Ultimate Intrigue

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

by Jason Bulmahn (Lead Designer & Author)

Words Cut Deep

In the right setting, a single scathing word can prove deadlier than a poisoned dagger. Behind the scenes of heroic battles and magical realms lies a seething underbelly of danger and deception. This world of intrigue holds endless possibilities for adventure, as heroes duel with words instead of steel, plot daring heists, and engage in battles of wills against relentless nemeses. A high-stakes game of shadows and secrets is yours to master—if you have the wits!

Whether the heroes are taming the blood-soaked back alleys of their favorite metropolis or jockeying for the queen's favor alongside highborn nobles, Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Intrigue is an invaluable companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon more than 10 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into a new era.

Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Intrigue includes:

- The vigilante, a new character class that lives two lives—that of an unassuming member of the community, and a cloaked crusader with his own agenda!
- New archetypes for alchemists, bards, druids, hunters, inquisitors, investigators, mesmerists, rangers, rogues, slayers, spiritualists, and more!
- New feats and magic items for characters of all sorts, granting mastery of street-smart combat, impenetrable disguises, and misdirection.
- Dozens of spells to manipulate tense social settings, whether to reveal adversaries' secrets or hide the truth.
- A complete system of influence, providing new goals and rewards to challenge players and link their fortunes to nonplayer characters and organizations.
- Systems and advice to help Game Masters introduce a variety of new encounters into their games­—daring heists, extended pursuits, and tense searches for buried secrets.
- Rules for social combat and verbal duels, allowing characters to use words as weapons to sway hearts and humiliate foes.
... and much, much more!

Cover art by Wayne Reynolds

Genres: Role Playing Games, Fantasy, Gaming

252 pages, Hardcover

First published March 30, 2016

About the author

Lead Designer of Paizo Inc and Minotaur Games, creator of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Reviews

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's is a freaking template to create a Magical Girl™. I am in love with this book. Thank you, BookCon!

[Ty Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally prefer to do the sleuthing / heisting / seducing in our sessions via roleplaying rather than via game mechanics, but if you want some specific rules to put a little Blades In The Dark into your Pathfinder, there's a ton of great options here. From the Batman-esque Vigilante to a host of new options for existing classes there's a lot to add to any urban game. The sections on verbal duels, chases, and elaborate heists are probably the best bits if you want to add a different flavor behind just combat to your game.

[mythicgeek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um I will be creating a new campaign immediately and there will be a MAGICAL GIRL in it because there's a template for it!!!

[Nicholas Smeaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The latest in the Pathfinder RPG splatbooks is something of a departure from the previous enteries in the Ultimate series. Unlike Magic and Combat, social skills have tended to be neglected in the D&D system so this book is Paizo's attempt to address this shortcoming. While the book has the Vigilante class, various archetypes and the usual assortment of spells and feats to assist players in a more socially oriented game, for me the best part were the chapters on running an intrigue oriented campaign. This includes advice for GMs who want to take their party out of the Dungeon as well as appropriate rewards for research and social interactions, a chapter on social combat (Useful if the PCs are ever accused of a crime and have to defend themselves in court) as well as a discussion on the usefulness and limitations of various spells in an intrigue campaign (No more using Speak with Dead to find out who the murderer was). Because this expansion adds an entire new dimension to any Pathfinder campaign I'd reccomend that GM's make Ultimate Intrigue one of the first expansions to get after the Advanced Players Guide.

[the worst person you've never met · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything was fine until I came across a spell known as shamefully overdressed. It was a spell for making people take their clothes off. I don't really know what that has to do with intrigue but okay. Then I found an archetype known as magical child and I laughed because that sounds a lot like magical girl. Finally my magical journey through this book concluded with the spell: they know, which is such a funny name that I laughed. At that moment I realized the true point of this book. It is comedy!

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Premise: New rules, classes, etc for investigative-type characters for the 1st Edition Pathfinder RPG.

If you really like city-based or intrigue-based games, this is the book for you. Wanna run a heist? Or have a chase? Do CSI, but fantasy? This is a really fun book with lots of crunch and fluff to make those more city-based characters and campaigns. There are resources for both GMs and players here. I love playing rogues, and there are a TON of nifty bits in here.