More (older) updates. Archetypes no longer have to be taken strictly at level 1:
quote:
Archetypes in the Pathfinder Playtest consist of a series of feats you can choose in place of your class feats. Every class gets its feats at roughly every other level, making them a perfect cost for archetypes. So if an archetype appeals to you—say, the pirate archetype—the only thing you need to do to gain access to it is take the appropriate dedication feat. Each dedication feat gives you some basic abilities and adds all the rest of that archetype's feats to your list of available class feats. The only catch is that you cannot take another dedication feat until after you have taken a specified number of archetype feats from the first one. So you can dip into a single archetype without too much trouble, but if you want more than one, you really have to put a fair amount of your character into the concept. For example, let's take a look at the pirate archetype.
Basically each class gives you a class feature every other level. Archetypes instead offer you alternate paths that you can opt in and out of as you like (similar to a feat chain)
As for dedication feats mentioned above, here is their sample pirate one:
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Archetype, Dedication
Prerequisites: Dexterity 12, trained in Acrobatics and Sailing Lore
When you Balance aboard a ship, treat a success as a critical success. You also ignore any difficult terrain, uneven ground, or incline caused by the ship's movement. You are trained with the hatchet, scimitar, and spear. In addition, Acrobatics is a signature skill for you.
Special You cannot select another dedication feat until you have gained two other feats from the pirate archetype.
And here's the Gray Maiden one:
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Archetype, Dedication, Prestige
Prerequisites Strength 16, expert in Fortitude saves, trained in heavy armor and all martial weapons, member of the Gray Maidens
Your Gray Maiden training has steeled you against harsh physical conditions. You become a master at Fortitude saves. When you succeed at a Fortitude save, treat it as a critical success. You also gain access to special armor: Gray Maiden plate. Gray Maiden plate is a level 3 item that costs 600 sp, grants +7 AC and +3 TAC, and has a Dexterity modifier cap of +0; otherwise, it uses the same stats as full plate.
Special You cannot select another dedication feat until you have gained two other feats from the Gray Maiden archetype.
And here is a sample feat from the Gray Maiden chain:
quote:
Archetype
Prerequisites Gray Maiden Dedication
You can endure a staggering amount of punishment. Increase your maximum HP by your level, increasing as you gain additional levels. You die at dying 5, or dying 6 if you also have Diehard.
So the nice thing is that you can kind of choose what you're giving up to select your archetype. So many archetypes in 1E were crippled because what they gave up was too critical to most people's decisions in picking that class in the first place. Meanwhile many classes had kind of junky stuff that people gladly traded out. Now you have the flexibility of kind of picking what to swap in and out so that even within an archetype different level builds are deeper or shallower in an archetype.
Also notice the anti-dipping mechanism... you have to take 2 feats plus the dedication to get a new archetype which means that it's about 6 levels if you focus on an archetype before you can dip again.
ALSO one final thing: Archetypes are not tied to classes! I think as long as you meet the pre-reqs you can apply for an archetype. Archetypes are kinda sorta more like prestige classes in that sense...
