Revised Traits for Pathfinder 1e: Universal Traits (Paid Member Version) (Patreon)

Here’s another stab at the kind of redesign I’d do in a Revised Path version of the Pathfinder RPG (1st ed). Everyone would get three traits, rather than two, and “Universal Traits” would replace Favored Class Bonuses (and not require you to take a level in your favored class to benefit from them). Additionally, traits would be rewritten to allow players much more room to decide why their character gained them (rather than so many being tied to specific backgrounds, places, and so on), and rewritten with an eye toward less wordcount, less complexity, and at the same time greater customizability.

A universal trait that requires you to make a select can be taken more than once, but requires you to make a different selection each time you take it. Otherwise, you cannot take the same universal trait more than once unless the trait says otherwise. Once taken, you cannot change your traits or choices made within a trait without retraining.

Specific campaigns and GMs could certainly mark various universal traits as more common among specific ancestries, backgrounds, and societies, but the base assumption is even then is that a PC could pick anything as long as it made sense to their character history. A few universal traits might have prerequisites, such as Keen Darkvision requiring a character have darkvision.

Here's a look at how the universal traits might look under this system.

Patreon Note: I've done 16 of these so far. The free article available to everyone only includes 8 or them, but this the full version exclusive to paid Patreon supporters has the full test for all 16 universal traits.

(Art by Hnkonan Akatob)

UNIVERSAL TRAITS

Some traits are just a matter of your natural aptitudes or a result of focusing your training on a general area of development. Unlike other classes of traits, you may select more than one universal trait (though like all traits, you cannot select the same trait more than once unless the trait says otherwise)

Arcane Armor Training

At each character level, select one class of armor (light, medium, heavy, or shields), and reduce its arcane spell failure percentage for you by 1%. You can never reduce ASF to less than 0%.

Armored Ally

Select the animal companion, eidolon, or familiar class feature. Your animal companion, eidolon, or familiar’s natural armor increases by +1/4 your character level, as appropriate.

Breaker

Select one simple or martial weapon from a fighter weapon group, or a weapon with which you are proficient at 1st level. When you attack an object with this weapon, reduce its hardness by an amount equal to your character level (to a minimum of hardness 0).

Cache

Add 1/6 your class level to your uses per day of a class feature you that is normally useable a limited number of times per day. You must have the relevant class feature to gain this bonus (i.e. a character without the judgment ability of an inquisitor gains no benefit from selecting judgment with cache). Each time you have increased a given ability by +1 use with this trait, you may select a different class feature to gain this bonus (though you do not have to).

Clever

You gain +1 skill point per class level.

Elemental Focus

Select one form of elemental damage – acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic. Add +1/3 your character level to damage of this type you deal with a spells, spell-like ability, or supernatural ability.

Energized

Add 1/4 your character level to your effective class level when determining the effects of one of the following class feature selections: two arcanist exploits of your choice, two deeds of your choice, two judgments of your choice, two rage powers of your choice, two revelations of your choice, or the non-spell abilities of one blessing, one bloodline, one domain, or one inquisition.

Foe-Focused

Select one of the following class features: antipaladin’s smite good, cavalier’s challenge, inquisitor’s judgment (destruction), paladin’s smite evil. Add half your character level to damage you deal to the target of this ability. You must have the relevant class feature to gain this bonus (i.e. a character without the judgment ability of an inquisitor gains no benefit from selecting judgment with foe-focused).

Hearty

You gain +1 HP per class level.

Keen Darkvision

Prerequisite: Darkvision

The range of your darkvision increases by 5 feet at every character level.

Lasting

Add your character level to your rounds per day of one of the following class features: bane, bardic performance, bloodrage, rage. Alternatively, you can select animal focus, mutagen, or shifter aspect and have the duration be increased by one minute per character level. Another option is to select arcane pool, martial flexibility, or tactician and have its duration be increased by one round per character level each time you use it. You must have the relevant class feature to gain this bonus (i.e. a character without bardic performance gains no benefit from selecting it with the lasting trait, though they gain the full benefit if they gain bardic performance at a later level).

[Design Note: This may benefit from being put into a chart]

Reserves

Add half your class level to your uses per day of a class feature you select, that is granted by the 1st level of a character class you have, that is normally useable a number of times per day equal to 3 + the modifier of one ability score (such as many 1st-level bloodline, domain, and school powers) or 3 + ½ class level.

Resilient

Add +1/6 your class level to your natural armor bonus when using one of the following class features: alchemist’s mutagen, barbarian’s rage, druid or shifter’s wild shape, inquisitor’s judgment ().

Skill Specialist

Select one class skill for your 1st character class. Add +1/3 bonus per character level to checks with this skill.

Steady Spellcaster

Select one class that casts spells. When casting spells from that class, you gain a +1 bonus to concentration checks per 2 character levels.

Tricksy

Select two combat maneuvers. Add your character level to your CMD against those combat maneuvers.

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