Introduction
Subsystems are for scenes too large for one check and too shaped for normal encounter mode. They give the table a scoreboard for pressure over time.
Use this with GM guide, rules, combat, skills, equipment, classes, ancestry guides, and archetypes.
Subsystem Decision Tree
| If the scene is... | Use this |
|---|---|
| One uncertain action with one consequence | Normal check. |
| Several different approaches toward one goal | Victory Points. |
| Swaying one or more NPCs under time pressure | Influence. |
| Learning information from books, witnesses, archives, sites, or signs | Research. |
| Getting into a restricted place without open conflict | Infiltration. |
| Escaping, pursuing, racing, or crossing moving obstacles | Chase. |
| Public standing changing across sessions | Reputation. |
| A formal duel, debate, ritual, trial, war turn, or festival | A tailored victory-point structure. |
| Travel and mapping are the main game loop | Hexploration or travel procedure. |
| Vehicles, siege, or battlefield movement are central | Vehicle or war-style procedure. |
The question is not "can I make this a subsystem?" You can make anything a subsystem if you are determined enough and have lost a bet. The question is whether the structure makes player choices clearer.
Player Core Foundation
Player Core skills, spells, actions, and equipment feed subsystems. The party's Medicine, Athletics, Diplomacy, Deception, Intimidation, Performance, Society, Lore, Arcana, Nature, Occultism, Religion, Survival, Thievery, and Crafting choices become tools inside progress tracks.
| Player-facing tool | Subsystem job |
|---|---|
| Athletics and Acrobatics | Chases, climbing routes, obstacle courses, duels, battlefield movement, and disaster scenes. |
| Diplomacy, Deception, Intimidation, and Performance | Influence, reputation, trials, festivals, court scenes, and faction talks. |
| Society and Lore | Research, etiquette, law, organizations, rumors, and institutional pressure. |
| Arcana, Nature, Occultism, and Religion | Creature clues, rituals, curses, planar events, cults, and magical sites. |
| Stealth and Thievery | Infiltration, heists, sabotage, secret meetings, locked archives, and escapes. |
| Medicine, Crafting, and Survival | Plagues, repairs, expeditions, field camps, wilderness hazards, and supply pressure. |
| Spells and equipment | Change available approaches, create shortcuts, reduce risk, or introduce new costs. |
The best subsystem lets different characters contribute in different ways. If every entry point is Diplomacy, you built a queue, not a scene.
Player Core 2 Updates
Player Core 2 characters can change which subsystems sing. Investigators make research and clue scenes stronger. Swashbucklers thrive in chases and duels. Champions and Oracles bring divine stakes. Alchemists and Ratfolk can shine in crafting, infiltration, and preparation. New ancestries can provide languages, movement, senses, and social hooks.
| Character type | Subsystem that rewards them |
|---|---|
| Alchemist | Research, crafting crises, poison investigations, infiltration prep, and timed repairs. |
| Champion | Reputation, trials, public oaths, moral influence scenes, and rescue clocks. |
| Investigator | Research, mystery tracks, courtroom scenes, witness maps, and clue ladders. |
| Monk | Chases, obstacle routes, duels, infiltration movement, and terrain-heavy sequences. |
| Oracle | Prophecy research, ritual pressure, public faith scenes, and curse-driven clocks. |
| Rogue | Infiltration, heists, reputation, blackmail, and locked-site progress. |
| Swashbuckler | Chases, duels, public debate, performance pressure, and stylish rescues. |
| Witch | Patron bargains, occult research, familiar scouting, hexed communities, and secret societies. |
Player Core 2 does not force every campaign to become an intrigue campaign, but it does give you more reasons to let noncombat scenes have structure.
GM Core Procedure
GM Core includes victory points, influence, research, chases, infiltration, reputation, duels, leadership, hexploration, and vehicles. Use the lightest subsystem that supports the scene. Explain what progress means, what failure costs, and how players can discover better approaches.
Core Subsystem Menu
| Subsystem | Best use | Prep burden | Common failure state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victory Points | Flexible multi-step progress. | Low to medium. | Time loss, complication, reduced reward, new obstacle. |
| Influence | Swaying NPCs with motives and weaknesses. | Medium. | Worsened attitude, lost opportunity, public cost. |
| Research | Learning information under limits. | Medium. | Incomplete clue, false lead, time cost, danger notice. |
| Chase | Dynamic pursuit or escape. | Medium. | Lost distance, worse obstacle, resource cost, capture risk. |
| Infiltration | Restricted access without immediate combat. | Medium to high. | Awareness, suspicion, locked route, partial exposure. |
| Reputation | Long-term public or faction standing. | Low ongoing, medium setup. | Access denied, higher prices, rumors, hostile treatment. |
| Duel | Formal contest with constraints. | Medium. | Injury, shame, obligation, legal or social fallout. |
| Hexploration | Travel and mapping as the play loop. | High if overbuilt. | Lost time, supplies, danger, bad weather, missed location. |
You do not need all of these in one campaign. You need the one that makes the current problem clearer.
Quick Reference
| GM question | Use this when |
|---|---|
| Victory Points | flexible progress for rituals, repairs, journeys, investigations |
| Influence | swaying NPCs over timed exchanges |
| Research | discovering information under limits |
| Chases and infiltration | movement or stealth over multiple obstacles |
| Reputation | public memory, faction standing, settlement access, and long-term consequences |
| Hexploration | travel choices, mapping, survival, and discovery are the main activity |
| Duels | formal contests where rules, witnesses, and consequences matter |
| Leadership or war | groups, armies, crews, or institutions act beyond one PC turn |
Avoid Subsystem Bloat
A subsystem should make the scene easier to run and easier to understand. If it creates bookkeeping without tension, use normal checks. If it gives every player a way to contribute, turns failure into consequences, and makes progress visible, it is doing its job.
| Warning sign | Simplify by |
|---|---|
| Players cannot explain the goal | Restate the objective and progress track in one sentence. |
| Every round has the same best action | Add discoverable leverage, split objectives, or use a normal check. |
| Failure does not change anything | Add a clock, consequence, or cost, or stop rolling. |
| One player does all the rolls | Add varied approaches or make the specialist lead while others Aid meaningfully. |
| The GM is tracking six hidden meters | Combine tracks or make some consequences fictional instead of numeric. |
| The scene would be faster and clearer as roleplay | Drop the track and use a few checks. |
Choosing The Lightest Subsystem
Use normal checks when one roll can answer the question. Use victory points when progress matters across multiple attempts. Use influence when NPC opinions are the scene. Use reputation when choices echo across sessions. Use research when the party is trying to learn under limits. Use chases when position changes every beat. Use infiltration when stealth, access, and complications matter over time. Use hexploration when travel and mapping are the game. The more structure you add, the more clarity you owe the players: what earns progress, what causes setbacks, and what changes when the track fills.
Victory Point Design
| Design piece | Practical advice |
|---|---|
| Track name | Name the goal, not the mechanic: "Expose the cult ledger," "Reach the bridge," "Win the council." |
| Target | Set a number that fits scene length. Short scenes need fewer points. Big sequences need stages. |
| Turn cadence | Decide whether each PC acts once per round, once per phase, or whenever the fiction supports it. |
| Skills | Offer multiple skills with different DCs, risks, and discoveries. |
| Critical success | More progress, extra clue, safer position, or reduced future DC. |
| Failure | Time loss, alert increase, reputation hit, resource cost, or partial progress with complication. |
| Finish line | Decide what full success, partial success, and failure look like before play. |
Keep the math visible enough that players understand the pressure. You can hide details, but hiding the whole scoreboard defeats the point of having one.
Subsystem Prep Template
Before using a subsystem, write the track name, target score, round or turn structure, allowed approaches, discovery actions, setback triggers, and success tiers. Then explain the structure to players in plain language. For example: you need 8 progress before the gala ends; each round each PC can Influence, Discover, distract, sabotage, or support; failures may cost reputation. This is enough structure to make choices meaningful without burying the table. If you cannot explain the subsystem in two sentences, simplify it before play.
| Prep line | Fill it in |
|---|---|
| Goal | What concrete outcome is the party chasing? |
| Clock | What happens if they take too long? |
| Progress | What earns points, clues, access, distance, or trust? |
| Setbacks | What increases suspicion, danger, debt, or cost? |
| Approaches | Which skills, spells, tools, favors, and class features can help? |
| Discovery | How do players learn better approaches? |
| Thresholds | What happens at partial, full, and exceptional success? |
| Exit | What scene follows success or failure? |
Influence, Research, And Infiltration
| Subsystem | Prep focus | Player-facing promise |
|---|---|---|
| Influence | NPC motives, biases, weaknesses, public constraints, and discoverable leverage. | Different arguments and skills can move different people. |
| Research | Sources, clue tiers, false trails, time pressure, and what each skill can reveal. | Good questions produce usable information, not lore paste. |
| Infiltration | Access points, suspicion triggers, guard routines, disguises, and consequences. | Failure raises heat before it immediately ends the mission. |
Pair influence with social encounters, research with skill check DCs, and infiltration with Stealth, Deception, Thievery, and secret societies and cults.
Connection: One NPC Relationship Across An Arc
Use the Connection subsystem when the changing relationship with one recurring NPC should matter across several sessions. It is narrower and more interpersonal than Reputation: Connection tracks how that NPC feels about one PC or the party, while Reputation answers how a settlement, institution, or faction reacts more broadly.
| If the GM needs to track... | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One conversation, negotiation, or first impression | Social Encounters | Play the exchange without adding a campaign track. |
| One recurring ally, rival, mentor, business contact, or antagonist across an arc | Connection | The relationship can change after meaningful help, harm, promises, or neglect. |
| Public standing with a group, settlement, or organization | Reputation | The consequence belongs to a wider campaign-facing audience. |
| A clue trail, restricted archive, or timed discovery | Research | The question is what the party learns, not who trusts them. |
| A contact's urgent request and the first scene it creates | Adventure Hooks | Start the playable problem before deciding whether it needs a longer track. |
Keep the track focused. Let the NPC react to meaningful choices over time, and show the change through help, access, resistance, new terms, or a changed role in the campaign. Do not turn every friendly innkeeper into a maintenance task. If the relationship can become emotional or romantic, agree on boundaries and desired detail in session zero before it becomes a recurring subsystem.
Chases, Hexploration, And War Pressure
| Scene type | What to track | Good complications |
|---|---|---|
| Chase | Distance, obstacles, shortcuts, exhaustion, public interference, and pursuit pressure. | Collapsing routes, crowds, bad terrain, vehicle trouble, or split choices. |
| Hexploration | Routes, landmarks, supplies, weather, hazards, discoveries, and time. | Getting lost, supply drain, monster signs, faction patrols, or environmental danger. |
| War or leadership | Objectives, morale, orders, fronts, supply, command authority, and losses. | Conflicting orders, civilians, terrain, enemy feints, or political cost. |
| Vehicle sequence | Position, speed, hazards, repairs, passengers, terrain, and enemy pressure. | Damage, boarding, stalled engines, bad roads, siege fire, or weather. |
Use environment, war campaigns, skirmish warfare, Survival, Crafting, and technology in campaigns when the subsystem depends on terrain, logistics, repairs, or organized conflict.
Example Subsystems
| Scene | Structure | Tracks |
|---|---|---|
| Win a city council vote | Influence plus Victory Points | Council support, public suspicion, faction retaliation. |
| Research a haunted battlefield | Research | Clue progress, time until the haunt strengthens, false lead risk. |
| Escape a burning archive | Chase or Victory Points | Distance to exit, smoke danger, rescued records. |
| Infiltrate a masked cult gala | Infiltration plus Influence | Access, suspicion, useful leverage, exposed identities. |
| Negotiate peace between rival troops | Reputation plus Victory Points | Trust, morale, command pressure, battlefield deadline. |
| Cross cursed wetlands | Hexploration | Route progress, supplies, exposure, monster signs. |
Success Tiers
| Tier | Result |
|---|---|
| Full success | The party gets the stated goal and moves to the next scene with momentum. |
| Strong success | The party gets the goal plus advantage: ally, clue, shortcut, better terms, or reduced danger. |
| Partial success | The party gets access or progress, but pays debt, loses time, alerts enemies, or accepts a condition. |
| Failure with motion | The party misses the main goal but learns a route, opens a worse option, or triggers a new scene. |
| Hard failure | The opposition changes the campaign state: arrest, escape, ritual completion, public scandal, route collapse, or war loss. |
Player Communication
Tell players the goal, cadence, obvious actions, and visible consequences. You do not need to reveal every hidden DC or secret threshold, but the table should know how to make progress.
Good phrasing:
| Situation | Say this |
|---|---|
| Influence scene | "You have three rounds before the vote. Each round, each PC can discover leverage, influence a councilor, support an ally, or create a distraction." |
| Research scene | "You need enough clues before dawn. Each attempt costs time. Failures may produce incomplete leads or attract attention." |
| Infiltration | "Suspicion starts low. Loud failures increase it. If it fills, the scene becomes escape or combat." |
| Chase | "You are two obstacles behind. Clever shortcuts can close distance, but failures may split the group." |
Players do not need the wiring diagram. They need the dashboard.
Dragon Pacts: Campaign Contracts, Not Treasure
Lost Omens: Draconic Codex presents dragon pacts as rare magical contracts between a dragon and a mortal. Each one takes an invested-item slot, but that is the smallest part of the decision. Both parties agree to terms, the pact does not end just because one party breaches it, and the source gives the relationship unusually narrow end conditions. Put that conversation in session zero or before the reward appears, not after a player has built around the benefit.
| Ask before offering it | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Does every affected player want this relationship in the campaign? | A pact can change a character's voice, age, class, afterlife, daily obligations, or role in the party. Treat those as opt-in story premises, not surprise complications. |
| Can the dragon uphold its terms as an NPC? | Define its motives, means of contact, ability to act at a distance, and what happens when its interests conflict with the party's. Do not promise a reliable patron and then use absence as a punishment. |
| Are the terms specific and visible? | State the mutual non-aggression baseline, any ally, organization, enemy, or place obligation, the benefit, and the consequence of breach before anyone accepts. |
| Does the campaign have room for the pact's consequence? | A pact needs scenes where its obligation and cost matter. If the dragon, ward, enemy, or deity will never return, ordinary treasure is usually the cleaner reward. |
| What investment slot and player option does it displace? | Use Magic Items by Level for reward timing and Worn and Invested Items for the character's competing invested-item plan. |
Use the level to decide when a pact can enter the campaign, not whether it belongs at the table. The five pacts point at different campaign premises:
| Pact direction | Campaign agreement to settle first |
|---|---|
| Pact of the Herald and Host, item 6 | The dragon may speak through the character for a limited daily window. Confirm table boundaries for loss of voice, secrets, social scenes, and consent to temporary NPC control. |
| Duty of the Oathsworn, item 9 | The pact names an enemy type and a ward to defend. Decide what counts as service, how often that premise appears, and whether the death-related result belongs in the campaign's tone. |
| The Timeless Bond, item 12 | The pact ties the relationship to lifespan and recurring aging cost. Establish whether long-term time pressure, bodily change, and the dragon's distant choices are interesting at this table. |
| Enkindled Quintessence, item 14 | This pact immediately changes the mortal into a draconic-bloodline sorcerer. It needs explicit agreement on class retraining, spellcasting identity, and the severe consequences of a breach before any character sheet changes. |
| Pact of the Agonized Destroyer, item 18 | This is a Dahak-bound horror premise with ongoing service pressure and explosive stakes. Use it only when the whole group wants that deity, body-horror, and catastrophe material in play. |
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Common Mistakes
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Treating the rule as isolated math | Connect it to character choices, scene stakes, and consequences. |
| Ignoring Player Core 2 options | Check whether new ancestries, classes, archetypes, feats, spells, or items change the party's tools. |
| Hiding every procedure | Keep mystery in the fiction, not in the basic rules the players need to make decisions. |
| Overbuilding the scene | Use the lightest GM Core procedure that creates useful pressure. |
| Using a subsystem for one roll | If one check answers the question, use one check. |
| Making every action the same skill | Add varied approaches or the scene will spotlight one character and bore the rest. |
| Hiding all progress | A subsystem without visible progress is just secret GM counting. |
| Forgetting failure states | Decide time, suspicion, debt, damage, reputation, or complication before play. |
| Treating success as binary | Add partial success and strong success so the track produces texture. |
| Overusing hidden tracks | Hide secrets, not the basic premise of the procedure. |
| Letting the subsystem replace roleplay | The track supports the scene. It should not become the scene. |
Best Links
Use the PF2e hub, GM guides, social encounters, skill check DCs, skills, environment, adventure hooks, initiative and exploration, secret societies and cults, war campaigns, technology in campaigns, checks and DCs, actions and activities, conditions, and Hero Points.
Hot Take
Hot Take: A connection track is for a relationship with consequences between sessions. If the next scene hinges on one conversation, use social encounters; if a whole settlement is reacting, use Reputation instead.
