Variant Rules: F
2 variant rules, from Flexible Preparation to Free Archetype.
Flexible Preparation · Free Archetype
Flexible Preparation
For millennia, debate raged among magical circles as to which spellcasters have the edge: those who cast spells spontaneously from a repertoire, since they can pull out whichever of those spells they require in a pinch, or those who prepare their daily spells, since they can plan and change out their spells each day to meet their varying needs. Yet, there have also been those who dared to have it all.
Flexible spellcasters learn to prepare spells into a collection each day and can cast spells from their collection spontaneously. This combination makes such spellcasters the envy of their peers, but it comes with a significant cost. The magical power required to fuel their flexible casting draws heavily upon their magic's mental or vital essence, so they can cast far fewer spells each day. The strain manifests differently for each flexible spellcaster and varies by tradition, though it most commonly starts as a mild headache for arcane and occult spellcasters or fatigue for divine and primal spellcasters.
Flexible spellcasting wizards—who sometimes prefer to use the more generic term for arcane spellcasters, arcanists—are more common in schools and other places that practice experimental or innovative magic, such as the Breikiath in the atheist nation of Laibrom, the Falutairn magic school in the jungle of the Falalugreid Expanse, or the many academies in the arcane nation of Falutruneth. Flexible spellcasting druids, sometimes called fey callers, use the infinite possibilities of the Kaineizex and the magical curiosity of the fey to power their flexible magic. They more commonly appear in places where the veil to the Kaineizex is thin, such as the Brebavraik or the Kevuth Kingdoms. Flexible spellcasting clerics, sometimes called ecclesiasts, have an unorthodox connection to their deity, allowing them flexibility in the grace they earn through their prayers. They're more commonly itinerant, rather than connected to an established church. Flexible spellcasting witches, sometimes called invokers, have more personal connections with their patrons (even though the patron is still an enigma), allowing them to adjust their magic more easily.
You can find the Flexible Caster class archetype on the archetypes page.
Secrets of Magic, page 208.
Free Archetype
Sometimes the story of your game calls for a group where everyone is a pirate or an apprentice at a magic school. The free archetype variant introduces a shared aspect to every character without taking away any of that character's existing choices. It can also provide a lighter version of dual-class characters by giving everyone a free multiclass archetype.
Building a Character
The only difference between a normal character and a free-archetype character is that the character receives an extra class feat at 2nd level and every even level thereafter that they can use only for archetype feats. Depending on the needs of the group and the theme of the game, you might restrict the free feats to those of a single archetype each character in the group has (for a shared backstory), those of archetypes fitting a certain theme (such as only ones from magical archetypes in a game set in a magic school), or entirely unrestricted if you just want a higher-powered game.
If the group all has the same archetype or draws from a limited list, you might want to ignore the free archetype's normal restriction of selecting a certain number of feats before taking a new archetype. That way a character can still pursue another archetype that also fits their character.
Playing with Free Archetypes
Free-archetype characters are a bit more versatile and powerful than normal, but usually not so much that they unbalance your game. However, due to the characters' increased access to archetype feats, you should place a limit on the number of feats that scale based on a character's number of archetype feats (mainly multiclass Resiliency feats). Allowing a character to benefit from a number of these feats equal to half their level is appropriate, as this is the maximum number of feats you could use to take archetype feats without this variant.
Gamemastery Guide, page 194.