How To Build An Operative
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Spheres of Guile
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Looking for help building your first Operative? You're in the right place. This page will walk you through the process of creating an Operative, with an emphasis on when and where you should select each part of your character. Note that this page assumes you know how to build a character in the normal system. If this is the first character you've ever made, ask your GM to guide you through the process.

Step One: Read the Using Spheres of Guile and Skill Rules page

The Using Spheres of Guile page covers the basic rules for using the system, including the guidelines and expectations for the system. In addition, the Skill Rules page includes explanations of how to use skills throughout the game, which is especially relevant for Operatives.

Finally, game masters should read the Running Guile Games page, which covers the general principles for creating characters in this system.

Step Two: Pick a Class and Theme

Before you start making a character, it's important to have an idea of what kind of class you want to make.

Operatives excel in the social and exploration aspects of games, but are not as good in combat as Spherecasters or Practitioners. They can certainly contribute in their own ways, but Operatives are fundamentally better at using their wits and planning ways to overcome situations instead of walking up and slicing something in half. You may wish to review the Character Roles page, which covers some of the concepts for character creation.

It's always best to have some kind of theme or concept in mind before you start building your character. You can talk to your GM about what kinds of characters might be appropriate for the game, or look to other sources of media for inspiration. For example, if you want to create a character like super spy James Bond, you're probably going to want to play an Agent. Remember, no character can excel in everything, so having a theme gives you a place to focus your early choices.

Class Description
Agent Agents are saboteurs and spies, specializing in active work as they insert themselves into different situations. They are well-balanced overall, with decent skill in combat and equal access to regular and utility talents.
Courser Coursers are scouts and survivalists, most at home off the path instead of on it. They are good at harrying and disabling their foes, and making it easier for allies to traverse the land.
Envoy Envoys are diplomats, although how they choose to interact with others defines their abilities. They are highly capable in different skills, but always at their best when they're dealing with someone who can understand them, and prefer words as their weapons of choice.
Mastermind Masterminds are plotters, using wealth and their ingenious plans to have the right solution for any problem. Player creativity plays a role in how well this class works out, but the better you get at applying your abilities, the stronger a Mastermind will become.
Professional Professionals are the most capable at using skills. Like the Incanter and the Conscript, Professionals are a build-it-yourself design, offering the most flexibility in learning to do anything. This is the best class to play if you want full control over your character's abilities and theme.

Step Three: Decide Which Spheres to Use

Spheres of Guile features fifteen Spheres that focus on different ways to apply your skills and abilities. Most characters will find it hard to specialize in too many spheres, though you can usually use retraining if you're too unhappy with your build.

Spheres Introductions
Sphere Description
Artifice The Artifice sphere focuses on creating simple items capable of a range of effects. This sphere rewards planning ahead, allowing you to do things like create alchemical items, deploy durable sources of cover, or falsify the appearance of tools to sneak them into guarded areas.
Bluster The Bluster sphere focuses on fooling and manipulating other creatures. This sphere lets you do things like intimidate foes, trick other creatures into believing in things that didn't happen, or separate a creature from the effects of their allies.
Body Control The Body Control sphere makes you a master of your physical form. With this sphere, you can ignore some forms of fatigue and ability damage, augment your demeanor to make bluffing easier, or provide additional defenses against harmful environments.
Communication The Communication sphere lets you specialize in conversing with other creatures. With it, you can do things like form a rapport to pass messages more effectively, distract a target so they don't notice other things, or improve allies' efforts to aid each other.
Faction The Faction sphere focuses on your connections with an organization, which could be something like an adventurer's guild, knightly order, religious group, or thieves' guild. This sphere lets you obtain benefits from your organization, from hirelings who can perform jobs to obtaining objects that may be difficult to acquire otherwise.
Herbalism The Herbalism sphere specializes in creating a range of protective, healing, and buffing tonics that can offer an edge when you need it most.
Infiltration The Infiltration sphere focuses on damaging devices and letting you avoid notice as you move about an area. A talented user can manipulate magical and mundane traps, damage an opponent's gear to trip them up, and create diversions to distract targets.
Investigation The Investigation sphere makes it much easier to obtain information. With this sphere, you can do things like evaluate the difficulty of certain challenges before attempting them, assess the health and abilities of targets, or evaluate foes to make it easier to land critical hits against them.
Navigation The Navigation sphere makes it easy to traverse different environments, including wilderness and urban areas. This sphere can do things like make it easier for allies to avoid traps on a set path or acclimate to different environments to travel them easier.
Performance The Performance sphere allows its users to act, dance, play instruments, or sing for a range of effects. Options include things like turning failed social checks into jokes to avoid penalties and reassuring allies to let them retry certain things.
Spellhacking The Spellhacking sphere allows you to gain control of external magics. This can include interfering with opposing casters and manipulating magical items for additional effects.
Study The Study sphere emphasizes knowledge. With it, you can do things like create plans more effectively or create theories about targets to gain advantages over them
Subterfuge The Subterfuge sphere focuses on misleading targets. Emphasizing Disguise and Sleight of Hand, this sphere lets you do things like fool groups into believing you're a member or retry attempts to palm an item from another creature.
Survivalism The Survivalism sphere makes it easier to find sustenance in the wilderness, including from the corpses of creatures. It also gives you access to the Dredge ability, which you can use to reshape terrain for a variety of effects, such as making difficult terrain.
Vocation The Vocation sphere is a special sphere. Taking talents here allows you to acquire additional class skills as well as gain additional effects for using certain job-oriented skills. Many Operatives will get several talents from the Vocation sphere as part of their Trade Traditions.

Step Four: Select Your Trade Tradition and Drawbacks (Optional)

Although Trade Traditions are technically optional for many Operatives, most players will probably want to take this to help set their class skills and unique abilities.

In addition to the basic trade tradition, Operatives also have the choice to select Drawbacks for their Skill Spheres. Drawbacks impose a penalty (usually the loss of a sphere ability) in return for some additional benefit, offering further customization for the use of each sphere. Drawbacks are not necessarily permanent and the negative parts can typically be removed by spending a talent later.

Step Five: Fill Out Your Character Sheet

Now that you've selected your options, it's time to actually fill out your sheet and build your character as you normally would. Do it in this order:

  • Race
  • Ability Scores
  • Feats
  • Talents
  • Skill Points
  • Values (Saving Throws, Attack Modifiers, etc.)

Many Skill spheres can affect your class skills and the number of points you have to put into skills, so make sure you select your talents before picking your skills to ensure you're not overlooking anything.

Don't Forget Your Equipment

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game has a range of equipment and items suitable for Operative characters, including mundane tools that can boost your skill rolls. Operatives who rely on skill checks will do well to look into getting items like this. Some spheres also benefit if you have relevant tools or equipment on-hand. For example, the Herbalism sphere has some options that rely on having a healer's kit.

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