Welcome to the Pathfinder Second Edition Free Basic Rules! Here you will find the very basics of play, and just enough options to build a handful of low-level characters. For hundreds of more pages, rules, characters, options, artwork, and more, upgrade to the complete Pathfinder Player Core!

Deities work their will upon the world in infinite ways, and you serve as one of their most stalwart mortal servants. Blessed with divine magic, you live the ideals of your faith, adorn yourself with the symbols of your church, and train diligently to wield your deity’s favored weapon. Your spells might protect and heal your allies, or they might punish foes and enemies of your faith, as your deity wills. Yours is a life of devotion, spreading the teachings of your faith through both word and deed.

Key Attribute

Wisdom

At 1st level, your class gives you an attribute boost to Wisdom.

Hit Points

8 plus your Constitution modifier

You increase your maximum number of HP by this number at 1st level and every level thereafter.

During combat encounters...

If you’re a warpriest, you balance between casting spells and attacking with weapons—typically the favored weapon of your deity. If you’re a cloistered cleric, you primarily cast spells. Most of your spells can boost, protect, or heal your allies. Depending on your deity, you get extra spells to heal your allies or harm your enemies.

During social encounters...

You might make diplomatic overtures or deliver impressive speeches, but the direction you choose is often heavily influenced by your god’s edicts. Because you’re wise, you also pick up on falsehoods others tell.

While exploring...

You detect nearby magic and interpret any religious writing you come across. You might also concentrate on a protective spell for your allies in case of attack. After a battle or hazard, you might heal anyone who was hurt using magic or medicine.

In downtime...

You might perform services at a temple, travel to spread the word of your deity, craft holy items, research scripture, celebrate holy days, or even found a new temple.

You might...

• Visit the temples and holy places sacred to your faith and have an immediate affinity with other worshippers of your deity.
• Know the teachings of your religion’s holy texts and how they apply to a dilemma.
• Cooperate with your allies, provided they don’t ask you to go against divine will.

Others probably...

• Find your devotion impressive, even if they don’t share your faith or understand it.
• Expect you to heal their wounds, along with more complex afflictions like diseases and even curses.
• Rely on you to interact with other religious figures, including divine servants like celestials and fiends.

Initial Proficiencies

At 1st level, you gain the listed proficiency ranks in the following statistics. You are untrained in anything not listed unless you gain a better proficiency rank in some other way.

Perception

Trained in Perception

Saving Throws

Trained in Fortitude
Trained in Reflex
Expert in Will

Skills

Trained in Religion
Trained in one skill determined by your choice of deity
Trained in a number of additional skills equal to 2 plus your Intelligence modifier

Attacks

Trained in simple weapons
Trained in the favored weapon of your deity. If your deity’s favored weapon is uncommon, you also gain access to that weapon.
Trained in unarmed attacks

Defenses

Untrained in all armor, though your doctrine might alter this
Trained in unarmored defense

Spells

Trained in spell attack modifier
Trained in spell DC

Class DC

Trained in cleric class DC

Cleric Advancement

Class Features

You gain these abilities as a cleric. Abilities gained at higher levels list requisite levels next to their names.

Ancestry and Background

In addition to what you get from your class at 1st level, you have the benefits of your selected ancestry and background. These are described in Chapter 2.

Attribute Boosts

In addition to the boost to Wisdom you get from your class at 1st level, you have four free boosts to different attribute modifiers.

At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, you get four free boosts to different attribute modifiers. If an attribute modifier is already +4 or higher, it takes two boosts to increase it; you get a partial boost, and must boost that attribute again at a later level to increase it by 1.

Initial Proficiencies

At 1st level you gain a number of proficiencies that represent your basic training. These are noted at the start of this class.

Deity

As a cleric, you are a mortal servitor of a deity you revere above all others. The most common deities in Pathfinder appear in Religion, along with their edicts, areas of concern, and the benefits you get for being a cleric of that deity. Your deity grants you the trained proficiency rank in one skill and with the deity’s favored weapon. If the favored weapon is uncommon, you also get access to that weapon.

Your deity also adds spells to your spell list. You can prepare these just like you can any spell on the divine spell list once you can prepare spells of their rank as a cleric. Any of these spells that aren’t normally on the divine list are still divine spells if you prepare them this way.

Sanctification

Depending on your deity, their sanctification can make you holy or unholy. This gives you the holy or unholy trait, which commits you to one side of a struggle over the souls of the planes and may be referenced in other abilities. If you “can be” holy or unholy according to your deity, you make that choice, and if you “must be” holy or unholy you gain the trait automatically. If you gain the opposing trait in some way, you lose the previous trait until you complete an atone ritual.

Anathema

Acts fundamentally opposed to your deity’s ideals are anathema to your faith. Learning or casting spells, committing acts, and using items that are anathema to your deity remove you from your deity’s good graces.

Casting spells with the unholy trait is almost always anathema to deities who don’t allow unholy sanctification, and casting holy spells is likewise anathema to those who don’t allow holy sanctification. Similarly, casting spells that are anathema to the tenets or goals of your faith could interfere with your connection to your deity. For example, casting a spell to create undead would be anathema to Pharasma, the goddess of death. Many actions that are anathema don’t appear in any deity’s formal list. For borderline cases, you and your GM determine which acts are anathema.

If you perform enough acts that are anathema to your deity, you lose the magical abilities that come from your connection to your deity. The class features that you lose are determined by the GM, but they likely include your divine font and all cleric spellcasting. These abilities can be regained only if you repent by conducting an atone ritual.

Cleric Spellcasting

Your deity bestows on you the power to cast divine spells. You are a spellcaster, and you can cast spells of the divine tradition using the Cast a Spell activity. As a cleric, your chants generally invoke your deity and their powerful servants by name or title, while your gestures are followed by sacred symbols or other representations of your deity.

At 1st level, you can prepare two 1st-rank spells and five cantrips each morning from the common spells on the divine spell list or from other divine spells to which you gain access and learn via Learn a Spell. Prepared spells remain available to you until you cast them or until you prepare your spells again. The number of spells you can prepare each day is called your spell slots.

As you increase in level as a cleric, the number of spells you can prepare each day increases, as does the highest rank of spell you can cast, as shown in Cleric Spells per Day table above.

Some of your spells require you to attempt a spell attack to see how effective they are or for your enemies to roll against your spell DC (typically by attempting a saving throw). Since your key attribute is Wisdom, your spell attack modifier and spell DC use your Wisdom modifier.

Heightening Spells

When you get spell slots of 2nd rank and higher, you can fill those slots with stronger versions of lower-rank spells. This increases the spell’s rank, heightening it to match the spell slot. Many spells have specific improvements when they are heightened to certain ranks.

Cantrips

Some of your spells are cantrips. A cantrip is a special type of spell that doesn’t use spell slots. You can cast a cantrip at will, any number of times per day. A cantrip is always automatically heightened to half your level rounded up—this is usually equal to the highest rank of cleric spell slot you have. For example, as a 1st-level cleric, your cantrips are 1st-rank spells, and as a 5th-level cleric, your cantrips are 3rd-rank spells.

Divine Font

Through your deity’s blessing, you gain additional spells that channel either the life force called vitality or its counterforce, the void. When you prepare your spells each day, you can prepare additional heal or harm spells, depending on your deity. The divine font spell your deity provides is listed in the Divine Font entry for your deity; if both are listed, you can choose between heal or harm. Once you choose, you can’t change your choice short of divine intervention.

Healing Font: You gain 4 additional spell slots each day at your highest rank of cleric spell slots. You can prepare only heal spells in these slots. At 5th level, the number of additional slots increases to 5, and at 15th level, the total number of additional slots increases to 6.

Harmful Font: You gain 4 additional spell slots each day at your highest rank of cleric spell slots. You can prepare only harm spells in these slots. At 5th level, the number of additional slots increases to 5, and at 15th level, the total number of additional slots increases to 6.

Cleric Spells Per Day

* Your divine font gives you additional heal or harm spells of this rank. The number is 4 at 1st level, 5 at 5th level, and 6 at 15th level.

† The miraculous spell class feature gives you a 10th-rank spell slot that works a bit differently from other spell slots.

Doctrine

Even among followers of the same deity, approaches vary. At 1st level, you select cloistered cleric or warpriest and gain the benefits of its first doctrine. At 3rd level and every four levels thereafter, you gain another benefit from your doctrine.

Cloistered Cleric

You are a cleric of the cloth, focusing on divine magic and your connection to your deity’s domains.

First Doctrine (1st): You gain the Domain Initiate cleric feat (page 113).

Second Doctrine (3rd): Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to expert.

Third Doctrine (7th): Your proficiency ranks for the spell attack modifier and spell DC statistics increase to expert.

Fourth Doctrine (11th): You gain expert proficiency with your deity’s favored weapon, simple weapons, and unarmed attacks. When you critically succeed at an attack roll using your deity’s favored weapon, you apply the weapon’s critical specialization effect; you can use your spell DC in place of your class DC.

Fifth Doctrine (15th): Your proficiency ranks for the spell attack modifier and spell DC statistics increase to master.

Final Doctrine (19th): Your proficiency ranks for the spell attack modifier and spell DC statistics increase to legendary.

Warpriest

You have trained in the more militant doctrine of your church, focusing on both spells and battle.

First Doctrine (1st): You’re trained in light and medium armor, and you have expert proficiency in Fortitude saves. You gain the Shield Block general feat (page 262), a reaction to reduce damage with a shield. If your deity’s favored weapon is a simple weapon or an unarmed attack, you gain the Deadly Simplicity cleric feat (page 113). At 13th level, if you gain the divine defense class feature, you also gain expert proficiency in light and medium armor.

Second Doctrine (3rd): You’re trained in martial weapons.

Third Doctrine (7th): You gain expert proficiency with your deity’s favored weapon, martial weapons, simple weapons, and unarmed attacks. When you critically succeed at an attack roll using your deity’s favored weapon, you apply the weapon’s critical specialization effect; you can use your spell DC in place of your class DC.

Fourth Doctrine (11th): Your proficiency ranks for the spell attack modifier and spell DC statistics increase to expert.

Fifth Doctrine (15th): Your proficiency rank for Fortitude saves increases to master. When you roll a success at a Fortitude save, you get a critical success instead.

Final Doctrine (19th): You gain master proficiency with your deity’s favored weapon, spell attack modifier, and spell DC.

Key Terms

You’ll see the following term in many cleric class features.

Holy and Unholy: These traits mark something, like your character or a spell, that belongs to one side of the battle between celestials and fiends. Generally, fiends and undead are susceptible to holy abilities and celestials to unholy ones.

Sanctified: If you are holy or unholy, your sanctified actions and spells gain the same trait.

Spellshape: These actions tweak your spells. You must use a spellshape action directly before Casting the Spell you want to alter. If you use any action (including free actions and reactions) other than Cast a Spell directly after, you waste the benefits of the spellshape action. Effects added by a spellshape action are part of the spell’s effect, not of the spellshape action.

Cleric Feats     2nd

At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a cleric class feat.

Cleric Feats by Name

Skill Feats     2nd

At 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill feat. Skill feats can be found in Chapter 4 and have the skill trait. You must be trained or better in the corresponding skill to select a skill feat.

General Feats     3rd

At 3rd level and every 4 levels thereafter, you gain a general feat. General feats are listed in Chapter 5.

Skill Increases     3rd

At 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, you gain a skill increase. You can use this increase to either become trained in one skill you’re untrained in, or become an expert in one skill in which you’re already trained.

You can use any of these skill increases you gain at 7th level or higher to become a master in a skill in which you’re already an expert, and any of these skill increases you gain at 15th level or higher to become legendary in a skill in which you’re already a master.

Ancestry Feats     5th

In addition to the ancestry feat you started with, you gain an ancestry feat at 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter. The list of ancestry feats available to you can be found in your ancestry’s entry in Chapter 2.

Perception Expertise     5th

You remain alert to threats around you. Your proficiency rank for Perception increases to expert.

Cleric Feats

At each level that you gain a cleric feat, you can select one of the following feats. You must satisfy any prerequisites before selecting the feat.

1st Level

• Deadly Simplicity
• Divine Castigation
• Domain Initiate
• Harming Hands
• Healing Hands
• Premonition of Avoidance
• Reach Spell (Cleric)

2nd Level

• Cantrip Expansion (Cleric)
• Communal Healing
• Emblazon Armament
• Panic the Dead
• Rapid Response
• Sap Life
• Versatile Font
• Warpriest's Armor

4th Level

• Channel Smite
• Directed Channel
• Divine Infusion
• Raise Symbol
• Restorative Strike
• Sacred Ground

Sample Clerics

Gozren

Following the Wind and the Waves, you protect the beauty of nature in all its forms.

Attributes

Take Wisdom for your spellcasting and Strength for attacks.

Skills

Athletics, Nature, Religion, Survival

Deity

Gozreh (divine font: heal)

Doctrine

Warpriest

Higher-Level Feats

Emblazon Armament (2nd), Divine Weapon (6th)

Prepared Spells

1st gust of wind, runic weapon, heal spells from divine font; Cantrips detect magic, know the way, light, message, shield

Pharasmin

A follower of the Lady of Graves, you respect the sanctity of both life and death.

Attributes

Prioritize Wisdom. Charisma helps you spread the word of your faith.

Skills

Diplomacy, Medicine, Occultism, Religion

Deity

Pharasma (divine font: heal)

Doctrine

Cloistered cleric (death domain)

Higher-Level Feats

Panic the Dead (2nd), Selective Energy (6th)

Prepared Spells

1st fear, mindlink, heal spells from divine font; Cantrips daze, detect magic, light, stabilize, vitality lance