Follow the standard steps PC pg. 17, CRB pg. 19Player Core page 17
Core Rulebook page 19
(click to close) with the additions below.
1. Create a Concept
Your character is a member of the Pathfinder Society, so they must 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.
Always Available Ancestries
From the Core Sources (see the Character Options page ), players have Access to all common ancestries and to the following uncommon options:
- Player Core
- versatile heritages: nephilim (formerly aasimar and tiefling) and changeling; both heritages grant Access to one additional language (see Languages below).
- Player Core 2
- ancestries: catfolk, hobgoblin, kholo, kobold, lizardfolk, ratfolk, tengu, and tripkee
- versatile heritages: dhampir, dragonblood, and duskwalker
Note: the leshy and orc ancestries are common ancestries in the Player Core and therefore are freely available.
The following ancestries are available if you own a copy of the corresponding source book:
- poppet from Lost Omens: The Grand Bazaar
Uncommon Ancestries
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. Unless an uncommon or rarer ancestry is on the always available list above, the only way to select it is with a Boon that allows you to create a new character of this ancestry. Not every ancestry has an available Boon.
Note that characters who rely on void energy healing (that is, undead or undead-adjacent PCs) can gain items that provide void energy healing in place of standard healing items in some circumstances. See Void Energy Healing.
Home Region
When you create a character, you can decide where they have come from, including their ethnicity, PC pg. 63, CRB pg. 430[|Player Core page 63 ]
[|Core Rulebook page 430 ]
(click to close) nationality, and region of origin. PC pg. 31, GMC pg. 146, CRB pg. 420[|Player 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.
The World Traveler Boon allows 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 languages. All Pathfinder Society characters begin play knowing one additional regional language.
All Pathfinder Society characters receive enough training in Pathfinder Hand Signs (formerly Napsu-Sign) to communicate simple concepts, as well as to understand characters who primarily communicate via sign language (like some characters with disabilities).
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 page, players who participated in the Pathfinder Society (first edition) campaign have access to special Pathfinder Society Legacy Backgrounds.
5. Choose A Class
Pathfinder Society characters begin play at level 1.
6. Finish Attribute Modifiers
Follow the normal rules in the Player Core / Core Rulebook.
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 Purchasing Guidelines.
9. Calculate Modifiers
Follow the normal rules in the Player Core / Core Rulebook.
10. Finishing Details
Introduction Notes: 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.
Age: Characters must be at least young adults to be accepted as members of the Pathfinder Society.
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 AcP Boon allows you to gain membership in an organization and access to its character options.
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.
Deities and Philosophies
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 and 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.)
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.
Some deities, such as Rovagug or Urgathoa, require their followers to be sanctified unholy; since Pathfinder Society characters cannot be sanctified unholy, these deities cannot be worshiped to gain benefits. Characters can also be agnostic, atheist, or can follow the tenets of philosophies LOGM pg. 94[|Lost Omens: Gods & Magic page 94 ]
(click to close) rather than deities.
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 Deity Death Rebuilds.
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. Pathfinder Society characters 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
To allow a wide variety of characters in Pathfinder Society play, the rules around edicts and anathema are slightly relaxed. All characters can participate in Pathfinder Society adventures without running afoul of their deity’s or classes’ edicts and anathema. Assume the Society has ensured that 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.
Likewise, 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.
An anathema in Pathfinder Society is always personal. The actions of one PC at a table can never cause another PC at the table to fall. However, other characters are welcome to express their disapproval provided it does not interfere with the progress of the game.
Remember that edicts and anathema exist to create roleplaying opportunities at the table for your character, not to be used by the GM or players to pressure others at the table toward specific styles of play.