Additional Character Options

For players looking to customize their characters further, there are some additional options you can consider.  All of these are optional, and you can instead stick with the default options in the Player Basics.

Pathfinder Training

Most Pathfinders pass through the Pathfinder Academy on their way becoming agents. During their training, Pathfinder initiates attain a certain level of proficiency in all three schools’ teachings, from there some go on to specialize in one of the schools’ curricula and build life-long professional contacts with like-minded scholars while others continue to divide their time among the different schools. These contacts pay out over the course of a Pathfinder’s career in the form of  gifts from colleagues and access to additional training.   In return, the field agent is expected to return the favor by contributing labor, teaching expertise, lab assistance, or more between missions, reinforcing these professional relationships.  

Another way to join the Pathfinder Society is via a field commission from another agent or a Venture-Captain of the Society. Characters who received a field commission have fewer connections to the Society’s  membership, and receive fewer gifts, but have fewer obligations to the society and thus more downtime.  

Note that while Field Commission can only be freely chosen at character creation, the other four options can be chosen at any point in the Pathfinder's career, although once chosen they cannot be changed without Retraining.

Characters who have ties to a school or who are Field Commissioned receive a bonus lore at first level. (This replaces the Pathfinder Society lore that all agents gain by default.) At 5th level they also gain a bonus skill feat.

Characters with ties to schools also have additional options for their starting consumables. Characters may choose consumables based on their level or any lower level. Field Commissioned agents do not receive any starting consumables, but receive additional downtime instead.

Bonus Lores, Skill Feats, and Alternate Consumables

Advancement Speed

Players can chose before each adventure to play the scenario on slow track. Slow track scenarios deliver 1/2 of the rewards of normal advancement speed. This can be useful to hold the character at a level longer so that other players can catch up or just to have more hours of play. For rules regarding slow track advancement, see Advancement Speed.

Downtime and Slow Speed

If using the full downtime rules under additional options, you get half the number of days. If using the abbreviated downtime rules on the player basics page, you roll on the table and divide the number by 2.

Factions

Before each adventure the PC may chose one of the factions to support. Any Reputation earned for Primary and Secondary success conditions that adventure is applied to that Faction. If no faction is chosen, the character earns reputation with the Horizon Hunters faction. More on Factions and the effects of reputation can be found on the Factions and Reputation Appendix.

Downtime

Downtime is spent in Downtime Units of up to 8 days at a time.  If a character earns 8 days or fewer of downtime, it is spent in a single unit.  If they earn more than 8 days, the character spends units of 8 days, one at a time, until 8 or fewer days remain, then spends the remaining days as a single unit.  Multiple different activities can occur in a single downtime unit, but you can only ever roll once for a given activity in any given unit. 

If a chronicle is assigned but not immediately applied, (see  applying chronicles) then wait to calculate downtime until the chronicle is applied. 

Hirelings and Downtime

Hirelings can do downtime activities for you, however this takes up your downtime days. Therefore you cannot aid them, they cannot aid you, and you cannot have your hireling do one thing while you use your days to do something else.

You either use the hireling's skills and feats or your skills and feats. Never both, unless your feat modifies a hireling's abilities. (Hireling manager, for example. )

Downtime Activities

Earn Income: Earning Income is the most common Downtime activity, though it is the last option to resolve. Complete any Crafting or Retraining before beginning Earn Income checks. Players should check Table 10–5: DCs by Level (Core Rulebook 503) to calculate the Earn Income DC.

Make one check using either the Crafting, Lore, or Performance Skill for each Earn Income Downtime Unit (including units where you complete multiple activities, such as spending 7 days retraining and then 1 day Earning Income). Task Levels for Earn Income checks equal the character's level – 2 (minimum 0), though some boons allow checks against higher-level tasks. Compare the check result to the task level on Table 4-2: Income Earned (Core Rulebook 236) for the daily earning rate, then multiply that rate by the number of Downtime days used for Earn Income  in the Downtime Unit. Checks to Earn Income do not carry beyond the Downtime Unit In which the check was made. 

Crafting:  Rules for crafting equipment appear on pages 244-245 of the Core Rulebook.  Use DCs from Table 10–5 (Core Rulebook 504) with the following adjustments:

• Common: None
• Uncommon: Apply the hard modifier from Table 10-6 (Core Rulebook 504)
• Rare: Apply the very hard modifier from table 10-6 (Core Rulebook 504) 

  A few other limitations on crafting:

• Characters can Craft uncommon or rare items only if  they have access to the applicable formulas. 
• Crafting requires that you spend 4 days in preparation before making Crafting checks. 
• Crafting tasks can be continued across as many Downtime days/units as necessary to complete the item.
• Characters may stop crafting and pay the remainder of the Price required to finish the item at any time.
• Only one crafting project may be started during a Downtime Unit. 

Retraining: Using Downtime to retrain character options(Core Rulebook 481) works as written, with a few clarifications. 

• Some items are changeable for free, such as name, gender, appearance, or other cosmetic designators. 
• Pathfinder training may be changed and takes 14 days. 
• Changing a selectable class feature takes 28 days.

If you no longer have Access to an item you own after retraining, you must sell the item using the normal rules for selling back equipment. (See Selling Back Equipment.)

If characters earn enough XP to level while still in the process of retraining, they can choose options legal for their new build, though the ability is unusable until the retraining is complete.

An option being retrained is lost at the time the new option becomes usable.