PactbinderLegacy Content
Source Dark Archive pg. 166Some people feel that the universe is a constant struggle. Good against evil, law against chaos, civilization against nature, life against death against undeath. But why fight what you can't change? You prefer to bargain.
As a pactbinder, you make deals with strange entities, otherworldly beings, and all sorts of multiversal denizens, amiable and unapproachable alike. Over the course of your many negotiations, you've learned something important: while such beings always seek a bargain tilted in their own favor, sometimes your definition of value differs enough from theirs that you can still come out ahead. In fact, sometimes, those who don't understand pacts like you do might mistake the payment for the benefit, or vice versa. Perhaps an ancient being of nightmare demanded to consume something you sought to be rid of, like a painful memory or a negative personality trait, priding itself on how it was taking something personal from you. Little did it know, you let it win on haggling your end of the deal. Of course, this practice isn't without its own risks, as who knows what you might become without that part of you.
All these things, you can and must consider in every pact. In addition to pacts, you might also pursue magical contracts. While less of a metaphysical commitment than a pact, contracts offer similar benefits you just can't resist— and you can employ your skill set as a pactbinder to manipulate the precise wording of the bargain.
Legacy Content
Uncommon Archetype Dedication Source Dark Archive pg. 166Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites trained in
Diplomacy as well as either
Arcana,
Nature,
Occultism, or
Religion
The first step toward forming a successful pact is an understanding of the magic behind it, along with skill at negotiation. It doesn't hurt that you also learned how to magically bind yourself to keep your word, enabling you to bargain more easily. You increase your proficiency from trained to expert in Diplomacy and in one of the following: Arcana, Nature, Occultism, or Religion.
Binding Vow [one-action] (
auditory,
concentrate,
enchantment,
occult)
Frequency once per day;
Effect You bind yourself by formally speaking a binding vow. Supernatural power flows through and around you as you speak it, and all those present to hear it intrinsically know that it binds you. Breaking this vow is anathema to you, and if you break it willingly, you lose all pactbinder benefits until you fulfill your vow or, if that's impossible, participate in an atone ritual. The vow doesn't prevent unwilling violations and can't be used to try to circumvent mind-control magic,
confusion, or similar situations where you perform an action not entirely of your own volition. A Binding Vow doesn't end until you've fulfilled it. Even if you die, the vow still binds you if you return to life. The vow doesn't force you to go to ridiculous extremes, such as dying, to fulfill your vow unless you specifically swear to go to such extremes. Trying to subvert your binding vow by making selfish promises (such as swearing to an ally that you'll kill someone you already wanted to kill) is in itself a violation of your vow, as is attempting to subvert other vows you've made (such as those from other pactbinder feats or a champion's code).
When you make a
Request or
Coerce directly in service of fulfilling your vow, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to your check against any creatures aware of your vow.
Special You can't select another dedication feat until you've gained two other feats from the pactbinder archetype.
Legacy Content
Uncommon Archetype Illusion Primal Source Dark Archive pg. 166Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You've sworn a pact with
fey powers, granting you the otherworldly appearance of your dreams in exchange for oaths of hospitality. As long as you keep your end of the bargain, your base appearance changes indefinitely to any one appearance you wish that's within the bounds of possibility for your ancestry; this effect can't be
counteracted or removed except by violating the pact. Additionally, you can cast
illusory disguise as a primal innate spell once per hour, using the higher of your class DC and your spell DC to determine the DC.
In exchange, you promise to accept any fey's request for hospitality, granting them food, drink, and lodging for up to 3 days and 3 nights. You also promise not to harm any creature to whom you've offered hospitality or who has shown hospitality to you, whether or not that creature is fey, unless that creature does harm first. If you refuse hospitality to a fey or violate hospitality, you lose the benefits of this feat until you atone for your transgressions, instantly reverting your appearance to the one you had before the pact.
Rare Archetype Primal Source Rival Academies pg. 46Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You’ve sworn a pact with Zemnaïdé, a huldra professor at Cobyslarni, to help renew his former homeland of the Sarkoris Scar. You can cast
entangling flora as a primal innate spell once per day. After the spell ends, the flowers and vines become mundane plants that can continue surviving if the natural environment can support them. They’re no longer difficult terrain, and don’t have the other effects of the spell. Fiends that fail a save against this spell or another plant spell you cast become
sickened 1 in addition to the normal effects.
In exchange for her boon, Zemnaïdé requires that you never knowingly aid demons or their allies, nor despoil a natural environment. If you do either, you lose the benefits of this feat until you atone. If you comment on his bovine tail or imply the huldras are connected to trolls, Zemnaïdé revokes the benefits of this feat for 1 week or until you sincerely apologize.
Legacy Content
Archetype Skill Source Dark Archive pg. 166Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication; expert in
Diplomacy
You can leverage your vow in more social interactions. The circumstance bonus from your
Binding Vow also applies to attempts to
Gather Information,
Make an Impression, or
Demoralize you make directly in service of fulfilling the vow.
Legacy Content
Uncommon Arcane Archetype Evocation Source Dark Archive pg. 166Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You've sworn a pact with a
dragon, giving you the ability to tap into the dragon's immeasurable power in exchange for adding to their hoard. You gain the Dragon Breath activity. In exchange, you promise to search for objects the dragon wants for its hoard upon request. These requests might be extremely specific unique objects, or they might be a broad category of objects. While the dragon agrees to pay you a fair price for the item you retrieve, the pact requires you to give your time and service.
Dragon Breath [two-actions] Frequency once per hour;
Effect You breathe deeply and exhale a line or cone of powerful breath, much like the dragon with which you made the pact. If the dragon had a cone-shaped breath weapon, your breath weapon is a 30-foot cone. If they had a line-shaped breath weapon, your breath weapon is a 60-foot line. If they had a burst-shaped breath weapon, your breath weapon is a 10-foot burst within 60 feet. No matter the shape, it deals 1d6 damage per level, of the same damage type as the dragon's Breath Weapon, with a
basic Reflex save, using the higher of your class DC or spell DC. This action has the same traits as the breath weapon of the dragon you made the pact with.
Uncommon Archetype Occult Source Rival Academies pg. 46Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication; master in
Occultism
You’ve studied pacts at Cobyslarni, or learned under someone who has, and understand them to not only create a bargain between individuals, but a separate entity altogether: the pact itself. You gain the Entreat Pact action, which you can use in association with any pact from the pactbinder archetype. For example, if you have the Pact of Draconic Fury, you could Entreat Pact to aid a skill check to obtain an item the dragon desires.
Source Rival Academies pg. 46Frequency once per hour
Trigger You attempt a skill check directly related to the conditions of the pact
(
concentrate,
fortune) You call upon the occult energies powering your pact to help you fulfill your promise. Roll twice on the triggering check and take the better result.
Special Your pacts continually enforce themselves in a circular magical loop. You lose the ability to retrain out of any feats from the pactbinder archetype.
Legacy Content
Uncommon Archetype Divination Divine Source Dark Archive pg. 167Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You've sworn a pact with
devils, granting you success in life in exchange for your soul in the afterlife. Once per hour, when you critically fail a check, you can reroll the check as a free action; this is a
fortune effect. Additionally, you can choose to automatically succeed at checks to
Earn Income for tasks below your level, without rolling.
However, when you die, your soul is consigned to
Hell. You can't be returned to life except by powerful magic such as
miracle, and even then, the devils responsible for the contract can track your every move for 1 year. The devils gain the effects of a
discern location spell. They can also use 10th-level
scrying on you at will, and you automatically critically fail your saving throw.
Special You can't retrain out of a Pact of Infernal Prowess without journeying to Hell and destroying the devil's written contract spelling out the terms of your pact.
Rare Archetype Occult Source Rival Academies pg. 46Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You've sworn a pact with Jenway Nightblossom of the Synod of Truth in Dreams, a talented oneiromancer and pactbinder. Through your connection to her, you're able to divine your dreams for wisdom, and they're protected from interference. You're immune to
nightmare. During your daily preparations, if you slept and were able to dream, you learn a helpful piece of advice about your future activities, as
read omens.
As payment, Jenway established a permanent telepathic connection to you that functions whenever you sleep or dream. Whenever you learn something significant, Jenway learns it the next time you sleep. You can withhold information, but you lose the benefits of Pact of the Nightblossom until you relent and allow Jenway to learn it.
Uncommon Archetype Primal Source Rival Academies pg. 47Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You’ve sworn a pact with Ng the Hooded, the Eldest known as the Lord of the Crossroads, though your only sign of Ng’s acknowledgment is the benefits you receive. Anyone tracking you must succeed at a Survival check against the higher of your class DC and spell DC. Creatures attempting to remember your features after the first time meeting you must succeed at a Will save against the same DC. If they fail, they recall the meeting but none of your features.
In exchange, you must continue your wanderings, never settling in one place for longer than one month, or you lose the benefits of this feat until you begin your travels again. If you ever willingly tell anyone you’ve formed a pact with Ng, you lose the benefits of this feat permanently, though you can share vague information about the pact’s effects.
Legacy Content
Uncommon Archetype Divine Necromancy Source Dark Archive pg. 167Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You've sworn a pact with a powerful
psychopomp—typically an olethros advocate or
yamaraj judge—granting you a reprieve before your soul will be collected in exchange for respect for the dead and assistance against the
undead. As long as you keep your end of the bargain, you live twice as long as you normally would before dying of natural causes. Additionally, the first time each day that you would be reduced to 0 Hit Points and gain the
dying condition, you instead regain a number of Hit Points equal to twice your level (starting from 0 HP), remain conscious, and gain
fast healing equal to your level for 3 rounds.
In exchange, you swear to treat the dead you come across with respect, performing last rites and final dispositions to ensure their spirits rest in peace and are less likely to rise as undead. Furthermore, you swear to destroy undead you come across, so long as it's within your power to do so without inordinate risk to yourself. Violating your part of the pact causes its protections to immediately end. If at that point you had already lived beyond your natural lifespan, the psychopomps typically give you a few moments to make any last farewells, and then you simply breathe your final breath and pass on.
Legacy Content
Uncommon Archetype Divination Occult Source Dark Archive pg. 167Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You've sworn a pact with an entity beyond mortal comprehension, granting you distant visions and insights. You can cast
prying eye as an occult innate spell once per hour, using the higher of your class DC and your spell DC to determine the DC.
In exchange, you allow the entity to peer through you at your world. The entity's touch creates strange dreams, typically nightmares. Every morning, you awaken trained in an unexpected
Lore skill determined by the GM, which you retain until the next time you rest for the night. While the entity contacts you most often while you sleep, it occasionally peers at you during the day, leading to disorientation and visions. You can generally determine what's going on during these visions, so normally this occurrence imparts no mechanical penalty. However, in the unlikely event that an encounter begins while you're experiencing visions from the entity, you might take a circumstance penalty to your initiative roll.
Special The entity isn't particularly attached to its pact with you. If you want it gone, you can retrain out of Pact of Eldritch Eyes, after which the entity withdraws its eyes to the void.
Uncommon Archetype Divine Source Rival Academies pg. 47Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You’ve sworn a pact with a psychopomp bent on the destruction of all undeath. You gain an imprecise deathsense that can detect undead creatures up to 60 feet away. Additionally, whenever an undead creature is destroyed within 60 feet you gain temporary Hit Points equal to its level that last for 1 minute.
In exchange, the psychopomp requires that you never aid in the creation or conquest of an undead creature. You must also seek out and put to rest any mindless or destructive undead creatures you come across.
Uncommon Archetype Primal Source Rival Academies pg. 47Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You’ve sworn a pact with a powerful fey creature that longs to see the wonders of the Universe. You gain the Fey Jump ability. In exchange, you can no longer see the moon or stars as the fey steals those wonders from your eyes, and you must gaze at the empty sky for at least 10 minutes each night. If you do not, the fey revokes your benefits for the next day. If you go a week without gazing, the fey revokes your benefits until you atone.
Source Rival Academies pg. 47Frequency once per hour
(
concentrate,
primal,
teleportation You jump through the First World for a brief second, teleporting up 60 feet away to an empty space you can see. If this would bring another creature with you—even if you’re carrying it in an extradimensional container—the action is lost.
Uncommon Arcane Archetype Source Rival Academies pg. 47Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
While the students of Cobyslarni are taught to make pacts with many kinds of dragons, a pact with a rune dragon is somewhat more frequent due to their interest in the accomplishments of various academies. You immediately learn 10 languages chosen from common languages, uncommon languages, and any others the dragon has access to. Additionally, you can
Identify Magic at a range of 30 feet as a single action ability with the
concentrate trait.
In exchange, the rune dragon requires you to research a topic and send a detailed report each year. Year to year, the dragon may change the interest of your research as they see fit. If you fail to send an appropriately detailed report, you lose this ability unless you spend one week serving the dragon.
Uncommon Archetype Source Rival Academies pg. 47Archetype PactbinderPrerequisites Pactbinder Dedication
You’ve sworn a pact with a pact that has somehow survived long after the death of the original pactbinder. You gain the Forced Pact action. In exchange, this and any other pact you have made seek longevity. Whenever you become dying 3 or higher, all of your pacts abandon you and flee to the nearest safe space. You can sense their direction at all times, and if you find them, you regain all of your pacts.
Source Rival Academies pg. 47Frequency once per hour
(
concentrate) You force a temporary pact on both yourself and another creature you can see within 60 feet. Choose attack, move, manipulate, or concentrate. The target must attempt a Will saving throw.
Success The target is unaffected.
Failure If you or the target uses an action with the chosen trait within the next minute, they take 10d6 mental damage, and this pact ends for both of you.
Critical Failure As failure, except your target takes the damage if either of you uses an action with the chosen trait.