Gamemastery Guide (Second Edition)

It was succeeded as the primary Pathfinder Second Edition GM guide and NPC book by the books GM Core and NPC Core as part of the Pathfinder Remaster project.

• Rules, advice, and guidelines to build adventures, campaigns, and the denizens and treasures that lurk within, from settlements to nations to infinite planes!
• Creative variant rules to customize the rules to make the game your own, including variant bonus, feat, and magic item progressions, characters gaining the power of multiple classes at once, and more!
• All sorts of new and variant magic items including intelligent items, cursed items, artifacts, quirks you can add to items, and a brand new type of item called a relic that scales with your character!
• A catalog of subsystems to handle unique situations, from thrilling chases to researching mysteries to vehicle combat to elaborate duels to sandbox-style "hexploration" and more! Plus, a universal victory point system to help you design your own subsystems!
• More than 60 new NPCs to use in your game, designed for maximum usefulness to all Pathfinder campaigns!

Contents

Introduction

1: Gamemastery Basics

• Introduction
• Running Encounters
• Running Exploration
• Running Downtime
• Adjudicating Rules
• Resolving Problems
• Narrative Collaboration
• Special Circumstances
• Rarity in Your Game
• Campaign Structure
• Adventure Design
• Encounter Design
• Drawing Maps

• Introduction
• Building Creatures
• Building Hazards
• Building Items
• Item Quirks
• Intelligent Items
• Cursed Items
• Relics
• Artifacts
• Gems and Art Objects
• Afflictions
• Building Worlds
• Nations
• Settlements
• Planes

3: Subsystems

• Introduction
• Victory Points
• Influence
• Research
• Chases
• Infiltration
• Reputation
• Duels
• Leadership
• Hexploration
• Vehicles

4:Variant Rules

• Introduction
• Ability Score Variants
• Alignment Variants
• Deep Backgrounds
• Feats and Features
• Level 0 Characters
• Magic Item Variants
• Proficiency without Level
• Skill Points
• Stamina

5: NPC Gallery

• Introduction
• Courtiers
• Criminals
• Devotees
• Downtrodden
• Explorers
• Foresters
• Healers
• Laborers
• Magistrates
• Mercenaries
• Mystics
• Officers
• Performers
• Publicans
• Scholars
• Seafarers
• Tradespeople
• Villains

Glossary and Index

Deluxe hardcover

The deluxe special hardcover edition, which is bound in faux leather with metallic deboss cover elements and a bound-in ribbon bookmark, was released on February 26, 2020.