Pathfinder 2E Pirates & Gray Maidens: Archetypes in Pathfinder 2nd Edition!

It's time to take a look at Pathfinder 2nd Edition's treatment of archetypes. Archetypes are one of the most widely used additions to Pathfinder 1st Edition, and in 2nd Edition they are an integral part of the game. Let's take a look!

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• Archetypes can be accessed by multiple classes.
• They are a series of feats taken instead of class feats (roughly one every other level).
• You take a "dedication" feat which opens up all the archetype's feats to you.
• You can have multiple archetypes by making more than one dedication, but once you take a dedication you can't take another until you've taken a certain number of its related archetype feats.
• Pirate Dedication -- "this first feat gives you a fair number of advantages while on a boat, certainly helping should combat break out, but you need to take more pirate feats before you can pick up another dedication feat... The pirate archetype has six feats to choose from (in addition to the dedication feat), which gives you plenty of variety if you are looking to explore the archetype before heading to the next one."
  • Sea Legs -- "Sea Legs really helps when you are in the water, letting you swim faster and hold your breath longer. It's also a prerequisite for Roll with the Ship, a feat that lets you reroll your Reflex saves when you are on your ship!"
  • Boarding Action -- "Boarding Action is one of those feats that nearly every pirate can be expected to have, since setting yourself up to board and pillage the enemy ship is going to be vital! It lets you close the distance to your foes, and if you move from one ship to another during this move, you can make a strike that deals extra damage! It's a bit more limited than the fighter's Sudden Charge, but you deal bonus damage as a benefit if you pull it off."
• Gray Maiden Dedication -- "Becoming a master at Fortitude saves is not something you can easily do in most classes; in fact, level 6 is sooner than even a barbarian can manage, and that armor is some of the best you can find. Of course, joining the Gray Maiden organization is no simple feat either."
  • Unbreakable -- "This grants many of the benefits of the Toughness and Diehard general feats combined, and it stacks with both to make an incredibly resilient character."

 

[kenmarable]

It's interesting that it offers a lot more flexibility. Considering that I gravitate towards complex/hybrid character concepts, this might be really nice and I'm eager to see the full rules.

That being said, it's also amusing to me that one of the reasons I got tired of PF1 is that there were too many dang feats! It was to the point of being burned out on feats that I was happy when 5e made feats optional and nearly all of my PCs have never taken any feats. So the PF2 design choice of making nearly everything feats is... difficult for me at a gut level to say the least. (Like, say... interior decorating where you have a problem with the color of the trim, and then they wind up painting all of the walls and ceiling that color. Sometimes it actually does help, other times it makes it so very much horribly worse.)

But I'll wait to see how the complete rules look and how easy it will be to manage all of that in character creation and leveling. Maybe it will be easier to manage and the extra flexibility and customization will be well worth it.

 

[EthanSental]

I agree Ken as I like core PF1, but IF paizo pumps out stuff for 2e like they did for 1e, feats could climb dramatically. I still might buy the core book or PDF to read but won't have much luck in my area to play it.

 

[Ghal Maraz]

The concept core seems to be:

Classes will give a framework, composed of Signature Skills, Hit Dice, variable access to Weapons/Armours/Skill proficiency, a selection of Class Feats and *some* iconic abilities/Class features (Spells, Cantrips, Orisons, Monk's unarmed combat...).

What's not set as an iconic Class feature will be obtained through Class Feats: thus, it won't be necessary to have a basic chassis of the Class, that will be modified by archetypes. Archetypes will be a somehow different beast (a generic template that could modify all classes, acting also as a substitute for Prestige Classes).

Class Feats will be defined by Class and Class only; in addition to that, characters will choose between Ancestry, General and Skill Feats. Ancestry is the new name for Race, so that's easily explained. General Feats will be, well, General.
And Skill Feats will be determined by the level of proficiency in the various Skills.

 

[Charlaquin]

The concept core seems to be:

Classes will give a framework, composed of Signature Skills, Hit Dice, variable access to Weapons/Armours/Skill proficiency, a selection of Class Feats and *some* iconic abilities/Class features (Spells, Cantrips, Orisons, Monk's unarmed combat...).

What's not set as an iconic Class feature will be obtained through Class Feats: thus, it won't be necessary to have a basic chassis of the Class, that will be modified by archetypes. Archetypes will be a somehow different beast (a generic template that could modify all classes, acting also as a substitute for Prestige Classes).

Class Feats will be defined by Class and Class only; in addition to that, characters will choose between Ancestry, General and Skill Feats. Ancestry is the new name for Race, so that's easily explained. General Feats will be, well, General.
And Skill Feats will be determined by the level of proficiency in the various Skills.

Also, Skill Feats are a subcategory of General Feats, so you can take one any time you could take a general feat if you want to. I’m pretty sure based on what’s been shown so far that the progression will go something like:

1st level: Base Class Abilities, Heritage or Ancestry Feat
2nd level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
3rd level: Class Ability, General or Skill Feat, Skill Increase
4th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
5th level: Class Ability, Ancestry Feat, Skill Increase
6th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
7th level: Class Ability, General pr Skill Feat, Skill Increase
8th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
9th level: Class Ability, General or Skill Feat, Skill Increase
10th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
11th level: Class Ability, Ancestry Feat, Skill Increase
12th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
13th level: Class Ability, General pr Skill Feat, Skill Increase
14th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
15th level: Class Ability, General or Skill Feat, Skill Increase
16th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
17th level: Class Ability, Ancestry Feat, Skill Increase
18th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat
19th level: Class Ability, General pr Skill Feat, Skill Increase
20th level: Class or Archetype Feat, Skill Feat

 

[EthanSental]

Nice post Char, still "seems" feat driven with feat in most level.

 

[Grimstaff]

Fear taxes are evolving into a fiscal feat economy

 

[Ancalagon]

Will more than one archetype (on one character) be possible I wonder...

 

[Tony Vargas]

So, Archetypes /were/ class-specific (I never glanced at the Advanced Player Guide), very much like 2e Kits? But in PF2, they're going to be more general (anyone can be a pirate?), thus more like 4e MC/power-swap Feats and/or Themes, or, for that mater, a bit like 3.5 substitution levels?

 

[Schmoe]

It's looking more and more like that almost everything is feats. A class, a race, an archetype, most (or all) they do is give you access to specific feat lists... am I wrong?

That's what I'm getting, too. Which is interesting, because for the longest time I've heard some people argue that all character features should become feats and it would make the system much more flexible and easier to use. Now that someone is actually going in that direction, a lot of people seem unhappy. I think it's an interesting idea, personally, and I'd like to see how it plays out. The concept of different feat pools with very few limitations on how you customize within those pools sounds like it has promise.

 

[PMárk]

I liked PF1 for being an almost classless system within the D&D framework, there were just so much options for every class to cross the borders. PF2 seems to be even moe flexible. Honestly, it seems to scratch every itch I'd have for in a D&D-esue game (and practically doing the opposite things compared to what I don1t like in D&D 5e), so, I'm on board.