Archives of Nethys
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Momentary Magic
Source Treasure Vault pg. 73
While many magical items in an adventurer's toolkit might be carried over the course of their entire career, like a sword they ensorcell with ever more powerful runes, other magical items exist for a particular moment in time, meant to be used and then replaced. Talismans that attach to armor until their magic is used to avert disaster, catalysts whose only purpose is to be consumed during the casting of a spell to transform its effects, and many more types of magical items all fit within this broad category.
This chapter expands upon the existing types of magical consumables available within the game and introduces new types of consumables and consumable functions. Catalysts and fulus, originally introduced in Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, are expanded with new options. Magical missives are a new category of items comprised of letters, musical compositions, and drawings that have a variety of effects based on the content the user inscribes onto the page.
Wondrous consumables make up a diverse category of new magic items that come in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and functions. From simple point-and-fire spellguns that act as a hybrid of a wand and firearm to launch a single magical effect, to magical instruments inscribed with a one-time spell to summon an extraplanar creature into a musical battle, wondrous consumables can perform almost any function, though typically no more than once.
GMs seeking to get the most out of this section for their tables might have players look at a particular section of this chapter and suggest some items that suit their character's story or desired play style. While part of the fun of using consumables can be having a quirky or unusual effect come into play in an unexpected way, it can also be fun for players to get their hands on items that will allow them pull off a particular cinematic scene or trick that creates a memorable table event.
A GM might also drop magical consumables into an adventure to serve as solutions to a cunning puzzle or enemy whose nature is one the party is not particularly suited for. Whether a potion to help a bard remember a tricky piece of information or an oil to help a fighter battle a rust monster without having it devour their precious weapons and armor, consumables can be a fun and effective way to allow characters to engage with a story in a way that their normal skill set might not be fully suited for.
This chapter expands upon the existing types of magical consumables available within the game and introduces new types of consumables and consumable functions. Catalysts and fulus, originally introduced in Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, are expanded with new options. Magical missives are a new category of items comprised of letters, musical compositions, and drawings that have a variety of effects based on the content the user inscribes onto the page.
Wondrous consumables make up a diverse category of new magic items that come in a wide array of shapes, sizes, and functions. From simple point-and-fire spellguns that act as a hybrid of a wand and firearm to launch a single magical effect, to magical instruments inscribed with a one-time spell to summon an extraplanar creature into a musical battle, wondrous consumables can perform almost any function, though typically no more than once.
GMs seeking to get the most out of this section for their tables might have players look at a particular section of this chapter and suggest some items that suit their character's story or desired play style. While part of the fun of using consumables can be having a quirky or unusual effect come into play in an unexpected way, it can also be fun for players to get their hands on items that will allow them pull off a particular cinematic scene or trick that creates a memorable table event.
A GM might also drop magical consumables into an adventure to serve as solutions to a cunning puzzle or enemy whose nature is one the party is not particularly suited for. Whether a potion to help a bard remember a tricky piece of information or an oil to help a fighter battle a rust monster without having it devour their precious weapons and armor, consumables can be a fun and effective way to allow characters to engage with a story in a way that their normal skill set might not be fully suited for.
Missive
A missive is a piece of magical stationery that must be crafted and composed before it can be activated. All missives have the missive and consumable traits. Missives are often constructed of paper, parchment, or vellum, but any other thin, portable material that can hold writing or embossing upon it can be crafted into missives. After being crafted, the missive is a blank sheet until a message is composed upon it, completing its magic.
Composing Missives
Before a missive can be activated, it must be composed. Composing a missive means preparing the missive's contents—visual, tactile, or both. Then, the missive Activates when it's examined. Missive contents can include anything that might be written or embossed on writing material. Contents change the missive's effects only if the missive's description says they do. Composing a missive requires using the Compose Missive activity.
Source Treasure Vault pg. 84
You spend 10 minutes drawing, writing, or inscribing, covering the missive’s surface with text, images, or embossing.
Compose Missive
Exploration ManipulateSource Treasure Vault pg. 84
You spend 10 minutes drawing, writing, or inscribing, covering the missive’s surface with text, images, or embossing.
Activating Missives
Unless otherwise stated in a missive's description, a missive is activated automatically when a creature holding or touching the missive reads or examines the missive's contents. Doing so requires an amount of time noted in the missive's description, but is typically 2 actions—one to open the missive or arrange it in their hands (manipulate) and the other to absorb part of the contents (concentrate). A missive doesn't have to be read or examined in its entirety to be activated, nor does a creature need to know the missive is magical to Activate it. One can Activate missives unintentionally! The creature does need to be able to understand the missive to Activate it, however—a creature who speaks only undercommon couldn't Activate a missive in Common. Someone who knows they hold a missive can avoid Activating it by not examining it, and possibly by Interacting to close it, if it's open.
Spellguns
The spellgun trait appears on items that can generate a magical effect that flies out like a bullet. You can make either a spell attack roll with a spellgun or a ranged attack roll using your proficiency with simple firearms. Spellguns have a range increment, which applies regardless of which type of attack roll you make. Though you can use your modifier for simple firearms, a spellgun isn't actually a firearm. You don't get the damage of a firearm Strike, nor other benefits like critical specialization. Similarly, you can't load or reload a spellgun, affix talismans to one, attach scopes, affix attached weapons like bayonets or reinforced stocks, and so on.
Story-Based Crafting
Example Quests
Included below are an array of sample quests showcasing story-based crafting in action. Story-based crafting works best when individually tailored to each group, but the quests below can serve as examples of how to assemble and run a crafting quest. They can even be modified and dropped directly into a level-appropriate game to help fill out a session or allow your group to try out story-based crafting before committing to a longer-term campaign centered around the system.
Quest 1: Forging the Holy Sword (Level 13–14)
James is running a game that includes Logan’s character, a champion of Iomedae. The party is getting close to reaching 14th level, and Logan has expressed a desire for his character to gain a blessed reformer. James has decided that in order for Logan to forge his blessed reformer, he’ll need to recover the hammer’s haft, head, and pommel stone, for a total of 3 encounters. James takes the cost of the blessed reformer, 4,500 gp, and reduces it by 10% for each of the three encounters (for a total reduction of 30%), arriving at a final total of 3,150 gp. James decides that each piece of the sword is worth the same amount, or 1,050 gp per component.
James plans the following three encounters out for Logan.
Retrieving the Haft: The first encounter James has planned for this crafting quest is a mission to retrieve the blessed reformer’s haft from the clutches of a pair of liches. As 12th-level creatures, the liches are worth 30 XP each for a 13th-level party and collectively comprise a low-difficulty encounter worth 1,875 gp. James subtracts the value of the haft from the encounter’s loot and adds in some consumables and other minor treasures for the rest of the group.
Liberating the Pommel Stone: The second encounter James has planned for the crafting quest is a mission to retrieve the blessed reformer’s pommel stone from an abandoned dwarven vault. While no monsters guard the vault, it’s located behind a maze of twisting tunnels. When the party eventually finds the room and Logan’s champion retrieves the pommel stone, they find out that the other treasures along all four walls are actually telekinetic swarm traps! Four 12th-level complex hazards constitute a severe encounter for a 13th-level party, so James deducts another 1,050 gp from the encounter’s treasure for the pommel stone. Since there’s over 2,000 gp remaining in the encounter’s treasure value, this would also be an excellent location for James to leave items for other party members’ crafting quests, along with some consumables and other treasure like art and coins.
Since this was a severe encounter and the champion’s crafting quest is nearing completion, this would also be a good time for the party to level up to 14th level, which is what we assume happens going into the final encounter of the blessed reformer’s crafting quest.
Restoring the Blade: The final piece of the blessed reformer is its head, which it turns out is still lodged between the scales of the ancient black dragon Sharzathinek. As an ancient black dragon, Sharzathinek is a 16th-level creature—a moderate encounter for the 14th-level party. James deducts 1,050 gp from the 3,650 gp Sharzathinek is worth. This also leaves room for James to include a couple other crafting quest components for other party members in the dragon’s loot. With the dragon slain, Logan’s champion claims the blessed reformer’s blade as his piece of the treasure for the encounter and rejoins it with the haft and pommel stone. The magic of the hammer’s components, awakened by the champion’s holy quest, causes the pieces of the sundered weapon to fuse with each other, and the champion’s blessed reformer is complete.
James plans the following three encounters out for Logan.
Retrieving the Haft: The first encounter James has planned for this crafting quest is a mission to retrieve the blessed reformer’s haft from the clutches of a pair of liches. As 12th-level creatures, the liches are worth 30 XP each for a 13th-level party and collectively comprise a low-difficulty encounter worth 1,875 gp. James subtracts the value of the haft from the encounter’s loot and adds in some consumables and other minor treasures for the rest of the group.
Liberating the Pommel Stone: The second encounter James has planned for the crafting quest is a mission to retrieve the blessed reformer’s pommel stone from an abandoned dwarven vault. While no monsters guard the vault, it’s located behind a maze of twisting tunnels. When the party eventually finds the room and Logan’s champion retrieves the pommel stone, they find out that the other treasures along all four walls are actually telekinetic swarm traps! Four 12th-level complex hazards constitute a severe encounter for a 13th-level party, so James deducts another 1,050 gp from the encounter’s treasure for the pommel stone. Since there’s over 2,000 gp remaining in the encounter’s treasure value, this would also be an excellent location for James to leave items for other party members’ crafting quests, along with some consumables and other treasure like art and coins.
Since this was a severe encounter and the champion’s crafting quest is nearing completion, this would also be a good time for the party to level up to 14th level, which is what we assume happens going into the final encounter of the blessed reformer’s crafting quest.
Restoring the Blade: The final piece of the blessed reformer is its head, which it turns out is still lodged between the scales of the ancient black dragon Sharzathinek. As an ancient black dragon, Sharzathinek is a 16th-level creature—a moderate encounter for the 14th-level party. James deducts 1,050 gp from the 3,650 gp Sharzathinek is worth. This also leaves room for James to include a couple other crafting quest components for other party members in the dragon’s loot. With the dragon slain, Logan’s champion claims the blessed reformer’s blade as his piece of the treasure for the encounter and rejoins it with the haft and pommel stone. The magic of the hammer’s components, awakened by the champion’s holy quest, causes the pieces of the sundered weapon to fuse with each other, and the champion’s blessed reformer is complete.
Quest 2: Weaving the Wizard’s Robes (Level 7)
Jessica’s character is an illusion-loving wizard who has just reached 7th level and wants to celebrate her ascension by creating a cloak of illusions. Jessica’s wizard has trained with a prestigious archmage as one of the archmage’s many apprentices; the robes will serve not just as protection for her wizard on future adventures but as a symbol of the completion of her apprenticeship. Her GM, James, has decided that to create these robes, Jessica’s wizard will need to collect spider silk, a burning gemstone to power a magical device, and a scale from a mirage dragon to pull illusion magic out of. All three of these materials can be harvested from within the magical demiplane where the wizard’s archmage master trains his apprentices, and the final step for Jessica’s wizard will be to weave all the components together at the archmage’s magical loom. James takes the 360 gp base cost of the cloak of illusion and reduces it by 10% for each of the three encounters, arriving at a final total of 252 gp. James has decided that the encounters will consist of one low-difficulty encounter and two moderate-difficulty encounters, with the value of the spider silk set at 50 gp and the value of the other two crafting quest components each set at 101 gp.
James plans the following three encounters out for Jessica’s wizard.
Bargaining for Silk: The first encounter Jessica’s wizard will need to navigate is retrieving the silk for her robe from a trio of ether spiders. As 5th-level creatures, the three spiders collectively are worth 60 XP for a 7th-level party and constitute a low‑difficulty encounter worth 220 gp. James deducts 50 gp from the value of the encounter for the silk and distributes the rest in the form of various consumables the archmage left behind for his successful apprentices to find. While the ether spiders are deadly threats, Jessica’s wizard recognizes that killing the spiders would destroy her master’s silk supply, so she instead bargains with the ether spiders and trades them food and treasures from her earlier adventures in exchange for the silk she needs, completing the encounter nonlethally.
Retrieving the Power Gemstone: The second encounter awaiting Jessica’s wizard requires her to travel to the magical furnace powering the archmage’s tower and retrieve a gemstone imbued with the power of elemental flame that will magically funnel power from the furnace to the wizard’s loom. When Jessica’s wizard arrives at the furnace, she discovers that the archmage has prepared a surprise for her and has left the furnace gate open, allowing four living wildfire elementals to slip in from the Plane of Fire! As 5th-level creatures, the four elementals collectively represent a moderate encounter worth 290 gp for a 7th-level party. James deducts 101 gp from the value of the encounter to account for the value of the gemstone and gives the rest of the treasure to the party in the form of consumables that might help them in the final battle.
Claiming a Scale: Singed but undeterred, Jessica’s wizard and her party face their final challenge: a young mirage dragon guards the magical loom on which the wizard must weave her magical robes. As a 9th-level creature, the dragon represents a moderate encounter worth 290 gp for a 7th-level party. James deducts 101 gp from the value of the encounter for the dragon scale and provides the rest as treasures for the wizard’s party members. Once the wizard has fought, bargained, or tricked her way into retrieving a scale and accessing the archmage’s loom, she attempts a DC 23 Crafting check at the loom (the standard DC for a 7th-level item) to weave the crafting quest components together into her completed cloak of illusions.
James plans the following three encounters out for Jessica’s wizard.
Bargaining for Silk: The first encounter Jessica’s wizard will need to navigate is retrieving the silk for her robe from a trio of ether spiders. As 5th-level creatures, the three spiders collectively are worth 60 XP for a 7th-level party and constitute a low‑difficulty encounter worth 220 gp. James deducts 50 gp from the value of the encounter for the silk and distributes the rest in the form of various consumables the archmage left behind for his successful apprentices to find. While the ether spiders are deadly threats, Jessica’s wizard recognizes that killing the spiders would destroy her master’s silk supply, so she instead bargains with the ether spiders and trades them food and treasures from her earlier adventures in exchange for the silk she needs, completing the encounter nonlethally.
Retrieving the Power Gemstone: The second encounter awaiting Jessica’s wizard requires her to travel to the magical furnace powering the archmage’s tower and retrieve a gemstone imbued with the power of elemental flame that will magically funnel power from the furnace to the wizard’s loom. When Jessica’s wizard arrives at the furnace, she discovers that the archmage has prepared a surprise for her and has left the furnace gate open, allowing four living wildfire elementals to slip in from the Plane of Fire! As 5th-level creatures, the four elementals collectively represent a moderate encounter worth 290 gp for a 7th-level party. James deducts 101 gp from the value of the encounter to account for the value of the gemstone and gives the rest of the treasure to the party in the form of consumables that might help them in the final battle.
Claiming a Scale: Singed but undeterred, Jessica’s wizard and her party face their final challenge: a young mirage dragon guards the magical loom on which the wizard must weave her magical robes. As a 9th-level creature, the dragon represents a moderate encounter worth 290 gp for a 7th-level party. James deducts 101 gp from the value of the encounter for the dragon scale and provides the rest as treasures for the wizard’s party members. Once the wizard has fought, bargained, or tricked her way into retrieving a scale and accessing the archmage’s loom, she attempts a DC 23 Crafting check at the loom (the standard DC for a 7th-level item) to weave the crafting quest components together into her completed cloak of illusions.
Quest 3: Shaping the Armor of Yggdrasil (Level 5)
Ianara's character is a druid seeking to craft a +1 wooden breastplate for herself. Having just reached 5th level, Ianara's druid will soon be leaving the relative safety of her grove and the surrounding woodlands to venture out into the wider world as a champion of nature, an endeavor which will call for greater protection than she has had need of so far. Her GM, James, has decided that for Ianara's druid to create this armor, she'll need to gather four essential materials from the woodlands around her grove: fur collected from grizzly bears to line the armor, duskwood bark collected from trees protected by arboreal warden, a section of wood freely gifted by an awakened tree for the main plate, and sticky sap from a grove guarded by a dryad and her pet basilisk to bind it all together. James has decided that this crafting quest will require Ianara's druid to complete four Low difficulty encounters, so he has reduced the 160 gp cost of the +1 wooden breastplate by 40% for a final crafting cost of 96 gp, with each component having a value of 24 gp each. He deducts the 24 gp from the 100 gp value of each of the encounters and assigns the remaining 76 gp from each encounter to consumables and crafting quest components for the other characters.
James plans the following four encounters out for Ianara.
Shaving the Grizzly: Ianara's first task is to collect the grizzly bear fur, and fortunately, three large grizzlies with fur to spare can be found fishing salmon from a nearby stream. While the bears do constitute a potentially engaging, or even deadly, combat encounter, Ianara's character is a druid and unwilling to harm the creatures just to line her armor. By leveraging a combination of primal magic and Nature-oriented skill feats, she's able to calm the bears and convince them to donate some of their fur to her.
Working Around the Wardens: Next, Ianara's druid must convince a pair of arboreal wardens to allow her to collect fallen scraps of duskwood bark from the grove of duskwood trees they're dedicated to protecting. Whether through combat, stealth, bargaining, or fleetness of foot, the druid manages to retrieve the necessary bark and completes the encounter before seeking out the next component for her armor.
You're Not Using That, Are You?: Next, Ianara's druid needs to convince a mighty awakened tree to gift her a section of its living body to form the main plate of her +1 wooden breastplate. Combat isn't an option here; not only would attacking an otherwise-peaceful awakened tree potentially be anathema for the druid, but the wood has to be freely gifted or the armor will be ruined. Guile, diplomacy, and magic are Ianara's only options, but fortunately, if anyone can convince a tree to give up a part of itself, it's probably a druid.
Sticky Situation: Having collected most of the components to create her armor, the druid just needs the sticky sap to bind everything together. The dryad and basilisk protecting the sap are cantankerous, cruel, and unwilling to share, and their grove is littered with evidence that the basilisk isn't too picky about who or what it petrifies and eats, either. While the party has thus far attempted nonviolent solutions wherever possible, the clearly evil nature of the dryad and basilisk likely mean that Ianara's party might just choose to fight this one out for the good of the forest, though it's also possible that they will choose to try and redeem the dryad and her pet. Regardless of the resolution they choose, once the dryad and basilisk are dealt with, Ianara's druid has all the crafting quest components she needs to Craft her armor, and she can begin the process of assembling them.
Since the encounters were all contained within the same woodland, James requires Ianara's druid to attempt a Crafting check inside the druid grove to complete the armor. Ianara's druid successfully completes a DC 20 Crafting check (the standard DC for a 5th-level item) and can now don her +1 wooden breastplate.
James plans the following four encounters out for Ianara.
Shaving the Grizzly: Ianara's first task is to collect the grizzly bear fur, and fortunately, three large grizzlies with fur to spare can be found fishing salmon from a nearby stream. While the bears do constitute a potentially engaging, or even deadly, combat encounter, Ianara's character is a druid and unwilling to harm the creatures just to line her armor. By leveraging a combination of primal magic and Nature-oriented skill feats, she's able to calm the bears and convince them to donate some of their fur to her.
Working Around the Wardens: Next, Ianara's druid must convince a pair of arboreal wardens to allow her to collect fallen scraps of duskwood bark from the grove of duskwood trees they're dedicated to protecting. Whether through combat, stealth, bargaining, or fleetness of foot, the druid manages to retrieve the necessary bark and completes the encounter before seeking out the next component for her armor.
You're Not Using That, Are You?: Next, Ianara's druid needs to convince a mighty awakened tree to gift her a section of its living body to form the main plate of her +1 wooden breastplate. Combat isn't an option here; not only would attacking an otherwise-peaceful awakened tree potentially be anathema for the druid, but the wood has to be freely gifted or the armor will be ruined. Guile, diplomacy, and magic are Ianara's only options, but fortunately, if anyone can convince a tree to give up a part of itself, it's probably a druid.
Sticky Situation: Having collected most of the components to create her armor, the druid just needs the sticky sap to bind everything together. The dryad and basilisk protecting the sap are cantankerous, cruel, and unwilling to share, and their grove is littered with evidence that the basilisk isn't too picky about who or what it petrifies and eats, either. While the party has thus far attempted nonviolent solutions wherever possible, the clearly evil nature of the dryad and basilisk likely mean that Ianara's party might just choose to fight this one out for the good of the forest, though it's also possible that they will choose to try and redeem the dryad and her pet. Regardless of the resolution they choose, once the dryad and basilisk are dealt with, Ianara's druid has all the crafting quest components she needs to Craft her armor, and she can begin the process of assembling them.
Since the encounters were all contained within the same woodland, James requires Ianara's druid to attempt a Crafting check inside the druid grove to complete the armor. Ianara's druid successfully completes a DC 20 Crafting check (the standard DC for a 5th-level item) and can now don her +1 wooden breastplate.
Shelyn's Corner
×Classic Feel
Classic Feel
Classic Feel
The classic look for the Archives of Nethys.
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Book Feel
Book Feel
Book Feel
An alternative feel, based on the Rulebooks.
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Round Feel
Round Feel
Round Feel
A rounded, modern look for the archives.
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Slim Feel
Slim Feel
Slim Feel
A variant of the Round feel, more compact.
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