In addition to adventure rewards, players can also choose to use the optional rewards systems in this section.

Achievement Points

Players earn Achievement Points (AcP) by participating in and reporting Paizo Organized Play games. AcP is an online currency used to purchase character Boons. Each Organized Play program has its own separate pool of AcP. The Boons tab of your My Organized Play page lists AcP Boons available for purchase.

Events are given different multipliers for the base AcP earned based on number of games played, regularity, and so on. Current event classifications are:

Table: Event Type and AcP

Event type Examples AcP multiplier Player AcP
(1 Scenario)
Standard • home games
• one-time events
1.00 4
Standard Plus • regular local gamedays
• conventions with <15 games run
1.25 5
Standard Convention conventions with 15-74 games 1.50 6
Premier Convention conventions with 75+ games 1.75 7
Premier Plus Convention PaizoCon, Origins, GenCon 2.00 8

Table: Typical AcP Rewards

Adventure XP Player / GM Standard Standard+ Standard Con Premier Con Premier+ Con
1 XP
(Quests, Bounties)
Player 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2
GM 2 2.5 3 3.5 4
4 XP
(Scenarios)
Player 4 5 6 7 8
GM 8 10 12 14 16
12 XP
(Adventures, AP books*)
Player 12 15 18 21 24
GM 24 30 36 42 48

* Not all Adventures and Adventure Path volumes award 12 XP. See individual sanctioning documents for details.

Advancement Speed

Players can choose before each adventure to play the scenario on slow advancement speed. Playing an adventure using slow advancement earns half the rewards (not rounded) of standard speed, including experience points, Reputation, gold, and Downtime days. You can use either the full Downtime rules or the abbreviated Downtime rules.

Boons

Boons are small in-game rewards distributed for a variety of reasons, including playing certain adventures, attending events, and supporting charities. Boons must be stored or recorded alongside your adventure Chronicles and presented to GMs on request.

Achievement Point, Chronicle, and Game Reward Boons can be found on the Boons tab of your My Organized Play page. To purchase a Boon, select a character from the dropdown list, then click the purchase button of the desired Boon. A list of purchased Boons appears at the bottom of the page, including a link to download a PDF copy of the Boon sheet for each Boon.

Boon sheets are part of your records, stored with your Chronicles in either digital or physical form and available for inspection.

Boons have no cash value. You cannot sell a Boon to another player.

You can only apply one copy of any Boon to a character unless the Boon states otherwise.

By contrast, as a player you can earn more than one copy of some Boons. The following rules are the default for how many copies of a Boon a player can earn:

  • Chronicle Boons are earned by completing adventures. You can earn up to two copies of each Chronicle Boon, one as a player and one as a GM. You can use Replays to earn additional Chronicle Boons.
  • AcP Boons are bought with Achievement Points (AcP). Unless otherwise specified, you can buy as many copies of AcP Boons you qualify for as you can afford.
  • All other Boons limit you to one copy each.

As usual, specific rules override general rules, so the text of an individual Boon takes precedence over the default rules above.

The supplemental materials to this Guide include lists of Achievement Point Boons (including Faction Boons) and retired Boons. Unless otherwise stated, Boons that are no longer available for purchase ("retired") can still be used in play.

Types of boons include:

  • Achievement Point Boons: Players earn Achievement Points (AcP) by participating in and reporting Pathfinder Society games. AcP can be used online to purchase Boons.
  • Advanced Boons: A Boon with the Advanced trait is typically more powerful than other Boons. Characters can only benefit from one Advanced Boon during an adventure.
  • Chronicle Boons: Some adventures award an additional Boon. Once the game has been reported on paizo.com, players and GMs can download the Boon from the Boons tab of your My Organized Play page and apply it to the character that received credit for the adventure.
  • Fame Boons: Fame was a currency earned during Year 1 which has since been replaced with Achievement Points (AcP). Boons can no longer be purchased with Fame, but boons purchased with Fame before January 1, 2021, remain valid. A small number of Boons were retired instead of being converted to AcP boons; they are reproduced in Retired Rewards for reference.
  • Game Reward Boons: Certain in game accomplishments (such as reaching a certain level of Reputation with a Faction) grant a reward. Games must be reported on Paizo’s website to meet these requirements. Once a character has met the requirement, the Boon can be assigned and downloaded from the player’s Boons tab.

Free Wayfinder Boon

All agents who have gone on at least 2 missions are awarded a free wayfinder, available by downloading the Wayfinder boon in the Achievement Points Boon store (Boons tab of My Organized Play ). You can also purchase a wayfinder using the Inherited Wayfinder Boon.

Boons That Unlock Over Time

Some Boons allow players to unlock access to character options over time by checking boxes after meeting the criteria. The following additional rules apply to such Boons:

  • Adventure Completion Boons: These are Boons that allow you to check one or more boxes after completing any adventure. After completing a given adventure, you can check off the relevant number of boxes on any one of these Boons. Note the Boon affected on the Chronicle for the adventure.
  • Downtime-donation Boons: These Boons require the PC to spend Downtime. PCs can check boxes on only one of these Boons per day of Downtime, and cannot use Downtime spent on the Boon for other purposes (such as retraining, Downtime Crafting, or Earn Income).

For the purpose of checking off boxes on the Boons above, treat adventures that grant more than 4 XP as Adventure Path volumes.

Legacy Background Boons

Certain character backgrounds represent unique character hooks for connecting your characters more closely to past (or ongoing) storylines. These backgrounds are unique to the Pathfinder Society campaign.
PFS1 Legacy: For each of the 11 seasons of the Pathfinder Society (first edition) campaign, you can unlock a special legacy character background by completing five or more of that season’s scenarios. Once unlocked, a player can use a PFS1 legacy background for any number of characters.
PFS2 Season 3: There are also 7 character backgrounds tied to one of the Pathfinder Society (second edition) Season 3 plot arcs. Each of these Boons costs 4 AcP and gives a single character Access to a special background.

See PFS Legacy Backgrounds for full text of these Boons.

Factions and Reputation

Factions have existed within the Pathfinder Society since its founding. Each Faction supports its agents working within the Pathfinder Society. Agents’ allegiance is first to the Pathfinder Society, followed by any Faction allegiances. In fact, most Factions within the Pathfinder Society actively cooperate despite their differing goals.

Factions List

Each currently active Faction is listed below. The name of each Faction links to a page with additional details, including current Faction leader and goals.

Envoys' Alliance : “Strength in Community”
The Envoys’ Alliance is dedicated to the membership of the Pathfinder Society, focusing on recruiting new members and supporting existing members.

Grand Archive : “Chronicling the Past”
The Grand Archive is dedicated to scholarship, seeking out, documenting, and sharing the archeological findings and scholarly work of the Pathfinder Society.

Horizon Hunters : “Glory Lies Over the Horizon”
The Horizon Hunters are dedicated to exploration and telling the tales of their exploits.

Radiant Oath : “A Light in the Shadows”
The Radiant Oath is dedicated to altruism, focusing on acts of compassion, the cause of good, and the benevolence of the Pathfinder Society.

Verdant Wheel : “Truth Sprouts from the Ashes”
The Verdant Wheel is dedicated to nature and its preservation, with an expansive and inclusive sense of what forms that preservation can take.

Vigilant Seal : “Protect, Contain, Destroy”
The Vigilant Seal is dedicated to protection, focusing on responsible exploring and ensuring dangerous items and entities are neutralized one way or another.

Faction Reputation

By representing a faction during adventures or participating in adventures vital to a faction’s interests, a character gains Reputation with the represented faction. The greater a character’s Reputation the more respected and influential they are with that faction. Characters can represent more than one Faction in their career, but only one per adventure. Some scenarios grant bonus Reputation with particular factions; this doesn’t prevent characters from choosing to represent a different Faction.

Pathfinder Society uses the Reputation subsystemGMC pg. 200, GMG pg. 164GM Core page 200
Gamemastery Guide page 164
(click to close)
with the following modifications:

Table: Reputations
Reputation Reputation points
Ignored 0-19
Liked 20-59
Admired 60-119
Revered 120+

Reputation in PFS does not use negative values. Major infractions earn Infamy.

Character rewards unlocked by Reputation are found on the Boons tab of your My Organized Play page.

Faction Boons

Factions make certain Boons available to their agents at the appropriate Reputation Level. Agents who qualify can purchase these Boons from the Boons tab of My Organized Play using Achievement Points.

For the full text of all Faction Boons see the Achievement Points Boon List in Supplemental Materials.

Accessory Perks

The version of the Accessory Perks policy posted on paizo.com is the official version and takes precedence in the case of any conflict with the summary below.

Paizo Organized Play offers in-game benefits to players who show their support by bringing and displaying visible accessories. Qualifying accessories must be:

  • produced by Paizo and sold on its webstore; or
  • produced by a licensed partner of Paizo and visibly promote Paizo, Pathfinder, Starfinder, or associated properties.

Event organizers are permitted and encouraged to expand the definition to include merchandise that directly promotes a particular convention while at that convention. Merchandise that exclusively promotes other companies or intellectual properties does not qualify for these perks except for such convention merchandise.

Qualifying accessories include a wide range of Paizo products (excluding rulebooks and adventures), from t-shirts to dice to board games. See the full policy for details on qualifying accessories and their benefits for each of the Organized Play programs.

Retail Incentive Program

The Retail Incentive Program (RIP) rewards players with benefits for their characters when they patronize retailers who provide space for Organized Play activities. Purchases made at the location within a stated time period are added together by table and unlock benefits at different levels for the next game played, including some that reduce the severity of failures. Implementation methods vary from store to store and are posted for attendees to review. For more information, read the full policy and consult your Event Organizer for details.