Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragon Empires Primer (PFRPG)

3.60/5 (based on 11 ratings)
Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragon Empires Primer (PFRPG)
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The distant continent of Tian Xia rests on the opposite side of the world from the Inner Sea region, and it shows. From the treacherous jungles of naga-ruled Nagajor to the sorcerous kingdom of Dtang Ma, and from the trackless and unforgiving deserts of Shaguang to the wondrous city of Goka, countless opportunities can be found for any character or adventure in amazingly expansive Tian Xia. While the extensive Dragon Empires Gazetteer unveils dozens of the mystical continent’s secrets, the Dragon Empires Primer provides information pertinent to creating characters for campaigns set in this vast and diverse region. This volume of Pathfinder Player Companion provides players and Game Masters alike with all of the settingspecific traits and trappings they need to customize and play characters in the Dragon Empires.

    Inside this Pathfinder Player Companion, you’ll find:
  • Overviews of all of Tian Xia’s nations, including important details for players to integrate into their characters’ backstories and new character traits for every region to give characters boons that further tie them to their homelands.
  • Rules for Tian Xia’s five most prominent races: the shapeshifting kitsune, ophidian nagaji, transmigratory samsarans, avian tengus, and shadowy wayangs.
  • Four new archetypes with distinctly Tian flavors, including the lotus geisha (bard), sword saint (samurai), white-haired witch (witch), and yokai hunter (ranger).
  • New feats for combative characters that bolster prowess in martial arts and swordplay.
  • An extensive look at the gods and philosophies of the Dragon Empires, as well as rules for the moon subdomain.
  • A new bloodline for sorcerers tainted with oni blood, and a new school of magic for wizards who wish to harness the power of the mysterious void.
  • New rules mechanics for establishing and maintaining one’s honor in the Dragon Empires.

This Pathfinder Player Companion works best with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 version of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game, but can be easily incorporated into any fantasy world.

Written by Tim Hitchcock and Colin McComb

Each bimonthly 32-page Pathfinder Companion contains several player-focused articles exploring the volume’s theme as well as short articles with innovative new rules for social, magic, religious, and combat-focused characters, as well as traits to better anchor the player to the campaign.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-386-6

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

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Really Good, But Flavour Over Crunch

4/5

The Dragon Empires Primer is an impressive player-focussed companion to the GM-focussed Dragon Empires Gazetteer. Although not a lot of published Pathfinder adventures are set in Tian Xia (the fantasy Asian counterpart to the fantasy European countries of much of the Inner Sea), Paizo has done an impressive job providing groups with enough detail to get started. This 32 page book provides a flavourful overview of the region with some new “crunch” (class options, etc.) in the final quarter. Some players will be disappointed with that distribution of lore to crunch, but I didn’t mind as I’m a setting-oriented gamer.

Love that cover art—-that could be a poster. It’s reprinted as the inside back cover minus the text. The inside front cover is a surprisingly detailed map of Tian Xia. The book itself is divided into six sections: The Dragon Empires, Archetypes, Combat, Faith, Magic, and Social.

“The Dragon Empires” (20 pages) provides players with an introduction to adventuring in Tian Xia. A useful sidebar reminds readers of the difference between a loose analogue and a direct translation. Importantly, the section grounds several fantasy races into the setting: kitsune, nagaji, samsarans, tengus, and wayangs all receive some focus, as do the various human ethnicities grouped as Tians. The rest of the section is then devoted to several pages of nation overviews (each covered in half a page). Each nation gets a couple of regional traits, and I liked the colourful banners included for each one. The traits aren’t super original, but they’re flavoured well (I do need to call out “wayang spellhunter” as I recall it has proven very problematic in play). The nation descriptions are really interesting, readable capsules—good inspirations for players choosing a background for their character. I never knew there was a nation of aasimars, a kraken-ruled nation, a Taldan colony, and a communist nation in Tian Xia. Likewise, even the Darklands under Tian Xia are very different than that under the Inner Sea.

“Archetypes” (2 pages) introduces four new ones. Bards get the “lotus geisha”—essentially it makes bardic performance a little better, but it only benefits one character instead of a group. “Sword saints” for samurais could be a fun, first-strike build. The “white-haired witch” for (naturally) witches is pretty neat, though I could see it as repetitive in actual play. I’m not really sure about the “yokai hunter” for rangers—it’s a special kind of undead hunter.

“Combat” (2 pages) consists of several new martial arts-flavoured feats. Monks are the class most likely to benefit from this section. I really liked a couple of them like “Hold the Blade” and “Quivering Palm Versatility”, but there are some high prerequisites for some of them.

“Faith” (2 pages) lists the major deities of Tian Xia. It’s mostly flavour and lore, but interesting and potentially useful for character backgrounds.

“Magic” (2 pages) introduces a new oni bloodline for sorcerers—it looks pretty good. There’s also a new elemental school, void, for wizards--the “real weakness” power is *really* good considering there’s no save against it.

“Social” (2 pages) introduces a new rules sub-system, Honor Points. I like the idea of an honour-tracking system, but I haven’t used this one and I’m always a little sceptical. I’d be willing to try it, though.

And that’s the book. All in all, I really enjoyed it, but I do understand how players hoping to see page after page of new feats, equipment, etc. (especially back in 2011 when there wasn’t as much Pathfinder material out there) would be disappointed by a Player Companion book that probably would be better suited to the Campaign Setting line. But if you go in with your expectations suitably managed, you’ll surely find something valuable for adventuring in the Dragon Empires.


A nice entry

4/5

This book is a nice entry to Tian Xia, directed at players.
You find lots of good background information about different regions and deities here.
The races are all great and fun to play.
Archetypes are all very cool in idea and concept, the execution isn´t the best though unfortunately.
The feats are interesting and usefull enough though, just as the magic school and sorcerer bloodline.

The book suffers from the fact that most of the really useful content is printed in other books, from Dragon Empires Gazeteer to the Advanced Race Guide, as well as the archetypes having mechanical problems.
It would be very awesome if some of them receive updates/reprints/errata.
I also feel the sword saint could be a swashbuckler archtype.

The pro of the book is definately the Tian Xia Background info as well as the introduced races.

Should you be a fan of Tian Xia or like it: buy!


3/5

I've reviewed this book over on RPGGeek.com.


Good introduction to a fascinating setting

4/5

Read my full review on my blog.

Dragon Empires Primer presents a broad overview of the setting from a player perspective. As it serves the same basic purpose as the Inner Sea Primer (which provides an overview of the Inner Sea region), it shares the same style of layout and structure as that book, with half-page entries on each of the nations and main regions, along with new races, archetypes and feats, brief descriptions of the setting’s gods, and a system for keeping track of characters’ honour. Each nation’s entry also includes a pair of regional traits for characters from that land. It’s important to point out, however, that people expecting in-depth detail won’t find it here. Half a page is not a lot of space to describe an entire nation with anything more than the broadest strokes. What the book does do is provide an introduction to the setting, one to whet the appetites of players, and it does this very well. It provides just enough information to get players thinking about the types of characters they might like to play in the setting, and sets the stage for later, more in-depth development, provided by either the GM or future supplements.


Some use to players, a waste for DMs

1/5

So......I bought the Dragon Empires Primer PDF after getting the Gazeteer and finding that it left out some info on the Dragon Empires that would be included in the Primer. Like kitsune racial feats, and regional traits. What a waste this turned out to be.

Not only is most of the Primer just condensed or copied descriptions from the Dragon Empires Gazeteer (meaning I basically paid twice for most of the Primer's content), but there's hardly any new or useful info in the Primer for anyone who already has the Dragon Empires Gazeteer. Only 2 regional character traits for each country/region, 3 kitsune racial feats (all based on changing to fox form and back, quickly; nothing for their spell-like abilities or other racial traits), 1 bard archetype (Lotus Geisha), 1 samurai archetype (Sword Saint), 1 ranger archetype (Yokai Hunter), 1 witch archetype (White-Haired Witch), 10 new combat feats (only 1-3 of which are any use to non-monks....and 5 of the new feats are worse than core feats or just fairly pointless), 1 new samurai order (for evil samurai, and nothing new or special about it), 1 new sorcerer bloodline (the Oni Bloodline, which has a standard sorcerer skill as its bloodline class skill), 1 new wizard school (the void elemental school, which is a bit odd and requires both the Advanced Player's Guide and Ultimate Magic since some of its spells are only in those sources), 1 new wizard spell, and 2 pages describing Honor mechanics for the Dragon Empires as an optional rule.

The new material only occupies around 9 pages, and at least 1-2 of those are worthless to DMs. All in all.....the Dragon Empires Primer just isn't worth it for a DM, unless money and value are non-issues to you. Just get the DE Gazeteer PDF, if even that, which is only somewhat more detailed but more useful to DMs.

Players, at least, will get enough out of the Primer to at least make some characters hailing from the Dragon Empires, but only just. The 4 class archetypes are interesting enough and should be capable enough in a Dragon Empires campaign (perhaps the Jade Regent Adventure Path), though the Lotus Geisha and Yokai Hunter and some regional traits are unlikely to be as useful in some other parts of Golarion. The Void Elemental wizard school is neat and Call the Void is a cool spell, but with an error (it says victims can't cast spells with somatic components, when it should say verbal components, since victims can't speak in the airless void), and you'll need the APG and Ultimate Magic if you want to use its other spells. A few of the combat feats are actually useful, like Sleeper Hold, but most are weaker/more-limited than core feats.


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
LoreKeeper wrote:

With a significant portion of the primer dedicated to races and gods (essentially reprints from the gazetteer) what portion and content in the primer is dedicated to delicious freshness?

I would assume a layout very similar to the Inner Sea Primer (although with the first section being up to page 17 instead of 23 (since there are only 28 regions in the Dragon Empires, instead of 38). I would guess 5 pages for the races (maybe 6 with the title page). And then the 2 page sections for Faith, Magic, Combat, and Social. And that should be about what is in the book. (James will be by in a bit to tell me I don't know what I am talking about. )

Lantern Lodge

Will there be feats that help merge 2 classes together?

example: I'm playing a Ninja/Monk with monastic legacy in the Jade Regent Campaign. Are there any other feats coming out that could be used to bump up certain abilities?


What base classes would you guys consider not very appropriate for a Dragon Empires game and are there likely to be replacements or adaptations in the Primer?

The Exchange

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I'm in if only for the Kitsune feats. I'm curious what they offer.


WhiteTiger wrote:


Will there be feats that help merge 2 classes together?

example: I'm playing a Ninja/Monk with monastic legacy in the Jade Regent Campaign. Are there any other feats coming out that could be used to bump up certain abilities?

I would be surprised if there were, unless the idea was that one or more of the Dragon Empires has a strong tradition for melding the two classes. The Players Companions are meant for Golarion-specific content mostly, and the kind of feat you're describing would be most useful in the RPG line of books, I think.


Hive.Star wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
I, on the other hand am very interested in asian cultures/mythologies, as well as many other cultures. I like when fantasy games incorporate real world myths and cultures.
Eh, it's just too played-out for me. I'm already in an L5R campaign.

It's interesting you'd say that, because when it comes to Japanese and to a lesser extent Chinese stuff, I'd agree. It's the fact that this book/series seems to realize there's other parts of Asia that pulls me in. In particular I'm interested in the Cambodian, Vietnamese and Indonesian inspired areas. That, I don't think is nearly as thoroughly mined at this point.


Phim Kooj Koi wrote:
Hive.Star wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
I, on the other hand am very interested in asian cultures/mythologies, as well as many other cultures. I like when fantasy games incorporate real world myths and cultures.
Eh, it's just too played-out for me. I'm already in an L5R campaign.
It's interesting you'd say that, because when it comes to Japanese and to a lesser extent Chinese stuff, I'd agree. It's the fact that this book/series seems to realize there's other parts of Asia that pulls me in. In particular I'm interested in the Cambodian, Vietnamese and Indonesian inspired areas. That, I don't think is nearly as thoroughly mined at this point.

I completely agree. They are basically unexplored territory for RPGs.


I enjoyed this book and can't wait for the Primer.


A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

The Exchange

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Well, Ultimate Magic gave us the Wood and Metal elementalist paths. I doubt they would give a 'all element' path. Wu Jen from 3.X were really just heavily reflavored Wizards. *shrugs*


What I am curious for is what are these kitsune feats mentioned in the Dragon Empires Gazeteer, beyond the obvious "Turn Into A Damn Fox" one.


Better shapechanging abilities like turning into any humaniod not just one version there stuck with, more than likely. maybe there will be ones for better spell like abilities.


Dragon78 wrote:
Better shapechanging abilities like turning into any humaniod not just one version there stuck with, more than likely. maybe there will be ones for better spell like abilities.

Probably better spell-like abilities, as impressive as dancing lights is. What? I have no clue. I'd hope that there were other options, in mythology they could possess folk but I don't know how that would translate into a feat.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

My guess is they all have a theme song with special effects similar to this.

Kitsune special abilities

The Exchange

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Okay off the top of my head Kitsune tricks:

Glowing with Fox-Fire
Possessing People
Exorcism (if serving Inari)
Speaking in Tongues (multitude of languages)
Feed off the life force of people.
Illusions

They have been know to have fox-fists which allow them to control people. (mind control rock/paper/scissors...I kid you not.)

Truly great foxes were known to change the heavens or rewrite time...but we'll leave that for Epic level shall we?

Interestingly enough Fox Wives were know to bear their husbands children (who were human) but turned out to have Fox like powers.


TheLoneCleric wrote:

Okay off the top of my head Kitsune tricks:

Glowing with Fox-Fire
Possessing People
Exorcism (if serving Inari)
Speaking in Tongues (multitude of languages)
Feed off the life force of people.
Illusions

They have been know to have fox-fists which allow them to control people. (mind control rock/paper/scissors...I kid you not.)

Truly great foxes were known to change the heavens or rewrite time...but we'll leave that for Epic level shall we?

Interestingly enough Fox Wives were know to bear their husbands children (who were human) but turned out to have Fox like powers.

Time stop as a spell like ability usable 3/day for a feat sounds very reasonable.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.


James Jacobs wrote:
Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.

Wu (see here) means Magician or Shaman.

Jen = person.

Hence, Gygax's coinage actually doesn't need the "Jen" part.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.

Wu (see here) means Magician or Shaman.

Jen = person.

Hence, Gygax's coinage actually doesn't need the "Jen" part.

Fair enough... my point was, though, that there's not really a "wu jen" in history or mythology like there is samurai or ninja.


you know what... there was somewhere elsewhere a thread on that...

forget the content and even where...

but... say that Paizo does do a wu jen themed archtype.

it would likely end up as a witch archtype instead of wizard/sorcerer.

and technically witch might do better....


James Jacobs wrote:
Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.

Wu (see here) means Magician or Shaman.

Jen = person.

Hence, Gygax's coinage actually doesn't need the "Jen" part.

Fair enough... my point was, though, that there's not really a "wu jen" in history or mythology like there is samurai or ninja.

That Gary...he sure had a gift for nomenclature. Fighter...Magic-user...and wu jen apparently means...magic-user. :)


I am little curious on how many feats are there for the Kitsune and do any of the races that have spell like abilities get feats to add/improve there abilities.


James Jacobs wrote:
Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.

Wu (see here) means Magician or Shaman.

Jen = person.

Hence, Gygax's coinage actually doesn't need the "Jen" part.

Fair enough... my point was, though, that there's not really a "wu jen" in history or mythology like there is samurai or ninja.

True, and the "Wu" of folklore and tradition itself is probably best represented as an Oracle.


~Does the I-Can't-Wait-Dance~

22 more days! I'm highly anticipating the white-haired witch archetype and the kitsune feats! Witchy-rogue (or rogue-y witch?) and a trickster race. Stats aren't optimal but is the flavor awesome?

Too far away! The book will decide whether the kitsune I'm designing will be a sorcerer or witch.

~Nrrrrrrr...


Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.

Wu (see here) means Magician or Shaman.

Jen = person.

Hence, Gygax's coinage actually doesn't need the "Jen" part.

Fair enough... my point was, though, that there's not really a "wu jen" in history or mythology like there is samurai or ninja.
True, and the "Wu" of folklore and tradition itself is probably best represented as an Oracle.

or the witch

Contributor

ThatEvilGuy wrote:

~Does the I-Can't-Wait-Dance~

22 more days! I'm highly anticipating the white-haired witch archetype and the kitsune feats! Witchy-rogue (or rogue-y witch?) and a trickster race. Stats aren't optimal but is the flavor awesome?

Too far away! The book will decide whether the kitsune I'm designing will be a sorcerer or witch.

~Nrrrrrrr...

Is the flavor awesome? Of course the flavor's awesome!

On the other hand, my avatar is a vrock. What do I know about flavor?


Quote:

Okay off the top of my head Kitsune tricks:

Glowing with Fox-Fire
Possessing People
Exorcism (if serving Inari)
Speaking in Tongues (multitude of languages)
Feed off the life force of people.
Illusions

They have been know to have fox-fists which allow them to control people. (mind control rock/paper/scissors...I kid you not.)

Truly great foxes were known to change the heavens or rewrite time...but we'll leave that for Epic level shall we?

Interestingly enough Fox Wives were know to bear their husbands children (who were human) but turned out to have Fox like powers.

Or gaining the ability to transform into a large, huge, or gargantuan fox with a certain amount of tails on it in order to rend their foes limb from limb. ^_~

Shadow Lodge

Will there be various katana based combat styles? If so is there any talk on expanding Iaijutsu? I am heading into an Asian themed PF game and was looking at making a fighter that uses the style.

At present it's only available as the Kensai Archetype for the Magus.


Just three more weeks to go can't wait.

I hope we one day will see a Tian Xia magic book like the Innersea magic one.


Colin McComb wrote:


Is the flavor awesome? Of course the flavor's awesome!

On the other hand, my avatar is a vrock. What do I know about flavor?

My avatar is a Red Hat Guy. I'm not sure what his flavor is but vrock is like overcooked turducken and slimy mushrooms.


I would alao love a Tian Xia magic book so the magic has a distinctive feel different from magic in other areas.

i would love to see spells dealing with kami.


Before I make more requests to the Tian Xia / Dragon Empires development - I'll wait for the Primer to see what is covered, and what they just nailed! Afterward there'll be time to plan ahead and beg for more monk archetypes of the regional Tian Xia variety ;)


I want it now, but I'll wait til the 25th.


Ack! Too many High CHA characters in the Jade Regent campaign I'm going to be playing in. (Aasimar cleric, ninja, summoner) so kitsune sorcerer is out.

The Yokai Hunter. Perhaps the answer is obvious, but would it be, uhhh, problematic to take for this adventure path or even a good idea from a usefulness standpoint in general?


Any ideas how the honor/dishonor system is going to work?

Shadow Lodge

Dishonor on your whole family, make a note of this, dishonor on you! dishonor on your cow!


Anybody got the first shipments already? Is it still too soon? :D


LoreKeeper wrote:
Anybody got the first shipments already? Is it still too soon? :D

Too soon. I got the order E-mail Friday, but not the shipping e-mail.


Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Jeff de luna wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Mike Dowd wrote:

A shame that there wasn't a Wu Jen archetype...

I know that you can 'sort of' do one as an elementalist, but I find that is a bit too focused.

As far as I can tell "Wu Jen" is something that Gygax created for D&D. I've not been able to find a real-world genesis for the name.

Which is why there are other Asia-flavored archetypes called by different names in Ultimate Magic for wizards.

Wu (see here) means Magician or Shaman.

Jen = person.

Hence, Gygax's coinage actually doesn't need the "Jen" part.

Fair enough... my point was, though, that there's not really a "wu jen" in history or mythology like there is samurai or ninja.
True, and the "Wu" of folklore and tradition itself is probably best represented as an Oracle.

With the deaf curse?Joke explained


Too soon for me as well but they should start shipping today i believe.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

Downloaded and started perusing the book. I did jump ahead to the Kitsune bonus feats, there are 3 of them, but doesn't look like you can take any more than once so it seems you can get up to 4 tails right now.


What do they do?


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

Basic overview, as I don't want to overreach and post more than should be, one gives you a full fox form small size and everything. Another lets you shapeshift as a swift action. The last one lets you pounce if you swap to kitsune form during the charge. Now mind you these feats do have pre-requisites.


Thank you!


Would you be willing to give a basic overview of the Oni bloodline and/or the Sword Saint?


Pathfinder Adventure, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Robert Jordan wrote:
Basic overview, as I don't want to overreach and post more than should be, one gives you a full fox form small size and everything. Another lets you shapeshift as a swift action. The last one lets you pounce if you swap to kitsune form during the charge. Now mind you these feats do have pre-requisites.

Pounce during a shapeshift? Wow, I'm definitely going to get that for my kitsune ninja, muhahaha... (assuming I don't have to go too far out of the way for the prereqs)

Gahh, I want to read this book so badly, but for some reason it hasn't shown up in my downloads yet.


Robert Jordan wrote:
Basic overview, as I don't want to overreach and post more than should be, one gives you a full fox form small size and everything. Another lets you shapeshift as a swift action. The last one lets you pounce if you swap to kitsune form during the charge. Now mind you these feats do have pre-requisites.

So, you swap to Fox Form with your feat, then charge someone as an inconspicuous fox and then BOOM! Full attack with a katana or whatever to the face. That's pretty effin' sweet.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber; Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

The sword saint is a Samurai archetype. You lose your mount and the mount oriented class features for Iaijutsu Strike which, by my reading, works with your challenge feature and does not replace it. However just like the old Iaijutsu gotta draw your blade from the sheath and it has some reasonable drawback to it's very sweet bonus damage. You get a couple abilities that build upon Iaijutsu Strike.

The Oni Bloodline is intriguing it's definitely a Enchantment oriented bloodline and it's Arcana revolves around casting charm or compulsion spells. It's Powers are a very interesting kit and their first level reusable ability is pretty awesome imo. Things in this kit do fit the theme with form altering, gaseous form, Oni esque healing, and it's Capstone definitely fits the theme of the class. Their bonus spells are all things that tie well with the Oni themes we've seen so far. Some elemental spells, some status stuff, and a few charm/compulsiony things. The feats also fit pretty well in the "Hi I'm an Oni" feel of the bloodline. The thing to keep in mind is that the Yais that we've seen all correlate to a Giant type, ie Fire Yai and Fire Giant, I don't consider it exact matches as I believe Oni tend to have some spell likes.

But yeah there's a kinda basic overview.


Robert Jordan wrote:

The sword saint is a Samurai archetype. You lose your mount and the mount oriented class features for Iaijutsu Strike which, by my reading, works with your challenge feature and does not replace it. However just like the old Iaijutsu gotta draw your blade from the sheath and it has some reasonable drawback to it's very sweet bonus damage. You get a couple abilities that build upon Iaijutsu Strike.

The Oni Bloodline is intriguing it's definitely a Enchantment oriented bloodline and it's Arcana revolves around casting charm or compulsion spells. It's Powers are a very interesting kit and their first level reusable ability is pretty awesome imo. Things in this kit do fit the theme with form altering, gaseous form, Oni esque healing, and it's Capstone definitely fits the theme of the class. Their bonus spells are all things that tie well with the Oni themes we've seen so far. Some elemental spells, some status stuff, and a few charm/compulsiony things. The feats also fit pretty well in the "Hi I'm an Oni" feel of the bloodline. The thing to keep in mind is that the Yais that we've seen all correlate to a Giant type, ie Fire Yai and Fire Giant, I don't consider it exact matches as I believe Oni tend to have some spell likes.

But yeah there's a kinda basic overview.

Awesome, I wasn't sure which way they'd go with the Sword Saint I was half expecting something like the 3rd Samurai with self enchanting swords, but it sounds pretty cool.

Super excited about the Oni bloodline that is just what I've been waiting for for a character of mine.

Thank You, I'm definitely getting this book.

Liberty's Edge

Sword saint loses banner, which strikes me as extremely disappointing for a samurai archetype.

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