What type of Pathfinder are you?

"Excuse me?" The young man at the counter said to the dwarf beside him, behind them the rest of his party was laughing, cheering and telling tall tales about their recent antics
"I said, 'what type are ya boy?' I see you got a brand new shiny wayfinder on yer belt; so yer a pathfinder or a really stupid thief to wear it here in the Wisp out in the open." The dwarf said as he fished out a hip flask to add a jot of something to his mug. "You earn it in the tower, doing yer time as an apprentice, or in the field doing something truly impressive and or stupid that saved someone's life or epically heroic and stupid? Two ways ta get in the society." The dwarf drawled as he turned to face the boy, his much more beaten and weather worn wayfinder showing. "Oh I see you want ta ask how I earned mine? Definitely a case of 'epic stupid heroics', with a jot of sheer terror, an a few fine explosions."  The dwarf added a jot to his drink. "Tell ya what.. you drink wit me an I'll tell ya about MY confirmation." His eyes twinkled. "Might even tell it all truthful like too."

There are two basic ways to join the Pathfinder Society; you can apply and do your time as an apprentice in Abaslon as an apprentice or you can earn a 'field commission' and doing something of note for the Decimivariate. (Gloriapedia)

Apprentices:

The girl was skinny and only just starting to grow into a woman like her mother, lithe and fast as a ferret; her brown eyes held the inquisitive alertness of her father as she looked him over and the bundle in his hands. She'd only left the gunworks when his man had given her the wayfinder clasped in her hands. He rubbed the scars over his face,  recalling the two pathfinders who had been her parents from his days training them. He'd been away too long but he promised them he'd see to her needs. Hence his tracking her down and offering the teen a new family. 
"You say this is an apprenticeship my parents would have gotten me into?" She asked as she held the other thing he'd given her; the long scarf that had been in her mother's family for generations. The kapenia that had been part of her clan for centuries. If you knew how to read it, there was a story in each one; telling the story of a Varisian's family and clan.  He nodded as he pulled out the last thing he'd brought with him and unrolled the bundle to show the doeskin scabbard. He pulled the musket from it and set it down in front of her. Her father's musket, now her weapon, recovered along with their bodies from where they had fallen. 
"Let me tell you about the Pathfinder Society; It is, after all, in many ways your family." Torch said as he told her of how her mother and father had met one another.

Apprentices are mostly volunteers who have been tested extensively before being allowed to apprentice with the society. From there they are put to the oath and spend years under the tutelage of one of the Masters in Abaslon before taking their final test, the Confirmation, and full membership within the society. The three masters cover the three big schools of the society: The Sword, The Scroll and The Spell. Martial skill, lore and magic are all vital tools in the pathfinder's job, and no school is totally exclusive. A swordsman might study under the Master of Lore to learn a language, or with the Master of Spells to learn the weaknesses of some magical beast or how to use some mystical item that he or she found in the field.
Till such time as then they work around the Grand Lodge as well as study there. There are always a bustle of pages, staff helping pack up the library, assist the masters with projects throughout the Lodge, runners who are sent out to fetch pathfinders that are to be sent out into the field (What you think Drendle Dreg finds all his agents at 3AM? He delegates the fetching and stays in his snug and warm office thank you very much!)

Field Commissions:

"I appreciate what you did Simon." The tall dark haired woman said as she poured the tea. "You managed to save more than one of my people in Nerosyam during the attack. Mostly after your own unit was wiped out." 
"I was looking to survive myself, m'lady'" The tall taldane man said uncomfortably as he fidgeted in his chair. She was privileged and he was a grunt, why was he here? "My job was to fight and help the lads stay on their feet. I swore an oath on behalf of the Emperor to help the Crusade stand strong against the worldwound." He struggled to kept the disappointment from showing on his face.
"I came on behalf of a mutual associate; your comments have been .. intemperate of late and there is someone who has decided, for the sake of his son, that you are to remain where you are till he can 'tend' to you." She sat back and looked at him. "Without your skill at arms my team would have died in the Lodge." Her face was grim as she extended a document with an ornate glyph on it. "Discrete, honorable, skilled and flexible are all assets the society looks for in our agents; Taldor might not see your worth Simon, but we do. You've made impressive enemies since the siege; ones who have rivals in the Society. Why don't you help us with our traitor and our efforts to assist the crusade and we'll help you with returning home and tending to your commanding officer's cowardice from a position of strength?"

The other option for joining the Society is to be awarded a field commission; there are a variety of ways you can held the Ten enough to be awarded a field commission, for example: bringing something of unusual worth to the Society (lost lore, powerful magic or such), helping the Pathfinders in a situation of dire need (like helping out a team in the middle of war zone), a specific skill(s)/talent/area knowledge/connections, through political favors, or having someone in the Society pull strings to get you a position.
The field agent might have the 'short cut' to full standing but they also don't have as firm a foundation as an apprentice. Still, they bring vital skills and knowledge to the society.

Note: The next section is just my thoughts and impressions from my time in PFS play. I find these approaches best for getting characters that fit in and help parties pull off their missions.

Types of Pathfinders:

There are as many types of Pathfinders as there are players making characters for play; that being said, there are a variety of 'types' that help play run smoothly. You can build character who fit multiple roles, as these are definite and clear set roles. You might be a 'Wall' AND an 'Assistant' AND the 'Specialist'

"How about translating the riddle and giving Akim what he needs to undo the trap." She called as she stepped into the door way, seeing what looked like an endless array of undead coming down the hall as she put her tower shield down and leaned against it. They were many ,but dessicated skeletons couldn't match the weight of seventeen stone of her in armor and shield.
"What are you going to do?"
"What does it like? Keep you alive while you save us!" She yelled as she slashed at a skeletal arm reaching past her shield. "Be a minder, Rhea, keep them out of trouble, Rhea.." she said in a sing song tone mimicking her mentor's words. "I don't recall any necromancer's tomb in the briefing Drendle."

-The Wall: Bodyguard, wall, barrier, defender, tank and so on. You are the guy who steps up and beats on the foe, pulling their attention from the guy healing the fallen or woman raining fire upon them. (Somehow, the sight of 6+ feet of armored mayhem smashing at them is supposed to be more scary than the fire flinger.. more immediate definitely). Your job is to suck up damage and block the path of attack to the more fragile members of your group.

-The Face: The socialite, intimidating mobster and/or the sneaky weadling conartist. All of them have the gift of putting the right turn of phrase to get the job done. Sometimes it's the genteel offering of fifty head of oxen to the dragon so he'd let you go by, another time it might be infering that this store has a LOT of breakables that it would be tragic to see shatter, or simply putting the flim flam word play that leaves the person you're talking wondering what the hell just happened and where did his pants go? You can do it to get info on the location of the 'widget of doom', or to get the snake men's allies to take a five minute break at the stroke of midnight and that it might be healthy to not pay to much mind to the blood curdling screams and loud explosions that they might hear shortly there after.
There are more than a few scenarios that can be easily done with a well roleplayed 'talking' guy. Several scenarios over the last two or three seasons have long long term implications form the (lack) of talking the right way to someone. For example, season 5 villain is met at a wedding and left with less than a gracious opinion of the society (what can I say.. my gunslinger goofed on her roll, and she DID shoot his brother). With the new reporting system in place the impact of how you get along with some folks CAN have an impact.

-The Sage: Someone who knows what the hell THAT is. A vital thing in a fight. Knowing the difference between a zombie, a juju zombie and a specialized zombie with all sorts of surprises. Knowing what a critter is and how to kill it is vital in some cases. That is the immediate effect of having someone knowing all sorts of things. The lead up in a scenario can help with a variety of things; for example, researching about a region/person/group/critter that you'll have to face might help you prepare ahead of time and give your group a foot up in handling the big bad.

-The Jack of All Trades: The guy with all the skills, who knows what to do with a spring loaded bolt chucking trap. Or how to smooth talk the concierge at the social club. Or know who is feuding with whom this season. Or .. so on and so forth. Fill in the spot that a specialist might normally fill but your 'know-everything-about-royal-blowhards' isn't here due to car trouble. He's not likely to be as good at any particular skill as a specialist, but he can fill in the basics.

-The Assistant: Another sort of Jack of All Trades, this character isn't built around being good with at just skills. Aiding others can be a pay off in a variety of ways. Teamwork feats, aiding actions (and feats to enhance it), racial traits (halflings rock at being helpful) and so on. It could be a twist to help the main melee guy hit a difficult target, flanking to give the rogue a boost up in sneak attacking, protect the cleric/wizard with an aid to his defense or switching spots with him. It's not simply aiding another by the action but looking for ways to step in and help. It could be something like carrying a box of pathfinder journals and an 'aid another' roll to find out something during the briefing, using aid another in combat or one of the teamwork feats and/or combat manuevers to set up a bad guy for the main hitter.

-The Killer: A character that hammers things flat. 'Killer McKillmasses' is the optimized version of this that you occasionally run into in a wide variety of incarnations. The guy who does triple figures of damage in a round, or ionizes the entire encounter in one massive specialized spell that leaves a crater where the challenge should be. Consider this, if you make a guy who vaporizes the entire scene what are the other guys at the table going to get out of the scenario? This is a hard one to balance, between doing lots of damage and smoking everything and leaving ruins in the wake.  


Types of Pathfinder Missions:
There are a variety of missions that a group of pathfinders can get sent on.
-Collection/Escort: A pathfinder team needs your group to pick up something and transport it safely to another location. This pathfinder needs you to bring the 'widget of doom' to him to enable him to negotiate this treaty with someone. There is a vital need for this healer/sage/whatever to get somewhere he or she isn't suited to go to alone. Hence, the team is sent in to escort/recover the item/person. Examples: Heresy of Man I
-Survey: The Society has found something that needs investigating. A secluded dungeon in the literal middle of no-where, a strange otherworldly vessel that appears only once a century, the location of strange temple in the middle of the jungle or a dwarven outpost only recently discovered. They all need 'investigating' to see if there is something of interest to the society. Long lost lore, magics waiting to be rediscovered, or whatever there is to be find there. The Society lives for a good mystery being solved. Examples: Destiny in the Sands II and III

-Social Event: Not entirely a new event, but one that the last few seasons have refine fairly well. Think of it as dinner and a dance, except the 'dance' is someone trying to kill everyone else there. Society goals are all killing folks and looting tombs; sometimes you have to smooze the guys who own the land the tombs are one, smuggle the stuff you want, or know where the folks you're looking to kill are. Social events and roleplay with mayhem and death for desert. So bring your fine clothes and dress weapons. Examples: The Blackros Matrimony.
-Clean Up: Sometimes being the premiere association of delving into lost lore, loot and locations mean you unearth things better left buried, cross folks that think for one reason or another that trinket belongs to them or simply wants to loot your teams cold bodies. When that happens, the Society sends your team in to clear out the threat, put down the ungodly threat or simply put boot too buttock to avenge the last team of pathfinders who didn't make it back. Find them or avenge them. Or simply find the traitors and put them down like the Ten demands. Examples: Eyes of the Ten I-IV (it's all one long rundown),
-Contest: Sometimes to get something, you got to play the owner's game. That means competing in some sort of contest. It could be a scavenger hunt, arena combat, riddles and so on, or even all of the above. The Society sends in a team with wits, will and weapon skills to pull out what they need. Examples: The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, You have what you Hold.




Note: Updated the types.. the damage monster is added.