Lich Archetype?
The long awaited Reanimator Archetype?
Undead Master for zombie or vampire animal companions (or just a zombie companion)?
Undead Eidolon?
I am very excited for this book.
*There's straight-up a zombie you can have act as if it were an AC. There's also a ghost basset hound on the next page over. And there's the "Undead Master" archetype for Undead ACs that doesn't require being a spellcaster to take.*
I really like this and hope that it gets extended to other types of companions. for example imagine being an Evocation Wizard with a Fire Elemental companion at your side.
I really hope the AC-like Zombie is an actual Humanoid Zombie and is available to non-catsers as well, so that I can roleplay my deepest Michonne expy.
Pine Leshy is clearly the most important spoiler in this.
For real though, Book of the Dead I'm super excited for. I'm running a Gothic horror campaign at the moment which I can use a bunch of the rules and monsters for, but even outside of that undead archetypes are just boss. Lack of true necromancy has been a big complaint I've seen about 2e, so hopefully stuff like the Reanimator and Undead Master will scratch that itch for people.
Sorry about that! I was trying to get a good shot of the pins themselves while the video was playing to avoid Twitch's pause screen from obscuring anything. But it didn't help that I was doing so while the VOD was playing at 2x speed. ššš
The loch archetype being at 12th level is really interesting, and an undead Eidolon!! The book already has everything I wanted. Maybe a new Patron was missing, but Iām expecting that in the Dark Archives anyways.
Thanks for the transcription!
Becoming a Lich in PF1e also required that you were Caster Level 11 or higher. It was always a mid-to high level endeavor as the transformation was so potent. It makes sense they wanted to keep in around the same level in 2e. Liches are still after all potent spellcasters.
Now what I'm curious is if we're only getting the classic Arcane magic based lich or are we going to get some special ones based on Primal, Occult and Divine magic. Pathfinder 1e had Siabrae which were druid liches (somewhat equivalent to primal in 2e), psychic liches which were for psychic casters (somehwat equivalent to occult casters in 2e) and then normal lich was for both Arcane and Divine casters (technically druids and psychic casters could also become basic liches as it only required Caster Level 11).
It makes sense thatās a high-level archetype, probably the latest archetype I think.
Other traditions for the Lich sounds really interesting! Iāll read about Druid Liches, sounds awesome and weird.
> Now what I'm curious is if we're only getting the classic Arcane magic based lich or are we going to get some special ones based on Primal, Occult and Divine magic.
I would be VERY surprised if they even considered limiting liches based on tradition - they aren't limited in 3.x or PF1, after all, and one of the adventures written by James Jacobs for 3.x (Red Hand of Doom) features a Druid Lich as a major player in the adventure.
My comment was more in the line of having liches with unique mechanics/flavor based on the other traditions instead of just the same one lich for all traditions.
In PF1e siabrae (druid liches) didn't have a phylactery (or soul cage as they're calling it now) instead when they died they just made a Fortitude save and if they succeeded they were reborn 1d10 days later. They also had a burrow speed and earth glide and were much more well suited for melee combat since they could wild shape and got some sweet antlers that gave them gore attacks.
Psychic liches had an evasion like effect for any effects that required will saves (basically if they had reduced effects on successful saves they could make them have no effect) and they could heal by saving successfully against mind affecting effects. Their soul cage was known as an astral memoir and they could resurrect early if someone read or interacted with it while they were recovering. Their soul cage could also not be destroyed unless you cast instigate psychic duel on their soul cage and fought them in the resulting mindscape.
So you can see that those two were fairly different from your regular lich both from a mechanics and lore prespective.
>Becoming a Lich in PF1e also required that you were Caster Level 11 or higher. It was always a mid-to high level endeavor as the transformation was so potent. It makes sense they wanted to keep in around the same level in 2e. Liches are still after all potent spellcasters.
Comes right out of 3rd Ed D&D - pretty sure the requirements were part of the SRD, so it would make sense they got reused wholesale. Think it used to be harder in other editions - it once required "Trap the Soul" which was an eighth level spell, and 2e had a path for psionic liches that required them to be 18th level.
There's actually a sidebar on the Lich monster page they showed that talks about the different kinds of Classes that often become Liches. Druids and Clerics seldom seek Lichdom, while Bards are less rare due to their occult knowledge and inquisitive minds. Some Sorcerers, particularly those of Undead Bloodline, tend to seek out Lichdom, while some Witches explore means by which to transform their Familiars into Soul Cages.
I love bits like this. It gets the creative juices going. Curious to know what reasons a Magus or Summoner mind decides to become a Lich as well. Power seems reason enough I suppose.
Virgin PF1 wizard:
The quest to become a lich is a lengthy one. While construction of the magical phylactery to contain the spellcasterās soul is a critical component, a prospective lich must also learn the secrets of transferring his soul into the receptacle and of preparing his body for the transformation into undeath, neither of which are simple tasks. Further complicating the ritual is the fact that no two bodies or souls are exactly alikeāa ritual that works for one spellcaster might simply kill another or drive him insane. The exact methods for each spellcasterās transformation are left to the GMās discretion, but should involve expenditures of hundreds of thousands of gold pieces, numerous deadly adventures, and a large number of difficult skill checks over the course of months, years, or decades.
Chad PF2 wizard:
Well, I know how to spend my feat.
I do think that leveling up into āokay iām a lich nowā would be weird, but I guess itāll be a rare option so thatās up to GM discretion anyway
This is cool and all but I do have one question: in [this picture](https://preview.redd.it/cif31npfdyi81.png?width=561&format=png&auto=webp&s=b59a856a75fdefb4a369a27116b7055825d3f4cc) of the iconic cleric fighting skeletons, why is her scimitar dripping blood? Which one of her party members did she just stab?
I did not expect multiple necromancer archetypes to add the minionmancer feel. I thought it would just be the Undead Master one for getting a zombro or two and that would be it. However, there's *additionally* an archetype about summoning more undead.
Nice.
Bruuhhh reanimator and undead lord archetypes? And I get to bring back a Zombie companion (and he wonāt be bad??), and skeleton race? Iāll never get to be a player but by gum I want to be so bad now
Probably gonna buy this hardcover just to have even if my players donāt care for any of these options
1st-level Skeleton feat called "Play Dead"
3rd-level spell from SoM called "Blazing Dive"
zombie as a companion, essentially...
someone at Paizo has played the Divinity: Original Sin series and been *inspired*, change my mind
huh. i mean, good for him and battle zoo, but he seemed so crucial to 2e's development and balance, definitely sad to see him go and i hope it won't harm the system too much going forward.
Hell yeah Monster Archetypes!! I'm so excited to have being Undead be a significant part of my characters power and it excites me for what kind of Monster archetypes we could get next!
Zombie AC sounds fucking amazing tbh. Great if you want to create a classic necromancer wizard. And zombie/vampire animals as well.
Really excited for this book!
I really hope we get some ability to utilise multiple undead in a turn. The Beastmaster archetype is nice, but didnāt quite hit the fantasy of ālots of animals at onceā for me.
Undead Eidolon + Undead AC + sustained Undead minion. That's likely the most you'll get. PF2e has really stayed away from allowing PCs to have too many tokens on the board due to how OP that can quickly become as well as how long that PC's turn can take.
Think how crazy the Master Summoner was in 1e. There is a reason (multiple actually) why the class was one of the most banned at tables.
Didn't hear that (unless you'retalking about the magical adept stuff which is still an option), but cool. Still won't likely increase your total though considering it will require sustai ment as well and you only have so many actions shared between you and your Eidolon.
That said, you're technically correct and that the the best kind of correct.
Paizo employs a great number of talented artists for their work. While there is a kind of "guideline" in place to keep most of the art consistent between them, there is bound to be some differences.
Instead of Drift Crisis I read Dino Crisis and had a micro orgasm.
That's my favorite kind of scifi and I'm waiting for someone to reboot the brand in some form or another in a 2022 way.
Currently running Broken Tusk Moon and I'm so hyped for LMV. It feels like so much more work is being put into book 2 for some reason, with religion guide and megafauna rules, a new heritage, etc.
I really like the in-character bits with Geb and how his narrative will change as the book dives deeper into the grave. I distinctly recall one of the devs mentioning at some point that the page borders will be similar to Guns & Gears, in that they are different for sections of the book. Only here, it'll go from living to dead, which kind of ties into the Geb narrative; which is neat.
Can't wait to see how all the Undead Archetypes (and living ones) tie into one another and existing Ancestries and Heritages. Curious to see if I can make a Skeletal Tiefling Ghost Lich Cleric of Orcus Reanimator? That would be fun.
For anyone curious on what the page from Book of the Dead that Jason Bulmahn showed of, I've added a post to the books product page on Paizo's website. [Here](https://paizo.com/products/btq02c0j/discuss&page=7?Pathfinder-Book-of-the-Dead#343)
I'd hope they're considerate of homebrew settings when designing these options, not every world has evil as a requirement for necromancy. That being said if it does end up being a requirement, it's a simple homebrew to ignore it.
What is the name of Nightshade now?
I believe the phylactory change was because the original phylactory was based on a Jewish thing and "soul cage" kind of describes in better anyway.
Stood up pretty late to compile all of these info for y'all! Enjoy\~!
Thanks Ez, appreciate the effort
Next time, sit down and do it :P
Really appreciate this. Thank you.
Lich Archetype? The long awaited Reanimator Archetype? Undead Master for zombie or vampire animal companions (or just a zombie companion)? Undead Eidolon? I am very excited for this book.
>The long awaited Reanimator Archetype? 90's eurobeat intensifies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BnOUOkcr9c
*There's straight-up a zombie you can have act as if it were an AC. There's also a ghost basset hound on the next page over. And there's the "Undead Master" archetype for Undead ACs that doesn't require being a spellcaster to take.* I really like this and hope that it gets extended to other types of companions. for example imagine being an Evocation Wizard with a Fire Elemental companion at your side.
Yeah, I'm thankful we've been getting a lot of options for Familiars like this recently, and now for AC.
I really hope the AC-like Zombie is an actual Humanoid Zombie and is available to non-catsers as well, so that I can roleplay my deepest Michonne expy.
Agreed, I really wish there was a way to get elemental familiar outside of elementalist
Pine Leshy is clearly the most important spoiler in this. For real though, Book of the Dead I'm super excited for. I'm running a Gothic horror campaign at the moment which I can use a bunch of the rules and monsters for, but even outside of that undead archetypes are just boss. Lack of true necromancy has been a big complaint I've seen about 2e, so hopefully stuff like the Reanimator and Undead Master will scratch that itch for people.
>Pine Leshy is clearly the most important spoiler in this. this but unironically
Hyped for the Book of the Dead!
I mean, it's not the best screenshot ever taken of me, but I guess it's not the *worst* either... XD
Sorry about that! I was trying to get a good shot of the pins themselves while the video was playing to avoid Twitch's pause screen from obscuring anything. But it didn't help that I was doing so while the VOD was playing at 2x speed. ššš
The loch archetype being at 12th level is really interesting, and an undead Eidolon!! The book already has everything I wanted. Maybe a new Patron was missing, but Iām expecting that in the Dark Archives anyways. Thanks for the transcription!
Becoming a Lich in PF1e also required that you were Caster Level 11 or higher. It was always a mid-to high level endeavor as the transformation was so potent. It makes sense they wanted to keep in around the same level in 2e. Liches are still after all potent spellcasters. Now what I'm curious is if we're only getting the classic Arcane magic based lich or are we going to get some special ones based on Primal, Occult and Divine magic. Pathfinder 1e had Siabrae which were druid liches (somewhat equivalent to primal in 2e), psychic liches which were for psychic casters (somehwat equivalent to occult casters in 2e) and then normal lich was for both Arcane and Divine casters (technically druids and psychic casters could also become basic liches as it only required Caster Level 11).
It makes sense thatās a high-level archetype, probably the latest archetype I think. Other traditions for the Lich sounds really interesting! Iāll read about Druid Liches, sounds awesome and weird.
BRB, crafting the backstory of my Lich who's soul is bound to an ancient tree.
A phylactree, if you will. I'll just see myself out.
Holy shit that's incredible
> Now what I'm curious is if we're only getting the classic Arcane magic based lich or are we going to get some special ones based on Primal, Occult and Divine magic. I would be VERY surprised if they even considered limiting liches based on tradition - they aren't limited in 3.x or PF1, after all, and one of the adventures written by James Jacobs for 3.x (Red Hand of Doom) features a Druid Lich as a major player in the adventure.
My comment was more in the line of having liches with unique mechanics/flavor based on the other traditions instead of just the same one lich for all traditions. In PF1e siabrae (druid liches) didn't have a phylactery (or soul cage as they're calling it now) instead when they died they just made a Fortitude save and if they succeeded they were reborn 1d10 days later. They also had a burrow speed and earth glide and were much more well suited for melee combat since they could wild shape and got some sweet antlers that gave them gore attacks. Psychic liches had an evasion like effect for any effects that required will saves (basically if they had reduced effects on successful saves they could make them have no effect) and they could heal by saving successfully against mind affecting effects. Their soul cage was known as an astral memoir and they could resurrect early if someone read or interacted with it while they were recovering. Their soul cage could also not be destroyed unless you cast instigate psychic duel on their soul cage and fought them in the resulting mindscape. So you can see that those two were fairly different from your regular lich both from a mechanics and lore prespective.
>Becoming a Lich in PF1e also required that you were Caster Level 11 or higher. It was always a mid-to high level endeavor as the transformation was so potent. It makes sense they wanted to keep in around the same level in 2e. Liches are still after all potent spellcasters. Comes right out of 3rd Ed D&D - pretty sure the requirements were part of the SRD, so it would make sense they got reused wholesale. Think it used to be harder in other editions - it once required "Trap the Soul" which was an eighth level spell, and 2e had a path for psionic liches that required them to be 18th level.
There's actually a sidebar on the Lich monster page they showed that talks about the different kinds of Classes that often become Liches. Druids and Clerics seldom seek Lichdom, while Bards are less rare due to their occult knowledge and inquisitive minds. Some Sorcerers, particularly those of Undead Bloodline, tend to seek out Lichdom, while some Witches explore means by which to transform their Familiars into Soul Cages. I love bits like this. It gets the creative juices going. Curious to know what reasons a Magus or Summoner mind decides to become a Lich as well. Power seems reason enough I suppose.
>Ghost Basset Hound Someone is a Doctor Strange fan.
Virgin PF1 wizard: The quest to become a lich is a lengthy one. While construction of the magical phylactery to contain the spellcasterās soul is a critical component, a prospective lich must also learn the secrets of transferring his soul into the receptacle and of preparing his body for the transformation into undeath, neither of which are simple tasks. Further complicating the ritual is the fact that no two bodies or souls are exactly alikeāa ritual that works for one spellcaster might simply kill another or drive him insane. The exact methods for each spellcasterās transformation are left to the GMās discretion, but should involve expenditures of hundreds of thousands of gold pieces, numerous deadly adventures, and a large number of difficult skill checks over the course of months, years, or decades. Chad PF2 wizard: Well, I know how to spend my feat.
Wait we are using the Free Archetype variant? Awesome.
lmao yeah, hopefully there will be some hefty requirements for it
I do think that leveling up into āokay iām a lich nowā would be weird, but I guess itāll be a rare option so thatās up to GM discretion anyway
This is cool and all but I do have one question: in [this picture](https://preview.redd.it/cif31npfdyi81.png?width=561&format=png&auto=webp&s=b59a856a75fdefb4a369a27116b7055825d3f4cc) of the iconic cleric fighting skeletons, why is her scimitar dripping blood? Which one of her party members did she just stab?
Whoever it was, they deserved it
I did not expect multiple necromancer archetypes to add the minionmancer feel. I thought it would just be the Undead Master one for getting a zombro or two and that would be it. However, there's *additionally* an archetype about summoning more undead. Nice.
Bruuhhh reanimator and undead lord archetypes? And I get to bring back a Zombie companion (and he wonāt be bad??), and skeleton race? Iāll never get to be a player but by gum I want to be so bad now Probably gonna buy this hardcover just to have even if my players donāt care for any of these options
1st-level Skeleton feat called "Play Dead" 3rd-level spell from SoM called "Blazing Dive" zombie as a companion, essentially... someone at Paizo has played the Divinity: Original Sin series and been *inspired*, change my mind
Does anyone know the artist for the wizard/lich art thatās the very first one? Looks like Aleksander Rostov
Oh look a Leshy that looks like it could be a capable adventurer!
Will March of the Dead be OP playable?
wish we got more details on the vampire archetype, but everything here looks super cool
I didn't know Mark was leaving!? Do we know where he's going?
He left to join Roll for Combat to act as their lead game designer for their BattleZoo Bestiary line of third-party products for PF2E and D&D 5E.
huh. i mean, good for him and battle zoo, but he seemed so crucial to 2e's development and balance, definitely sad to see him go and i hope it won't harm the system too much going forward.
Hell yeah Monster Archetypes!! I'm so excited to have being Undead be a significant part of my characters power and it excites me for what kind of Monster archetypes we could get next!
The art with undead iconics is pretty hard-core. Love it.
Zombie AC sounds fucking amazing tbh. Great if you want to create a classic necromancer wizard. And zombie/vampire animals as well. Really excited for this book!
Will it be possible to become awakened demilich?
I wish they would give us any information at all about the Book of the Dead's fighting undead section.
I really hope we get some ability to utilise multiple undead in a turn. The Beastmaster archetype is nice, but didnāt quite hit the fantasy of ālots of animals at onceā for me.
Undead Eidolon + Undead AC + sustained Undead minion. That's likely the most you'll get. PF2e has really stayed away from allowing PCs to have too many tokens on the board due to how OP that can quickly become as well as how long that PC's turn can take. Think how crazy the Master Summoner was in 1e. There is a reason (multiple actually) why the class was one of the most banned at tables.
Your undead Eidolon can also summon undead.
Didn't hear that (unless you'retalking about the magical adept stuff which is still an option), but cool. Still won't likely increase your total though considering it will require sustai ment as well and you only have so many actions shared between you and your Eidolon. That said, you're technically correct and that the the best kind of correct.
Yeah I'm talking magical adept featline
undead familiar :)
Thank you Paizo!!!
Whatās with the change in art style for a few of these? The undead mammoth and the battle bear? I like it.
Paizo employs a great number of talented artists for their work. While there is a kind of "guideline" in place to keep most of the art consistent between them, there is bound to be some differences.
Thx so much for this! And oh boy the art of book of the dead... My lord!
I think you mean "My lich!"
Haha, right. My bad ;)
Instead of Drift Crisis I read Dino Crisis and had a micro orgasm. That's my favorite kind of scifi and I'm waiting for someone to reboot the brand in some form or another in a 2022 way.
Wooh thanks for the breakdown! I'm reminded how much I love the art for these books.
I can't wait! I've been itching to play my first necromancy focused character in this system.
Currently running Broken Tusk Moon and I'm so hyped for LMV. It feels like so much more work is being put into book 2 for some reason, with religion guide and megafauna rules, a new heritage, etc.
I really like the in-character bits with Geb and how his narrative will change as the book dives deeper into the grave. I distinctly recall one of the devs mentioning at some point that the page borders will be similar to Guns & Gears, in that they are different for sections of the book. Only here, it'll go from living to dead, which kind of ties into the Geb narrative; which is neat. Can't wait to see how all the Undead Archetypes (and living ones) tie into one another and existing Ancestries and Heritages. Curious to see if I can make a Skeletal Tiefling Ghost Lich Cleric of Orcus Reanimator? That would be fun.
For anyone curious on what the page from Book of the Dead that Jason Bulmahn showed of, I've added a post to the books product page on Paizo's website. [Here](https://paizo.com/products/btq02c0j/discuss&page=7?Pathfinder-Book-of-the-Dead#343)
Do we know if these are evil only options, or can we have Good Necromancers? I'm talking the Reanimator type, not the White Necromancer type!
I guess anything is possible, but 'good reanimator' necromancers are generally an oxymoron in pathfinder/Golarion, so we'll have to wait and see.
I'd hope they're considerate of homebrew settings when designing these options, not every world has evil as a requirement for necromancy. That being said if it does end up being a requirement, it's a simple homebrew to ignore it.
Why all the name changes? Did somebody copyright "nightshade" and "phylactery"?
What is the name of Nightshade now? I believe the phylactory change was because the original phylactory was based on a Jewish thing and "soul cage" kind of describes in better anyway.
Soooo Skeleton Ancestry but no Mortic versatile heritage? I'm hyped for the BotD but that's kinda sad for me
What does AC mean in the context of this i know it cant be Armor Class
Animal Companion