Weekly Wonders - Archetypes of the Afterlife Volume IV - The Watchful

Make Some Friends on the Other Side!

Adventurers have a special relationship with death in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. While for many, death is one of the few things in this world that is both certain and final, for an adventurer, especially at higher levels, it is more of an inconvenience than anything else. Some characters may even find themselves dying and being brought back to life with magic multiple times in a single fight. The Weekly Wonders: Archetypes of the Afterlife series explores some of the ways that a brush with death might affect PCs, with a variety of new afterlife-themed archetypes.

For this book, we focus on the watchful, spirits who maintain ties to the Material Plane in order to look after and protect someone or something that was close to them in life. Some of these spirits concern themselves with the lives of their descendents, while others watch over members of a specific organization or location that meant something to them in life. Still others seek out spiritual successors, and attempt to watch over those who remind them of themselves when they were alive. This book includes the following archetypes:

The blood caller, a barbarian archetype whose great deeds appease the spirits of her ancestors, who grant her extra power in return.

The guided seeker, a druid archetype whose animal companion is the reincarnation of a former mentor, providing guidance and wisdom.

The ghost detective, an investigator archetype who can call upon the spiritual world to provide additional help and insight in his cases.

The spiritual guardian, a monk archetype for those who have been reincarnated to watch over the living, gaining ghostly powers and abilities.

The watchful sage, a skald archetype who chronicles the lives of heroes to deem their worthiness for the afterlife.

The watched devil, a swashbuckler archetype haunted by the spirit of a famous adventurer that spurs them to take great risks—leading to even greater rewards.

The Watchful, a new emotional focus for spiritualist phantoms, representing phantoms who maintain ties to the living world in order to watch over and protect something or someone.

Whether you're about to embark on a campaign where the afterlife features prominently (such as the official Paizo Adventure Path featuring an undead tyrant), or you just want to play a character touched by the grave, this book has lots of tantalizing options to offer. Even GMs can get in on the fun, as several of the archetypes here are perfect for deathly NPCs as well, and can make for exciting and memorable encounters.