Editing The Pathfinder Society (section)

= Pathfinder Society =

== Out of universe/real world: ==
The quests are essentially “episodes” under the umbrella of the Pathfinder Society’s evolving story/lore. This helps players going to their FLGS all know what to expect, since the Society has a general code of ethics. It’s a useful common starting point since often at the FLGS tables, you might be playing with strangers. It helps foster a more consistent experience regardless of where you play.

== In-universe/in the game: ==
The Pathfinder Society is basically Archaeology Starfleet. Kinda like Star Trek Starfleet, they are bound by a code of ethics and moral imperatives to “Explore, Report, Cooperate”. They task themselves with digging up secrets of the past and acting as a kind of neutral diplomatic/humanitarian agency.

In order to become a Pathfinder Agent, a person would need some years of study and training with the Society, which makes sense why lvl 1 PCs start with their initial weapon/skill training proficiency, and a starting suite of abilities/spells.

The Society has lodges established around the world which is helpful to serve as a base of operations for agents doing around doing stuff.

=== Quest Rewards ===
The PFS scenarios have a sterile but useful way of assigning loot rewards at the end of the scenario - everything you, as a Pathfinder Agent, find over the course of the quest is handed over to the lodge when you report in. There is a kind of subquest completion checklist the GM will track behind the screen, and based on what you, as players, do and accomplish in the scenario will determine how much the Society pays your characters in return. If you rush through a scenario, you won’t get the full gold piece “paycheck” than if you took the time to help resolve the side issues presented along the way.

Characters then presumably have access to the Society’s resources in some way to craft/buy whatever magic items you can afford, rather than just putting up with whatever items you come across and waiting for the next best thing to come along.

Much like an MMO, you also gain additional points/reputation currency to spend on smaller bonus stuff. If you’ve got a lot of reputation built up with one of the internal branches of the Society, you can dip into the Society’s reserves a little bit to equip yourself with some extra potions and other consumables between each quest.