Pathfinder Society Scenario #1: The Silent Tide
When strange reports of misty undead spread through Absalom, you and your fellow Pathfinders are dispatched to the half-drowned district of Puddles Notoriously rough, the drooling addicts, flesh panderers, and quick-handed knifers of Puddles are the least of your worries. The night's tide brings with it an ancient armada of some long-forgotten war and you are the only thing between their mist-shrouded ghost fleet and Absalom's utter oblivion.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #2: The Hydra's Fang Incident
After an Andoren village is razed by the Hydra's Fang, a renegade Chelish slaver-ship, outrage threatens the stability of both nations. You and your fellow Pathfinders are sent to capture the Fang before the Inner Sea is pitched into political frenzy. You're not alone: the Fang is hunted by Chelish dragoons and the deadly children of the Entropic Kraken. If someone else seizes the Fang before you, nothing can stop the war on the horizon.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #3: Murder on the Silken Caravan
Volunteers are needed to escort the body of a deceased venture captain across the parched Qadiran desert to Katheer. The Silken Caravan offers passage, hauling exotic treasures across the perilous sea of sands. You'll brave bandits, spies, and unwelcome mourners hell-bent on paying respects to your dead companion. Worse still, the caravan's mistress, a satin-swathed Qadiran princess, has designs of her own on you and your cargo.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #4: The Frozen Fingers of Midnight
Skelg the Ripper, envoy from the Land of the Linnorm Kings, lies wasting in his villa on the outskirts of Absalom. A frigid curse followed Skelg from his northern homeland and grips his bearish heart in its frosty embrace. As the bizarre freezing ailment begins to spread among Absalom's summer populace the Society dispatches you and your fellow Pathfinders to uncover the secrets of the freezing curse before Absalom falls to its icy grip.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #5: Mists of Mwangi
Pathfinder Lugizar Trantos recently returned from the Mwangi Expanse with haunted eyes and a pack full of strange idols. Absalom's famed Blakros Museum purchased his pieces and Lugizar vanished. The strange monkey idols he pulled from the misty jungles of Mwangi carry with them a fell curse, and now their power has laid claim to the museum. Can the Pathfinder Society uncover the source of the curse in time, or will the Blackros Museum be forever lost to the mists of Mwangi?
Pathfinder Society Scenario #6: Black Waters
The Pathfinder Society seeks the ancient ruby ring of the salamander and it falls to a team of Pathfinders to find it. Last seen in the Tri-Towers Yard, a once elite academy for the youth of Absalom, the ruby ring is now lost in the Drownyard, all that remains of Tri-Towers after it was destroyed a decade ago in the great quake. The Pathfinders must risk the strange black ichors and salty brine to find their prize—will they risk their very souls as well?
Pathfinder Society Scenario #7: Among the Living
Famed Pathfinder Bodriggan Wuthers disappeared from his dig site beneath the House of the Immortal Son in Taldor's gilded capital of Oppara. Once a grand temple to Aroden, the Immortal Son is now Oppara's most opulent theater. Sent to locate Wuthers, the Pathfinders must attend an opera with members of the Oppara elite in order to gain access to the secretive theater's dig site. When a cult crashes the performance and the nobility change into hideous walking dead, the Pathfinders are forced to choose between finding Wuthers or saving themselves.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #8: Slave Pits of Absalom
Someone kidnapped Lady Anilah Salhar—the Chelish wife of Dremdhet Salhar, one of Osirion's many Grand Ambassadors to Absalom—and sold her into slavery. With Salhar holding delve permits over the heads of the Decemvirute, the Pathfinders are sent to assist the Osirian Ambassador. Venturing into Absalom's darkest corners to save Lady Anilah, the Pathfinders must face the secrets of the Slave Pits to avoid becoming slaves themselves.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #9: Eye of the Crocodile King
Arcanamirium transmuter Maren Fuln found a magically sealed amulet in the school's library and kept it as a shiny bauble. Little did he know the amulet contained an entity far worse than he imagined, and by unsealing it, he loosed a revenge-obsessed horror into the sewers beneath the school. Can the Pathfinder Society halt the beast’s plan in time, or will he build his army of revenge and sow chaos in Absalom?
Pathfinder Society Scenario #10: Blood at Dralkard Manor
Venture-Captain Juberto Savarre plans to retire soon, and he’s set his sights on spooky Dralkard Manor in southern Andoran. With the locals swapping tales of hauntings and missing persons, Savarre sends Pathfinders in to uncover the truth. Are the stories just tall tales or will the Pathfinders find themselves drenched in blood at Dralkard Manor?
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Pathfinder GMs wantedI'm seeking assistance from other D&D 3.5 Edition GMs available to run additional Pathfinder Society sessions, particularly GMs already familiar with Pathfinder and the Golarion setting.
Also seeking assistance from anyone available to help organise on the day.
If you can assist, please contact Stephen White via AON.
What's with the scheduling of the Living games?
Living Games tend run a little longer than regular sessions, so to accommodate this, you have to purchase 2 sessions to play a single Living Game, or 3 sessions if you wish to play two living games.
- You have to register online before the Con, or at the registration desk at the Con for either the Living Double to play two games, or Living Single session to play one.
- Once at the con and before the session starts, you'll need to speak to the organisers of the Living Game you want to play, to organise who you'll be playing with, and what game you'll be playing. You can find them at the Living Games table in the registration hall. We recommend doing this as soon as you are able to ensure you don't miss out.
If you can't organise a game for a session, we'll be happy to organise a refund for you. Just get a Living organiser to sign on your registration sheet and bring it to the registration desk.
| Adult Content: | PG | Characterisation: | 2 |
| Genre Knowledge: | 2 | Rules Knowledge: | 2 |
| Seriousness: | 2 |