The Pathfinder Society

The Pathfinder Society has existed for more than 400 years. Members include treasure hunters, explorers, tomb raiders, historians, and vagabonds, and they roam the farthest reaches of the world seeking lost relics of world-shattering power and answers to riddles older than the gods. These heroes brave vine-choked jungle ruins, ascend snow-capped peaks, and comb sun-seared desert sands in search of buried tombs and monuments of bygone ages. Society members send records of their exploits to their venture-captain superiors, who in turn review them for accuracy before forwarding the manuscripts to the leaders of the Pathfinder Society.

Goal: Explore and Report

The Society recognizes no formal bylaws, but adherence to a general code of behaviour is expected of all members, and reports of behaviour contrary to this code are grounds for removal from the organization. The three most important member duties are as follows.

Explore

Pathfinders are expected to further the knowledge and reputation of the Society by traveling to distant lands, unearthing forbidden secrets, and piecing together the secret history of the world. Agents are encouraged to travel uncharted lands in search of ever more fantastic mysteries.

Report

In the course of their adventures, Pathfinders are expected to keep detailed journals, maps, and accounts of their exploits. At the conclusion of a successful mission, agents send a copy of their notes to their immediate superior, a regional venture-captain, who makes a full analysis (often involving divination). Records of especially noteworthy exploits make their way to Absalom and the Decemvirate, who compile the best tales into irregularly published editions of the Pathfinder Chronicles, which in turn make their way back to venture-captains for distribution to Pathfinder agents in the field.

Cooperate

The Society places no moral obligations upon its members, so agents span all races, creeds, and motivations. At any given time, a Pathfinder lodge might house a fiend-summoning Chelaxian, an Andoren freedom fighter, an antiquities-obsessed Osirian necromancer, and a friendly Taldan raconteur. Pathfinder agents are expected to respect one another’s claims and stay out of each other’s affairs unless offering a helping hand.

Though the Pathfinder Society itself isn’t concerned with the specific actions of individual Pathfinder agents, they require those agents and their actions to conform to the general code of behaviour noted above. Pathfinders who are incapable of following these simple rules are removed from the Society.

Leader

The Society is directed by the Decemvirate—ten masked and secret members whose identities are protected even from each other. It’s not known how long each Decemvirate member occupies the position; likewise, every aspect of their existence, from nomination to election, from meetings to formal public functions, and from day-today functions to retirement, is completely and utterly secret. The identity of the Ten is the Society’s most closely guarded secret—one, some say, that the Decemvirate are willing to kill to protect.

Headquarters

The Pathfinder Society is housed in the sprawling estate of the Grand Lodge in Absalom. The estate contains a school, dormitories, several outbuildings, and a massive, many-spired, almost cathedral-like structure that acts as the administrative building and meeting place for the entire Society. Deep beneath the Grand Lodge are dozens of levels of magically sealed and tenaciously protected vaults, in which the Society keeps hundreds of years worth of magical research, world histories, priceless valuables, and arcane objects.

Joining

Most Pathfinders are trained in the necessary skills at the Grand Lodge in Absalom, but a few experienced adventurers are given field commissions in the Society once they’ve proved they’re capable.