Pureblade (Slayer Archetype)
Typically, when slayers are associated with slaying targets of specific creature types, it’s usually things like demons or undead, foes with very specific connections to sapient races of humanoids, despite how otherworldly they can be.
However, in lands where bizarre monsters bridge the gulf between stars, or else strange mutagens transform natural creatures into horrific mutants, sometimes the need arises for slayers to target foes of a more aberrant nature.
Called Pureblades for their tendency to slay foes that seek to physically corrupt natural life, these slayers train to hunt down such monstrosities, excising the corruption with a blade or perhaps burning it out with cleansing fire or acid.
In the Golarion setting, these slayers are associated with the land of Numeria, where not only alien creatures but also mutants born of the strange toxins from the ancient starcraft abound, but anywhere where aberrant foes roam is a viable place to include them.
Whether they are alien beings or horrific mutants, pureblades are trained to strike true and sure against them.
Furthermore, they also master minor magics to sense such beings.
Aberration anatomy can be difficult to understand, but the training of these slayers allows them to more easily find such weak spots and exploit them for their lethal blows.
An assassin of alien entities would be poor indeed if they easily fall to the mental powers of such beings. As such, they develop a resistance to such magic, and even gain the ability to neutralize such magics that they fall under.
The most powerful pureblades can turn their most deadly of blows against any aberration they face, even if they haven’t had time to study the target, their familiarity with such foes being that strong.
A simple archetype, but one that does its job well. Thanks to how the powers of this archetype are worded, it even still retains much of its viability against non-aberrant foes, becoming less of a tracker in favor of being a solid slayer that can prove especially deadly to truly alien threats. As such, build them as you would most any slayer.
We’ve talked about what they do, but not about why they do it. Obviously, if they live in a region plagued by such beings, it’s only natural that some people would train to overcome them, but what if they come from somewhere where that is not the case? What about if aberrations in that area are not actually menaces? A slayer that vanquishes flumphs and other benevolent aberrations, or stable,kind mutants, might make for an interesting villain.
On the Day the Sky Turned Red, the Blood Spores fell, twisting all life they touched into a deadly nightmare. The kasatha were one of the few people spared, able to hide in caves in deserts where little life could be twisted before the spores died. Now, the four-armed folk have learned to live in this new world, and are skilled indeed at putting down the monsters that rule the world now.
In some parts of the world, instead of pureblade slayers, you see the so-called “Ironblades”, who specialize in slaying the fey and resisting their wiles. From the mightiest glaistig to the lowliest tooth fairy, they fight wherever the fey toy with mortals.
Though they are not aberrations per se, mongrelfolk have long been persecuted by the Pureblade Order, who view them as the product of dark magic and aberrant influence, if not the direct servants of such powers. Worse still, some clans are actually turning to such beings out of desperation and vindictiveness.
