History TabletopGame / Pathfinder

* PrimalPolymorphs: The Primal spell list (mostly used by Druids, but also by some Sorcerers and Witches) has more polymorph spells than the other lists, including [[{{Animorphism}} Animal Form]], [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs Dinosaur Form]], and [[ScaledUp Dragon Form]]. Druids of the Wild Order also get the Wild Shape focus spell, which doesn't use spell slots.

The ''Pathfinder'' RPG (in its first edition) has been called a SpiritualSuccessor to [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition the 3.5 Edition]] of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''. It is a tabletop game based upon the rules of ''Dungeons and Dragons''' 3.5 Edition, but expands on them, making additional rules, rebalancing classes, and simplifying some aspects. In short, it's ''D&D'' for those who disliked the changes found in ''D&D''[='=]s Fourth Edition (or who liked 3.5 and wished to remain compatible with its rules). After 10 years of publication, the first edition of ''Pathfinder'' was phased out in favor of the ''Second Edition'' -- this edition continues to evolve the ruleset towards incorporating more simplicity while still finding a way to give more options for creating characters and adventures to challenge them, and more directly incorporating feedback about the framework of [=3E=] that had now accumulated over nearly twenty years and attempting to more directly address friction points in that system.

''Pathfinder'' was created by [[Creator/{{Paizo}} Paizo Publishing]], a group that was split off from Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast in 2002 to publish ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' Magazines. When [=WotC=] announced the fourth edition of ''D&D'', they took back the publication rights to the magazines in order to create exclusively online versions. Paizo decided to publish a 3rd-edition-focused magazine of its own, ''Pathfinder'', keeping up the Adventure Path tradition they'd established in the last three years of ''Dungeon'' while establishing a new in-house campaign setting; this saw the publication of the Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness" and "Legacy of Fire" Adventure Paths published for ''D&D'' 3.5. However, as they heard from more fans of 3rd Edition who were dissatisfied with the radical changes introduced in the 4th Edition of ''D&D'', Paizo saw an opportunity: they would [[StartMyOwn create their own ruleset]], using the foundation of [=3rd-ed=] ''D&D'' (the core rules of which were in perpetual open license under the Open Gaming License) to offer something new and fresh while allowing old players to build on what they already knew, created, and played. It also prided itself on being compatible with 3.5 (with a few rules alterations, of course, mostly in service of trying to patch what were then 3E's most obvious holes and broken parts).

''Pathfinder'' 2nd Edition began public playtesting in August 2018 and officially launched in August 2019. The second edition diverges significantly from the game's roots as a modified version of D&D 3.5 Edition: among other things it simplifies the game's action economy rules, introduces a new XP system, and modifies how proficiencies work. It is also angled toward smoothing out the overall math of the game and making it significantly easier to run; [=GMing=] is generally easier, and encounter design is often particularly cited as being easy and fast to do while still producing satisfying results for the players. It also tries to rein in, to some degree, the infamous "feat bloat" of 3.5 (which, by the time ''[=PF1e=]'' wrapped, had reached truly epic proportions).

''Pathfinder'' 2nd Edition Remastered was announced in 2023, providing a backwards-compatible revamp of the game that completes the system's divorce from D&D by publishing the system under a new, system-agnostic [[FunWithAcronyms Open [=RPG=] Creative]] license. It removes a large number of elements that were specifically tied to the Open Gaming License or Dungeons and Dragons as a whole, most notably [[CharacterAlignment alignment]], while reimagining or revising a number of legacy elements dependent on [=OGL=] content.

''Pathfinder'' products are mostly set in the Age of Lost Omens campaign setting, centred around the Inner Sea region of the ConstructedWorld of Golarion. Golarion is actually one of several populated planets in the setting's solar system, but overwhelming focus is given to Golarion, the "Earth" of the setting. The FantasyKitchenSink nature of the game's setting as a whole means that a large variety of {{fantasy}} genres are represented, along with certain {{horror}} and [[ScienceFiction sci-fi]] ones. This meant that you could run different themes of campaign merely by changing the locale on Golarion, rather than having to incorporate different settings, such as ''TabletopGame/{{Dragonlance}}'' vs. ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' vs. ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' vs. ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' as in ''D&D''.

''Pathfinder'' was created by [[Creator/{{Paizo}} Paizo Publishing]], a group that was split off from Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast in 2002 to publish ''Magazine/{{Dragon}}'' and ''Magazine/{{Dungeon}}'' Magazines. When [=WotC=] announced the fourth edition of ''D&D'', they took back the publication rights to the magazines in order to create exclusively online versions. Paizo decided to publish a 3rd-edition-focused magazine of its own, ''Pathfinder'', keeping up the "Adventure Path" tradition they'd established in the last three years of ''Dungeon'' while establishing a new in-house campaign setting; this saw the publication of the "Rise of the Runelords", "Curse of the Crimson Throne", "Second Darkness" and "Legacy of Fire" Adventure Paths published for ''D&D'' 3.5. However, as they heard from more fans of 3rd Edition who were dissatisfied with the radical changes introduced in the 4th Edition of ''D&D'', Paizo saw an opportunity: they would [[StartMyOwn create their own ruleset]], using the foundation of [=3rd-ed=] ''D&D'' (the core rules of which were in perpetual open license under the Open Gaming License) to offer something new and fresh while allowing old players to build on what they already knew, created, and played. It also prided itself on being compatible with 3.5 (with a few rules alterations, of course, mostly in service of trying to patch what were then 3E's most obvious holes and broken parts).

''Pathfinder 2nd Edition'' began public playtesting in August 2018 and officially launched in August 2019. The second edition diverges significantly from the game's roots as a modified version of D&D 3.5 Edition: among other things it simplifies the game's action economy rules, introduces a new XP system, and modifies how proficiencies work. It is also angled toward smoothing out the overall math of the game and making it significantly easier to run; [=GMing=] is generally easier, and encounter design is often particularly cited as being easy and fast to do while still producing satisfying results for the players. It also tries to rein in, to some degree, the infamous "feat bloat" of 3.5 (which, by the time ''[=PF1e=]'' wrapped, had reached truly epic proportions).

''Pathfinder 2nd Edition Remastered'' was announced in 2023, providing a backwards-compatible revamp of the game that completes the system's divorce from D&D by publishing the system under a new, system-agnostic [[FunWithAcronyms Open [=RPG=] Creative]] license. It removes a large number of elements that were specifically tied to the Open Gaming License or Dungeons and Dragons as a whole, most notably [[CharacterAlignment alignment]], while reimagining or revising a number of legacy elements dependent on [=OGL=] content.

As of ''Second Edition'', the Worldwound in Sarkoris has been closed. Most of the Runelords that rose back in ''First Edition'' have been defeated, with one remorseful Runelord choosing a more benevolent rule instead. Cheliax was dealt two major blows in the form of a successful separatist revolution at home and against their colonization efforts abroad in the Mwangi Expanse, forming the nations of Ravounel and Vidrian. Now, however, the [[OurLichesAreDifferent Whispering Tyrant Tar-Baphon]] has returned, turning the nation of Lastwall into the Gravelands in his wake...

* An upcoming [=ARPG=] based on ''Abomination Vaults'' published by [=BKOM=].

*** Alahazra, the ''1e'' iconic Oracle, was thrown out of her house into the desert to die of starvation and exposure by her own father because she could cast divine magic.

** ''1e'' Oracles with the Blackened curse have shriveled and blackened forearms, as if they had plunged their arms into a bonfire. The curse inflicts a penalty on weapon attack rolls but adds several fire spells to the character's spell list.

* DecompositeCharacter: The Warlock class from ''D&D'' is notably absent in both ''1E'' and ''2E''. Instead, we have the Witch, who has inherited the Warlock's general aesthetic of dark magic and pacts, but uses VancianMagic for its mechanics, and the Kineticist, who has inherited the "blast shape with a handful of support abilities" style of play, but is themed around ElementalPowers rather than TheDarkArts in terms of fluff.

** In ''1E'', all attacks made with weapons that aren't specifically labeled as non-lethal deal lethal damage by default, but by announcing a non-lethal attack before rolling to hit and taking a -4 penalty on said roll, a player can convert their weapon's regular damage into non-lethal one. If the cumulative amount of non-lethal damage exceeds the target's remaining HitPoints, they are rendered safely unconscious (whereas if they were just reduced to 0 HP, they'd be unconscious ''and'' risk bleeding to death without immediate first aid).
** In ''2E'', all attacks made with weapons that lack the nonlethal trait deal lethal damage by default, but can take a -2 circumstance penalty to deal nonlethal damage instead. Weapons with the nonlethal trait invert the trope, needing a -2 circumstance penalty to deal lethal damage instead.

* OrwellianRetcon: The January 2023 controversy over Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast's attempts to change the [[UsefulNotes/D20System Open Game License]] prompted Creator/{{Paizo}} to begin divesting Second Edition of remaining references to classic D&D lore. So far for "2.5e", dragons have been massively reworked and drow have been deleted from the setting in favor of expanding the role of the serpentfolk, the latter of which basically renders the ''Second Darkness'' AP CanonDiscontinuity.

%%* OurBansheesAreLouder

** Going back to the above; The 2nd Edition moves the timeline forward by presuming that all the previous D&D 3.5 and 1e Adventure Paths occurred with mostly-positive conclusions. The one exception to this was ''Kingmaker'', which got pushed back to 2e's timeframe for the remake.

** The 2023 decision to migrate Second Edition more fully away from Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast lore and onto the new ORC License led to a number of lore alterations via remastery of the core rulebooks. These include a significant shift in the portrayal of dragons, with the major divisions now being "Divine", "Primal", "Diabolic", "Imperial", and "Omen" dragons rather than metallic and chromatic.

* TakeThat: The 2E bestiary notes that the fact that Cave Bears live in caves should be [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin obvious from the name]], doubtless a shot at the infamous "[[Memes/DungeonsAndDragons Bear lore]]".
* TankTreadMecha: Iron colossi are a type of colossus -- enormous, mythical constructs broadly based on {{Golem}}s but vastly exceeding them in scale -- designed as ultimate siege engines and weapons of war. Like all colossi, iron colossi have an alternate form they can shift into besides their basic humanoid one: in their case, they can turn their legs into spiked caterpillar treads, which nearly doubles their maximum speed, makes them impossible to trip and allows them to trample with impunity over anything in their path.

* VancianMagic: How all magic is cast. Some classes in both ''First Edition'' and ''Second Edition'' play with the trope, though, such as having different restrictions than normal on how they use their spell slots, and cantrips in ''Second Edition'' (which can be cast at will and automatically scale with your level) avert the trope much in the same way they do in Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition.

** Cheliax itself has fallen on hard times. After Aroden's death, the empire was taken over by devil-worshippers, prompting massive revolts that led several nations to split off from it: Korvosa, Isger, Molthune, Nirmathas, Andoran, and Galt are all former Chelish imperial provinces. The ''Hell's Rebels Adventure Path'' revolves around another such revolution in the northwestern province of Ravounel, while ''Hell's Vengeance'' deals with Queen Abrogail II finally realizing that if this keeps up she's not going to have a country left, especially after paladins of Iomedae declared a crusade.

** The whole point of the Hell's Vengeance AP. At the start it does note most groups will have a [[TokenGoodTeammate Token non-evil teammate]], as most gods (including Asmodeus) allow neutral clerics.
** There's also the ''We be goblins'' modules, where the players play as goblins invading a human town to steal fireworks. Considering how pathetic goblins are, they are more likely to be viewed as [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain Ineffectual sympathetic villains]] than anything else. (At one point, they have to fight an ordinary ''horse'' which can easily kill them in one hit if it gets a critical.)
** The Blood Lords AP is another one where [=PCs=] are encouraged to be villains, as the players start out as troubleshooters for [[TheNecrocracy Geb]] and later become part of its aristocracy. The book notes that Geb is a LawfulEvil land InUniverse and the further away you are from that alignment the more difficult of a time you'll have fitting in. As a consequence, if you aren't evil, you have to be willing work with those who are.

* MagicOrPsychic: In First Edition, "psychic magic" is an entirely separate category of magic, contrasting with arcane and divine. Six classes introduced in ''Occult Adventures'' tap into this type of magic, and the spells they can use have little overlap with what other classes can cast. In Second Edition, only Psychics have access to psychic magic, and it's more to do with the exact methods of how they cast spells, as they share a spell list with bards and other casters with access to the occult school of magic.

* YourHeadASplode: There's a spell in Occult Adventures called Explode Head. It does what you'd expect.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: In addition to inheriting D&D's "studded leather" error, the game's concept of "weapon groups", which ties into mainly Fighter and Cavalier class features, has separate groups for "spears" (stabbing weapons on sticks, chiefly spears, lances, and tridents) and "polearms" (other kinds of BladeOnAStick like halberds and pole-hammers). This is a historically nonexistent distinction: spears are properly a ''subset'' of polearms, as nearly all medieval and post-medieval [[OddlyShapedSword oddly-shaped spear variants]] from the halberd to the glaive could still be used to stab an enemy held at haft's length, and conversely the heads on fighting spears were often edged and could cut in addition to piercing.

* BladeOnAStick: The Ancient Runelords of Thassilon all had a favored polearm. In addition the weapon rules still have a fair number of polearms on their own.

* PerpetualMotionMonster: Undead, constructs, and most outsiders don't need food or sustenance of any kind. Even ghouls, though [[HorrorHunger inflicted by a ravenous hunger]], don't actually need to eat, and develop into a more powerful form if starved long enough.

* WindUpKey: Clockwork constructs are introduced in Bestiary 3, and last a number of days per winding. Also of note is that some of these constructs can be given a copy of their own key, so that they can wind themselves up.

** Druids and clerics were the only base classes to actually be ''weakened'' by the conversion from 3.5, to partially address the [=CoDzilla=][[note]]"Cleric or Druid + Franchise/{{Godzilla}}", i.e. the classes being {{Game Breaker}}s as implemented[[/note]] issue: both classes were capped at 4 base spell slots per level per day at max level (down from 5 for 1st through 5th level spells), clerics lost access to heavy armor (but gained access to their patron deity's favored weapon, previously reserved for the War Domain), and [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Wild Shape]] was changed to use the rules for the wizard spell ''beast shape''.

** [[invoked]] Hell, the LawfulEvil plane, is ruled by the devils. It is also inhabited by the asuras. A third LawfulEvil race of fiends, the velstrac, lives on the Plane of Shadow but has embassies in Hell. Devils are formed from the souls of evildoers, who are slowly and carefully tortured over eons until nothing remains except pain, obedience, and hate, at which point they become of the least of devils. Asuras are the twisted result of gods making mistakes, [[RageAgainstTheHeavens and very angry about it]]. Velstracs are mad, twisted beings obsessed with pain, who create more of themselves by torturing people until [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} they can't tell the difference between pain and pleasure]].

** While there are always exceptions at the [=GM's=] discretion, supplementary materials would kindly remind you that aside from those singular individuals, the savage humanoids of Golarion are ''gleefully'' evil, if not [[AxCrazy insanely so]].

** One exception to the above is the gnolls, who seem to be becoming gradually less generally evil each time they're mentioned. At first the only ones you'd ever encounter were slaver parties, and although they certainly still are, eventually they become less "attack on sight"; one adventure path even includes civilized (though evil) gnolls as non-hostile questgivers you should play along with. Finally, the 2E bestiary notes that while ''some'' tribes are evil marauders, many others are more militantly isolationist.

* BecomeYourWeapon: A high-level summoner has the ability to merge forms with his/her eidolon, combining their stats and effectively acting and fighting as one being. The Synthesist archetype allows them to do it from level 1, at the cost of not being able to summon the eidolon as a separate being.

* DevilButNoGod: [[SatanicArchetype Asmodeus]] had a brother and opposite number once. [[spoiler:He killed him]]. Of course, there are plenty of good-aligned deities, but none specifically modeled on the Abrahamic God.

* FunWithAcronyms: The Open RPG Creative License, or the [=ORC=] for short.

* TheGunslinger: Available by name as a new class in ''Ultimate Combat'' which allows you to be a Wild West hero with GunFu. They use "grit" points to fuel their ImprobableAimingSkills, and regain grit by being ''cool''.

* HatesReading: Alongside their many StupidEvil tendencies, [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]] have a superstitious terror of the written word, believing that it can steal the thoughts out of their heads. This might [[LegendFadesToMyth be inspired by]] their ancient MagicallyBindingContract with [[GodOfEvil Asmodeus]]. ''2e'' even has a goblin spellbook...that's a magical popup book with no words in it.

* CreationMyth: The earliest days of Golarion are shrouded in mystery, as archeological and historical records pre-[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Earthfall]] are understandably scarce. Even directly asking the gods, many of whom were probably directly involved with the universe's creation, only produces vague, often-contradictory answers about it. Thus, many cultures and ancestries attempt to fill in the gaps in history with their own mythologies, most of which place said cultures in a suspiciously-central part of the narrative.

* BondageIsBad: Zon-Kuthon, who is basically a [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Cenobite]] homage as an evil god. Also the Kytons, expanded from a single type of evil outsider into a full-fledged ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}''-themed [[TheLegionsOfHell infernal]] [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils hierarchy]].
** Partially averted by the goddess Calistria, the goddess of lust and "The Savored Sting," who isn't particularly good or evil.

*** Alahazra, the iconic Oracle, was thrown out of her house into the desert to die of starvation and exposure by her own father because she could cast divine magic.

** Also, the Prince in Chains, herald of the god of pain. And kytons (previously called ''chain'' devils), whose skins are essentially living spiked chains.

** The Starstone also turned out to be '''very''' powerful on its own right, including the ability to elevate mortals to GODHOOD, four times actually. Though the Aboleth were not aware of its real nature, so this was not intentional...at least from the point of view of the Deep Masters.

** The sorcerer class has Bloodlines which can stem from anything from dragons to demons to undead to Lovecraftian horrors lurking between the stars. They all give the Sorcerer awesome powers, new spells, and access to more feats. In a more literal sense, the Oracle base class is given something called an "Oracle's Curse".

* DarkerAndEdgier: Sometimes just in the sense of having a more "mature" feel, sometimes considerably less subtle (one module has hillbilly rapist ogres). Said module is the ''censored'' version. The original will likely never be published.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Andoran's democratic government and opposition to slavery are seen as naive and absurd even by other good factions.

** The kytons (originally a single subtype of devil in ''D&D'', now a whole distinct race of fiends) are ruled by the demagogues, who, like Zon-Kuthon, are basically [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Cenobites]].

* DisabilitySuperpower: The Oracle's Curse class feature in ''First Edition''. ''Second Edition'' downplays this for its version of the Oracle--none of the Mysteries' flavor effects imply that you have a disability when your curse is in its dormant state, but several Mysteries weaken your senses in some way as drawbacks of progressing your curse.

* {{Expy}}: Zon-Kuthon and the kytons are expies of the [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} Cenobites.]]

** ''Second Edition'' also allows bonding with a living familiar as a first-level feat for Magi, Sorcerers, Thaumaturges, and Wizards. Druids of the Leaf Order can bond with a [[Planimal leshy]] familiar, while Alchemists in general can create an alchemical familiar. Witches once again have a mandatory familiar, and use their familiar to prepare spells. There's also a Familiar Master archetype that lets you get a familiar (or enhance your existing familiar), then improve it in various ways.

** In ''Second Edition'', you can apply the Flaming or Greater Flaming runes to replicate the effect. The magus can still do this with Runic Impression by temporarily giving their weapon one of those runes, depending on their level.

** One of the potential drawbacks on a magical item is that the user's gender changes while the item remains in their possession (or possibly, just while it's in use). Technically a curse, although an item with this drawback still otherwise works as normal.

** The Serum of Sex Shift, which does ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, was introduced in 2E. Besides the above in-universe use, it's probably intended as a way for players to explain a sudden sex change for their characters without breaking immersion. As for why they made sure to explicitly note that it can produce ''any'' combination of sexual characteristics, as many times as you want, well, draw your own conclusions there.

* GlassCannon: The Monk class fits this in comparison to Fighters. Monks get the fast movement ability, which increases their speed, and can deliver a Flurry of Blows, which allows them to make several additional attacks whenever they make a full attack action. However, as a cost, they are forbidden from wearing any armor or using shields, making it more difficult for them to raise their armor class. With fewer {{Dump Stat}}s, they'll typically have lower physical attributes than straight fighters. Further, they get a smaller hit die than fighters, so they have fewer hit points.

* HatesReading: Alongside their many StupidEvil tendencies, [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent Goblins]] have a superstitious terror of the written word, believing that it can steal the thoughts out of their heads. This might [[LegendFadesToMyth be inspired by]] their ancient MagicallyBindingContract with [[GodOfEvil Asmodeus]].

* LevelDrain: Averted. Undead can still inflict negative levels, but you no longer have to earn those levels back the hard way.

* LovecraftLite: Turns up everywhere, when you scratch under the surface. Nasty elder gods, ancient non-humanoid civilizations, weird and inimical aliens, and direct references to [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos the Mythos]]. The guys at Paizo love Creator/HPLovecraft. The game as a whole also does not actually care about these except as thematic elements or when they are direct antagonists, and most Mythos creatures are [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu just more monsters]], no SanityMeter to speak of.

** ''Second Edition'', being an entirely new system that deliberately distances Pathfinder from its ''[=3.5e=]'' roots while trying to fix issues like LinearWarriorsQuadraticWizards, does plenty of both nerfs and buffs compared to its predecessor. Spellcaster player character in particular lost a significant number of their "I win the encounter" buttons and generally had the power level of their spells massively reduced, while martials got a net power increase by comparison. Several especially useful spells are now rituals that any party can theoretically access.

* NoodleIncident: How Aroden died is deliberately kept really vague, though people in-universe have a lot of theories about it
** How exactly Dou-Bral turned evil and became Zon-Kuthon is also rather vague. According to the books he was exploring the Dark Tapestry (outer space) and ran into... something (Implied to be some kind of EldritchAbomination, though nothing else is known about this being) that turned him insane and evil.

** [[invoked]] Hell, the LawfulEvil plane, is ruled by the devils. It is also inhabited by the asuras. A third LawfulEvil race of fiends, the kytons, lives on the Plane of Shadow but has embassies in Hell. Devils are formed from the souls of evildoers, who are slowly and carefully tortured over eons until nothing remains except pain, obedience, and hate, at which point they become of the least of devils. Asuras are the twisted result of gods making mistakes, [[RageAgainstTheHeavens and very angry about it]]. Kytons are mad, twisted beings obsessed with pain, who create more of themselves by torturing people until [[Franchise/{{Hellraiser}} they can't tell the difference between pain and pleasure]].

* An upcoming [=ARPG=] based on ''Abomination Vaults'' published by [=BKOM=].

Thousands of years ago, the Human empire of Azlant thrived on the surface, while secretly ruled from the deep by the Aboleths, the aquatic monsters that lifted them to greatness. As humanity developed, they grew resentful and resisted against their aquatic masters. Fearing the growing power of the humans, the Aboleths sent a massive asteroid [[ColonyDrop crashing onto their homeland]]. Azlant was destroyed, and most of the surface civilizations on the nearby continents of Arcadia and Avistan were devastated ([[HoistByTheirOwnPetard but then, so too were the Aboleths]]). Meanwhile, the Elves, who had foreseen the coming Earthfall, mostly fled to the sanctuary of Sovyrian on the planet Castrovel, while the underground-dwelling Dwarves took the impact as a sign from their gods to make their way to the surface, beginning the "Quest for Sky," driving their Orc rivals before them.

* PlotHole: A particularly noteworthy one exists in the ''Carrion Crown'' adventure path. The villain's plans rely on retrieving a few specific items and one book is dedicated to the party getting one of these items before them. Despite the item being described as essential to their plans several times the party getting it first has no impact on those plans. There's no explanation for why the plan still works and the item's surprise lack of importance means the whole book revolving around it can be [[{{Filler}} skipped without affecting the plot at all]].

** However, most of the demon lords had to be left behind and replaced by a new batch due to copyright reasons. On the other hand, most of the really important ones were {{Public Domain Character}}s (Orcus, Demogorgon[[note]]though his depiction as a two-headed monkey/serpent remains copyrighted by Wizards, so he receives only off-hand mentions[[/note]], Pazuzu, Dagon, Kostchtchie, Baphomet...). The biggest losses lore-wise were Graz'zt, Fraz-Urb'luu[[note]]who ''is'' open source thanks to creeping into the 3.5 3rd-party ''Tome of Horrors'', but Paizo deliberately doesn't use him because he's so closely tied to ''TabletopGame/{{Greyhawk}}''[[/note]], Pale Night, Yeenoghu, and Zuggtmoy. Many replacements will be familiar to those with knowledge of real-world demonology.

* ActionGirl: While always an option in any role-playing game, it's notable that the "iconic" characters featured in ''Pathfinder''[='=]s artwork have either been an even balance of the sexes or slightly favoring women (as opposed to many games in which the fluff is male-dominant while the rules don't discriminate). This extends to teams of pre-generated characters for adventures, frequently featuring three women with a lone man or the full four-woman party of the ''Carrion Crown'' campaign. (This may be a MythologyGag since ''Carrion Crown'' was an adventure series devoted to horror tropes.)

A Second Edition campaign named ''WebVideo/PathfinderKnightsOfEverflame'' (inspired by an earlier module called Crypt of the Everflame) ran from June to August 2019. The popular web series ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' also began life as a campaign for Pathfinder First Edition that was converted to ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsFifthEdition'' before airing to simplify gameplay, and many of Exandria's features, including many gods and the Gunslinger class, are borrowed from the Lost Omens setting.

* FanService: Paizo puts a lot of effort into artwork. And makes a point of featuring a lot of female [=NPC=]s and characters. Which also leads to...
** FanDisservice: [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/pathfinder/images/7/7d/Urgathoa.jpg Urgathoa]], Goddess of [[VillainousGlutton Gluttony]], [[TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed Disease]], and [[TheUndead Undeath]].
** The fanservice isn't just of the sexual variety. A foreword to one of the ''Jade Regent'' adventures notes several great things about a story that combines ninjas with vikings, such as having a good excuse to paint a cover featuring ninjas fighting on a burning longboat.

A 2nd Edition campaign named ''WebVideo/PathfinderKnightsOfEverflame'' (inspired by an earlier module called Crypt of the Everflame) ran from June to August 2019. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7s90t8wr8k You can watch it here.]]

* CharacterAlignment: [[invoked]] Uses the "good-neutral-evil" and "law-neutral-chaos" system, much like its [[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons predecessor]]. With the "Champions of..." Player Companions, they have a bit of a more "in-depth" look at the typical alignments.
** [[invoked]] In Champions of Purity, the typical LawfulGood roles are governmental Builders, evil hunting [[ThePaladin Crusaders]], and Guardians. The typical NeutralGood roles are Healers, Mediators, and Redeemers. The typical ChaoticGood roles are Activists, [[LaResistance Freedom Fighters]], and [[VigilanteMan Vigilantes]].
** [[invoked]] In Champions of Balance, the typical LawfulNeutral roles are Executors, Judges, and Mechanists. The typical TrueNeutral roles are Agents of Balance, [[TheAntiNihilist Fatalists]], and Naturalists. The typical ChaoticNeutral roles are [[HotBlooded Impulsives]], [[RebelliousSpirit Rebels]], and Saboteurs.
** [[invoked]] In Champions of Corruption, the typical LawfulEvil roles are manipulative Despots, evil-serving [[{{Mooks}} Minions]], and Swindlers. The typical NeutralEvil roles are [[StrawNihilist Annihilists]], egotistical {{Narcissist}}s, and [[ItAmusedMe Psychopaths]]. The typical ChaoticEvil roles are Devotees, Furies, and [[TheHedonist Hedonists]].