PATHFINDER: WRATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS

A fantasy RPG split between two worlds

- Andy Kelly

Back in 2018, Owlcat Games released Pathfinder: Kingmaker, a CRPG based on the popular tabletop game. It had some neat ideas, like building and managing your own kingdom, but paled in comparison to the likes of Divinity and Pillars of Eternity.

Fast forward to today and the developer is hoping to make up for the first game’s shortcomings—and has managed to raise over $2 million through crowdfunding to help them do it. Wrath of the Righteous expands on Kingmaker in every way, including the addition of Mythic Paths. These let you become, among other fantastic creatures, a Lich, Angel, Gold Dragon, or Demon, which will dramatically affect your character, how the story plays out, and how the world reacts to them.

But that all comes much later. First, you have to decide who you want to be. This is one of the deepest character creation systems I’ve seen in an RPG, with an overwhelming number of ways to shape your protagonist. If you’re the kind of person who spends an hour creating your hero in games like Baldur’s Gate, pour yourself a hot drink for this one. To kick things off, I choose the Cavalier class, who specializes in mounted combat—a new feature in Wrath of the Righteous.

BEAST MODE

I also choose the Beast Master subclass: a type of Cavalier who “spends his life in constant pursuit of the most perfect mount, forming bonds with greater, more powerful, and more exotic creatures”. Beast Masters get class bonuses to Persuasion, Athletics, and Mobility, but they can’t cast any spells. Because who needs spells when you’re a master of beasts, right? Other classes available in the game include Barbarians, Hunters, and Bloodragers—a type of fearsome front-line fighter with a very metal name.