
Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

Rules Index | GM Screen | Player's Guide
Pathfinder #190: The Choosing

Optional Campaign Rules

Source Pathfinder #190: The Choosing pg. 82
The Stolen Fate Adventure Path makes significant use of harrow cards as a central plot element, and having an actual harrow deck on hand when you run the game can make for an even more immersive experience. Indeed, one of the primary plot points of Stolen Fate has the PCs tracking down the scattered cards from a mysterious and very powerful harrow deck. As the group discovers more cards, you can keep track of which ones they've recovered by keeping a stack of actual harrow cards to represent their discoveries.

Since each of these harrow cards grants additional powers if player characters invest them, having physical cards can help to remind players of their options and give Stolen Fate a truly unique feel.

If your table thinks it might be fun, though, you can include the harrow in another way—as an element to give the PCs even more agency over their fates alongside the use of Hero Points. Keep in mind that the method of manipulating fate detailed below works best when you and the players are comfortable with improvisation and playing a bit fast and loose with the rules, all in order to present a more exciting story that feels like the PCs are indeed manipulating destiny rather than being stuck on a single fated path that they have no agency over. These optional rules aren't for everyone, so before you incorporate them into your table, make sure every player is comfortable with their inclusion in the game.

Manipulating Fate

Source Pathfinder #190: The Choosing pg. 83
If you choose to include this optional set of rules, at the start of each game session, shuffle a full harrow deck and deal one card, face down, to each player, instructing them to set that card aside and to not look at its face. At any time during the game session, any player can call upon fate itself—whether to help solve a vexing puzzle, succeed at an important task, avoid a looming grisly fate, or otherwise affect the immediate outcome of the situation at hand. When they do so, they turn their card over and reveal its face to everyone.

At this point, compare the card's suit to the PC's key ability and the card's alignment to the PC's alignment. The closer the card's suit matches to the PC's key ability and the closer its alignment matches the character, the more outrageous and unexpectedly effective the manipulation of fate should be. Conversely, if the revealed card matches to the PC's least important ability score or is an oppositional alignment, the manipulation of fate should be less profound and not as guaranteed to be successful. A player should never be penalized for flipping their card—even the worst possible card should have a minor benefit to the PC in some way.

Once a card is flipped, it's returned to the deck. Cards left unflipped at the end of a session are returned to the deck as well—a PC gains no reward nor suffers any penalty for not using a card during the game.

Adjudicating Results

Source Pathfinder #190: The Choosing pg. 83
When it comes to interpreting how fate is changed in the PC's favor, the GM has a lot of leeway. Look at the card's art. Take into mind the card's name. Consider the card's suit and alignment. Use all of these elements as inspiration to describe, in the game, how chance shifts in the PC's favor. Examples of some potential ways to interpret and apply these results follow.

Merisiel just took a critical hit from a giant and was reduced to dying 2, but worse, it happened while she was hanging from a ledge over a pit of acid. To avoid falling 50 feet into a pit of acid while at dying 2, Merisiel's player flips their card.

Perfect Match: If the card is a perfect match (The Rabbit Prince, which matches Merisiel's alignment of chaotic neutral and her key ability score, Dexterity), the GM could state that the giant not only missed their attack, but that Merisiel was able to leap onto the giant's hand and spring off it to even greater safety on solid ground.

Neutral Match: If the card is a relatively neutral match (The Owl, for example, which is close to her alignment and matches neither her highest nor lowest ability score), the GM could reveal that Merisiel was wise enough to clamber up onto the edge of the pit the instant before she was struck by the giant, but then collapses unconscious at the pit's edge rather than falling.

Horrible Match: If the card is a horrible match (The Forge, which is opposite to her alignment and matches her least-important ability score), then perhaps she falls unconscious and lets go, but her armor snags and keeps her suspended just below the edge of the pit—she can be reached and rescued by her allies, but the damage to her armor leaves it broken in the aftermath.

Regardless of the card's nature, all three of the above card flips save Merisiel from taking a deadly plunge while unconscious into a pit of acid, with the perfect match allowing her to continue the fight, and the horrible match only barely saving her from sizzling doom.

Simulating Harrow Draws

Source Pathfinder #190: The Choosing pg. 83
If you don't have an actual harrow deck handy, you can simulate draws using the table below. Alternately, you can mark up a deck of regular playing cards with the names of each harrow card (in which case you'll need to include both jokers in your deck to have a full set of 54 cards to draw from).

Rolling Harrow Card Draws

d6Suitd10Alignment
1Hammers (STR)1Lawful Good
2Keys (DEX)2Lawful Neutral
3Shields (CON)3Lawful Evil
4Books (INT)4Neutral Good
5Stars (WIS)5Neutral
6Crowns (CHA)6Neutral Evil
7Chaotic Good
8Chaotic Neutral
9Chaotic Evil
10Roll Again