Boons
Boons are rewards that can be applied to a character. Common types of boons include Achievement Points (AcP), Chronicle, or Faction. Boons often have traits that describe how the boon applies. There are some boon traits that deserve specific mention:
- Advanced: A boon with the Advanced trait is typically more powerful than other boons. Characters may only benefit from one advanced boon during an adventure.
- Ally: A boon with the Ally trait sometimes places a Pawn. This does not allow players to bypass the limits on the number of Pawns they can play.
Unless a boon states otherwise, you can only apply one of any given boon to a character.
Promotional Boons
Promotional boons reward players who show their support for Paizo Organized Play by bringing and displaying visible merchandise and accessories.
The rules for these are summarized here, but are sourced from the Perks page of the Paizo web site. In case of a discrepancy, that page takes precedence.
Accessory Categories
Accessories are divided into five categories, as described below. Any qualifying accessory must be either a) produced by Paizo, Inc and sold on its webstore, or b) produced by a licensed partner of Paizo, Inc and visibly promote Paizo, Pathfinder, Starfinder or any associated games or Paizo intellectual property.
Event organizers are permitted and encouraged to expand the definition to include merchandise that directly promotes particular conventions at said events; e.g. permitting a Gen Con t-shirt or pin to count for their respective categories while at Gen Con. Merchandise that exclusively promotes other companies or intellectual properties (e.g. a Roll20 t-shirt with no Paizo branding) never qualifies for these benefits.
Vestments: T-shirts, messenger bags/backpacks, jackets or hoodies, or similar apparel; permanent tattoos of Paizo-related iconography; or cosplay of a Paizo-related character, such as an iconic character, NPC or similar.
Worn Accessory: Lapel pin or button, hat or ballcap, lanyard, or similar small worn accessory.
Rules Reference: Character folio, reference or condition card deck, or similar published item with game reference material. Excludes published rulebooks or Adventures.
Other Item: Any other qualifying item such as officially produced dice, keychains, plush characters, or other merchandise brought to the table.
Campaign Service Coin: an award given out to exemplary volunteers; a Campaign Service Coin cannot qualify for any other category and instead offers its own benefits.
Promotional Boon: Pathfinder Society (second edition)
In the Pathfinder Society (second edition) program, the following benefits are offered for each accessory category. A player may not benefit from more than one of these per session, with the exception of the Campaign Coin benefit.
Vestments: When you use a Hero Point to reroll a check, add a +1 circumstance bonus to the reroll.
Worn Accessory: Once per session, when rolling a check as a part of a victory points system, if you roll a critical failure, you get a failure instead.
Rules Reference: Once per session, when you use Treat Wounds or another character uses Treat Wounds on you, the result of the check is one degree of success better than the result that was rolled.
Other Item: Once per session, a character can gain the benefits of a two-action heal spell, heightened to the maximum spell level available to a cleric of the character’s level. This benefit can only be used in exploration mode.
Campaign Service Coin: Volunteers who make exceptional contributions to Organized Play can earn campaign coins or membership in the Order of the Wayfinder as a recognition of their hard work. When you use this benefit, you gain a bonus Hero Point at the beginning of the adventure. In addition to the normal powers of a Hero Point, you can spend this special Hero Point to allow another player to reroll a check.
Achievement Points
Players earn Achievement Points (AcP) by participating in and reporting Pathfinder Society games. AcP are an online currency used to purchase character boons. Currently, there are three levels of AcP events.The number of points earned depends on time involved, the event level, and the type of involvement as in the chart below. Event classifications are:
- Standard events: games played in stores, homes, or other locations .
- Premier events: games played at conventions and local events designated part of the Regional Support Program.
- Premier Plus events: Paizo-sponsored conventions and conventions running more than 75 blocks of organized play.
Table: Typical AcP rewards.
| Adventure XP | Player / GM | Standard Event | Premier Event | Premier+ Event |
| 1 XP (Quests, Bounties, etc) | Player | 1 | 1 | 1.5 |
| GM | 2 | 2.5 | 3 | |
| 4 XP (Scenarios) | Player | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| GM | 8 | 10 | 12 | |
| 12 XP (Some Adventures, Adventure Path books*) | Player | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| GM | 24 | 30 | 36 |
*Not all Adventures and Adventure Path books award 12 XP. See the individual sanctioning documents for details.
A list of Achievement Points rewards available for purchase lives on the Boon 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. Each purchased boon generates a downloadable printable boon. AcP boons should be stored with Chronicles, either digitally or alongside physical sheets.
Retail Incentive Program
The Retail Incentive Program (RIP) rewards players with rewards for their characters when they patronize retailers who are providing space for Organized Play activities. Purchases made at the location within a stated time frame tally by table and unlock benefits at different levels, including some that reduce the severity of failures, for the next game played. 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.
Legacy Backgrounds (legacy campaign):
Even though characters from the First Edition legacy campaign cannot transfer into the current Pathfinder Society campaign, their exploits can shape the Society’s newest adventurers. For each of the 11 seasons of the legacy campaign, a player can unlock a special legacy character background associated with that season by having completed five or more of that season’s scenarios. These backgrounds are unique to the Pathfinder Society campaign, and once they’re unlocked, a player use a legacy background for any number of characters. See Legacy Backgrounds.
Other Rewards:
Pathfinder Society Organized Play periodically releases additional prizes for special events. The most common among these are charity boons, which are in-game benefits sent to authorized charity events to help raise money for good causes. For more information on Charity Boons, ask the Event Organizer.