Pathfinder Society

The exploits of heroes have long stirred the hearts and inspired the souls of common folk the world over. But the daring adventurers of the Pathfinder Society live the deeds recounted in tales, and they share their awe-inspiring discoveries with the world at large in a series of volumes called the Pathfinder Chronicles. Their stories tell of fallen empires, wondrous magic, and mysterious creatures thought lost to time or never before chronicled by the people of the Inner Sea region.

The Pathfinder Society was founded roughly four hundred years ago as the base of operations for a loose-knit group of adventurers, from which they could publish their tales. Since its establishment, the Pathfinder Society has grown in prestige and influence not only across the Inner Sea region but around all of Golarion. The Society’s agents have had a hand in countless events, ranging from small-scale tomb exploration to world-spanning conflicts with malevolent powers—sometimes ones unearthed by the Society’s own exploits. Whatever the outcome of their adventures, it is the agents’ duty to report their discoveries to one of many lodges now scattered across Golarion, adding to the tales immortalized in the Pathfinder Chronicles and ensuring that their stories live on through the ages.

Individual agents’ reasons for joining the Society are as diverse as the agents themselves: some seek knowledge for its own sake; some seek glory, riches, or both; others are thrill-seekers and daredevils; and some serve the needs of one of the society’s ever-evolving factions. While some agents are recruited outside of traditional channels, most prospective members travel to the Society’s Grand Lodge in Absalom, where they undergo intensive tests and training. Three deans, called the Masters of Scrolls, Spells, and Swords, oversee this training process. The Scrolls train recruits in history, knowledge, and observation; the Spells provide training in lore and theory related to magic spells, creatures, places, and objects; and the Swords ensure recruits learn combat techniques and survival.

Many Pathfinders favor one aspect of their training more than the others, but they must gain the approval of all three deans to become a full-fledged agent. Once approved, a Pathfinder initiate undergoes an individually tailored test called the Confirmation. In many ways, this test acts as the initiate’s first mission as a Pathfinder, and afterward the initiate becomes a field agent—a true Pathfinder, with equal status to all other agents.

There is no official membership in the Society’s three branches, but agents often continue to associate with their peers from the Scrolls, Spells, and Swords, and undertake missions that favor the goals of a particular branch.

Those who identify with the Scrolls often stay within the safe confines of the lodges as they peruse dusty tomes and catalog discoveries. This lifestyle sometimes prompts derision from other Pathfinders, but those within the Scrolls maintain that their time in lodges and libraries is well spent. After all, Golarion’s glorious past can’t be witnessed firsthand—usually, it can be discovered and relived only through the study of ancient texts. Nevertheless, many such agents also travel Golarion alongside other Pathfinders to achieve fame by chronicling Golarion’s mysteries, searching for wealth, or conducting field research.

In the course of their missions, Pathfinders often encounter strange magic, whether in the form of magical creatures, enchanted items, cursed places, or actual spells. Followers of the Spells excel on such missions, using their knowledge of magic to bypass dangers, protect their companions, or defeat their enemies. Though the agents who most commonly associate with this group are those who study and prepare spells, some are not spellcasters at all. Many wish to study magic for its own sake or in order to overcome magical threats.

The Pathfinder Society relies on those who favor the Swords to support the more scholarly branches. These agents have a simple, if dangerous, directive: keep their fellow Pathfinders alive. Going well beyond simple combat skills, students of the Swords train to survive the unique threats of Golarion’s many ancient places, such as traps, obscure hazards, and desolate environments scoured by magic. The philosophy of the Swords isn’t about fighting fairly; survival is first and foremost. While those who identify with the Swords often leave academic affairs to other Pathfinders, that isn’t always the case, and Swords can enjoy the thrill of discovery as much as any other agent.

The Decemvirate—a group of masked leaders often called “The Ten” by other Pathfinders—oversees the overall goals and trajectory of the Pathfinder Society, but it leaves the operation of the local lodges and the details of organizing expeditions in the hands of veteran Pathfinders called venture-captains. Venture-captains have full authority over Society operations within their assigned region, often a nation or a portion thereof. The best-known venture-captain is Ambrus Valsin, who runs the Pathfinder’s Grand Lodge in Absalom.

Although the Pathfinder Society allows members with all manner of motivations, methodologies, and allegiances, each must abide by a general code of behavior. They all are expected to undertake missions of exploration and discovery, report their findings, and cooperate with other Pathfinders despite their differences. Venture-captains typically handle any breach of this code at the local level, but particularly egregious conduct violations—such as attempting to steal or conceal a major discovery from the Society, or directly harming another Pathfinder—might go all the way to the Decemvirate, who handle serious offenses in an efficient and impartial manner.

Within the Pathfinder Society

The overwhelming majority of Pathfinders are field operatives. These agents come from all walks of life, but all of them share a drive for adventure and exploration. Most initiates undergo about 3 years of training at the Grand Lodge in Absalom before they become Pathfinder agents in their own right. Field agents live dangerously, but those who survive numerous missions eventually attain the rank of Seeker. While Seekers are technically peers of other Pathfinders, they command greater status and respect thanks to their history of service to the Society.

The Pathfinder Society’s global scope requires dozens of local leaders to run its operations. These venture-captains maintain lodges where agents can rest, resupply, conduct research, and embark on missions. The venture-captains are many and varied, and word travels quickly between them; an agent who sours a relationship with one venture-captain, or particularly impresses them, may find that their reputation precedes them to other lodges. Venture-captains maintain relations with local governments as best they can, and these local allegiances can lend the Society extraordinary influence, but there are many places where the Society has done more harm than good. In these areas, and those far from a Pathfinder Society lodge, agents must act with greater discretion.

Most agents ally themselves with one of several prominent factions within the Society. These factions vary broadly in their ideologies and methods, but all of them work—for the most part—to further the Society’s goals. Faction leaders direct agents to undertake missions in pursuit of that faction’s goals. Their interests occasionally place these factions at odds with one another, though outright opposition is increasingly rare. Over the years, new factions arise and old ones fade into obscurity, typically in conjunction with major events.

While the faction leaders are influential, the people with the greatest power in the Society are an enigmatic group known as the Decemvirate. Nine members of “The Ten” conceal their identities with the aid of Decemvirate helms, magical artifacts that—if the stories are to be believed—Pathfinder agents discovered in ancient Azlant. The final member, Eliza Petulengro, revealed her identity following the destruction of the tenth Decemvirate helm, and acts as the liaison between the Decemvirate and rest of the Society in order to bring greater transparency to the leaders’ actions. The Ten usually leave the operations of the Society to the venture-captains, faction leaders, and the three Masters of Scrolls, Spells, and Swords. When the Decemvirate does intervene, they act with decisiveness and pragmatism, and their stern rulings earn the respect, if not admiration, of the Society’s agents.

Pathfinder Society Factions

The following four factions are currently the most common and popular groups within the Pathfinder Society. Smaller factions come and go within the Society based on the needs of the organization, the desires of its various members, and other factors. While most Pathfinders ally with only one or two factions at a time, some revel in serving a variety of these groups.

Envoy’s Alliance

The Pathfinder Society has weathered many difficult circumstances in recent years. While it has overcome each of these hardships, each victory has come with a cost. Having seen countless lives lost over the years, many Pathfinders have concerned themselves with the well-being of their fellow Pathfinders and the Society as whole, creating the Envoy’s Alliance. Led by the Ekujae half-elf Fola Barun, this group is dedicated to the recruitment of new members, rescuing missing agents, and rebuilding the Society in a way that supports the members’ lives and well-being as much as possible while still bolstering the Society. The Envoy’s Alliance attracts many bards, champions, clerics, sorcerers, and anyone dedicated to the Society as a whole over individual goals.

Grand Archive

Many members of the Society join out of a devotion to the pursuit of knowledge. The Society’s scholastic influence and opportunities serve as a solid foundation for many of the organization’s endeavors, and the Pathfinders of the Grand Archive are dedicated to maintaining that focus. With the aid of their dwarven leader Gorm Greathammer, third prince of Kraggodan, the group is dedicated to seeking out knowledge wherever they can find it, uncovering ancient relics, and rediscovering the secrets of the past in lost tombs and ruins. These Pathfinders set out across Golarion to peel back the history of some of the world’s greatest and most mysterious sites. Many alchemists, bards, monks, and wizards join up with the Grand Archive, as do Pathfinders who seek to recover lost knowledge and explore the mysteries of the world.

Horizon Hunters

The first tenet of the Pathfinder Society is that of exploration, and the thrill of traveling the world and locating forgotten ruins or discovering new lands is a driving motivation for many Pathfinders. Those Pathfinders called to explore Golarion often join the Horizon Hunters. Their leader, the half-orc venture-captain Calisro Benarry, encourages Pathfinders to undertake daring journeys. Popular Horizon Hunters have become minor celebrities among other Pathfinders agents and sometimes serve as the face of the Society to the rest of the world. Many Horizon Hunters have their achievements, discoveries, and journals reproduced in the pages of the Pathfinder Chronicles. Druids, rangers, rogues, and any others with a wanderlust tend to join the Horizon Hunters.

Vigilant Seal

Delving into ruins and uncovering lost artifacts is not without consequence. Tombs and treasures are often cursed, have dangerous guardians defending them, or seal away dangerous and forgotten entities. The Pathfinders of the Vigilant Seal act as the first line of defense against such dangers, recognizing that while they may be the ones who accidentally release these threats, they are also in a prime position to defeat them. Whereas the Society upholds the motto “explore, report, cooperate,” this faction’s focus is to “protect, contain, or destroy.” The newly-returned Pathfinder Eando Kline serves as the group’s leader. Many of the Vigilant Seal’s members set out on far-reaching adventures to identify, locate, and defeat potential threats to Golarion, while others rise up against dangers that have already been unleashed upon the world. Many barbarians, champions, fighters, monks, rogues, and other skilled combatants fill the ranks of the Vigilant Seal.

Pathfinder Society Options

The following Pathfinder Society options are uncommon, but characters who are members of the Pathfinder Society have access to them (see the sidebar on page 65 for more information).

Equipment

Many Pathfinders collect volumes of the Pathfinder Chronicles.

Magic Items

The following magic items are used by Pathfinders in their endeavors.

Pathfinder Agent Feats

The following archetype feats are available to characters with the Pathfinder agent archetype (Lost Omens World Guide 23).