[UPDATED] Pathfinder Unchained Contents Spoilers

Pathfinder Unchained is shipping to Paizo's subscribers. Below you'll find a quick look at the table of contents, introducing the five chapters of the book and what's in each. The book seems crammed full of new optional rules and systems. UPDATE: Be sure to scroll down to the comments below this article where a sequence of posts provides large amounts of detail about the book's content!

Unfortunately, I got my copy on the one day of the week where I work until 10 at night.

But I can give you a brief rundown of the table of contents!

Chapter 1 features the unchained versions of the Barbarian, Monk, Rogue, and Summoner.
It also has a section for determining "Fractional Base Bonuses" for multiclassing purposes, and a section for "Staggered Advancement" that lets you increase BAB, Saves, or HP between levels.

Chapter 2 is all about the skills and options. Background Skills, Consolidated Skills, Skill Groups... also expanded rules for Craft and Profession. It also turns out that the Rogue's new "skill tricks" are available to all classes with a feat. The Variant Multiclassing rules are also in this section, but doesn't include options from the Advanced Class Guide.

Chapter 3 has rules for removing alignment, a revised action economy (three simple actions per turn, one between turn action), a system for removing Iterative attacks (which lets you deal an additional hit of damage for every 5 points above their AC you rolled) , rules for Stamina and Combat Tricks, and rules for wounds, diseases, and poison.

Chapter 4 is all about magic. It has a simplified spellcasting system, alterations to spells, new material components that can modify spells, and some extensive magic item tweaks.

DMs can either remove magic items entirely (making the bonuses inherent), have magic items grant a bonus in addition to their normal effect (similar to 4e and 13th Age), or have them scale with level. There's also a system for making new ones that promises to be an "adventure".

Chapter 5 is dedicated to the quick monster creation rules.

I would like to answer more questions, but I really need to get going. Can't wait to get a chance to really read this!

UPDATE: Be sure to scroll down to the comments below this article where a sequence of posts provides large amounts of detail about the book's content!

 

[CubeB]

The first part of the gameplay chapter has extended sections on alignment.

One system is very... shifty, where people's alignments change more often based on action. Settling into alignment and performing actions that support it will grant you affirmations that you can spend for bonuses, or store up and use with a special set of feats.

You can also ditch alignment in favor of a d20 Modern style Loyalties system. There are options for adjusting spells and classes to match.

There is also a picture of an Anti-Paladin snickering behind a signpost that says "Burning Orphanage" and "Anti-Paladin's Castle" while the Iconic Paladin shaking with rage and going all "WHY MUST YOU MAKE ME CHOOOOOOOSE?!", which made this whole book worth the $40.

 

[CubeB]

I already went over the new action economy. I can't go into more detail, really. 3 Actions per round, and a chart that determines what action costs what.

The next part is the removing Iterative Attacks system. It works like this: When you make a full attack, roll your highest bonus and then compare it to the target's AC. If you fail by less than 6, you do miss damage. You do damage on a hit, and land an additional hit for each 5 points of success. Criticals apply to one hit, and there are special rules for TWF, Natural Attacks, Haste, Rerolls, and True Strike that I won't explain here.

The BIG DRAW of this chapter, really, are the Combat Tricks.

Combat Tricks are extra options for almost every combat feat in the game. Seriously, this section is huge. Players Companion stuff isn't in here, but all the Ultimate/ACG stuff is. You can get a Stamina Pool of CON+BAB, and regain one point per minute of rest. Running out of Stamina means you're fatigued, and you can spend up to 5 Stamina on a given trick.

Stamina is an optional rule: You can lock it behind a feat, limit it to fighters, or give it to everyone.

All of the combat tricks are related to the feat in question. Nothing is really flashy weeaboo fightan magic; it's stuff like extending bleed damage, applying poison as a swift action, changing what style you're in, adjusting the focus of a feat for a round, etc...

There's also a wound threshold that gives penalties based on how low your HP is, and new disease/poison progression tracks. A lot of the older diseases and poison have been converted to this track, with their more exotic effects triggering at different stages of progression.

 

[CubeB]

OKAY ONE MORE POST BEFORE I HAVE TO GO.

Magic.

First section: Simplified Spellcasting. This kicks in at level 7, and essentially makes your lowest levels of spells spontaneous. You get fewer total spells per day, but don't have to prepare those spells. Not bad.

Limited Magic: All spells use the minimum possible caster level and ability score for the level at which they're cast. I see why this is here, but I don't see it finding major use. A lot of the options in this chapter have rules for bypassing the limited magic rules if you're in a game that uses them, though.

Wild Magic is an option (complete with surges), but my favorite thing is Active Spellcasting, which lets you Overclock spells with Spellcraft checks, Spell Attack Rolls as opposed to normal saving throws for enemies, Spell Crits, and (I guess if you like this sort of thing!) spell fumbles.

Finally, there are esoteric components. These can either be used in the place of a component pouch, or be added to a spell to buff them. There is an option to make these the only way to cast spells as well, if you want to limit spellcasting further.

 

[JeffB]

Sadly, I think I will.give this book a pass. I was hoping for lots of less fiddly options. It sounds just as/more fiddly than what is already in place.

maybe after it hits the PRD and I can see for myself in more detail.

THANKS though, for the scoop

 

[Jester David]

The one thing I want from this book, the one thing that will make me alt-tab and pre-order a copy right this minute, is an alternate magic item system that gets rid of wealth by level and Pathfinder/3e's Magic item Christmas tree.

 

[Henry]

The one thing I want from this book, the one thing that will make me alt-tab and pre-order a copy right this minute, is an alternate magic item system that gets rid of wealth by level and Pathfinder/3e's Magic item Christmas tree.

Sounds like you might get your wish, based on that preview!

 

[CubeB]

I'm off work, which means MORE SPOILERS.

First, lemme answer your question... there are three new magic item systems, but none of them get rid of wealth by level, strictly speaking.

The first is Automatic Bonus Progression, in which your WbL is cut in half in exchange for regular improvements to your character. The chart also has options for limiting access to normal magic items, in which case you speed up bonus progression to compensate. It covers all of the Enhancement, Deflection, and Resistance bonuses you need. Magic Weapons and Armor still exist, but don't grant bonuses, just abilities. You could theoretically get rid of WPL with this, though.

The second system is innate item bonuses, which actually makes everything more expensive. In this case, you get the appropriate slot bonus regardless of what item you have in that slot, but everything gets a price jump to compensate for the increased abilities. If I used this system, I'd just ignore gold and give out items regularly.

The last system is Scaling items, which I love. They level up with you, and can unlock some cool abilities over time. (I like the Sacred Avenger, which slowly blossoms into a full scale Holy Avenger with time). My one complaint is that the system requires some weird math gymnastics based on wealth per level and how much a scaling item is actually worth.

 

[CubeB]

I'm going to go over the crafting stuff for both mundane and magical items now.

For non-magical items, your progress on an item multiplies depending on how far above the DC you roll, meaning that as you improve you can create simple items more quickly. You don't need to craft continuously, so long as you can store the item in a safe place. There are also new options for workspaces and material usage.

There are alternate profession rules in the same chapter that are focused on running an actual business, with rules for determining profits. So, interesting in city games, I suppose.

The big change for crafting is for magic items: Dynamic Item creation requires the party to work together to build an item, and makes the whole ordeal a bit more interesting than locking yourself in a workshop for a month.

Item crafting is essentially a skill challenge, where each 5000 GP in the market price is an additional challenge (on top of the base two). The difference here is that not all challenges are skill checks. Some require saving throws, or diversions, or are associated with certain classes. A lot of them have two options: Success on one means you proceed normally, while success on both means you get a nice bonus.

Depending on how it goes, your item will likely acquire some nice perks (which make the item somewhat better), quirks (which are neutral but harmless), or flaws (which make the bearer's life a bit more difficult).

Nice way to get people involved with it, I suppose. Plus you can actually make crafting into an adventure.

 

[CubeB]

Monster creation in chapter 5 is a 9 step program.

Step 1 is choosing an array, which is basically a monster class. The options are Combatant, Expert, and Spellcaster. These determine stats, skills, damage... all of that.

Step 2 are the grafts, which represent either creature types or classes (choose which one is more important to the monster). Classes from the ACG don't have grafts.

Step 3 include optional subtypes like Orc or Shapechanger, that you can add to the graft.

Step 4 is a list of template grafts, like Half Dragon and Vampire.

Step 5 determines the size.

Step 6 is a system for choosing spells, and has a specific set of spell lists for certain archetypes, like Alchemist, Infernal, or Madness.

Step 7 consists of monster options that mimic universal monster rules, class abilities, or what have you. (Check out the Laser Flumph on page 236!)

Step 8 is skill selection, which your array mostly determines.

And step 9 is a damage chart.


It's a long chapter, but that's only because it's got a lot of options. It actually doesn't seem that difficult.

 

[CubeB]

So, I've gone through the WHOLE BOOK, which leaves me with my closing thoughts.

First, the good: This book has a ton of neat subsystems, and the new class options are actually really nice. If nothing else, this book is worth checking out for those.

But I feel like the book has been a victim of its own hype. This book was never going to be a PF 2.0 testbed, and it was pretty clear going in that it would be closer to Unearthed Arcana than anything else. But for something that claims to want to break away from the chains of 3.5, the book feels very... safe. Nothing here is particularly chain breaking. There is no 5e style paradigm shift here. If you buy this book expecting it to magically change pathfinder, it won't.

What this book does do is add in a bunch of neat options for a GM who wants to make some tweaks to their game, or who wants to experiment with some changes in the rules. A lot of the stuff in this book will rarely see play.

So the ultimate question... is this book worth it?

I would say yes: A few of the new systems are definitely worth the purchase for a GM: Monster Creation is a boon for encounter creation, and the Item Creation system makes crafting actually interesting for the whole party. The other subsystems might grab your eye as well, once you read them.

But is it worth it for players? I personally that the tweaks to classes are all very good, though I find the Variant Multiclassing system to be a little bit weak. If you're currently playing (or want to play) a Barbarian, Fighter Monk, Rogue, I'd definitely check it out. Even the Unchained Summoner (although technically a bit of a nerf), gets a huge shot of new flavor. If you're not one of those classes, you can probably wait.

Overall, I think it's a solid book that doesn't quite break the chains of 3.5, but is still an interesting addition to my collection.