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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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

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Class Archetypes

Archetypes with the class trait fundamentally diverge from your class's specialties but still fit within the theme of your class.

You can select a class archetype only if your class meets the criteria listed in the archetype's prerequisites. Class archetypes always alter or replace some of a class's static class features in addition to any new feats they offer.

It might be possible to take a class archetype at 1st level if it alters or replaces some of the class's initial class features. The 1st-level ability is presented much like a class feature and includes the class archetype's prerequisites and rules on how it changes your class. If you select this ability, you must take that archetype's dedication feat at 2nd level, and you proceed normally afterward. You can never have more than one class archetype.

PFS StandardAvengerDedication Feat 2

Source War of Immortals pg. 58
Prerequisites Avenger
Most people are aware of champions and clerics as the most obvious of a deity’s divinely empowered servants, and those familiar with vindicators as the more subtle arm of the church’s might have generally grown to accept their necessity. There exists, however, other corners of religious power that churches may be less open about with their lay worshippers. Avengers are one such example.

Sometimes known as slayers among more brutal doctrines, avengers are trained in remote monasteries or secret cloisters hidden from the eyes of casual passersby. They are indoctrinated in their church’s teachings while being taught a variety of martial skills, many focused around mastery of their deity’s favored weapon. These training environments often also enforce vows of silence, vows of celibacy, or other practices intended to keep the avengers-in-training from forming strong personal attachments.

Additional Feats: 4th Twin Takedown; 6th Twin Parry; 12th Twin Riposte; 14th Second Sting; 16th Improved Twin Riposte

PFS StandardBloodragerDedication Feat 2

Source War of Immortals pg. 60
Prerequisites Bloodrager
There is a visceral power in blood. It sustains life through its flow. Bloodragers exist throughout societies in different forms. Matanji orcs are demon hunters that turn the power of fiendish blood against its vessels. The Skoan-Quah protect the tombs of their dead, preserved with containers of their fallen companions’ blood. This blood is used by their closest living comrades in combat to utilize lost power and knowledge or drank during festivities to celebrate once more with their companions in battle. In Ustalav, cloaked ministers perform rituals with the blood of extraplanar entities to feed and strengthen their congregation against all manner of maladies and horrors. In Casmaron, divine entities coordinate with mortals to provide their blood as catalysts in wars against hidden threats.

Whatever the path, bloodragers have awakened magical powers to become dangerous forces of physical and magical might wherever there is blood to be found.

Additional Feats: 4th Split Shot; 8th Bespell Strikes; 12th Energy Ward.

PFS StandardElementalistDedication Feat 2

Source Rage of Elements pg. 58 2.0
Prerequisites elemental magic
You revere the elements as the building blocks of creation and the source of all life. You believe that by balancing, mixing, and rearranging these elements, magic is made. This belief has led you to eschew traditional magical theories and divisions, and you instead focus on harnessing, manipulating, and shaping the elements. There are many paths to elementalism, and many classes can become elementalists. As the most basic building blocks of matter, the elements can be shaped to your specific training and understanding. The study of elementalism expands every day.

You cast spells drawn from multiple traditions and can use the elements to alter and empower your spells, making them manifest and mixing them in unique ways. Most elementalists embrace either the philosophy of four elements common in the Inner Sea or the five-element cycle prevalent in Tian Xia. This is often a balance, but some elementalists feel a stronger connection to a singular element that they hone to great heights, utilizing the other elements to support and augment their favored.

Secrets of Magic Elementalist: This section updates and expands the elementalist class archetype originally presented on page 206 of Secrets of Magic. If you're using the version of the archetype from Secrets of Magic and are happy with it, you don't need to make any changes—that original version functions the same as using the new text and choosing Inner Sea elementalism for your elemental philosophy!

PFS StandardFlexible SpellcasterDedication Feat 2

Legacy Content

Source Secrets of Magic pg. 209 2.0
Prerequisites flexible spell preparation
You've learned how to cast spells flexibly, blending the best elements of spontaneous and prepared spellcasting at the cost of casting fewer spells each day.

PFS StandardRunelordDedication Feat 2

Legacy Content

Rare 
Source Secrets of Magic pg. 240 2.0
Prerequisites runelord specialization
You've learned arcane magic following the path of the runelords. You unlock secrets of a chosen school of magic while forsaking lesser schools. You learn the secrets of runic magic, the building blocks of magic. But be warned: you might succumb to sin in your pursuit of power.

You also learn to use polearms, the signature weapons of the runelords, and can acquire the secrets of the mighty, ancient magic items called aeon stones, embedding them into your skin.

PFS StandardSeneschalDedication Feat 2

Rare 
Source War of Immortals pg. 62
Prerequisites Seneschal Witch
Whether dead or simply missing, your patron has gone silent, and you can no longer hear its whisper. While other witches might find this silence disquieting and lose hope without direction, you embrace this new challenge. Without a governor, you can now realize the true potential of your magic by tapping into the connection you once shared with your absent patron. You are no longer bound by the your patron’s desires; you are free to forge your own path.

Additional Feats: 10th Martyr; 16th Premonition of Clarity; 18th Inviolable

PFS StandardSpellshotDedication Feat 2

Legacy Content

Uncommon 
Source Guns & Gears pg. 140 2.0
Prerequisites way of the spellshot
Spellshots aren't ordinary gunslingers. They come from a tradition of ancient secrets and principles, which they temper with modern innovation and perspective. Spellshots combine magical power into the art of gunplay to create a distinct and mystical way known only to spellshots, enigmatic and unavailable to other gunslingers in the world at large. The first to identify themselves as spellshots tied their magical traditions to the history of the Star Code and the Crowned Regents in Arcadia. Ancient, reclusive crafters known as the Crowned Regents created star guns, the legendary magical firearms that shot white-hot blasts of energy. Wielders of star guns became bound together by the Star Code—a set of cultural expectations that defined how one should behave while using these powerful weapons. You can find more information about star guns, the Crowned Regents, and the Star Code in Guns & Gears.

Most spellshots continue to come from Arcadia, as the stories describing the relevant skills and training to become one have been passed down over the generations. Many gunslingers who grow up in this region hear of these tales early in their lives, and they develop the techniques to channel magical energy through their firearms in imitation of the Regents' arcane methods. While Arcadia is home to the vast majority of the world's spellshots, the techniques have slowly spread to other regions. However, spellshots remain particularly rare in the Inner Sea region due to the unique history of guns there and their connection to the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar, which exists in a magic-dead region of the Mana Wastes.

PFS StandardVindicatorDedication Feat 2

Source War of Immortals pg. 64
Prerequisites Vindicator
Many undead and supernatural predators have the ability to blend unseen among the general population, preying on mortals completely unaware of their presence. Vindicators are skilled warriors who use keen analytical talents and a smattering of divine magic to seek out such monstrous prey and pronounce judgment upon them. Evil religions, whose vindicators are more likely to be referred to as “inquisitors,” occasionally train their agents to seek out heretics within their own ranks, a fact that contributes heavily to the attitudes of fear and mistrust many vindicators find themselves faced with in the course of their duties.

Additional Feats: 1st Domain Initiate; 4th Instructive Strike, Ongoing Investigation ; 6th Thorough Research; 8th Advanced Domain

PFS StandardWarrior Of LegendDedication Feat 2

Uncommon 
Source War of Immortals pg. 66
Prerequisites Warrior of legend
It is said that the greatest heroes are often stalked by an implacable doom, the shadow cast by the light of their deeds. Such warriors of legend often garner great reputations for their prowess and ferocity in battle, spawning legends of their invincibility. These stories almost always end in tragedy, however, for the blessings that carry the warriors to victory are always accompanied by a terrible curse that all but ensures their heroic tales have grim endings.

Since the Godsrain scattered divine power across Golarion, more and more tales of such legendary warriors have sprung up all over the world, from Garund to Tian Xia, Casmaron to Arcadia, and across Avistan all the way to the Crown of the World. Hallmarks of these stories include heroes and villains who prefer lighter armor, hafted weapons, and who all seem to have an aversion or vulnerability to certain types of opponents.

The would-be ruler Gulrik the Fierce slew a linnorm in the depths of the Grungir Forest but was slain by the arrows of lowly bandits before he could claim a kingdom for himself. The warrior Mohaadjii had just begun to forge a legend by driving pillagers from Bloodcove out of the Kaava Lands, when a slingstone from a halfling raider struck her dead before she even realized she was under attack.

This cursed weakness perhaps goes a long way to explaining why certain pieces of gear are so common to the figures at the center of these stories. With each warrior of legend living under the shadow of finding their doom at the hands of a particular threat, even such staunch stalwarts might prefer a weapon that gives them enough reach to assess their opponent before closing in for the kill, and armor light enough that it won’t become a burden if flight becomes the better part of valor.

Additional Feats: 6th Clear the Way; 14th Unbalancing Sweep

PFS LimitedWellspring MageDedication Feat 2

Legacy Content

Rare 
Source Secrets of Magic pg. 248 2.0
Prerequisites wellspring magic
The source of your magic buckles against your control, always pressing to be released.