Pathfinder may not have the absolute most character build options in tabletop RPGs – that distinction probably goes to the totally open-ended GURPs – but among D20 fantasy games it’s hard to top. With 31 Classes, 50 Ancestries, and 240 Archetypes for tweaking build options, it’s no wonder that fans have created tools to find the enchanted needle in the cursed haystack – tools like the fan site ‘PF2e Archetype Finder’.
For those more familiar with D&D, Pathfinder Archetypes need a little bit of explaining. As in D&D, Pathfinder classes are a package of powers and build choices that unfold as you gain levels, but rather than subclasses, you can customize your character by drawing from a warehouse of feats. You’ll get General feats, Skill feats, or Class feats just about every level, and they grant a lot of flexibility in the fine details of your build. Archetypes take that flexibility even further.
Archetypes are paths of feats that let you stray away from the core of your class. They’re similar to multi-classing, but you can multi-class into abilities that don’t even belong to a class. If you’re a Fighter but want to get a little bit Rogueish, take the Rogue Dedication feat in place of a Fighter Class feat; if you die of Ghoul Fever and the GM agrees to let your character continue in the game, take the Ghoul Dedication feat and now you’re undead!
There are 240 Archetypes, and a character can pick any of them provided they meet the prerequisites for the Dedication Feat. But how do you work out which Archetype is right for your build?
That’s where PF2e Archetype Finder, a fan-made database of most of the Archetypes currently in the game, comes in. While the site does contain links to rules on the Archives of Nethis fansite, its main use is as a tool to determine which Archetype actually supports your build, thanks to a lot of metadata that can be used to filter the list.
If you’ve got a Rogue and want to stay focused on Dexterity but also want to Master Spellcasting, you can apply both the Dexterity and Master Spellcasting filters in the site, revealing that you should consider the Eldritch Archer or Magus as potential Archetypes. If you want to add a touch of Alchemy to your build but think the Alchemist class is old hat, set Alchemy as a filter and you’ll find the Firework Technician, Gunslinger, Herbalist, Poisoner, and Wandering Chef Archetypes all have a little Alchemical bent to them.
I only realized just how open-ended Pathfinder’s build options were when I started filtering at random. Looking for something with both expert and legendary skill scaling I discovered the Dandy, a socialite Archetype which happens to have a bunch of extra options in the Hellfire Dispatches adventure path. I didn’t know I wanted to be destroy a goblin’s mind with psychic damage by yelling ‘Do You Know Who I Am?’ at them, but now I do.
Do you have a favorite Archetype? Has Archetype Finder given you some fun ideas for a new build? Do you appreciate Pathfinder’s breadth of build options, or think that the game has hit diminishing returns? Let us know in the Wargamer Discord community.
Source: Wargamer
