Pathfinder Player Companion: Occult Origins (PFRPG)

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Pathfinder Player Companion: Occult Origins (PFRPG)
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Walk the Unseen Path!

Sometimes things go bump in the night, hinting at mysteries that lie shrouded behind the veil of fear. In an old world steeped in magic, some questions can—or should—never be answered, and some investigators find truths so terrible they pray for sweet madness to wipe them away. Pathfinder Player Companion: Occult Origins provides new options for heroes who look beyond the convenient and sensible mask the world wears and plumb the dark secrets underneath. Expand your kineticist repertoire, bolster your phantom's mind, or tie your occult powers to a god. Learn psychic magic, unlock occult abilities for mundane classes, and examine the role of occult characters across Golarion. Occult Origins includes new abilities and tools for every Pathfinder RPG player. Inside this book, you'll find:

  • Incredible archetypes, class features, feats, and spells to broaden the scopes of all six of the new occult character classes introduced in Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures.
  • Uncanny archetypes such as the mind sword, the supernaturalist, the Harrowed Society student, and the primalist that bring occult powers to both core and hybrid classes.
  • Dozens of new mystic spells to augment the power of the mind for both occult classes and arcane and divine casters.
  • New occult feats such as Cranial Adjustment, Haruspicy, and Trepanation that provide esoteric flavor and psychic skill unlocks to any character.
  • Occult rituals from Golarion's lost civilizations, including the Jistkan art of genie-binding and Sarkorian god-summoning.

This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-785-7

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Good Setting Lore, Interesting Options

4/5

Alright, let's jump into Occult Origins! This 32-page, full-colour book in the Pathfinder Player Companion line was released around the time of the Occult Adventures hardcover book that introduced several new psychic-themed classes to the game. The goal of Occult Origins is to supplement that book, ground it in the campaign setting of Golarion, and add some more options for psychic PCs. Let's see if it achieves those ends. I should flag that the only occult class I've placed is the Psychic, so the ins and outs of the new options presented here are often beyond me.

First up, cool cover! The inside front-cover is a really useful summary of how the different planes connect to or fuel the various new occult classes. For example, it explains how kineticists are linked to the elemental planes, how spiritualist phantoms come from the ethereal plane, and how the spirits that mediums draw upon aren't actual souls or ghosts from remnants left on the astral plane. The inside back cover is just the front cover art sans text. I'll go ahead and mention here, before I forget, that the interior artwork is uniformly excellent.

The first couple pages of the book are a summary of what's inside for each of the six occult classes and an index to the new rules options. This is followed by a two-page introduction that's actually pretty important--it gives specific cultural links in Golarion for each of the six occult classes, turning what can be generic and abstract into a rich addition to the setting lore. The whole concept of the occult in Pathfinder is now much more appealing to me. And did you know that Erik Mona (Paizo publisher) has his own occult library? That's pretty cool.

Next up are sections devoted to each of the six new occult classes. Kineticists get four pages of material, while the other classes get two pages each. Why the discrepancy? I don't know!

* Kineticist: Most people in Golarion wouldn't recognise a kineticist if they saw one, apparently. This book introduces a couple of new elements. The first is Void, which I don't really get it--it seems to be some sort of weird mixture of negative energy and gravity powers. The second is Wood, which is really more of a general nature or even First World-themed power. It does contain a lot of useful utility powers for wilderness (forest) adventures.

* Medium: Some interesting setting lore here. I didn't expect just how unpopular mediums would be in places like Ustalav and Mendev. The book introduces a "Nexian Channeller" archetype which is very focussed on having a mystical third-eye. There's also a new modified archmagi spirit that draws on Nex! Very interesting and fits the setting well.

* Mesmerist: Mesmerists are apparently some of the most common occult practitioners in Golarion, as they skilfully use their powers to gain wealth and political influence. This book introduces several new mesmerist tricks. There's also a new Chelish-themed type of gaze, "Devilbane Gazes" which have extra effects against outsiders. There's also three new spells, with fool's teleport my favourite (it looks like you've teleported away, but really you've just become invisible).

* Occultist: Apparently Osirion is a place of particular strength for occultists, which makes sense. This book introduces a new archetype, the "Reliquarian"--it makes use of religious relics and essentially makes the occultist into a divine caster with one cleric domain. Several new sacred implements are also introduced, themed to particular Core20 deities.

* Psychic: It makes sense that Vudra would have a higher concentration of psychics, but I like the idea that Numeria has several as well due to the influence of strange alien technology there. This book introduces some new phrenic amplifications which look okay, and two new disciplines: enlightenment and rebirth. Both are good, and I actually chose rebirth a long time ago when I made my psychic-monk, Arrius Vext.

* Spiritualist: Spiritualists apparently have a very complicated reception on Golarion, with suspicion from the Church of Pharasma and fear (or disdain) from common folk. There's a new archetype, the Fated Guide, which involves a phantom that Pharasma has sent back to Material Plane with very little memory. I don't quite get it. There's also a new emotional focus, Remorse, that has a great story theme (though I don't understand how it works in practice, having never played a spiritualist).

Next up, the book has four pages of occult-themed archetypes for non-occult classes. There's a "Mind Sword" archetype for paladins (giving up lay on hands and channelling? I don't think so!), a "Serpent Fire" archetype for monks (all chakra-based), a weird "Supernaturalist" archetype for druids, a fairly-interesting "Harrowed Society Student" archetype for arcanists, an "Id Rager" archetype for bloodragers, and a "True Silvered Throne" archetype for shamans (it's themed to relate to the Esoteric Order of the Palantine Eye, but lacks any real flavour).

Feats are the subject of the next two pages. Many of the concepts are fantastic, but their effects are unfortunately bland (a minor numerical bonus to a save or a skill). Feats are more interesting when they allow you to do something you couldn't do before, not when they just provide a bump to a dice roll--there are enough of those in the game already. Still, I love the idea of something like the Cranial Implantation feat, where you walk around with needles inserted into your brain!

Two pages are spent on Occult Rituals, and there are some really nicely-flavoured ones tying into lore elements like the Jistka, the Peacock Spirit, and the Sarkoris God-Callers.

Last up are four pages on new spells. Some are available to traditional arcane or divine casters, while others are for psychic casters only. I think my favourite is jealous rage, which makes a character murderously angry if someone is the recipient of a beneficial spell and they're not. Other good spells include ectoplasmic hand and mind over matter, though I think subjective reality is overpowered with no saving throw.

And there we have it. To my mind the greatest value in the book is how it helps to incorporate occult themes into the Golarion campaign setting. The new rules elements will probably be more hit or miss depending on what you're looking for. Still, it's a book I could definitely imagine using.


Good promises, moderate delivery, bad effort

1/5

I don't think this is a terrible product, by any means. I just feel insulted.

It helps pull in some flavour in some circumstances, and tries to break it in others. The Serpent Fire monk archetype does what it says on the tin and is something that /really/ should have been in Occult Adventures as opposed to this book, as much as I want to like the Karmic monk. The divine spin on Occultist isn't executed great. But enough about all that lame-o pathfinder stuff, let's get down to the meaty avatar/D&D big draw, eh?

The biggest draw for you would probably be the kineticist elements, right? I know it was mine! But I'll say it now; the kineticists are half broken, half flavourless, and a big ol' heaping helping of unclear. Whouh. You think the Occultist was a slog to get through in the original OA? At least it had words. You'll be wishing for rule salad.

We'll start with Phytokineticist, the wood one. First thing you'll notice: The basic utility power is missing. They just forgot to even put it in the book. Ouch. Big ouch. It's not a huge deal, it's what you expect. Trims bushes, does nothing else. But that doesn't make it better; even if you're not missing much, that's still the ICONIC ABILITY of the entire class missing, and somehow that still doesn't take away much!

Phytokineticist. All I can say is "Why didn't you take earth kineticist?". It doesn't do much different from earth kineticist. It even gives you jagged flesh. The defensive power? It gives you some natural armor, which is worse than earth's DR and worse than water's armor/shield bonus. Depending on the campaign you're running, it's worse than searing flesh. The other abilities, things like being able to deal nonlethal damage easily, are all too demanding. You have to be fourth level to effectively deal nonlethal damage, and 9th level to get a VERY mild toxin (maybe sickened for one round? For 3 burn? You kidding me?). The rest almost entirely emulate geokineticist powers, but worse. 90% of the wild talents that are feasibly usable seem to be composite blasts and the rest require you to be ridiculously high level to get mild low level effects. You would do immensely better to just be a fey/verdant sorcerer.

The Void/Chaos/Negative energy/Gravity kineticist is...okay. You get either negative energy or gravity. Gravity is basically just air blasts so you can use the cool negative energy powers while not being useless while fighting undead. Negative energy is a energy blast, so it's pretty good, if you don't plan on running into undead often. If you do...All I can tell you is to take some levels in Life Oracle, play overwhelming, and hope your charisma bonus can give you enough channel uses to not be completely worthless.

Oh, yeah, you don't get a way to bypass the undead not being effected by your blasts. You know, how every other kineticist gets draining infusions, and how fire can sear away fire resistance? Yeah you don't get that here. Draining infusion? Rules as written, it doesn't work, Unless somehow you come across a negative energy elemental. Good luck finding that. You'll need it.

I, and others, tried to ask the developers several times, if draining infusion worked. Never answered, as far as I could tell. Maybe it was, somewhere in the dozens/hundreds of posts in the product discussion. If I cant find it in 20 seconds, though, it should count as completely broken. When you buy a book, it needs to work on it's own. I can understand a editing error or something where you need to put up a FAQ or some very obscure usage where you need to form surf, that's not great, but I can't hold it against you. But this is Kineticist. You get one job when you take this class. ONE JOB. You need to know how to do it. The book doesn't tell you, leaving you and your GM guessing. Spark of life as a phytokineticist, or void kineticist? Screw you.

Then we move on to it's other abilities. Basic utility talent is pretty sweet, on paper. You can create shadows that protect from bright light, increase carrying capacity, and even give small bonuses to acrobatics due to your gravity powers. Oh, and uh, for void kineticists you get gravity and negative energy powers regardless of the blast. Honestly this needed it, so I don't mind

"But wait!", you say, "Protect from bright light? What does this mean?"

You don't take penalties from bright light.

"What kind of penalties?"

Screw you. Stop thinking about it. This isn't a book for smart people. Shhhhhh. No, I took it upon myself to ask. Then I realized several people had asked before me. The devs never responded, so I heckled them until they did. They answered with

"If, and only if, you have some condition that causes bright light to give you penalties, this negates those penalties.
That's it. Full stop. Just like it says, with no other interactions."

So, what counts as that? Vampires protect from daylight, right? No, actually. It means the specific "Bright light" condition, and only that condition, you actually get the same amount of light, so daylight still hurts. Stealth penalties from the bright light condition, right? Those penalties are there specifically from the concept of "Bright Light" in the rulebooks, so it works, right? No, they told me, it doesn't protect from that, because it doesn't reduce the amount of light that hits and reflects off of you.

Yes.

You heard me right.

It creates a shadow that doesn't exist so you can ignore penalties that may or may not exist and some penalties that exist because of the concept of bright light still effect you anyways, except when it doesn't.

WHAT.

No. WHAT?!

The other aspects of Void kineticists, I could go on. There are some cool ones, like creating actual darkness, not having to breath anymore (Awesome), and using gravity mind waves to throw yourself. But really, this is all I'll say more on the matter of the Void kineticist.

They missed the basic point of kineticists. The point is to actually, PHYSICALLY, primally, control the elements. The geokineticist isn't supposed to have some weird bass-ackwards conditions. It's not supposed to have a dozen asterisks on the end of each ability that say "*only applicable in very situational circumstances wherein your caster level exceeds the base 12 strength of a stone crafted by no more than twelve peasant--" NO. You PICK UP 25 POUNDS OF ROCKS AND THROW THEM. No big slog. No intense planning required for every circumstance, no 20ft long list of rules. You are the rock man. You do rocks. That's what you do.

The Void Kineticist? It's just rules. It's just being a really bad sorcerer. That's all it does. It misses the fundamental basis of kineticists as a whole.

As for the other classes:
I hate the medium class on it's own, and the archetypes here don't change that. If you like the base medium, and you want to give this one a spin, I can't say much.

For the mesmerist, some of the tricks seem needlessly nerfed. In one, you can share senses for up to a minute per level, unless you ever open your eyes in which case it immediately ends it and wastes the trick. Why? Is it really game breaking? Couldn't it just be a swift action to delay/restart the trick, with time still wasting either way? Slip bonds is alright, but incredibly situational and I can't see an instance where you'd pick it over the better ones like psychosomatic surge. One of them allows you to make people carry messages without knowing they did it, but you have to volunteer to a mesmerist's tricks so I don't see the point. They add new mesmerist gazes, and some of them are pretty useful. Not worth the asking price of physical, not even really the 10 bucks of PDF.

The divine occultist archetype, Reliquarian. It's what you'd expect and doesn't break the mold at all. I was disappointed with it. It might be my ignorance in Occultist implements, but the book gives you a few suggestions as to what your holy relic is, and then immediately tells you to get stuffed because the necromancy implement is a coin instead of the fingerbone of a saint like it suggested.

I fell asleep reading the the new Psychic rules.

Spiritualist archetype referenced a feat from a book I don't have on me at the moment. It kind of seems like that's what it's hanging on, so if you don't have inner sea guide on you, it's a big window shopping experience that leads nowhere. The remorse emotional focus is ok.

The serpent fire adept, a monk archetype for opening the chakras, is a good archetype. It does it's job. Being a monk, especially one focused on the chakras, it's still as weak as Limbo's tax code.

At around this point the book lost all interest to me. It just couldn't keep me with it's mild successes and huge pitfalls.

Again, it's not a terrible book. I just feel disappointed.

The Good: I can't think of a moment when the book made me want to scream in anger.

The Bad: I was smouldering on a low "What the hell, man?" setting the entire time. It insults your intelligence and doesn't put forth half the effort it should.

The Ugly: You'll never get to be a cool wood-bender and you'll have to be stepping on eggshells with the rules every 5 seconds as a void kineticist. The rest of the book evokes no strong emotions. Just disappointment and very mild enjoyment.


Best of the Origins Books

5/5

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

Occult Origins is definitely the best of the Origins books to date. Paizo has refined the series with each successive book. Occult Origins is a book of mostly “crunch” (i.e. mechanical rules options for characters), but it is the best kind of crunch—the kind that supports the flavour of the setting as well as giving characters fun new options. The material in this book is full of flavour that both expands the world of Golarion and expands our understanding of it. And this only serves to enhance the gaming experience.


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Thank you Lord Gadigan.

I would like to hear more about the Peacock Spirit one if that's alright.

What's odd about Beseeching the Patron and does it mean you need to be a witch to use it?

Silver Crusade Contributor

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Thomas Seitz wrote:
What's odd about Beseeching the Patron and does it mean you need to be a witch to use it?

Ritual Hex and Beseeching the Patron:
The feat requires the hex class feature, which means that witches, shamans, and hex-using archetypes. (Maybe VMC witches too, though...)

The Beseeching the Patron ritual grants you an additional hex for the next 24 hours.

Silver Crusade Contributor

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Thomas Seitz wrote:
I would like to hear more about the Peacock Spirit one if that's alright.

Peacock Spirit’s Tranquil Roar:
The ritual protects an area from various divinations and detections.
Occult Origins wrote:
Anyone attempting to cast a divination or enchantment spell or spell-like ability that detects thoughts or compels the truth within the area of effect, or that targets the area of effect with a remote sensing spell such as scrying, must first make a successful Will save.

Failure negates the spell and damages its caster.


Thank you for those update Kalindrindara.

I don't suppose you could tell me about the other three occult rituals?

Silver Crusade Contributor

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Sure!

Hearthfire of Valenhall:
Ulfen ritual. Light a lantern and place it on the prow of your ship. Keeps things dry, keeps food good, and points the way eastward. Probably limited use for most campaigns.

Invoking the Hero-God:
Call down one of the "gods" of lost Sarkoris into the souls of participants. Grants morale bonuses, but makes subjects vulnerable to anti-outsider attacks. The "god" remains in the primary caster's flesh, causing pain, until the ritual's effects end - and maybe beyond.

Seal of Dancing Dolls:
A Jistkan precursor to golem-crafting. Bind an outsider (who must be present) into an object or construct for a year, giving it animation.


Thank you Kalindlara! This has been very helpful.


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The rituals sound great. I especially like the Ulfen one, it has the feel of something you'd actually find among the non-adventurers in any world.


I'm interested to know what the True Silvered Throne Shaman archetype is like: what do they give up and what do they get (in a nutshell of course)?


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Duskblade wrote:
I'm interested to know what the True Silvered Throne Shaman archetype is like: what do they give up and what do they get (in a nutshell of course)?

Massive trade up on class skills.

Spirit Animal replaced by a "spellbook". You don't have to write spells in it or anything, but it takes a week to replace if you lose it.
Free Ritual Hex bonus feat!
Instead of your familiar, you get a Clockwork Spy with half your hitpoints.
No Wandering Spirit/Hex for you, but you can now do a minute-long ritual to get a one-hour Wandering Spirit (more or less- still no Hex). Useable 1/day, 2/day, and eventually 3/day as you level up.
Bonus to complete rituals successfully, and if you're the one in charge, you also boost the CL of the effect. Just trading out a hex for that.

Losing Wandering Hex hurts, since using Ritual Hex doesn't let you grab a hex from another spirit.


What are the new Uncanny archetypes?

Silver Crusade Contributor

"Uncanny" isn't really its own category - it's just part of the back-cover blurb. I think all of the archetypes have been described already...


The Blog Walk Paths Unseen in Occult Originsdescribes Void kineticists as those "who channel the universe's devouring maw and wield death and decay", does this mean that Void kineticists are naturally evil ?

How would a good aligned chaokineticist be portrayed considering the source of it's power ?


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Haldelar Baxter wrote:

The Blog Walk Paths Unseen in Occult Originsdescribes Void kineticists as those "who channel the universe's devouring maw and wield death and decay", does this mean that Void kineticists are naturally evil ?

How would a good aligned chaokineticist be portrayed considering the source of it's power ?

Well, kineticists generally aren't portrayed as seeking out their power, instead they "often awaken to their kinetic abilities during a violent or traumatic experience, releasing their power involuntarily". So, yeah, a good-aligned chaokineticist would be someone with a terrifying power who would presumably seek to use it carefully but for good purposes. Much like anyone who possesses a dark power they seek to use for good, like a good-aligned abyssal bloodline sorcerer.


Haldelar Baxter wrote:

The Blog Walk Paths Unseen in Occult Originsdescribes Void kineticists as those "who channel the universe's devouring maw and wield death and decay", does this mean that Void kineticists are naturally evil ?

How would a good aligned chaokineticist be portrayed considering the source of it's power ?

Death and decay aren't inherently evil. New plants and insects thrive off a rotting log. Growth and new life comes from death. I guess you could thematically look at it kind of like the Jedi, they seek to maintain a balance to the order of life.

Designer

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In fact, some occult circles have a strange view of the interaction between the Positive and Negative Energy Planes as being part of a single whole, rather than opposites, that, while many inhabitants of those planes disagree, could be a deeper reality. Perhaps a void/wood element kineticist might consider those two halves to be part of the same thing in terms of her power.

Liberty's Edge

Mark Seifter wrote:
In fact, some occult circles have a strange view of the interaction between the Positive and Negative Energy Planes as being part of a single whole, rather than opposites, that, while many inhabitants of those planes disagree, could be a deeper reality. Perhaps a void/wood element kineticist might consider those two halves to be part of the same thing in terms of her power.

Which kind of makes sense. Imagine what rampant uncontrolled POSITIVE ENERGY might do to the fragile balance between life and death. Rather than things dying and potentially coming back as undead(like what happens from time to time with negative energy), Imagine NOTHING dying or even being able to be killed.

Plant-life, Dangerous animals and monster populations running overtime, while some isolated groups are dying from positive energy over exposure. And that's not even considering the implications for if you happen to be in a position with no real hope of rescue, like being tortured or stuck inside a monsters innards(like an ooze, tarrasque, or any of the other creatures that can swallow whole, engulf, or anything similar in style), or worse their larders. Ogre cooks or other cannibalistic beings are some of the last people you want to see in a positive energy uncontrolled surge.

Silver Crusade Contributor

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It reminds me of Ragnorra and the Sign of Twisted Life. (I loved that book.)


Bring on the positive energy overlords.


Lord Gadigan wrote:

Whoop, reading through the whole section, I found two composite blasts (similar to Aetheric Boost and not actually having 'Blast' in their names) that I missed above.

Gravity + (Any Other Simple Physical Blast) gives Gravitic Boost. It amplifies a simple physical blast to do d8s instead of d6s; at 15th Level for a point of Burn you can also amplify composite blasts.

Negative + (Any Other Simple Energy Blast) gives Negative Admixture, which turns another simple blast to do half its normal damage type, and half negative energy.

I'll also note that the Negative Blast (the basic one) specifically doesn't heal stuff, instead just dealing no damage to things that would be healed with negative energy normally. (There is, however, a power called Void Healer that works on things healed by Negative Energy as a mirror of Kinetic Healer).

Edit: Partially ninja'd here by David Knott.

So if I'm aether/void then I really don't have a composite blast and instead can either add +1 per dice to my gravity blast or dice up to d8 to my telekinetic blast? (which averages out to the same thing) That sucks. I would have thought aether + void would have been able to actually combine into something cool.


Texas Snyper wrote:
Lord Gadigan wrote:

Whoop, reading through the whole section, I found two composite blasts (similar to Aetheric Boost and not actually having 'Blast' in their names) that I missed above.

Gravity + (Any Other Simple Physical Blast) gives Gravitic Boost. It amplifies a simple physical blast to do d8s instead of d6s; at 15th Level for a point of Burn you can also amplify composite blasts.

Negative + (Any Other Simple Energy Blast) gives Negative Admixture, which turns another simple blast to do half its normal damage type, and half negative energy.

I'll also note that the Negative Blast (the basic one) specifically doesn't heal stuff, instead just dealing no damage to things that would be healed with negative energy normally. (There is, however, a power called Void Healer that works on things healed by Negative Energy as a mirror of Kinetic Healer).

Edit: Partially ninja'd here by David Knott.

So if I'm aether/void then I really don't have a composite blast and instead can either add +1 per dice to my gravity blast or dice up to d8 to my telekinetic blast? (which averages out to the same thing) That sucks. I would have thought aether + void would have been able to actually combine into something cool.
Mark Seifter wrote:
Good eye, I was wondering who would spot that first. They intentionally don't have one; these two new elements are small due to space constraints and are thus better served mixing and matching for that reason (you can run into situations where you run out of selectable options if you don't diversify). It wasn't worth cutting other abilities to add it, as then it would have doubled down (both encouraging wood/wood/X more while also giving even fewer choices for a character who did so). If they ever appear in a longer format where they have enough options to go wood/wood/X or void/void/X, I would be sure to include a wood/wood composite as well (void has two blasts and so it required another composite). Wood/wood blast would likely be a damage increased version of the simple that uses the same infusions; if someone wanted to run with singleton of a new element in my game, I would use that composite and work with them to make some extra wood wild talents (perhaps from my list of other ones that wouldn't fit).
Mark Seifter wrote:
Gordrenn Higgler wrote:

What would be the cost of combining the Gravity blast (or Telekinetic blast) with Aetheric Boost and the boost composite from void?

Also how would the damage be calculated?

Gravity or telekinetic with both of those is an option at 15th, since they each work on composites. It would cost 3 burn and do 8d8+16. If you really wanted to run wild, though, you could put both of them on something that is already a composite (at 15th) like void blast (if you were void/aether/void), which would do 16d8+32. It costs 4 burn so is a significant commitment (even composite specialization, supercharged gather, and internal buffer would need to all come together to negate its cost, and that last one is a pretty limited resource), but it is the most damaging composite blast currently possible.


This question is for Kal and anyone else that has the book:

Is there ANYTHING that does a seance type dance like it does in Spirit Dance OR does seances like Medium for other classes?

I'm asking for a friend. He's interested in such things. Me I just want a spiritualist that has an animal as a phantom.


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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

Okay, the picture of the void kineticist just became my favorite piece of art. Not just because it looks super-cool (which it DOES), but because it looks EXACTLY like how I imagined a race for my home-brew setting. It's like you guys ordered it just for me. :D


For those with the book, do you think the Defense Talent Emptiness is worth taking ? And why ?


Will this book have expanded information/rules/uses for the chakra feats in the first book?
Can't wait to be able to get the pdf


Mark Seifter wrote:
In fact, some occult circles have a strange view of the interaction between the Positive and Negative Energy Planes as being part of a single whole, rather than opposites, that, while many inhabitants of those planes disagree, could be a deeper reality.

That philosophy's known as the esoteric tradition, which has a section devoted to it in Chapter 6 of Occult Adventures. (There's even a cute bit of art of a[n apparently now blonde] Enora standing on a chair just to talk to Rivani about it.)

Silver Crusade Contributor

Thomas Seitz wrote:

This question is for Kal and anyone else that has the book:

Is there ANYTHING that does a seance type dance like it does in Spirit Dance OR does seances like Medium for other classes?

I'm asking for a friend. He's interested in such things. Me I just want a spiritualist that has an animal as a phantom.

Not really, no. Seances are barely mentioned at all...


K. Thank you Kal. I wasn't sure there was anything like that. I mean I didn't THINK there was, but thought I'd ask.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Rylden wrote:

Will this book have expanded information/rules/uses for the chakra feats in the first book?

Can't wait to be able to get the pdf

Not auite, but it does have a Monk archetype that is really good at opening his chakras. He gets Psychic Sensitivity and the new Chakra feats as bonus feats along with bonuses that help him make the needed saves.


Just a quick query again:

What are the archetypes that are mentioned in this book again?

Silver Crusade Contributor

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Archetypes:

Fated guide - Spiritualist
Harrowed Society student - Arcanist
Id Rager - Bloodrager
Mind sword - Paladin
Nexian channeler - Medium
Reliquarian - Occultist
Serpent-fire adept - Monk
Supernaturalist - Druid
True silvered throne - Shaman


Thanks again Kal. I was just checking to see if I missed something.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Did I miss the part of the thread that talks about " the secrets of Chelish mental disciplines to wither the unbending will of devils?"

Silver Crusade Contributor

Stone Dog wrote:
Did I miss the part of the thread that talks about " the secrets of Chelish mental disciplines to wither the unbending will of devils?"

You may have... ^_^


Kalindlara wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Q1: Does the Monk archie specifically allow it to work with Unchained? 'Cause Imma roll one when my Barb dies in that case.

Q2: Any other class specific features, such as Rage Powers, Rogue Talents and such?


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Secret Wizard wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

Q1: Does the Monk archie specifically allow it to work with Unchained? 'Cause Imma roll one when my Barb dies in that case.

Q2: Any other class specific features, such as Rage Powers, Rogue Talents and such?

A1: Yes, it gives alternate replacements where applicable for the Unchained Monk.

A2: Not for core or hybrid classes. Obviously, there are quite a few class specific features for occult classes.


Thanks, Dave!

So excited about my future Kundalini master! Could you at least tell me which features are removed for the UnMonk? I imagine that Bonus Feats, but what else?


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Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

The archetype alters the class skills and loses stunning fist and all bonus feats. Depending on which type of monk you are playing, he also loses either Slow Fall, High Jump, and Wholeness of Body or his 4th and 8th level ki powers.


I'm curious about the Id Rager, Reliquarian, and Fated Guide. Any chance that we could get some details about them (and the Nexian channeler as well. That's got my very curious too).

Sovereign Court

Duskblade wrote:
I'm curious about the Id Rager, Reliquarian, and Fated Guide. Any chance that we could get some details about them (and the Nexian channeler as well. That's got my very curious too).

Id Rager is a Bloodrager that gets Phantom abilities instead of a bloodline. Unfortunately, it is also completely unplayable without significant GM fiat, because of how vague it is about what 'abilities' you get from the phantom.

Fated Guide is a Pharasma-centric Spiritualist that requires taking the new Remorse Phantom and gets Deific Obedience.

Reliquarian Occultist gets a domain, but loses an implement and uses Wis for mental focus.

Nexian Channeler gets the Nex spirit (very similar to archmage, but cannot use necromancy) instead of the archmage spirit and has a few thematic abilities that reward you for never changing from the Nex spirit.

EDIT: Woops, meant Remorse, not Regret.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Supernatural druid sounds cool!

Scarab Sages RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

Lukas Stariha wrote:

Fated Guide is a Pharasma-centric Spiritualist that requires taking the new Regret Phantom and gets Deific Obedience

Can't wait to see this. What's the Regret phantom like?


Lukas Stariha wrote:
Duskblade wrote:
I'm curious about the Id Rager, Reliquarian, and Fated Guide. Any chance that we could get some details about them (and the Nexian channeler as well. That's got my very curious too).
Id Rager is a Bloodrager that gets Phantom abilities instead of a bloodline. Unfortunately, it is also completely unplayable without significant GM fiat, because of how vague it is about what 'abilities' you get from the phantom.

Ultra odd. A lot of the abilities are useless without a master and/or a slam attack.

Scarab Sages Developer

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This is not errata or a FAQ, just how I read the ability.

For the id rager, go to the emotional focus in request ion. let's say Dedication. The id rager gets the abilities listed with the dedication emotional focus (that is, the additional abilities a phantom receives for having that focus). Skills and saves aren't abilities, so he gets Iron Will, Dutiful Strike (and he counts as both the spiritualist and the phantom, so if you attack the id rager, he gains the benefits listed), defending aura (when 7th), devoted servant (when 12th - which doesn't do anything for him) and steadfast devotion (when 17th).

Unless the id rager has a slam attack, abilities connected to a slam attack don't apply. So the id rager won't benefit from every ability, and some emotional focuses are better than others.


Ironically, the only Emotion Focus that is fully functional without a slam attack and with no dead features due to the lack of master is the Hatred focus... Which grants Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, a rather lacklustre feat for the STR-crazed Bloodrager.

PS - fittingly, the only way Bloodragers can get a slam attack is Undead Anatomy, without dipping that is.


What's the new monk archetype like? I have a player who really wants to build a character around the new chakra system, is this what he needs?

Sovereign Court

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Secret Wizard wrote:

Ironically, the only Emotion Focus that is fully functional without a slam attack and with no dead features due to the lack of master is the Hatred focus... Which grants Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, a rather lacklustre feat for the STR-crazed Bloodrager.

PS - fittingly, the only way Bloodragers can get a slam attack is Undead Anatomy, without dipping that is.

Urban Bloodrager from Heroes of the Streets seems to stack with Id Rager, so get your rage bonus to Dex instead!


Lukas Stariha wrote:
Secret Wizard wrote:

Ironically, the only Emotion Focus that is fully functional without a slam attack and with no dead features due to the lack of master is the Hatred focus... Which grants Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, a rather lacklustre feat for the STR-crazed Bloodrager.

PS - fittingly, the only way Bloodragers can get a slam attack is Undead Anatomy, without dipping that is.

Urban Bloodrager from Heroes of the Streets seems to stack with Id Rager, so get your rage bonus to Dex instead!

I thought about that. Sneak Attack on top of it, granted from Hatred, seems quite fitting.

It's still a CRAZY specific archetype combination to make Id work.

Maybe Remorse is more workable?


I am waiting for my subscription to be posted so I can get my complimentary pdf. It is the only reason I resubbed. Does this book actually contain the additional options for kineticist that are mentioned in the blog?

Specifically I am talking about

Spoiler:
The Occult Origins tells of chaokineticists, who channel the universe's devouring maw and wield death and decay, and the phytokinetic disciplines of distant Tian, who kindle the energy of life to violent and deadly ends. It whispers the secrets of Chelish mental disciplines to wither the unbending will of devils. It details the ancient art of the reliquarians, who suckle powers the gods themselves leave in their passing. It will teach you how to develop the powers of your psychic mind through introspection, or reflection on the lives—and deaths—you have long since outgrown. It can teach you to modify the delicate web of bone of sinew that contains the immortal essence of your being.

Silver Crusade Contributor

They're definitely in there. The basic phytokinesis talent wasn't in the first printing, though - make sure to check this thread to find it.


what do you think of the new types? interesting?

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