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Aw man, you have no idea how long I've waited to make this thread! After a grueling month of play testing, and several months of preparing the final product for all of you wonderful people, ITS HERE!
Pact Magic Unbound: Volume 1!
Yeah, yeah. I made a mistake. >.< I'm pretty sure I called it "Spirits Unbound" instead of "Pact Magic Unbound" when I alerted all my play testers about its eminent coming. Sorry, folks! I'm going to play the newbie excuse card. :)
Now, with that out of the way I can finally talk about the book! I posted a bit of this in the Product Page, but here's a not-so-brief rundown of what's in the book:
- New Class!: An all-new 20 level base class, the Occultist. A probationer of old and sometimes forbidden magic that allows him to call upon spiritual entities and bargain with them, temporarily bringing them into their soul in exchange for power.
- New Archetypes!: All new archetypes and class abilities based around pact magic! Inside you'll find the totemic sage barbarian, the soul muse bard, the occult priest cleric, the spiritshifter druid, the warshade fighter, the empyrean friar monk, the seal-etched and unbound occultists, the oath against spirits and the templar of souls paladin, the foe reaper ranger, the unbound rogue, the ravaged bloodline and ergon bloodline sorcerers, and the soulweaver wizard.
- Rules for Pact Making: Remastered and enhanced rules for binding renegade spirits to one's soul, based off of the rules originally published by Radiance House back in 2007.
- 32 Spirits: This book contains 32 spirits, from Aza'zati the Green Wrymling to Malebolge Moors, the 13 Traitors of Hell. The selected spirits come from all sides of life and include spirits that were fan favorites from Radiance House's original books as well as spirits that were re-imagined and redesigned. The spirits range from 1st level to 9th level and include 3 spirits never-before-published by Radiance House: Sevnoir, the Meandering Mastiff, Serapith, the Scouring Light, and Daeminthos, Crystal Eye of the Mind.
One last detail, for the time being Radiance House is offering a printed version of this product through our website.. The website also includes a PDF / print bundle offer.
Now, as for the rest of this thread, feel free to make comments, suggestions, ask questions, or do anything else of the sort. Ancient secrets have surfaced once again; now its time for you to seize them with Pact Magic Unbound: Volume One!
I'd be interested in the dead tree version, How much would shipping be?
I'd be interested in the dead tree version, How much would shipping be?
I should have a preorder for this up on our site later today. :)
And preorders now available!
AWESOME.
What will be in volume 2?
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What will be in volume 2?
Well, Volume 2 is still in-progress and as such is subjected to change. However, this is what is definitely planned so far:
- Archetypes and class options for the non-core Base Classes (Alchemist, Cavalier, Gunslinger, Inquisitor, Magus, Oracle, Summoner, and Witch).
- New archetypes and binder secrets for the Occultist.
- Occultist favored class bonuses for every race previewed in the Advanced Race Guide. If additional races come out in the Inner Sea Bestiary, I will consider adding those in as well, but citing things from non-core rulebook line material is a bit of a hassle if its even open source to begin with.
- Possible additional material for core classes when it makes sense. For example, Cleric Subdomains for the Occult Domain.
- New feats. Possibly a more in-depth assessment of how skills and pact magic can be used together.
- Anima. Anima is essentially build-a-spirit, currently accessible only by alchemists and a specific Occultist archetype. Anima are split into "themes" based on the nature of the anima spirits and you can build your own spirit using the granted abilities given to each anima spirit in the theme. The book is set to ship with two themes, each with 7 anima spirits).
- Additional Spirits: Volume 2 is set to launch with roughly the same number of spirits as Volume 1 possesses. The list is designed to A) fill in missing constellations at low levels to allow characters with the constellation alignment ability more options in constructing their characters. In addition, there are more high-level spirits in this book, so by the time it is present there will be 7 spirits of every spirit level to choose from. The ultimate goal is to eventually reach one spirit per constellation per spirit level, or 13 spirits per level which is 117 spirits in all.
- New Spells: Volume 2 is going to have a plethora of spells, both working for and against pact magic. To this end, a new spell descriptor has been added; the Occult Descriptor. There are some minor rules about the availability of occult spells as well in this section. Finally, there is a new necromancy subschool, aging, and an entire line of spells to support it. Sands of Time from Ultimate Magic is also being retroactively added to the school's list and I am considering a Wizard subschool for Necromancy (aging).
- Magic Items: Volume 2 is going to have pact magic items. I'm going to see if I can add some new armor and weapon special abilities, but they're pretty low on the list of things I want to do. Most of the items will be wondrous items. There will not be a wand / staff equivalent for Pact Magic. Instead, a new type of magic item will be introduced; Pact Relics. Pact Relics are basically special magic items that you can include in a specific spirit's ceremony to gain an additional minor granted ability.
- Prestige Classes: I want Prestige Classes for pact magic in this book. They're not going to be generic "This is the monk / occultist prestige class!" though because I frankly think that the archetypes suffice in all of these situations. Rather, I will be using the prestige classes to expand upon the lore already presented in the books; expect ties to specific spirits and the Spirit Realm.
- Additional Rules: There is an entire chapter on Additional Rules at the end of the book. Without going into too much detail, here are some of the confirmed ones:
Pact Magic Character Traits: Not many; only a page or so but they're still in the book.
Pact Maladies: Think spellblights. Start with small penalties but ramp up in severity over time.
Younger Age Categories: Rules for Youths, Children, Toddlers, and Infants.
Creating Spirits: There will be a small section with suggestions on how to build and balance your own spirits.
If I'm missing something important that I've said elsewhere will be in the book, I apologize.