The Merciful Cousins is an order of cavaliers for the Pathfinder role-playing game that functions as a sort of D&D Red Cross. Now, if you buy the PDF that details how to use them in your D&D campaign, you can help the actual Red Cross bring aid to Oklahoma tornado victims.


The Merciful Cousins (aka the Masons of Recovery) were created by Super Genius Games, and the book was written by RPG journeyman and Oklahoma native Owen K.C. Stephens. Artist Wayne Reynolds donated a sketch for the book's cover. The PDF costs $2, and all proceeds will go to the Red Cross, which is helming recovery and aid efforts in Oklahoma. The city of Moore, OK was recently devastated by a monstrous EF5 tornado.

The book, though only a few pages long, explains the tenets of the Merciful Cousins order and the various powers they receive as they level up. While there are plenty of holy orders tromping about fantasy worlds, the Cousins have clear, realistic goals that could be very interesting in a world full of necromancers and random dragon attacks. They're particularly suited for campaigns focused on a specific town, since some of the abilities the order grants involve the improvement and rebuilding of settlements.


Although the cavalier class only appears in the Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide, you can find the rules for using them in the free online Pathfinder System Reference Document. Even if no one is playing a cavalier in your campaign, they would make a brilliant NPC order for the players to interact with. And you can be a Merciful Cousin yourself while you're at it.