#kolyarut

Oh Kolyarut, ripped away in the edition update to guard from the ever-reaching hands of Hasbro. Kolyarut were Inevitables, guardians of the underpinnings of the universe. In this case the power of giving your word, hunting down anyone who screwed people over by breaking bargains. Very athletic and acrobatic, able to disguise as other humanoids at will, able to magically turn invisible and pararalyze, and even see in the dark! Also quite charismatic with encyclopedic knowledge of every social customs. They make a lot of allies!

(art by Ageaus on DeviantArt)

One of my favorite things in Pathfinder is seeing archetypes or character options that actively encourage homebrewing just by existing, and there are few better examples than today’s subject.

Bargaining for power is nothing new in fiction and mythology. Certainly it happened enough times in the mythologies of various civilizations that it naturally would make the leap to Christianity, which in the 15th to 18th century got really on the idea of hunting down witches for daring to “deal with the Devil”, though to be clear, they were hardly the only ones doing it throughout human history. They were merely among the most infamous and ironic, given that the official stance of the church was that the Devil had no power on Earth, and that only God could theoretically grant magical to mortals if he desired such a thing. (Which makes the Malleus Malificarum, the text written by a notable misogynistic priest which was often cited by witch hunters, a heretical text. Food for thought.)

In any case, despite the dark reputation, not every such bargain is inherently ‘sinful’ or evil in nature. Mythos and fiction are full of stories of those that accept bargains with divine beings, or with nature spirits and fey.

All of this to say that the Pactbinder archetype offers a mechanical way to reflect said pacts beyond class abilities like the witch class and their patron. Anyone could entice a spirit to appear and offer a deal.

Such pactbinders may make bargains with one or more cosmic beings, carefully wording their deals to get what they want while offering something to the being that they desire, but has minimal (but not negligible) effect on the binder themselves.

However, like anything, there are limits to what one can do and how far one can stretch an agreement, and those that make too many bargains without consideration may be left a shadow of their former self.

So let’s look into it, shall we?

The first step to forming such pacts, the dedication requires study into how magical pacts operate. The character trains in diplomacy as well as the mystic field of their choice, and in turn they learn to perform basic magical vows with mystic consequences if they fail to uphold them. However, that dedication to the vow makes it easier to bargain with others in the pursuit of the vow’s goal.

One such pact these binders can call upon is a fey glamour that semi-permanently changes their appearance and lets them take on other magical disguises. However, in return, they must offer hospitality to nonhostile fey when they ask.

Back on the subject o their basic vows, some train to deepen them, increasing the diversity of social actions that benefit when they pursue the goal.

In exchange for collecting key treasures for a dragon, those that make the pact can call upon the elemental power in their breast, unleashing a mighty draconic breath upon their foes, the specifics being based upon the nature of the dragon in question.

And then there is the classic and most costly: the infernal pact. In the case of this pact, it grants a supernatural measure of luck, and makes accruing wealth through any task much easier. However, the cost is one’s very soul, and retraining away from the pact requires finding and destroying the original copy, which is no easy task.

Some instead bargain with psychopomps for an extended lifespan and a body that rises from the brink of death in extreme circumstances. The cost being that the binder agrees to be an agent of psychopomps on the material plane, offering respect for the dead and last rites when required, and of course destroying the undead.

Finally, we have a pact with a mysterious elder entity, allowing it to view the material world through the mortal’s eyes for its own sinister purposes (or maybe simply out of boredom and interest). While this normally just causes headaches and nightmares, this might get in the way during combat. However, in exchange, the mystic may gain glimpses of different lore which may be useful, and meanwhile, they can occasionally tap into the multifold gaze of the entity to summon multiple floating eyes to spy for them.

This is the sort of archetype that you can take one or two feats from and be done with, so if you’re interested in magical power that comes with restrictions on behavior as a consequence, this archetype might appeal to you, and pretty much anyone can make use of it.

What is most interesting about this archetype, however, is the fact that all of these pact feats listed are perfect examples for which to base your own homebrew pacts on! There are a myriad of magical beings, otherworldly and otherwise in Pathfinder, and limitless potential in what sort of powers a would-be occultist would want and what they’d be willing to give for it. If you’re looking to homebrew PF2E and are looking for a good starting point, this archetype and it’s feats may be a perfect place to start!

A nervous-looking fellow hires the party as bodyguards, hoping that they will keep him safe from his “debt collectors”. However, when said collectors finally show themselves, they are revealed to be a pair of kolyarut inevitables, citing that the party’s client broke a sacred pact, an error they aim to correct one way or another.

The Valewalker Farm has always had incredible crop yields, even when said fields should have been exhausted from overuse. The farm has long been the subject of debate among the surrounding halfling community, and some dare to suggest that it has to do with every young scion of the household “leaving to get married”, and that they are actually being offered to some powerful fey lord.

This time we've got some demons, a demodand, constructs, and everyone's favorite floating skull Morte.

Unbound Monsters - Inevitables (Reimagined)

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A lot of things can tie a soul to the mortal plane, most often, it is strong emotion or trauma. However, some linger here because of obsession with a certain vice. Today, I present to you the first of a short series of “sin” phantoms from Occult Realms: The Greed Phantom.

In context of the Golarion Setting, sin phantoms represent a form of immortality sought out by certain mages in the ancient Thassalonian Empire, whose obsession with magic and the association it had with virtue and vice made the act of surviving one’s empire by becoming a phantom a tempting prospect.

Outside of that setting, however, sin phantoms might just be particularly sinful souls who never actually did anything condemning enough to cause them to rise as undead. As it stands, Occult Realms presents three sin phantoms, pointing out that the sins of wrath, sloth, and envy could simply be reskinned anger/hate, despair, and jealousy phantoms respectively. The only sin that doesn’t receive a sin phantom in some form is gluttony, due to its association with necromancy, and therefore, implying that the vast majority of gluttony-affiliated persons simply become undead. However, one could simulate a gluttony phantom with the necrologist archetype.

Regardless, greed phantoms are, by nature, beings of covetous desire, Wealth, power, or simply more of whatever they desired. While their ability to interact with such things is limited now, they know that they can still acquire such things using their spiritualist as a proxy. (Possibly a good use of the haunted archetype there)

Greed Phantoms are usually a golden or yellow color, or perhaps whatever color is most commonly associated with currency in the region they came from, and they often appear opulent, or make the sounds of jangling coins when moving.

 As greedy individuals in life, it only makes sense that these phantoms are well-informed on things of great value, and can both appraise objects, as well as aid their spiritualist in identifying magic items.

Vicious and uncaring of life, particularly that which gets in the way of their desires, these phantoms strike with the intent to slay, their strikes having the potential to be particularly lethal.

Eager to take all that they can, these phantoms even absorb magical energy from the spells of their spiritualist, gaining the same effect as the spiritualist when they cast such a spell on themselves.

As an extension of that, these phantoms can even widen their magic-absorbing power, gaining the effects of the spells that others cast within a certain range.

Furthermore, these spectral misers are not content to just let strong magic go, and if defeated and forced back into the ether, these phantoms can use their spiritualists as a sort of magical coffer, transferring beneficial spells to them upon being banished, where they continue on until they run out, as normal.

Considering a buff-centric party? This phantom can benefit greatly, absorbing multitudes of buff spells from others even as they are being cast on other members of the party, or even stealing buffs from foes as well! I would consider a buffing spiritualist build, with a minor in combat, since they might end up having to face off against foes themselves as well.

 Wealth and power are the name of the game for these phantoms, and they’ll be damned if a little thing like dying is going to keep them from what they want. As such, these phantoms may be overbearing and insistent on pursuing their goals, regardless of whether their spiritualist is haunted or not.

  A treasure hunting expedition goes sour when the goblin hireling Bulpog accidentally dropped an ornate vase, causing the opulent greedy phantom of the tomb’s owner to break free, immediately possessing the first convenient vessel, Bulpog himself. How, the poor goblin has a very unpleasant tenant inside his head, demanding luxuries and bemoaning the lowly status of its host.

 In life, a power broker for both mortal and outer affairs, the barrister Mackaron thought that dying would be the end of his latest contract with the forces of the beyond. Imagine his horror, then, to be reborn a phantom imbued with his own greed. Now he finds himself a target of psychopomps and marut inevitables on one side, and hunted by a team of kolyarut bounty hunters on the other.