This page details the steps for creating a character for the Pathfinder Society. These steps mirror those in the Pathfinder Player Core and Pathfinder Core Rulebook with a few additional Pathfinder Society-specific rules and benefits.
Character Sheets
There is no standard character sheet format required. The only requirements are that the information be legible, clear, and reviewable by the GM.
A printable Remastered character sheet is available from paizo.com (direct link). For additional information, including legacy Pathfinder Second Edition character sheets, online character building tools, and other reference materials, see the Paizo Pathfinder page .
Resources
Players may use any Paizo published books or supplements they own during character creation, provided the options are valid per the Character Options page . Players who live in the same household may share owned resources.
You are not required to own the Core Sources to use the options in them for the Pathfinder Society campaign, but you must reference the related rules from the official Pathfinder Resource Document . The list of Core Sources posted on the Character Options page is the official version and takes precedence in the case of any conflict with the list below, which is reproduced here for convenience.
The Core Sources are: the Pathfinder Player Core, Pathfinder GM Core, Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Bestiary, and Pathfinder Lost Omens World Guide.
Character Creation Remastered
The Pathfinder 2e Remaster features a number of updates and revisions, including some which impact character creation.
Remastered Classes
Characters created 15 November 2023 or later whose class is reprinted in the Player Core must use the reprinted version of their class.
Characters with at least one game reported prior to 15 November 2023 can be built and continue their progression using the version of their class in the Core Rulebook. Once such characters earn 12 XP, they cannot use the version of their class in the Player Core without rebuilding. (Reminder: characters with less than 12 XP can freely rebuild completely.)
To rebuild a character from a pre-Remaster to a Remaster version of a class, see Rebuilding on the Remaster transition page.
Other Remastered Options
If a character option other than the entire class is reprinted in a Remaster book and the option has the same name, use the new version as if it were errata. No retraining is necessary.
If a character option has not been reprinted, characters can select and use the option as previously printed.
Wizards using the Core Rulebook version of their class can treat spells that had their spell school removed as part of the Remaster as if they still have their original spell schools. They must otherwise fully update spells that have been reprinted in Remaster books. Such wizards can learn new spells printed in Remaster books, but they can never treat a spell as having a spell school if it did not have one pre-Remaster.
Character Creation Guidelines
The following steps elaborate and expand on character creation for Pathfinder Society characters. PC pg. 17, CRB pg. 19Player Core page 17
Core Rulebook page 19
(click to close)
1. Create a Concept
Remember, your character is a member of the Pathfinder Society first and foremost, and as such, your character should be able to work with any other Pathfinder, and abide by the Society’s motto:
“Explore, Report, Cooperate”.
2. Start Building Attribute Modifiers
Pathfinder Society characters can use the standard attribute boosts and flaws for their ancestry or the alternate ancestry boosts. Your character can also take two additional attribute flaws to gain one additional attribute boost as described below.
Voluntary Flaws
You can elect to take two additional attribute flaws when applying the attribute boosts and attribute flaws from your ancestry. If you do, you can also apply one additional free attribute boost.
These attribute flaws can be assigned to any attribute you like, but you can’t apply more than one flaw to the same attribute during this step unless you apply both of the additional flaws to an attribute that is already receiving a boost during this step. In this case, the first flaw cancels the boost, and the second flaw decreases the attribute modifier by 1.
Likewise, as an exception to the normal rules for attribute boosts, you can apply two free attribute boosts to an attribute receiving a flaw during this step; the first boost cancels the flaw, and the second boost increases the attribute modifier by 1.
For example, a dwarf normally gets an attribute boost to Constitution and Wisdom, along with an attribute flaw to Charisma. You could apply one attribute flaw each to Intelligence and Strength, or you could apply both flaws to Wisdom. You could not apply either additional flaw to Charisma, though, because it is already receiving dwarves’ attribute flaw during this step.
3. Select an Ancestry
Ancestry follows the normal rules PC pg. 41, CRB pg. 33Player Core page 41
Core Rulebook page 33
(click to close) with minor modifications to adapt to the languages of Golarion. In addition to the common ancestries in the Player Core, characters also have access to the following ancestries provide the player owns the corresponding book:
- Kobold (from the Advanced Player's Guide )
- Ratfolk (from the Advanced Player's Guide )
- Tengu (from the Advanced Player's Guide )
The leshy and orc ancestries are now common ancestries in the Player Core and remain freely available.
The nephilim (formerly aasimar and tiefling) and changeling versatile heritages are uncommon but remain freely available. Nephilim and changeling characters have Access to one additional language (see Languages below).
Uncommon Ancestries
Because your ancestry is one of the first things you pick about your character, and it is not possible to retrain your ancestry as you might retrain other options, the only way to select uncommon or rarer ancestries is with a boon that allows you to create a new character of this ancestry.
Home Region
When you create a character, you can decide where they have come from, including their ethnicity, PC pg. 63, CRB pg. 430Player Core page 63
Core Rulebook page 430
(click to close) nationality, and region of origin. PC pg. 31; GMC pg. 146, CRB pg. 420Player Core page 31;
GM Core page 146, Core Rulebook page 420
(click to close) These choices might allow your character to take certain character options (subject to the usual Access conditions). For instance, humans of Jadwiga ethnicity descend from the witch-queens of Irrisen, and they can take the Irriseni Ice-Witch feat to represent this connection. Similarly, characters from the Broken Lands have access to the Aldori dueling swords that are iconic to that region.
For Nationality, choose one nation (such as Varisia or Taldor). You are considered a citizen of that nation. For the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites and Access conditions for uncommon character options, you are treated as being from that nation as well as the larger region in which it’s found, (such as the Saga Lands for Varisia or the Shining Kingdoms for Taldor).
A list of regions of origin and the items they grant access to is included in the Pathfinder Society FAQ . More information on the Nations of Golarion is available in the Lost Omens: World Guide
If your character is of mixed ethnicity or comes from multiple regions of origin, then for the purposes of game balance, you choose one ethnicity and one region of origin that your character can use to satisfy prerequisite and access conditions for character options. This affects only the character options you can select, and in no way limits your character’s identity or story.
Certain Boons, such as Home Region or Multicultural Training, can allow you to change or expand your character’s origin for the purpose of qualifying for character options, to reflect their life experiences.
Languages
All Pathfinder Society characters are literate and speak Common (Taldane) as well as any other languages granted by their ancestry. All Pathfinder Society characters have access to all common and uncommon modern regional languages. Pathfinder Society characters are not limited to the 9 regional languages in the "Regional Languages" table. PC pg. 34, CRB pg. 432Player Core page 34
Core Rulebook page 432
(click to close)
All Pathfinder Society characters begin with one additional regional language.
Nephilim characters have Access to one additional language (choose among Chthonian, Empyrean, Daemonic, or Diabolic) and changeling characters have Access to Aklo. These languages must still be learned following the usual rules.
4. Pick A Background
In addition to the backgrounds allowed by the Character Options document, players who participated in the Pathfinder Society (first edition) campaign have access to special Pathfinder Society Legacy Backgrounds.
5. Choose A Class
All Pathfinder Society characters begin at 1st level, although some boons allow a character to immediately advance to 2nd or 3rd level at the end of character creation.
6. Finish Attribute Modifiers
The Pathfinder Society follows the standard rules.
7. Record Class Details
All Pathfinder Society characters get free training in Pathfinder Society Lore (sometimes referred to as Pathfinder Lore). Otherwise, Pathfinder Society characters follow the standard rules for Class Details.
8. Buy Equipment
All characters in Pathfinder Society begin with the standard 15 gold pieces (150 silver pieces) that can be spent on starting gear. For a quick start, see the quick equipment packages (formerly class kits), prebuilt selections of gear tailored to each of the core classes.PC pg. 268, CRB pg. 289Player Core page 268
Core Rulebook page 289
(click to close) Further information on purchasing equipment is in the Purchasing Guidelines.
9. Calculate Modifiers
The Pathfinder Society follows the standard rules.
10. Finishing Details
Age
Characters must be at least young adults to be accepted as members of the Pathfinder Society.
Character Introductions
The beginning of Pathfinder Society games includes character introductions, so consider making a few notes on your character’s appearance, personality, and pronouns to share with other players. The World of Golarion and the Lost Omens: Character Guide both contain information on the campaign setting you can use for this purpose.
No Unholy PCs
Pathfinder Society characters cannot be sanctified unholy. Since alignments have been removed from Pathfinder as of the Remaster, this is the spiritual successor to the previous rule forbidding PCs with evil alignments.
Other Organization Membership
Through the course of your character’s adventures, you might meet influential members of other organizations and have the opportunity to learn from them. The Secondary Initiation Achievement Points boon allows you to gain membership in an organization and access to its character options.
Religion
When you create a character, you can choose their religion or philosophy. If your character is of a class that directly interacts with the divine, such as a cleric or a champion, you must make this choice at first level as part of gaining your class abilities. However, characters of any class might be allowed certain character options based on the deity they follow. For instance, all followers of Abadar gain access to Abadar’s flawless scale, a magic item considered holy by the faith.
Characters can worship and gain mechanical benefits from any deity listed in the table of gods in the Player Core (beginning on page 35) or detailed in Lost Omens Gods & Magic so long as they follow the deity’s listed divine sanctification rule and the deity is not limited or restricted. (See the Character Options page for whether a deity is limited or restricted.)
Note that some deities, such as Rovagug or Urgathoa, require their followers to be sanctified unholy; as Society characters cannot be sanctified unholy, these deities cannot be worshiped to gain benefits in Society play. Characters can also be agnostic, atheist, or can follow the tenets of philosophies LOGM pg. 94Lost Omens: Gods & Magic page 94
(click to close) rather than deities.
Characters can revere deities they do not worship. Revering a deity means that your character might do things like wearing the deity’s holy symbol, attending the deity’s religious services, or performing other acts of obeisance that aren’t rewarded with spells or divine powers. A character can revere as many deities as they wish, but can worship and receive power from only one.
If your character reveres multiple deities, then for the purposes of game balance, you choose one deity that your character can use to satisfy prerequisite and access conditions for character options. This affects only the character options you can select, and in no way limits your character’s identity or story.
Note that a number of deities will die during 2024 as part of the War of Immortals event. For more information, including on gaining a free rebuild if the deity your character worships dies, see Rebuilding Your Character.
Pantheons
Characters can also follow pantheons LOGM pg. 92Lost Omens Gods & Magic page 92
(click to close) instead of specific deities, in which case they gain the benefits of the pantheon as a whole. Characters in Society play must choose a patron deity when following a pantheon. They can use both their patron deity and the pantheon as a whole to satisfy access and prerequisites, but not any other deities in the pantheon individually. For instance, a character could worship the Godclaw, with Iomedae as their patron deity, in which case they could take options related to both Iomedae and the Godclaw, but this wouldn’t automatically allow them to take options related to Torag, Irori, Abadar, or Asmodeus.
Edicts and Anathema in Society Play
Several characters, such as clerics or champions, must abide by the edicts and anathema of their deity to receive divine powers from that deity. To allow a wide variety of characters in Society play, the rules around edicts and anathema are slightly relaxed. It is generally assumed that all characters can participate in Pathfinder Society adventures without running afoul of their deity’s edicts and anathema—attempting to perform the primary objective of an official Pathfinder Society mission by itself will not cause a character to fall out of favor with their deity. For example, Pharasma prohibits robbing tombs, but a cleric of Pharasma can accept a Society mission to retrieve an artifact from a pyramid, confident that the Society has gone through the proper channels to secure the rights to retrieve the artifact.
While edicts are valorous actions praised by a deity, a character does not need to perform their deity’s edicts to the exclusion of other activities, or if doing so would prevent the smooth progression of play at the table. When considering anathema, note that a character must actively and personally commit an anathemic act in Society play to incur consequences with their deity, and is not liable for the actions of their party members. For instance, a champion of Sarenrae could not personally lie to a guard when infiltrating a city, but they do not need to force the party’s rogue to tell the truth (though they might look on disapprovingly).
Remember that edicts and anathema exist to create roleplaying opportunities at the table for your character, and should not be used by the GM to pressure PCs, or by PCs to pressure other members of the table toward specific styles of play.
Representations of Characters
Pathfinder uses maps with a standard 1-inch grid to determine movement and tactical positioning in combat, so you need a physical representation of your character to use on the grid. Paizo produces a wide range of Pathfinder Pawns and also works with Reaper Miniatures and WizKids to offer a wide variety of gaming miniatures, so you can find just the right figure for your character.
For digital play, represent your character with a digital image. Speak to your GM about their preferred image formats and size requirements.