History VideoGame / PathfinderKingmaker

* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Like the tabletop game, using armor and trying to cast arcane spells (without the specific ability to do so) incurs a percentile chance of having the spell fizzle. Bards can cast in light armor, while magi begin able to cast in light armor and later gain the ability to cast in medium and heavy armor. Divine magic is not restricted in this way.

** Some enemies are labeled more vaguely until they reveal their abilities. For instance, a Bandit Alchemist will be simply named "Bandit" until they throw a bomb or use an extract, presuming you don't have the perception to guess their profession at a glance.

** Some enemies are labeled more vaguely until they reveal their abilities. For instance, a Bandit Alchemist will be simply named "Bandit" until they throw a bomb or use an extract.

* * IKnowYouKnowIKnow: This exchange

* FourX: ''Kingmaker'' is a hybrid of this and a traditional isometric RPG: the construction and expansion of your kingdom, from town planning to making policy decisions, comprises a significant chunk of gameplay.

* VendorTrash: Gems, trinkets and various household items have no purpose other than being sold in bulk for some profit. Non-magical weapons and armor become this as well later in the game.

[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kingmaker_pathfinder.png]]
[[caption-width-right:220:[[{{Tagline}} The Kingdom is a Companion]]]]

* AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: PlayedForLaughs with a lone Goblin merchant, whose wares are all inflated, but particular note is [[spoiler: a "Masterwork" Club that he's offering to you for 123,457 gold - for comparison's sake, most Masterwork weaponry costs 400]].
** Also, anything you want to sell will always net you 25% of how much you would pay to buy it, even when buying back something you sold. On the bright side, market saturation isn't even a thing: you can pawn off the thousands of regular weapons and armor and low-tier magic gear you will be looting from the scores of mooks you kill and nobody will object.

* UnwinnableByMistake: Some end-game Kingdom events have a difficulty check of 40 - if you don't have an advisor that can handle it, it's effectively a NonStandardGameOver. The designers ''did'' [[AntiFrustrationFeatures implement a workaround]] by having the Kingdom be "invincible", but it's still frustrating.
** It's also possible, through StupidEvil means, to kill every possible candidate for some advisor posts rendering the kingdom segment unwinnable without making it invulnerable. This can border UnwinnableByInsanity given how much of a genocidal lunatic you have to be to kill or fail to recruit all of them, but Councilor is extremely easy to run out of candidates for. [[spoiler: Tristian can be killed at the beginning of Chapter 4, Tsanna can be killed multiple times throughout the game, and Shandra Mervey never shows up if she's not chosen in Chapter 1.]]
*** Fortunately, any mercenary you hire can be placed in any advisor position, though they receive a flat -4 penalty regardless of the role. Rarely the ideal choice, but always an option.

** The games certain liberties with with various aspect of the Pathfinder ruleset. Probably most infamously is the Silky on the Bald Hiltop who has access to a version of "Hold Person" that can hit multiple enemy targets, yet is distinct from Mass Hold Person. Enemies, even [=NPCs=] who are otherwise using PC classes, have bonuses to their stats. Particularly HP well in excess of what their level (and thus hit die) would imply. This is especially visible with Wizards encountered early in the game. Their HP should be so low that any but the weakest attacks should one shot them, yet you'll find them consistently taking an amount of punishment that puts the Player and companions to shame.

* CallBack: Pass a Stealth check when confronting the dragon in Chapter 3 and you'll see [[spoiler: the Storyteller pull out Tartuccio's signet ring - the same one from the ''Kingmaker'' tutorial - and reveal its story to the dragon.]]

** Kingdom Management. You can also set it to Auto, but you wont be able to disable it once the game starts and you'll be at the mercy of the [[RandomNumberGod RNG]].

** What will you choose: send the militia to protect your helpless citizens or secure the merchants' trade routes? The former are innocents civilians and contribute hard to your community. The latter are the backbone of your economy and it will collapse if you don't help them. Of course, you can always delegate someone else to make the decision.
** Happens in the third part, where you have to choose to either [[spoiler: assist Kesten in storming the Womb of Lamashtu and abandon the capital to be sieged by the monsters, or save the Capital but leave Kesten to die]]. [[spoiler: Being Lawful allows you to TakeAThirdOption, ordering Kesten to protect the capital while you storm the Womb alone.]] A possible bit of LoopholeAbuse involves [[spoiler: saving one or the other but ''not talking to them'' prior to saving the other as well. Doing so will also spare both men]].

** In order to recruit Jubilost, you need to avoid going to the Ford Across the Skunk River area until the Troll Trouble questline begins. He won't appear in the area if you go there too early, which will cost you a useful Treasurer, especially if you either don't have some of the DLC or you're a good-aligned character who spurns Bartholemew's experiments. There's no indication in the game that you need to avoid this area.

** The "Lost Child" quest has a few possible outcomes, but to get the "best" one you have to know ''exactly'' what you're dealing with, ''and'' have ''exactly'' the right spell prepared, ''and'' pass a DC 20 Knowledge (Arcana) check to get the dialogue option to use the spell to appear. [[spoiler:A more obvious option that ''sounds'' like it will lead to the best ending only will if you've talked to the named lizards in the village and picked all the good dialogue options; otherwise going through with it actually results in the child dying. The reason is that the NPC you ask for help dispels the invisibility on a Will-o'-the-Wisp, which immediately attacks with lightning; the previously-mentioned "exact spell" is Glitterdust which will both reveal and stun the wisp, preventing it from doing that, and talking to the villagers calms their fears, which are what give the creature strength.]]

* GoneHorriblyRight: One of the first hints that something is ''seriously'' wrong in the Stolen Lands is that even [[PrayerOfMalice mundane acts of spite or self-hatred]] can create horrible monsters and eternal, unending suffering, which is very much ''not'' [[MagicAIsMagicA how curses work in Golarion]].

** A particularly thorough player with very high Perception can stumble upon the trap ''much'' earlier, as it's right in front of a DoorToBefore, but Erastil help you if you trigger it by mistake, as said trap was meant to be a threat to a party about twice your level.

* VideoGameCrueltyPunishment: The SadisticChoice in the Twice-Born Warlord chapter no longer makes Amiri and Tristian's companion quests mutually exclusive, and has instead been turned into this. You can now [[TakeAThirdOption accomplish both]] if you hurry, but only if you [[spoiler: don't put petty vengeance above [[CavalryBetrayal helping fight off an army of invading barbarians]]]]. Trying to do it the other way around gets you a WhatTheHellHero from [[spoiler: Jamandi and Amiri]], and a permanent failure on [[spoiler: her]] companion quest.

* WhatTheHellHero: In "The Twice-Born Warlord", if you choose to complete "Betrayer's Flight" before "Hour of Rage", you'll come in for a positively ''vicious'' one from Jamandi Aldori: [[spoiler:Your delay to go after Tristian (required if you wanted to complete his RomanceSidequest) meant the Restovan army had to fight Armag's barbarians [[CavalryBetrayal without your reinforcements]]. They suffer severe casualties winning a PyrrhicVictory, and Jamandi's adopted son Kassil (one of your potential advisors) is killed fighting in her bodyguard.]]

* VancianMagic: Appropriately to the game's use of relatively closely followed ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' rules (which are in turn based on those of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons 3.5 Edition''), Wizards, Clerics, Druids, Magi (except for the Eldritch Scion archetype), Rangers, Paladins, and Rogues of the Eldritch Scoundrel archetype must prepare their spells in advance, whether from a spellbook or through prayer. Additionally, Alchemists do not technically cast spells, but rather prepare potions and bombs, but their potions and bombs are prepared in advance like spells and most have the same effect as spells. Magi, however, can downplay the limitations of Vancian Magic as they can spend points from their Arcane Pool to recharge spells even outside of rest, letting them pull out an extra use or two of a spell in a pinch. Other magic-using classes (Bards, Sorcerers, Inquisitors, and Magi of the Eldritch Scion archetype) avert this trope and are referred to as "spontaneous casters". Spontaneous casters instead prepare a certain number of undifferentiated spells of each level they can cast each time they rest and may cast known spells of that level in any combination. In exchange, spontaneous casters generally aren't allowed to know as many spells as classes that have to prepare their spells.

* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: The games certain liberties with with various aspect of the Pathfinder ruleset. Probably most infamously is the Silky on the Bald Hiltop who has access to a version of "Hold Person" that can hit multiple enemy targets, yet is distinct from Mass Hold Person. Enemies, even [=NPCs=] who are otherwise using PC classes, have bonuses to their stats. Particularly HP well in excess of what their level (and thus hit die) would imply. This is especially visible with Wizards encountered early in the game. Their HP should be so low that any but the weakest attacks should one shot them, yet you'll find them consistently taking an amount of punishment that puts the Player and companions to shame.