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Last Sunday I was scheduled to run a playtest of the OA classes using the Tears at Bitter Manor module. Unfortunately, life intervened and the game was delayed to this coming weekend. Nonetheless, I have my pregens ready to go for the players, so I thought I would post those now and talk about the experience of building them - with actual game experience to be added when the time comes.
First, Our Heroes!
Male human spiritualist 5
Init +2; Senses Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16
(armor +5, deflection +1, Dex +2)
hp 36 (5d8+10)
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +9
Defensive Abilities spiritual interference
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee kukri +3 (1d4, 18-20/x2) or
light mace +3 (1d6, 20/x2)
Ranged +1 heavy crossbow +6 (1d10+1, 19-20/x2)
Special Attacks bonded manifestation 5 rounds/day (shield +4)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th):
At will – detect undead
Spiritualist Spells Known (CL 5th, touch +3, ranged touch +5, concentration +9 [+13 casting defensively]):
2nd (3/day) – cure moderate wounds, haste, spiritual weapon
1st (5/day) – cure light wounds, inflict light wounds (DC 15), mage armor, magic fang
0 – daze (DC 14), detect magic, guidance, light, read magic, stabilize
STATISTICS
Str 10 (+0), Dex 14 (+2), Con 13 (+1), Int 14 (+2), Wis 18 (+4), Cha 10 (+0)
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 15
Feats Combat Casting, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload (heavy crossbow)
Skills Bluff +4, Heal +12, Knowledge (local) +10, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +8, Sense Motive +12, Spellcraft +10
Languages Common, Goblin, Osiriani
SQ bonded sense, knacks, phantom, shared consciousness
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), scroll of fly (x2), scroll of lesser restoration (x2); Other Gear +1 heavy crossbow and 10 bolts, +1 chain shirt, handy haversack, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1, healer’s kit, adventuring gear, 75 gp.
CG Medium outsider (phantom)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16
(Dex +1, natural +6)
hp 30 (4d10+8)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +4
DR 5/slashing
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 slams +8 (1d8+3, 20/x2)
Special Attacks magic attacks
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 15
Base Atk +4; CMB +7; CMD 18
Feats Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam)
Skills Acrobatics +8, Intimidate +12, Perception +7, Survival +7
SQ deliver touch spells, link, share spells
When Harald’s older sister Miriane joined the Andoran army to fight the Goblinblood Wars, the bright but bookish boy lied about his age to follow her. Not terribly skilled with weapons, his talent for healing instead earned him a place in the army’s medical corps, but lacking any understanding of how the military functioned, he wound up assigned to a completely different unit than his sister. For more than a year he tried to get word without revealing his deceit or his connection to her, all the while treating soldiers on the front lines, but without success. He was assigned to work with a mercenary unit one day when they received orders to help relieve a badly battered infantry unit with heavy casualties. That was when he saw her, whirling in a battle frenzy amongst goblins and hobs like a bloody tornado, the last of her men still standing. Harald called upon his magic to stabilize or heal as many as he could, but there were too many, and he couldn’t reach Miriane. Finally, the last of the goblins fell – and Miriane collapsed as her wounds caught up with her. With no more magic left to him, Harald could only cry out and run toward her. Their eyes met for a moment… and she was gone.
Except she did not go. Instead her spirit lingers within Harald, still caught up in her final rage. The mercenary company’s leader, “Igneous” Crandal, helped the young medic deal with his grief and put him in touch with some savants who knew how to help him deal with the new spirit that was bound to him. In the decade since, Harald has learned much about the world after death, but he still works to keep as many from reaching it ahead of their time as he can.
Female half-elf medium 5
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 17, flat-footed 21
(armor +7, deflection +1, Dex +3, spirit +3)
hp 36 (5d8+10)
Fort +4, Ref +11, Will +5 (+7 vs enchantments); +2 vs entangle, stagger, and paralysis
Immune sleep
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.; ignores difficult terrain
Melee +1 elven curve blade +12 (1d10+7, 18-20/x2) or
+1 elven curve blade with Power Attack +11 (1d10+10, 18-20/x2)
Ranged light crossbow +7 (1d8, 19-20/x2)
Special Attacks trance 2/day
Medium Spells Known (CL 5th, touch +7, ranged touch +7, concentration +7):
1st (2/day) – entropic shield, expeditious retreat, longstrider, unerring weapon
STATISTICS
Str 14 (+2), Dex 18 (+4), Con 12 (+1), Int 13 (+1), Wis 8 (-1), Cha 14 (+2)
Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 19 (21 vs disarm and sunder)
Feats Exotic Weapon Proficiency (elven curve blade), Power Attack, Spirit Specialization (Dexterity), Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (elven curve blade)
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +0, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (religion) +9, Perception +9, Spellcraft +6, Swim +0, Stealth +2; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven, Celestial
SQ ancestral arms, dual vessel, shared séance, spirit
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, potion of fly; Other Gear +1 elven curve blade, light crossbow and 10 bolts, +1 breastplate, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, adventuring gear, 50 gp
SPIRITS KNOWN
The Rabbit Prince (Marinel of the Lash/Terai Steelbones) Celvenna always contacts the Rabbit Prince as her primary spirit during her daily séance. The statblock above reflects the Rabbit Prince’s benefits. The Rabbit Prince’s spirit bonus is +3.
The Cricket (Arquiel Skystrider) Celvenna always contacts the Cricket as her secondary spirit during her daily séance. The statblock above reflects the Cricket’s benefits. The Cricket’s spirit bonus is +3.
The Bear (Pareesa Havenor) Celvenna only contacts the Bear via trance. The Bear’s spirit bonus is +2.
The Winged Serpent (Amanda Trueheart) Celvenna only contacts the Winged Serpent via trance. The Winged Serpent’s spirit bonus is +2.
Celvenna never really felt like she fit in anywhere. The product on a single night’s encounter at a roadside inn, Celvenna never knew her elven father, and although her human mother loved her greatly, when she married a human man and began building a family with him Celvenna felt herself excluded there as well. Her mother did what she could to help the young half-elf connect with her cultures (even going so far as to buy the girl an elven curve blade and hire an instructor to teacher her how to use it), but nothing Celvenna found seemed to give her something to latch onto.
Until the day she met Rhoma Bissel. The human wizard was a former adventurer, and already somewhat past her prime when she met the half-elf, but Rhoma recognized the restlessness in the girl. She offered to put her in contact with a medium who could connect Celvenna to the spirits of her ancestors. The experience changed her life. She found herself linked to the souls of her grandmothers: Marinel of the Lash, elven priestess of Calistria, and Terai Steelbones, human cleric of Gorum. Under their guidance, Celvenna became a warrior and a medium herself, and finally found herself in the process. She has since learned to channel the spirits of more ancestors, including Arquiel Skystrider, elven cleric of Desna who was said to have traveled to every continent on Golarion in search of lore to help defeat the fiend Treerazer; Pareesa Harvenor, human druid and protector of the Verduran Forest; and most recently Amanda Trueheart, human cleric of Cayden Cailean and duelist, who was said to have never lost a fight in which she drew first blood. With each new spirit she learns more about her history, and with each new hero she grows closer to forging her own heroic legacy.
Male elf occultist 5
Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +16
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15
(armor +5, Dex +3)
hp 31 (5d8+5)
Fort +6, Ref +5, Will +6 (+8 vs enchantments)
Immune sleep
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee mw rapier +5 (1d6+1, 18-20/x2)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +7 (1d8+2, 20/x3)
Special Attacks energy ray 3d6, flash insight +2, mental focus (12 pts), mind eye, object reading, psychic weapon, shift focus, watchful eye
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th):
At will – aura sight (1 round only)
Occultist Spells Known (CL 5th, touch +4, ranged touch +6, concentration +9):
2nd (3/day) – darkvision, locate object, sound burst (DC 16)
1st (5/day) – burning hands (DC 15), comprehend languages, expeditious retreat
0 – detect magic, dancing lights, mage hand
Implements Divination, Evocation, Transmutation
STATISTICS
Str 12 (+1), Dex 16 (+3), Con 12 (+1), Int 18 (+4), Wis 13 (+1), Cha 8 (-1)
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Persuasive, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
Skills Acrobatics +6, Climb +2, Diplomacy +9, Disable Device +14, Intimidate +9 , Knowledge (arcana) +12, Knowledge (local) +9, Perception +16, Spellcraft +12 (+14 identifying magic items), Stealth +4, Use Magic Device +9; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception.
Languages Celestial, Common, Elven, Halfling, Orc, Sylvan
SQ elven magic, magic item skill
Combat Gear wand of aspect of the falcon (50 charges), wand of cure light wounds (50 charges); Other Gear +1 composite (+1) longbow and 20 arrows, masterwork rapier, +1 elven shirt, cloak of resistance +1, masterwork thieves’ tools, lenses of detection, adventuring gear, 10 gp
Khetashiel considers himself a finder of lost things, and this is in many ways true, although most of the “things” he contracts to locate and return are people. Psychic abilities are not unheard-of among elves, but his ability to gain knowledge and power from items is rare even for them, and his affinity for puzzles allowed him to turn those insights into more information about those around him than they usually wanted anyone to know. It did not take long for him to start making a living with this knowledge.
Still, he was young and somewhat naïve when he began. Much of his initial success as a “contract investigator” was due to his partnership with Branda Tulles, a human rogue who brought much-needed streetwise to the team when they first started out. Eventually the partnership dissolved over disagreements over moral standards and operational planning – Khetashiel wasn’t nearly choosy enough about the contracts he accepted for Branda’s conscience, while Branda was far too likely to improvise in the field for Khetashiel’s detail-oriented comfort – but the two remained on good terms afterward, even as Khetashiel developed a solo reputation for effectiveness and almost fanatical adherence to the terms of his contracts. He does maintain a moral code as well, most involving “wetwork” and a general distaste for collateral damage, but he has killed before in the pursuit of his goals and likely will again – not everyone is willing to let Khetashiel merely take the objects or individuals he has been hired to retrieve, and the elf has no interest in dying as a result of this unwillingness. It’s just business, after all.
Female human psychic 5
Init +2; Senses Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 13, flat-footed 16
(armor +5, deflection +1, Dex +2)
hp 30 (5d6+10)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +5
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +1 scimitar +5 (1d6+4, 18-20/x2)
Ranged light crossbow +4 (1d8, 19-20/x2)
Special Attacks dark half 3 rounds/day, overpowering mind, phrenic pool (5 pts)
Psychic Spells Known (CL 5th, touch +4, ranged touch +4, concentration +8 [+12 casting defensively]):
2nd (5/day) – alter self, bull’s strength, mind thrust II
1st (7/day) – charm person (DC 14), magic missile, ray of enfeeblement (DC 14), shield, true strike
0 – dancing lights, daze (DC 13), detect magic, ghost sound, prestidigitation, read magic
Discipline Abomination
STATISTICS
Str 14 (+2), Dex 14 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 17 (+3), Wis 8 (-1), Cha 16 (+3)
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Combat Casting, Light Armor Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (scimitar)
Skills Intimidate +11, Knowledge (arcana) +11, Knowledge (religion) +11, Perception +7, Sense Motive +7, Spellcraft +11.
Languages Abyssal, Common, Elven, Qadiran
SQ dual talented
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds; Other Gear +1 scimitar, light crossbow and 10 bolts, +1 elven shirt, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, adventuring gear, 10 gp
When Ferissa was nine, she stole a hand mirror from another girl at school. The other girl was cruel and spiteful where Ferissa was concerned, and the act was – as even Ferissa knew at the time, deep down – petty revenge. Still, it was a pretty mirror, and when the girl pulled it from her bag in her bedroom that night, she grinned down at her reflection in pride at what she’d done.
Her reflection looked back at her and said, quite clearly, “Well, it’s a start. But really, we should have killed her.”
Eventually her parents took her to see a Sarenite cleric named Dern Fosimuth to find out why their friendly, outgoing daughter and suddenly become timid, withdrawn and almost phobic of mirrors. Dern’s kind, caring manner eventually teased out of the girl a thin tendril of trust, and Ferissa told him what was going on: her reflection was talking to her, telling her to do horrible, violent things, and her head was pounding fit to burst. Dern, in consultation with several savants, eventually diagnosed the young psychic as what she was, and helped her develop some focusing techniques to control the dark reflection inside her. Unfortunately, they were never able to drive it away entirely, and in the years since, Ferissa has begun adventuring, looking for a way to rid herself of the reflection once and for all. Instead, however, Ferissa has found herself calling on that reflection from time to time, needing its pragmatic, callous cruelty in moments of danger or extreme tension. “I want what you want,” her reflection tells her every time. “Just let me get it for us…”
Male halfling aerokineticist 5
Init +5; Senses Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 16, flat-footed 16
(armor +5, Dex +5, size +1)
hp 56 (5d8+30)
Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +2 (+4 vs fear)
Defensive Abilities enveloping winds
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee masterwork heavy mace +4 (1d6-1, 20/x2)
Ranged air blast +9 (3d6+7, 20/x2)
Special Attacks air cushion, extended range, feel the burn +1, metakinesis (Empower), pressurized blast infusion
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th, concentration +9):
At will – air blast
STATISTICS
Str 9 (-1), Dex 20 (+5), Con 18 (+4), Int 10 (+0), Wis 10 (+0), Cha 9 (-1)
Base Atk +3; CMB +1; CMD 16
Feats Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics +7, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +7, Stealth +14, Use Magic Device +4.
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ elemental focus (air), fleet of foot, infusion specialization (substance)
Combat Gear potion of fly, potion of invisibility; Other Gear masterwork heavy mace, +1 elven shirt, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +1, handy haversack, adventuring gear, 150 gp
Even as a young boy, Charid could not sit still. Given to flights of fancy and airy dreaming, the halfling frequently got into trouble during lessons and chores. Born into a life of slavery in Cheliax like so many of his kind, Charid struggled to survive the brutality of his masters and their extreme impatience with his lack of focus. Charid grew resilient and quick, but withdrawn and frustrated as well. When he was a teenager, though, everything changed. His masters had taken him a few others of their least-liked slaves into a dark temple in the Chelish hinterlands, where Charid learned to his horror that they were to be sacrificed in a dark blood rite. Before the rite could be completed, though, a band of adventurers calling themselves the Golden Watch interrupted it, and a massive battle broke out. Charid was caught in the middle of the fight, and a bolt of lightning from the hand of his infernalist master slammed into him.
Instead of killing him, though, it seemed to wrap around him, almost lovingly – and then rebounded against the evil wizard, ending the threat forever.
Afterward, the Golden Watch helped Charid deal with the psychological impact of having killed someone, and also aided him in escaping Cheliax for freedom in Andoran. Charid has become an adventurer himself, seeking to understand his connection to the wind and storms. He remains quite shy and withdrawn in many ways, still haunted by the effects of his slavery, but all that changes when he calls air and lightning to his hands and channels it against those who prey on the weak. Then his laughter echoes like the very thunder itself.
(Comments on character creation tomorrow.)
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So life intervened again, and it looks like we're still not going to be playing Tears at Bitter Manor yet. However, I took advantage of our monthly Game Day yesterday to run these pregens through a different scenario, Pathfinder Society adventure 0-18: The Trouble With Secrets. This is a retired scenario, so I wasn't worried about ruining any player's chances to run through it on "illegal" playtest characters, and it was also one I've played and run myself, so I was familiar with it and thought I'd be able to compare this party to my own experiences. (Needless to say, spoilers for this particular module follow.)
Encounter One: Four 3.5 human fighter/rogues, two Pathfinder hyenas
As is pretty typical for the way I prep Season 0 mods, I used Pathfinder stats for anything that wasn't pre-printed in the mod, and the printed stats when they were just right there on the page for me. The fight begins with an attempted ambush by the bad guys, but I rolled terribly and the PCs pretty well (Khetashiel pulled off a 33, but that is sort of what he does), so the ambush wasn't really. Most of the melee combat focused on Celvenna the medium and Miriane the phantom, as intended; both took some sneak attacks from the flanking enemies, and Miriane in particular got beat up pretty heavily (this turned out to be a pattern for her, as it happens). Part of the problem there was that Harald, her spiritualist, had forgotten mage armor for her before the group went into the vault. Nonetheless, Celvenna gave at least as well as she got, one-shotting two opponents and leaving a third with only 3hp left after a single swing.
The other real star here was Charid the aerokineticist, who was basically unable to miss and had an average damage about 5 points higher than the bad guys' total hit points. His first two shots - one past cover - both dropped their targets instantly, and his third attack, at the one Celvenna hadn't quite managed to take out, put the poor man two points past negative Con. Charid's player was rolling very well on his damage too - the average on 3d6 is 10.5, and he was pretty consistently rolling between 13-16 damage on his dice alone. Khetashiel and Ferissa the psychic, for their parts, were able to participate (Khetashiel landed a couple moderate hits with his bow, and Ferissa found magic missile as effective as ever), but neither really shone here.
Encounter Two: Two caryatid columns
Again, Khetashiel's hefty Perception bonus made spotting the constructs for what they were almost an afterthought. Thus forewarned, a small amount of buffing ensued: Celvenna got bull's strength from Ferissa, which did nothing for her attack bonus but did increase her damage by +3, Celvenna went ahead and tranced for the Winged Serpent, and Harald actually cast mage armor and magic fang on Miriane. The group then slowly proceeded into the room until the columns animated and everyone rolled initiative. The entire party beat the columns - although that was in part because I forgot the initiative bonus they get for coming out of statue mode - and Celvenna walked up to the nearer one and rolled a natural 19 with her elven curve blade, followed by a confirmation, and blew straight through the column's entire hit points in one shot, DR notwithstanding. Unfortunately, the column's shatter ability replied in kind with 17 points of damage to the weapon, giving it the broken condition.
The rest of the group focused on the remaining column; Miriane managed a small amount of damage, Harald couldn't get past the DR 5 with his crossbow, and Charid once again hammered his target with his air blast. (Note that, to this point, Charid has not missed with his blast.) Finally, Khetashiel strode forward, raised his cure light wounds wand - which he had decided to make his evocation implement for the day, because his player is that kind of guy - and sent an energy blast at the column, rolling two natural 20s in a row and dealing a whopping 6d6+2 points of fire damage to the column, destroying it. ("What was that?" asked one of the other characters. "My cure wand," Khetashiel replied, grinning. "Anybody need any healing?") Rather than make the PCs retreat to get someone to cast mending on Celvenna's weapon, I ruled they found a wand of mending after the encounter to keep things moving.
Encounter 3: Two vampire spawn
The two spawn were crowded into a small, 10 x 10 room at the top of the map, so when Charid beat them on initiative he was dealing with cover to off-set them being flat-footed. This marked his first attempt to use his Empowered air blast, and it went quite well. He hit, and after his 50% bonus from Empower (burn negated with a move action) did enough to destroy the spawn outright. That left only one, and although Celvenna missed it with her blade at first, when it attempted to grab her and bite, the AoO cut through half its hit points and kept it from hitting her. Ferissa finally decided to start really seeing what she could do as a psychic and finished the spawn off by basically tearing its brain in half. As they regrouped, I found myself surprised that no one had any negative levels at this point (very much not the experience I remembered from my play through...).
After the spawn, the party decided that it was time for the silversheen, so they went ahead and applied it before moving on. There was a "hidden" door, but since Khetashiel could find it even on a natural 1, I don't think it actually counted. In the passage beyond, a long side tunnel rose slowly toward the surface, and Khetashiel used his mind eye ability to confirm that it was a secondary surface access that no one had known about previously. That settled, the group continued to the next encounter.
Encounter 4: Four human 3.5 rangers
This fight was another one I remembered being a lot harder when I played it. The rangers are archers, two with improved cover from arrow slits, two more with standard cover from a cage door. Khetashiel won initiative this time and decided to go for broke, shooting through one of the arrow slits back at the archer behind it; a natural 20 let him get away with it, even if he didn't confirm, and he rolled a pretty solid damage roll as well. Celvenna was able to make a stab through the bars to get at the nearer one, but it was Miriane who really stole the show here, almost casually walking through the walls between her and the archers before taking a swing. Although she didn't do a lot of damage (I think she only hit once), she did a masterful job of distracting the opponents from the rest of the group. Charid tried to duplicate Khetashiel's trick by firing back through the arrow slit, but finally (finally!) missed, and Harald's spiritual weapon likewise wasn't able to do much.
Things got even worse for the rangers when Khetashiel applied himself to picking the lock on the door, succeeding on his first try and opening the way for Celvenna to move into melee as well, while one of the remaining archers got himself cornered by Miriane and was forced to switch to melee. Although Miriane got fairly torn up, no one else took any damage after that, and the room was mopped up in short order.
With buffs still running (most notably a re-cast bull's strength for Celvenna from Ferissa), the group pushed on to the final room.
Encounter 5: 3.5 human vampire fighter 6
The notorious meatgrinder for which the scenario was originally banned, this fight went much, much differently than I expected. The vampire won initiative and attempted to dominate Celvenna, but the combination of a reasonable DC (just 15) and Celvenna's half-elven resistance to enchantments meant that the attempt was unsuccessful. In response, Khetashiel fired his undead bane bow with his now-silvered arrows and managed to hit her AC 27 exactly, thanks to Harald's haste, his own bane and a good dice roll. That burned through about 40% of her hit points right there. Ferissa followed up with a mind thrust II for another 10 or so, since I couldn't seem to roll above a 2 on any of those saves, and Charid used a potion of invisibility and his haste-boosted speed to get into the room and past the vampire before blasting her. Even with the bonuses for being invisible, though, Charid's dice weren't enough to get him over the top here. Miriane attempted to circle behind the vampire and attempt a disarm, but both the movement and the combat maneuver provoked, and by the time the AoOs had resolved, Miriane had been driven back into Harald's consciousness.
The vampire's tactics stipulated that she preferred to go after arcane casters first, and since Ferissa was at the back of the group, she elected to focus her attentions on Charid. She had no difficulty hitting him, but 50+ hit points meant the aerokineticist could take the hit without too much trouble. Once that was done, Celvenna came up behind her and took another swing, and once again the shot hit exactly on the AC it needed. As her player rolled max damage for the curve blade, it was more than the vamp could take, and she was forced into gaseous form. This did not save her, and a quick beheading later, the deed was done for good.
Overall Thoughts:
The encounter I fully expected to see at least one character death in, and potentially a TPK, didn't even last a full two rounds. That definitely says something about the solidity of these classes and of the party as a whole. Each of the first three fights saw at least one foe killed in a single hit; really can't complain about the damage output. I felt like all the players had a pretty good time, and everyone was able to contribute. There were some concerns on the parts of the players about balance, especially with regard to the aerokineticist, but I didn't really share them.
Harald the Spiritualist and Miriane the Phantom:
I'm not sure Harald got his "moment to shine" like the rest of the characters did, but at the same time, his phantom kept the living members of the party from having to absorb the 60ish or so damage I did to it over the course of the mod, and that's nothing to sneeze at. Haste remains ridiculously good (but we knew that already), and as a healer build goes, this one seemed to work pretty well. Miriane worked fairly well against lower-level groups, doing steady damage but missing regularly as well; she was basically worthless against the vampire, however, beyond eating AoOs - had anyone else been willing to provoke them.
Celvenna the Medium:
This was a straightforward melee build, and straightforward melee is what I got out of it. She was effective, tanked decently and made the bad guys pay for getting too close to her - pretty much all you can ask for out of a frontliner, especially when you throw in "didn't get dominated and turned against the party." She never cast a single spell, though, and her two uses of trance - both for the Winged Serpent - didn't really pay off all that much. Although she did what she was built to do, she felt very much like a standard issue Big Stupid Fighter in actual play. I can't help thinking that some of the suggestions made on the forums, things like adding detect undead, speak with dead and so on as spell-likes, would really go far to make sure that even an "I hit things" build still feels like something distinct.
Khetashiel the Occultist
Being able to add undead bane to his bow as a part of spell prep turned out to be a huge deal. I asked this once before in a different thread, but I think it bears repeating: can the Shift Focus ability to move focus around be used to change the decisions made when you use the legacy weapon and aegis abilities? Even at a one-minute activation time, I can see some definite potential with bane weapons and defiant armors. Khetashiel's player was extremely happy with the character, feeling very much like he had something to do in nearly every situation. With lots of skills and focus powers to choose from, he wasn't wrong. (I've decided to switch out his darkvision spell for spider climb after this playtest, since the player spent the whole time with third eye activated and never had any need for the spell.) I would probably say that, all in all, the occultist was the most generally and broadly successful in this particular game; that said, the player never used any of the spells he had, just his focus abilities and skills.
Ferissa the Psychic
Although Ferissa cast spells several times, she pretty much stuck with three: bull's strength, magic missile and mind thrust. One attempt at charm person failed, and otherwise she didn't really try anything else. She did activate her dark half in the final fight, but it did nothing whatsoever - bleed doesn't bother vampires, of course, and DR 5/magic is no help either. Likewise, her phrenic pool was too small and had too little impact to be meaningful or interesting. (Point of order on that, by the way - we were playtesting under the assumptions I had used when I made the characters, namely here that mind thrust is not mind-effecting. Had that not been my understanding, I would have swapped Overpowering Mind for Will of the Dead, which would have made the pool much more meaningful, but would have also felt like an ability tax to close a massive hole in her offense.) I couldn't really distinguish her from a sorcerer, and it was my impression that, of all the players, Ferissa's was the least satisfied with their class. I keep comparing the phrenic pool and disciplines against the potential of, say, an arcanist's exploits, and it seem like there's so much being left on the table.
Charid the Kineticist
In contrast to much of what I have seen elsewhere on the boards, Charid had no real difficulties with accuracy whatsoever. We went through three encounters before he even missed, and his damage was wasted to a certain extent due to massive overkill in a couple of places. To be sure, that impression was bolstered by good rolling on the part of his player, but I would have a hard time, at least at this level, supporting the idea that the class simply can't hit without relying on touch attacks. That said, his build was also the most constrained of any of the five: hugely imbalanced stats, his first three feats basically pre-chosen, and still he had almost nothing to do outside of "I shoot it" every round. "I shoot it" was a pretty effective strategy - he was arguably the best damage dealer at the table - but it was definitely lacking in subtlety or variety. The choice to focus on the air blast over the electricity blast was borne out by the vampire's electricity resistance 10 (worse than her DR 5/silver and magic), but it would have been nice to have the option.
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I played the Kineticist and found it to be a lot of fun. But the character was fun in the same way that "Space Invaders" is fun: it's great to stand there shooting things and watching them blow up, but after an hour you're ready to go do something else. I was actually excited when I finally got hit because it meant SOMETHING different was finally happening.
I haven't looked closely at what other types of Kineticist can do, but this particular build is only capable of standing in one place and shooting. If you like that style of play, then it's a great class. It does one thing and it does it exceptionally well.
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I was Ferissa, and, yes, playing the psychic felt like playing any sort of nine-level spellcaster. I constantly was asking myself "What is the appropriate level of response to the threat level on the board? Do I use powerful magics here? Or do I use lower budget powers to contribute?" That's one of the reasons I utilized the spells that I did. The other is that many of the encounters were immune to most of my abilities. The caryatid column, the vampire spawn and the vampire boss herself were all immune to daze, charm, and ray of enfeeblement. I did daze one of the rangers behind the wall during the fourth encounter, but other than that, mind thrust and bull's strength were the way I went. If we were up against a goblin warren or an investigative adventure, I suspect I'd get more mileage out of the spell list I had.
The big problem I see with the class from my limited exposure is that there's not a lot to do with the phrenic pool. Overpowering Mind is a nice ability, but limiting the pool to increasing Will DCs by 1 at low-level is just silly. Your decision to increase your DC by 1 will only be useful 5% of the time you use the pool. Ferissa had 5 points in her pool. On average, that means I'd have to use the power 20 times before it noticeably had an effect.
I would have liked to been able to increase the potency of my psychic powers. One suggestion I made was that the phrenic pool could be used to increase the DCs of psychic attacks and defenses, making the psychic the masters of mental combat they should be. Alternatively, maybe a talent that allows a psychic to target creatures that are immune to mental effects?