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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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

All Archetypes
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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 StandardElementalistDedication Feat 2

Source Secrets of Magic pg. 206 1.1
Prerequisites elemental magic
You revere the four elements—air, earth, fire, and water—as the building blocks of creation and the source of all life. You believe that by balancing, mixing, and rearranging these four 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 four elements. You cast spells drawn from multiple traditions and can use the four elements to alter and empower your spells, making them manifest and mixing them in unique ways. Most elementalists embrace the four elements equally as a mystical quaternity, and they strengthen their connection to one of these elements each day to protect themselves from harm. Others, notably sorcerer and wizard elementalists, feel a stronger connection to a singular element that they hone to great heights, utilizing the other three elements to support and augment their favored element.

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

Source Secrets of Magic pg. 209 1.1
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

Rare 
Source Secrets of Magic pg. 240 1.1
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 StandardSpellshotDedication Feat 2

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 LimitedWellspring MageDedication Feat 2

Rare 
Source Secrets of Magic pg. 248 1.1
Prerequisites wellspring magic
The source of your magic buckles against your control, always pressing to be released.