Pathfinder Society Animal Companion Item Slots
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The Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide (previously the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play) is a Pathfinder RPG sourcebook for the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild organized play program. It is frequently revised to reflect the current rules, setting, and character options for organized play characters. The Pathfinder Society Guide to Play (Second Edition) is currently under construction. We expect frequent updates over the next few weeks. We expect frequent updates over the next few weeks. We will post the version date for people to keep track of which version is up. Animal companions can assign skill ranks to any skill listed below. If an animal companion increases its Intelligence to 10 or higher, it gains bonus skill ranks as normal. Animal companions with an Intelligence of 3 or higher can purchase ranks in any skill. An animal companion cannot have more ranks in a skill than it has Hit Dice. Companion Type Animal Monster Entry Link Starting Statistics: Size Medium; Speed 50 ft.; AC +2 natural armor; Attack bite (1d6 plus trip); Ability Scores Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6; Special Qualities scent.
| Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide | |
|---|---|
| PZOPSS0000E | |
| (Book) | |
| Author(s) | Mike Brock, John Compton, Erik Mona, Mark Moreland, Tonya Woldridge, and Linda Zayas-Palmer |
| Publisher | Paizo Inc. |
| Price | PDF: Free |
| Released | August 2008 (v1.0)– August 9, 2018 (v10.0) |
| Type | Sourcebook |
| Binding | |
| Pages | 44 pages (v10.0) |
| Rules set | D&D 3.5 (v1.0) PFRPG (v1.1-) |
| Series | Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild |
| Extras | Character and inventory sheets |
| Artwork from Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide | |
This article covers a topic relevant to Pathfinder First Edition. For the Pathfinder Second Edition equivalent, see Pathfinder Society Guide to Play. |
The Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide (previously the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play) is a Pathfinder RPG sourcebook for the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild organized play program. It is frequently revised to reflect the current rules, setting, and character options for organized play characters.
Current version: 10.0, released on August 8, 2018.
| “ | Welcome to the Pathfinder Society! Within the pages of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide you will find everything you need to bring your own character to life. Whether you are new to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, or a pen & paper roleplaying game veteran, the answers to your questions about the Roleplaying Guild are right here! | ” |
- 1Past versions
Past versions
Because the Roleplaying Guild is a living, changing campaign, the rules which govern it have also seen several iterations since the organized play program launched in 2008. Below are the various versions of the rules to date.
v. 1.0 / 1.1
Serving as the guide for the Society's playtest season, this version was 32 pages in length and released in August 2008. At the time of its writing, Nicolas Logue was Organized Play Coordinator, and he shared cover credit for the version with Events Manager Joshua J. Frost. It included all the rules needed to play and run games for Pathfinder Society Organized Play (PFS) using the older Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 rules. Shortly after v1.0 was released, v1.1 came out with small errata. This was the iteration used until v2.0 came out July 31, 2009.v. 2.0 / 2.1 / 2.2
Version 2.0 was released July 31, 2009, was 34 pages in length, and contained a new reddish cover (shown at left), replacing the picture of a dragon with that of a solar. This version was now wholly written by Joshua J. Frost. Because of the simultaneous release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, PFS play using the old 3.5 rules was discontinued. Version 2.0 of the Guide contained rules not only for running PFS using the new rules system, but also how to convert old 3.5 characters to the new system. 'Faction feats', which had existed in previous versions, were discontinued, and replaced with 'faction traits'. Additional new elements included the introduction of Golarion-specific deities, clarification of rules on animal companions, faction shirts, and spell durations, and the introduction of pregenerated characters. The rules on buying magical items (formally tied to factions) was simplified as well. To reward Game Masters for spending the time to prepare and run scenarios, the concept of Game Master rewards were introduced. Finally, the concept of 'Additional Resources', being a list of Paizo publications that contained PFS-legal content, was initiated in this version of the Guide as well.
Version 2.1 was released on December 4, 2009, and was 36 pages in length. In addition to errata and some minor layout changes, it also introduced the 'Play, Play, Play' rule as one of the fundamental structures of PFS organized play, highlighted the campaign's level cap, and expanded the list of publications containing PFS-legal content in the 'Additional Resources' chapter.
Version 2.2 came out April 6, 2010, and was 38 pages in length. The new version contained minor layout changes, in addition to a more detailed explanation of the Tier 12 story arcs, new rules for replaying scenarios, special rules for the new alchemist class, news about retiring scenarios, new rules on purchasing scrolls and wands, and the maximum and minimum sizes of tables. The concept of the 'GM Ranking System' was introduced as well, and the 'GM Rewards' were changed to give GMs full credit for running scenarios. Finally, the 'Additional Resources' section was expanded to include Paizo publications released since the release of v 2.1.v. 3.0 / 3.0.1 / 3.0.2 / 3.0.3
Version 3.03 was released on April 4, 2011.
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v. 4.0 / 4.1 / 4.2 / 4.3
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v. 5.0 / v5.1
Version 5.0 was released August 5, 2013, and was 48 pages in length, and contained a new demon-watermarked red background, replacing the picture of the Risen Rune symbol of version 4. This version was written by Mike Brock with help from his entire Venture Officer Team. With the introduction of over-arching season plot lines in version 4, version 5 kept the same tradition and provides information on each faction's goals for the season. As well, as of Season 5, the Shadow Lodge and Lantern Lodge faction were removed from play. With the release of Ultimate Campaign, players were now able to retrain virtually anything on their character by using prestige and gold. Additionally, version 5 introduced the ability for GMs to replay any scenario or module equal to the number of GM stars they have. Clarification of rules on sanctioned modules, seeker play (Level 12+), and clarified the use of how pre-generated characters interacted with society play. A 'Out-of-Subtier' gold value was introduced in version 5 that lowers the gold amount for characters that played in a higher sub-tier. This lowers the wealth a particular character can earn if they were to play in a higher sub-tier all the time, leading to less wealth per level. Finally, version 5 required all players to maintain a equipment tracker sheet to clear show equipment and items purchased during and between each adventure played.v. 6.0
Paizo released version 6.0 on August 11, 2014, and takes effect August 14, 2014.[1] It is the last version of the guide to use the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play title.
Changes include:[1]
| “ |
| ” |
| — Mike Brock and John Compton | ||
v. 7.0
Paizo released Version 7.0 on July 27, 2015, changing the guide's name to the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide to reflect the Pathfinder RPG organized play program's rebranding to the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild.| “ |
| ” |
[2]v. 8.0
| This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it. |
v. 9.0
Paizo released version 9.0, by Mike Brock, John Compton, Erik Mona, Mark Moreland, and Tonya Woldridge, on August 14, 2017.
| This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it. |
v. 10.0
Paizo released version 10.0, by Mike Brock, John Compton, Erik Mona, Mark Moreland, Tonya Woldridge, and Linda Zayas-Palmer, on August 8, 2018.
| This section is a stub. You can help us by expanding it. |
References
- ↑ 1.01.1Mike Brock and John Compton. (August 11, 2014). Guide 6.0 and Changes to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Paizo Blog.
- ↑The Pathfinder Society Team. (July 27, 2015). Guide to the New Season, Paizo Blog.
Not too long ago, Pathfinder Society released an update to the organized play campaign’s animal companion and familiar guidance and rules. That has recently made it onto the FAQ page. The Pathfinder Design Team also recently released–and then revised–an FAQ on calculating costs and multipliers for armor. This FAQ doesn’t mention animal companions, but they are the feature most immediately impacted by the changes as the base prices for large suits of mithral armor have increased drastically.
We haven’t dug into these rulings in detail until now for two reasons. In the case of the PFS rules, they were actively being clarified and updated over the course of a week, and in fact we are still awaiting word on how to interpret certain aspects of the new rules. For the Pathfinder FAQ, it was not immediately clear that the new rules would be final. Given the revision to the FAQ and the posting of the animal companion rules to the PFS FAQ page, now is as good a time as any to talk about the implications we know about, so let’s unpack them.
Oh, and one more thing–for those of you who try to stay up-to-date on Paizo’s FAQ releases, FAQ Friday has been moved to Tuesday. From here on out, all Pathfinder FAQs should be Tuesday releases. Since the materials pricing FAQ was a relatively major change (compared to the typical low impact of most FAQs), and as the design team was able to respond relatively quickly to the concerns instead of letting them simmer in the forums all weekend, it seems to have been a good decision.
Weapon and Armor Costs
Pathfinder Society Animal Companion Item Slots Online
Let’s start with the easy one: as of July 19th (although the date claims the 18th) we have a final decision on how to calculate weapon and armor costs.
What’s the question?
As anyone who remembers their middle-school math (and order of operations) knows, if you are going to both add and multiply in the same calculation, it matters which order you do it in. In Pathfinder, this comes into play when you are looking at cost multipliers for weapons and armor. The most common cost multipliers are for size, for unusual shape (in the case of armor; this usually refers to barding), and for cold iron (which doubles the cost). The most common cost additives are for masterwork quality (+150 for armor; +300 for weapons) and for many special materials like mithril, adamantine, and the like.
The rules don’t specify what order you should perform these operations in. Existing items published by Paizo have multiplied the base price first, and then added all the additives later, and most Pathfinder Society players (and many, if not most Pathfinder players) have used this calculation until now. So mithral chain-shirt barding for a large quadruped would be calculated like this:
(100 [base armor cost] x 2 [size] x 2 [shape]) + 1,000 [material] = 1,400 gp
What Changed?
The FAQ is half a clarification and half a change in the rules–it’s not exactly either, because we had a pretty good idea of what the rule was, even if the rulebook never precisely defined it. The new rule specifies that you determine the base price of the item first, including special materials. You then apply multipliers, and finally, the cost of making the item masterwork. The new calculation for mithral chain-shirt barding for a large quadruped looks like this:
(100 [base armor cost] + 1,000 [material]) x 2 [size] x 2 [shape] = 4,400 gp
Why was the FAQ revised?
The FAQ originally included the masterwork quality cost in with the materials cost, before the multiplier. We can’t say exactly why the design team changed their minds on that, but the arguments against the FAQ centered on that point:
- Cold iron doubles the cost, and this makes masterwork cold iron gear more expensive
- We have prices for cold iron weapons that do not conform to this (the original) FAQ
- The rules for calculating weapons do specify in a few places that masterwork costs are not doubled
What are the outstanding questions about this FAQ?
The FAQ appears to have been “finalized,” but there are a few outstanding questions for Pathfinder Society players. The first is over the use of the “Fitting” armor enhancement. The FAQ specifies a cost decrease for certain tiny armors, and for the moment it’s possible to use the fitting enhancement to make some types of armor cheaper than before, for medium and larger humanoid creatures. John Compton has stated that he is examining the future of fitting in PFS; although it may serve a purpose for some animal companions (for example, the mammoths that a mammoth rider rides) it is likely that fitting will be severely restricted if not outright banned. You should probably avoid its use until John has a chance to make a decision.
What about those new weapon and armor mods?
Adventurer’s Armory 2 included weapon and armor mods–modifications you can make to your weapons and armor that add a flat cost and a drawback in exchange for a benefit. Although as of this writing (July 2017) they are not legal in PFS, they are explicitly designed to be added after a weapon or armor has been created. As a result, their costs should clearly not be multiplied.
Pathfinder Society Animal Companion Item Slots List
What do I need to do?
Your masterwork cold iron weapons are safe, but if you have a familiar, mount, animal companion, or other ally who wears armor, you should double check the calculated prices to see if you need to make any changes. John and the PFS team haven’t chimed in with any exceptions to the rebuild rules yet; those rules include selling back the item at full price. If you want, and can afford to, you can then purchase the same item (or a different one) at the new price with whatever money the character has, including the money from selling back the affected item. Large animal companion barding will undoubtedly cost more, as a result of this change; armor for tiny or smaller familiars will probably be cheaper.
Animal Companion and Familiar Rules
The new PFS FAQ on animal companions and familiars is also out. There are a lot of changes here, so make sure you read this thoroughly if you have an animal companion or familiar; the broad rules have not changed, but some of the edge cases have. There are also some unanswered questions. There are also a number of clarifications to the FAQ in the comment section of the associated blog post.
What’s the question?
Simply put, many of the rules for animal companions and familiars were written in forum posts. They are sometimes contradictory. The lists, both of what item slots were available and what familiars could activate magic items using Use Magic Device, were static lists that were not updated to account for new options.
What Changed?
Pathfinder Society Animal Companion Item Slots Item
The biggest changes include:
- The list of animal companions able to use wands has changed.
- Animal companions and familiars (especially familiars) that come with Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat no longer lose their ability to use dexterity to make attacks while tiny or smaller, if Weapon Finesse is traded out for another familiar feat. Normally, tiny creatures use Dexterity instead of Strength for melee attack rolls, Climb skill checks, and Swim skill checks. According to an older Mike Brock ruling, even though the Weapon Finesse feat was redundant to a tiny creature, it would use strength instead of dexterity on melee attack rolls if it had the feat by default and traded it out.
- Familiars do not get neck, belt, shoulders, or any other slots open by default. This includes improved familiars, which used to have all slots open and available by default.
- Familiars cannot use weapons unless they are on a specific list.
- Specific familiars, even those representing NPCs from specific scenarios, can still be “rebuilt”–for example, exchanging starting feats for familiar-specific feats. (Previously, it was understood that specific familiars came “as-is” and could not be rebuilt in any way.)
- You can use prestige to retrain other familiar and animal companion feats. (This is not necessarily a change, but is good to know whenever the slots available to a companion or familiar are changing.)
What don’t we know?
At the moment, the combination of the FAQs and clarifications suggests that creatures whose body type lists an armor slot may wear nonmagical armor. However, they cannot wear magical armor unless they have the feat opening up the slot. This seems very strange, and there may be a clarification to this later.
Another possible point of confusion is the ruling that no creature can wear a saddle unless it has a saddle slot. Exotic saddles are designed for creatures with unusual body types, and this ruling would seem to make exotic saddles useless. This aspect may be an unintentional consequence of the FAQ, but nobody knows for sure right now.
You can still ride a mount without a saddle, but with some not-insignificant penalties–a strange situation when there are some classes and archetypes (for example, the First Mother’s Fang nagaji cavalier archetype) that specifically provide a character with a mount that does not include a belt [saddle] slot. As with the mundane/magical slot discrepancy, there may be a clarification later.
What do I need to do?
First, read the FAQ. Second, review your characters with companions to see what you need to do. Linda has stated that as a result of this ruling, you can freely rebuild your companions and familiars–for example, to add the extra item slot feat.
Pathfinder Society Animal Companion Item Slots Guide
If you currently have a mount with an exotic saddle and the mount does not have a belt [saddle] slot in the new list, you may be able to keep using it while the PFS team sorts out the FAQ. We recommend briefly explaining the situation to your GM, however, instead of assuming that your snake, trilobite, or turtle mount can freely wear their saddle.