[Radiance House] Pact Magic Unbound: Grimoire of Lost Souls Backer Playtest Feedback


Product Discussion

1,051 to 1,100 of 1,105 << first < prev | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | next > last >>
Contributor

2 people marked this as a favorite.

And with that, it seems all feedback has been implemented. :D


I've been attempting to include some pact magic content in an oracle summoner build I've been making lately, and it's led to a question. The "spirit touched summons" revelation gives your summons the spirit touched template (surprise, surprise), which gives the summons the amateur occultist feat. Do they come pre-bound to a spirit when you summon them? If so, do you get to choose which one it is?


Alexander Augunas wrote:
Third Mind wrote:

Also, under Taios, the wording seems odd.

"As an immediate action, you invoke Taios’s unchained power when you roll a d20 in order to roll 1d6 and add the result to your d20 die. You must use this ability before the result of your d20 roll is revealed. This surge die increases to 1d8 at 8th level and 1d10 at 16th level. After using this ability, it becomes expended for 5 rounds."

I'm assuming it means that, "When you roll a d20, you may roll 1d6..."

This may have already been mentioned though.

This is the new wording:

Quote:

Taios Surge: Whenever you roll a d20, you can invoke Taios’s power as an immediate action in order to roll 1d6 and add the result to your d20 roll or check. You must use this ability before the result of your roll or check is revealed. At 8th level, you roll 1d8 instead of 1d6 and add the result to your d20 roll or check. At 16th level, you roll 1d10 instead of 1d8. After using this ability, it becomes expended for 5 rounds.

Capstone Empowerment: If you have one or more mythic tiers, you can expend Taios surge for 5 hours in order to regain one use of mythic power.

It does. As does the Xalen tweak. Awesome work sir!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

All I want for Christmas is a release date for Pact Magic Unbound: Grimoire of Lost Souls.

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Bleys Jackson wrote:
All I want for Christmas is a release date for Pact Magic Unbound: Grimoire of Lost Souls.

You and me both, Bleys. You and me both.

We're waiting on the last few pieces of art. The time I update, however, I'm going to be showing off the cover! (Judah's putting the final touches on it.) I'm also hoping to have a more clear time table for everyone.

Our stuff is tentative because once you bring other people onto a project, you're sort of at their mercy to an extent. Even if we drop an artist like we had to, that work still has to get done which means more waiting. We feel your pain, but we didn't collect nearly $10,000 to half-ass this project.

We're almost there!


2 people marked this as a favorite.

^
And this is why I'm okay with waiting. XD I'd much rather have them take the time that's needed to make a good book, rather than pumping out a half-finished mess.

Good luck on getting the rest of the art in on-time!


Just chiming in to say that I think Fey Baraddu and Loh'Moi has thus far been my most favorite spirit combination.

I turned into a tiny snake, hid within my cohorts hand bag and held a specific action. My cohort went and spoke with one of the two big bads, and he triggered the held action. I teleported as deep into his mouth as I could, then, since I could move in spaces considered to be fine, I slithered into his throat, shifted into a giant porcupine, cutting off his oxygen and causing its quill damage. With major help from our monk, he eventually died a lot easier than our DM expected.

By the rules mechanically? Maybe, maybe not. But it was hella fun. Teleporting animals that can squeeze into smaller places and shoot semi-magic missile like lasers is a blast though.

Now, I'm back to trying to figure out what secret would be good. Still having a hard time finding ones I'll actually want to use since I'm saving my second use of Occult Secret until next level for 9th level, 22 spell resistance. Probably a horrible idea considering the stuff my DMs been throwing at us and what most think about SR. (The other big bad was a cr 18 mage...) So I'll have to consider that too.

Just not many interesting secrets for me I guess. What have other players picked, used and been satisfied / happy with? Is the full SR (from the invulnerability augmentation) worth going into?

EDIT: So I just recalled I had Occult Options 1, so I think since I'm at lv. 8, I'm going to go with its Occult Resolve, since nothing in the grimoire is tickling my fancy for lv. 8 right now. So... never mind.


Alexander Augunas wrote:

You and me both, Bleys. You and me both.

We're waiting on the last few pieces of art. The time I update, however, I'm going to be showing off the cover! (Judah's putting the final touches on it.) I'm also hoping to have a more clear time table for everyone.

Our stuff is tentative because once you bring other people onto a project, you're sort of at their mercy to an extent. Even if we drop an artist like we had to, that work still has to get done which means more waiting. We feel your pain, but we didn't collect nearly $10,000 to half-ass this project.

We're almost there!

Is really sucks for me, without the play test document. I've been reluctant to play a binder without knowing what changes were made top it. And I didn't want to ask my DM to rebuild my character once the new book does come out.


Questions and notes (some or all of which have probably already been fixed, but 22 pages of comments is a lot to sift through).

Under Circe's Runes Vestigial Boon it says, "...and can bypass a rune of Circe without setting it off." Set what off exactly? It doesn't seem like any of the rune spells are traps or the like? Were they once at one time?

This one just has me curious, under the totems for Loathix one of them is your hit points are 0 or less when you seal your pact. How would one make that work exactly?

Note: Under Merickel vestigial boon, it says it replaces the ability "summon greatsword" when the ability is actually called Merickel's Greatsword.

Question: With Mishpo's major ability it says, "In addition to freedom of movement’s usual benefits, you can move through wood, stone, metal, or lead as though you were incorporeal. This movement is blocked by 1 foot of stone, an inch of metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood." So, it seems like you essentially cannot actually go through steel or lead.

Have to say, I've been reading over the 5th and 6th spirits a bit more now as I'm getting ready to get back to work on my "guide", and I've found a few more spirits that stand out as potentially awesome candidates for Permanent Pact.

Green Glomairah - What's that DM? You want to poison me, stun me, paralyze me, or otherwise impair me? How bout no. (Granted it shuts off morale bonuses and potential beneficial emotion effects, but that's a lot of protection you get in return). Plant Domain spells are fairly solid. Never tried talking to plants before, so I'm unsure of how useful they can be. Tree Stride could be useful, depending on where you're at.

Demos Kalagos - While I'm having trouble thinking how his major will be truly useful, or even stick on targets that matter, the rest of his abilities are near golden however and I'm really liking that Boon.

Jayna - I'll be honest. I thought Void was the obvious choice for Jayna most of the time. Wall of Force, access to invisibility and dispel magic. Not bad at all. But when looking over the earth spell list, they have a huge amount of the best battlefield control (stinking cloud, the pits, the summon monsters, etc...) and air and water aren't too far behind in spells either.

Anyways, where my original thought was to just go Damian Darkstar, now I have to think about it a tiny bit more. Touche'


Question. I was glossing through the higher level spirits, as I'm intending to get back into writing my guide, when I came across Septigenius Maximus's Boon. How many skeletons are in a troupe exactly?


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Third Mind wrote:
Question. I was glossing through the higher level spirits, as I'm intending to get back into writing my guide, when I came across Septigenius Maximus's Boon. How many skeletons are in a troupe exactly?

Interesting question. I looked through the bestiary, and it seems to vary. Ettin has 1–2 plus 1–2 brown bears, Nereid has 1 nereid plus 1 giant squid, 1 giant octopus, 1 giant moray eel, or an orca, and wereboar has 3–8 plus 1–4 boars.

Was browsing through the spirit lists to make some charts, since I'm plotting to make an NPC 'binder', noticed that Vodavox on the chart is listed as being under the Blast constellation, which amused me, and that under The Beast that Births, it says, "The Beast of Births loves nothing more than transforming mortal binders into her hideous children.", which should probably be Beast that Births. Though this may be too late.

Speaking of which, any idea how much longer it'll be before the book's out? My lease ends at the end of July, so, might need to update my address for the copy I'm still looking forward to.

And if anyone's curious, this is the chart I made for sorting spirits by alignment, constellation, and level.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Oh, a question for Alex...under the Consolidated Skills option in Pathfinder Unchained, which skills would occultists have as class skills? Influence, Performance, and Religion obviously are. Equally obviously, Acrobatics, Athletics, Finesse, Nature, Stealth, and Survival are not. I would tend to say Spellcraft is, since two out of three are already class skills, but not sure about Perception and Society...for Perception, you get Sense Motive, but not Perception, and Society, you get Linguistics and Knowledge (history), but not Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (nobility)...on the other hand, Knowledge (history) seems pretty important conceptually for an occultist.

My gut instinct is to let them have Influence, Performance, Religion, and Society, but I feel torn on Perception, since Sense Motive also seems important for someone dabbling in probably forbidden arts, but on the other hand, Perception is pretty powerful...so thought I'd see what your thoughts were. It's for an NPC if that matters.


Just curious, are you guys changing the class name to prevent confusion with the official Paizo Occultist class? I think it might be prudent, especially considering it shares a name with one psychic class, yet shares a theme with another one (the Medium), just for clarity purposes.

Scarab Sages

RH had the Occultist before Paizo did, so I don't see them changing it now. I believe somewhere in this thread AA has confirmed that it won't change.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Gambit wrote:
Just curious, are you guys changing the class name to prevent confusion with the official Paizo Occultist class? I think it might be prudent, especially considering it shares a name with one psychic class, yet shares a theme with another one (the Medium), just for clarity purposes.

I think Alex said that they'll have a sidebar that suggests, in a game with both, calling the Grimoire of Lost Souls occultist the ravaged occultist or something along those lines. Personally, I just call it the binder for my games.

Contributor

Luthorne wrote:
Gambit wrote:
Just curious, are you guys changing the class name to prevent confusion with the official Paizo Occultist class? I think it might be prudent, especially considering it shares a name with one psychic class, yet shares a theme with another one (the Medium), just for clarity purposes.
I think Alex said that they'll have a sidebar that suggests, in a game with both, calling the Grimoire of Lost Souls occultist the ravaged occultist or something along those lines. Personally, I just call it the binder for my games.

I *think* the official term we're using now is "ritualist" as the alternate name. I'm pretty sure the whole book still calls it the occultist, though.

Contributor

Luthorne wrote:

Oh, a question for Alex...under the Consolidated Skills option in Pathfinder Unchained, which skills would occultists have as class skills? Influence, Performance, and Religion obviously are. Equally obviously, Acrobatics, Athletics, Finesse, Nature, Stealth, and Survival are not. I would tend to say Spellcraft is, since two out of three are already class skills, but not sure about Perception and Society...for Perception, you get Sense Motive, but not Perception, and Society, you get Linguistics and Knowledge (history), but not Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (nobility)...on the other hand, Knowledge (history) seems pretty important conceptually for an occultist.

My gut instinct is to let them have Influence, Performance, Religion, and Society, but I feel torn on Perception, since Sense Motive also seems important for someone dabbling in probably forbidden arts, but on the other hand, Perception is pretty powerful...so thought I'd see what your thoughts were. It's for an NPC if that matters.

I don't think that's ever something I'm going to codify. I would say that whatever groups include Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Disguise, Bluff, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device are the most important ones.

Remember that the occultist isn't a super skill-heavy class. I would say dropping Perception is probably okay.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Luthorne wrote:

Oh, a question for Alex...under the Consolidated Skills option in Pathfinder Unchained, which skills would occultists have as class skills? Influence, Performance, and Religion obviously are. Equally obviously, Acrobatics, Athletics, Finesse, Nature, Stealth, and Survival are not. I would tend to say Spellcraft is, since two out of three are already class skills, but not sure about Perception and Society...for Perception, you get Sense Motive, but not Perception, and Society, you get Linguistics and Knowledge (history), but not Knowledge (local) or Knowledge (nobility)...on the other hand, Knowledge (history) seems pretty important conceptually for an occultist.

My gut instinct is to let them have Influence, Performance, Religion, and Society, but I feel torn on Perception, since Sense Motive also seems important for someone dabbling in probably forbidden arts, but on the other hand, Perception is pretty powerful...so thought I'd see what your thoughts were. It's for an NPC if that matters.

I don't think that's ever something I'm going to codify. I would say that whatever groups include Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (religion), Disguise, Bluff, Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device are the most important ones.

Remember that the occultist isn't a super skill-heavy class. I would say dropping Perception is probably okay.

Yeah, I just wanted your viewpoint as the creator, since honestly, the Consolidated Skills seem to be more thematic than anything...after some more in-depth investigation, there's some where a class has every class skill contained in a consolidated skill, but it's still not a class skill for them under Consolidated Skills. And yeah, that would be Influence (Bluff/Diplomacy/Intimidate), Performance (Disguise/Perform), Religion (Knowledge [planes/religion], and Spellcraft (Knowledge [arcana]/Spellcraft/Use Magic Device).

Should have gone with Grouped Skills...ah well!


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Oh, by the way, I'm thinking about making an NPC that uses Tommy Greensprout, so want to make sure I understand the aging rules correctly. I'm planning on making them an Old human (about sixty) normally, so they would take -3 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, but gain a +2 to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, since the additions are cumulative, but they would lose these modifiers and instead gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom when they bind Tommy Greensprout - thanks to Forever Young - effectively increasing their Strength by 1, their Dexterity by 5, their Constitution by 1, but decreasing their Intelligence by -2, their Wisdom by -4, and their Charisma by -2, and since it's a minor granted ability that doesn't require an action to activate, they could swap between their Youth self and their Old self as a move action. I think this is all correct, but just wanted to check!

Edit: Also, would the Ranged Disarm and Ace Disarm combo work to allow you to use Age Swipe from a distance, or as a unique ability does it not benefit from this sort of thing? Since it specified a standard action, I'm presuming, for example, that Quick Steal and Weapon Trick (One-Handed Weapons) wouldn't function, but not sure about Ace Disarm.

Contributor

Luthorne wrote:

Oh, by the way, I'm thinking about making an NPC that uses Tommy Greensprout, so want to make sure I understand the aging rules correctly. I'm planning on making them an Old human (about sixty) normally, so they would take -3 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, but gain a +2 to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, since the additions are cumulative, but they would lose these modifiers and instead gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom when they bind Tommy Greensprout - thanks to Forever Young - effectively increasing their Strength by 1, their Dexterity by 5, their Constitution by 1, but decreasing their Intelligence by -2, their Wisdom by -4, and their Charisma by -2, and since it's a minor granted ability that doesn't require an action to activate, they could swap between their Youth self and their Old self as a move action. I think this is all correct, but just wanted to check!

Edit: Also, would the Ranged Disarm and Ace Disarm combo work to allow you to use Age Swipe from a distance, or as a unique ability does it not benefit from this sort of thing? Since it specified a standard action, I'm presuming, for example, that Quick Steal and Weapon Trick (One-Handed Weapons) wouldn't function, but not sure about Ace Disarm.

As a Youth with an Old mind, your aging modifiers should be -2 Str, –2 Con, +2 Int, +0 Wis, +2 Cha.

My gut says no in regards to age swipe. I'd have to look at it in-depth and I don't have time right now.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Luthorne wrote:

Oh, by the way, I'm thinking about making an NPC that uses Tommy Greensprout, so want to make sure I understand the aging rules correctly. I'm planning on making them an Old human (about sixty) normally, so they would take -3 to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution, but gain a +2 to Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, since the additions are cumulative, but they would lose these modifiers and instead gain a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Strength, Constitution, and Wisdom when they bind Tommy Greensprout - thanks to Forever Young - effectively increasing their Strength by 1, their Dexterity by 5, their Constitution by 1, but decreasing their Intelligence by -2, their Wisdom by -4, and their Charisma by -2, and since it's a minor granted ability that doesn't require an action to activate, they could swap between their Youth self and their Old self as a move action. I think this is all correct, but just wanted to check!

Edit: Also, would the Ranged Disarm and Ace Disarm combo work to allow you to use Age Swipe from a distance, or as a unique ability does it not benefit from this sort of thing? Since it specified a standard action, I'm presuming, for example, that Quick Steal and Weapon Trick (One-Handed Weapons) wouldn't function, but not sure about Ace Disarm.

As a Youth with an Old mind, your aging modifiers should be -2 Str, –2 Con, +2 Int, +0 Wis, +2 Cha.

My gut says no in regards to age swipe. I'd have to look at it in-depth and I don't have time right now.

Ah, it said that, "While you are bound to Tommy Greensprout, your age shifts so that you are a Youth of your race both mentally and physically", so I presumed you lost the mental benefits of being Old when you became a Youth...

But yeah, sorry to bother you while you're busy, I'll figure it out.


I just noticed a very slight issue with the pactsworn knight archetype. As per the side note a samurai can take the archetype which is awesome. However, the archetype does not swap out the mounted archer ability of the samurai. I was wondering if there could be a caveat added into the bonus feat ability of the pactsworn knight write-up that specifically allows a player to swap out the ability for another combat feat/occult feat/binder secret.

Cheers
Volf

Contributor

Luthorne wrote:


Ah, it said that, "While you are bound to Tommy Greensprout, your age shifts so that you are a Youth of your race both mentally and physically", so I presumed you lost the mental benefits of being Old when you became a Youth...

But yeah, sorry to bother you while you're busy, I'll figure it out.

If that's what it says, that's what it says! My brain isn't in the design space for Pact Magic right now; I just finished writing the 80-page Childhood Adventures product for my company, which is partially about taking those aging rules from the Grimoire of Lost Souls and making them even cooler and more in-depth.

Contributor

Volvogg wrote:

I just noticed a very slight issue with the pactsworn knight archetype. As per the side note a samurai can take the archetype which is awesome. However, the archetype does not swap out the mounted archer ability of the samurai. I was wondering if there could be a caveat added into the bonus feat ability of the pactsworn knight write-up that specifically allows a player to swap out the ability for another combat feat/occult feat/binder secret.

Cheers
Volf

I don't think so. That page is basically full, and I don't like the idea of making a trade only for the alternate class.

It'll still be a nice perk to have if you decide to bind a spirit with a vestigial companion you can ride, though!


*Taps chin*

If there's one lingering thing for me (as a backer), it's probably a bit of the fluff on the first page. XD; Of course, I'm always free to ignore that and substitute my own history of Pact Magic, so it's not like it's a huge issue or anything... but I'm always just a little bit iffy on anything that has stuff like Heaven and Hell teaming up. That's a very specific combination, and I think switching to the slightly more generic "the gods obliterated..." would work for more stories.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Luthorne wrote:


Ah, it said that, "While you are bound to Tommy Greensprout, your age shifts so that you are a Youth of your race both mentally and physically", so I presumed you lost the mental benefits of being Old when you became a Youth...

But yeah, sorry to bother you while you're busy, I'll figure it out.

If that's what it says, that's what it says! My brain isn't in the design space for Pact Magic right now; I just finished writing the 80-page Childhood Adventures product for my company, which is partially about taking those aging rules from the Grimoire of Lost Souls and making them even cooler and more in-depth.

Sounds pretty neat, might take a look...one regret of mine is that the encounter - if it even happens - would only land a PC as a kid for an hour at most if I manage it at all, at least without making them A) considerably higher level and B) a Greensprout Rapscallion. Then again, maybe I'll cheat with a homebrewed feat or something...


Alexander Augunas wrote:
Volvogg wrote:

I just noticed a very slight issue with the pactsworn knight archetype. As per the side note a samurai can take the archetype which is awesome. However, the archetype does not swap out the mounted archer ability of the samurai. I was wondering if there could be a caveat added into the bonus feat ability of the pactsworn knight write-up that specifically allows a player to swap out the ability for another combat feat/occult feat/binder secret.

Cheers
Volf

I don't think so. That page is basically full, and I don't like the idea of making a trade only for the alternate class.

It'll still be a nice perk to have if you decide to bind a spirit with a vestigial companion you can ride, though!

Because the archetype changes one of the core features of the class I personally don't see the trade being an issue. You are removing the mount feature of a class, why would you not also remove the other, now superfluous, class abilities which augmented that feature. Although I can understand not making the change as the page is full. Personally this will be addressed in my own games should anybody choose to use this archetype.

Cheers
Volf

Contributor

GM Rednal wrote:

*Taps chin*

If there's one lingering thing for me (as a backer), it's probably a bit of the fluff on the first page. XD; Of course, I'm always free to ignore that and substitute my own history of Pact Magic, so it's not like it's a huge issue or anything... but I'm always just a little bit iffy on anything that has stuff like Heaven and Hell teaming up. That's a very specific combination, and I think switching to the slightly more generic "the gods obliterated..." would work for more stories.

Heaven and Hell both share an alignment axis. I think them teaming up is perfectly logical.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Alexander Augunas wrote:
Heaven and Hell both share an alignment axis. I think them teaming up is perfectly logical.

I can see them being on the same side of a fight, but I can't really see them teaming up.


Any chance of an archetype for the Paizo Occultist? I'm looking at playing an Occultist in an upcoming game, but haven't been able to pick which Occultist...


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
qaplawjw wrote:
Any chance of an archetype for the Paizo Occultist? I'm looking at playing an Occultist in an upcoming game, but haven't been able to pick which Occultist...

I'm pretty sure that classes from Occult Adventures and Ultimate Intrigue aren't going to have archetypes, though that might be a future product...but last I heard, the Advanced Class Guide was the latest material that would be incorporated into this book.

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Luthorne wrote:
qaplawjw wrote:
Any chance of an archetype for the Paizo Occultist? I'm looking at playing an Occultist in an upcoming game, but haven't been able to pick which Occultist...
I'm pretty sure that classes from Occult Adventures and Ultimate Intrigue aren't going to have archetypes, though that might be a future product...but last I heard, the Advanced Class Guide was the latest material that would be incorporated into this book.

Correct.

After a dialog at PaizoCon that basically involved me saying to Dario, "Wait...how the heck WOULD we differentiate between a Paizo Occultist and a Pact Magic Occultist for archetypes?" we are talking about changing the class name.

Surprisingly, the name "pactbinder" has a fairly strong following. Well, surprising to me anyway; Dario suggestion pactbinder, so he's pretty smug about it. :-P


Of the names offered, it seems both the most nifty and the least likely to be yoinked for some future Paizo thing. :)


Mr Augunas, can I just say that I am a big fan of class names that are actual real words (or at least real-seeming), rather than conjured up amalgamation words.

3.5 was really bad for it (and 4E too, looking at you Shardmind Battlemind), yet Pathfinder has remained (mostly) out of that territory. Paizo is occasionally guilty of it, the foremost notable example being the Bloodrager, but those are really few and far between. This also extends to 3PP, I cant tell you how happy I was when DSP released their Tome of Battle update and we had Stalker, Warder, and Warlord instead of things like Warblade and Swordsage.

If a change is to be made, I think I like the Ritualist name you floated earlier, though I would be interested in seeing the full list of current ideas.


Quote:
I'm pretty sure that classes from Occult Adventures and Ultimate Intrigue aren't going to have archetypes

They already do.


The options they asked backers about were occultist (2 votes), pactbinder (18.5 votes), pactmaker (4.5 votes), ritualist (4 votes), and theurgist (0.5 votes). Secondary choices were counted as half votes on the Kickstarter page, as was anything besides the first one people said.

I should note this isn't a democratic process, as they were very clear about, so the votes don't mean anything more than the developers want them to mean. XD Pactbinder does seem to be the pretty clear favorite, though...

@Shadowkras: I think they meant "Archetypes in the Grimoire of Lost Souls that would turn them into pact-using classes", not "any archetypes at all".


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
shadowkras wrote:
Quote:
I'm pretty sure that classes from Occult Adventures and Ultimate Intrigue aren't going to have archetypes
They already do.

I'm sorry it wasn't clear - I thought it would be, since I was posting it in the Grimoire of Lost Souls thread - but, I was specifically referring to archetypes for those classes inside the Grimoire of Lost Souls.


My bad, i forgot to actually read what you were quoting.


So, last night i had this dream where i had a paperback spiral-bound copy of the preview of grimoire of lost souls, print on A4 sheets. This copy was borrowed to a lot of people on my school (it's normal to dream about schools) and i was pissed because my book was aparently lost, someone got it and borrowed to aparently the entire school. Then i managed to get it back, and a lot of people rated the book if they liked it or not, and a few wrote a few suggestions as to where to find those spirits (yeah i was like WTF?).

So i decided to follow these guidelines as to how to find the first 3 spirits on my book, and i went to this abandoned warehouse, which had one of it's fences ripped off by something, i broke in, and the inside of this warehouse was a cave with red glowy runes and drawings on the walls of all kinds, the floor seemed like it was washed in blood and it dried off later. I walked into this maze of tunnels and near-diablo-like-inferno and i saw this weird creature trapped inside a blue sphere of energy. This creature had multiple arms for limbs, a bunch of hands everywhere, the head seemed like a horse's but with dozens of eyes on it, i then noticed that it had multiple eyes on it's body aswell, which were closed before i walked into it. It had a body looking like a giant snake mixed with a centipede that had arms for limbs and a half horse half humanoid head, and his body was all red and white, as if it was bathed in blood and it dried off.

This spirit had a name, but i forgot it. However, it asked if i wanted to release it, and in exchange, i would recieve powers beyond my dreams (no, pun not intended, he actually said that). I accepted, as i had also read the book and i knew what entity was that, he was just REALLY different from the book's description. He then told me that he was the first of three spirits that were imprisioned in that extradimensional space, the other two were much stronger and i would require certain rituals and magical talesma to protect myself from their influence.

This thing turned into a fog and went into my body through my veins, and i instantly got the knowledge of how to use a few of it's powers.
One of it's powers was this weird projectile that once it hit something, it turned part of the target into a black-purple-ish smoke with skull shapes and...Well, if it was someone alive, they were now without that part of their body, like, half of their chest was now missing and dripping blood all over the place. Then the smoke would either dissipate, or i could use another of it's ability to absorve it from a distance, which he/she told me it was part of the creature's existance and it would fuel his powers (but not really their souls).
Another of his abilities was to let me see ghosts of people all over the place when i closed my eyes, which was stupid because i wouldnt see anything other than a few coloured humanoid figures, everything else was black, and to everybody else, i was talking to a wall, or to a car, or to tree.
When i manifested his powers, i was covered in blood-dripping eyes on random spots on my body, which nobody could see except for me (this reminds me of a spirit from the original tome of magic).

Then my memories about the part after that goes a little hazy, but i remember i walked back into the warehouse twice, the second time i managed to make a pact with the second spirit, which i dont remember the exact form of it, it maybe never had a visible form, but i do remember it had a feminine voice and didnt like the first guy at all, they wouldnt even allow me to combine their powers at the same time. I dont remember what her powers were, but i know it was something related to time and space, but im certain i couldnt teleport or stop time, because i tried that and it simply didnt work, maybe i was just too weak to handle her powers.

Anyway, when i went back the third time, the place was barely anything like a warehouse or a cave at all, but like a temple of devil worshippers, with huge walls and flames on the walls, bodied impaled on spears all over the place and agonizing spirits floating around. It felt like i was in hell, but i had the courage to keep going because of the two spirits with me, and maybe also due to the essence of everything i "stole". Anyway, i walked into the hellish temple and confronted the third spirit, which was like this huge three made of body parts, like it had blood veins, pieces of meat with bones sticking out instead of branches, or instead of leaves it had skin stitched together. A bunch of it's branches looked like meat tentacles dripping in blood. And it's surface had dozens of mouths and eyes which all looked at the same time to me, and spoke together calling my name.

The thing "spoke" and i could few the words vibrating through my body, i couldnt listen to it, i simply understood what it was saying, or communicating. The "spirits" in my body cried in agony and i felt it as if my body was being ripped by a saw. And the thing said i would need many more souls before it would make a pact with me, otherwise i would simply be absorbed into it like thousands before me.

I walked away from it, and shortly after i woke up.
But before the dream was over, i got my hands into the final release of the grimoire of lost souls, which had coloured pages and a bunch of new pact circles that i could use to make new pacts with other spirits.
Sadly i dont remember the names, as i forgot to actually take notes when i woke up, but im certain this won't be the last time i had this dream...

Contributor

Gambit wrote:

Mr Augunas, can I just say that I am a big fan of class names that are actual real words (or at least real-seeming), rather than conjured up amalgamation words.

3.5 was really bad for it (and 4E too, looking at you Shardmind Battlemind), yet Pathfinder has remained (mostly) out of that territory. Paizo is occasionally guilty of it, the foremost notable example being the Bloodrager, but those are really few and far between. This also extends to 3PP, I cant tell you how happy I was when DSP released their Tome of Battle update and we had Stalker, Warder, and Warlord instead of things like Warblade and Swordsage.

If a change is to be made, I think I like the Ritualist name you floated earlier, though I would be interested in seeing the full list of current ideas.

Dario and I both agree with you. Its why I personally like ritualist a little bit better than pactbinder.

BUT that being said...
1) Spellbinder is a real word and

2) Pactbinder does a MUCH better job at capturing the history of the class, both in terms of the mechanics and the class's history (both in terms of us at Radiance House and WotC's Tome of Magic). The "binder" part of pactbinder is not only a throwback to Radiance House's spirit binder class (that was the original name for our occultist), and as you're likely aware WotC's class was simply named "binder."

Personally, I think this might be a case like Paizo's warpriest. Yeah, its not a real word and has no out-of-game meaning. But "pactbinder" might just be too perfectly encapsulating not to use. Its the most popular of our choices by a WIDE margin right now (25ish of 30ish responses), and Dario and I are watching carefully.

Contributor

GM Rednal wrote:

The options they asked backers about were occultist (2 votes), pactbinder (18.5 votes), pactmaker (4.5 votes), ritualist (4 votes), and theurgist (0.5 votes). Secondary choices were counted as half votes on the Kickstarter page, as was anything besides the first one people said.

I should note this isn't a democratic process, as they were very clear about, so the votes don't mean anything more than the developers want them to mean. XD Pactbinder does seem to be the pretty clear favorite, though...

@Shadowkras: I think they meant "Archetypes in the Grimoire of Lost Souls that would turn them into pact-using classes", not "any archetypes at all".

Ultimate Intrigue and Occult Adventures classes will not be in the Grimoire of Lost Souls. However, after copyfitting there was enough room that I will be adding some additional content that you guys haven't seen. Archetypes, witch hexes, and the like. (That's actually my agenda for the week.)


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Yeah, I personally prefer just to call it the binder myself. But looking forward to seeing the new content...not to mention the finished product! Someday.

But I do hope someday to see some extra content, whether under the Radiance House or Everyman Gaming franchise, that brings pact magic to occult classes and the vigilante. I've been envisioning a vigilante archetype who wound up permanently bound to a particular spirit and whose vigilante identity is based off that spirit's favored allies, perhaps with the ability to temporarily gain abilities from other spirits of the same alignment or constellation to make up for being bound to only a single 1st-level spirit (or so I would presume), with the physical signs only appearing in vigilante form, and probably with the same alignment as the spirit in vigilante form. A bit inspired by Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, where it shows Bruce Wayne struggling with his Batman identity, at times feeling like he was chosen by some almost supernatural force that drives him to be the Batman.

Of course, I kind of also want to see a vigilante/shapeshifter archetype, with their vigilante form actually being another form, or a pact magic/shapeshifter archetype...but I'm sure you have tons of other stuff on the horizon to be working on, so, maybe someday later on.


In my head, ritualist would have been a better name for the Paizo Occultist, than the pact-ing Occultist. Binder works as a shorthand for "any class with Bind Spirit." Theurgist would probably be my favorite, but pactbinder/maker would also be passable.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Was looking at the thaumaturge archetype for the occultist on pg. 39, and it says, "In addition, the thaumaturge can expend 1 point from her occult reservoir as a free action whenever she uses a granted ability. If she does, she can choose to increase the binder level by 1 or increase the spell’s DC by 1." Shouldn't it be the granted ability's DC? Might have already been reported, just kind of noticed it while browsing. Playing around with a vampire occultist and looking to see if an archetype would work better...looking to have him bind Al'kra and Tyrant Cromwell for a sinister combo. Think I'll just go vanilla occultist, though...


I know this is a very late question, but maybe others could help me figure it out.

I was looking over The Elysium Choir, working on my guide for the occultist and read over the minor ability, "Life's Grace". It says the ability functions as Bardic Performance. Now, does that also include how the action cost to use it decreases over time, like with bards (i.e. lv. 7 it's a move action to start instead of stanadard, etc...)?

Or is it always a standard to start and free to maintain since we're not actually bards?


Bardic performance says:

Quote:
At 7th level, a bard can start a bardic performance as a move action instead of a standard action. At 13th level, a bard can start a bardic performance as a swift action.

I don't see why it should be any different as the ability doesn't mention an exception.

As for where it says "the bard", i believe it means the character, as the bard as the only character able to use bardic performances when the ability was written.


May have already been stated, and I realize we're far too late in the game for changes (and perhaps it's already being changed), but...

Under the totems for Hou-Ou, the third one seems to belong to Pevwryn Pervon instead of Hou-Ou. Just a brief FYI.

Also, thanks Shadowkras for the info / input. Good to know.

Scarab Sages

Hi Alex - where do things stand with the book?

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
davrion wrote:
Hi Alex - where do things stand with the book?

We hit a snag with the Pathfinder Compatibility License. The cover of the book lacked a copy of the license on its cover, and there were concerned both from customers and from Paizo itself regarding the adult nature of some aspects of the book. Adult content is strictly against the terms of the Pathfinder Compatibility License, and it left Dario and I in a position where we had to choose to remove the PCL (and by extension all references and citations to Paizo products) or rewrite portions of the book to adhere to Paizo's standards for 3PP.

It was a difficult decision, but we chose Compatibility over keeping the manuscript unchanged. We reviewed all of the content in question, and agreed that some of the more raunchy stories and spirits could stand to be reigned in. It's not well-known, but I wrote most of the Grimoire of Lost Souls while I was working through a severe bout of depression, and I found that a lot of the content that Paizo found questionable was a result of my own mental state during that time. (The absolute biggest offender was the spirit Anajira, but there were others.) That it was almost like exercising old demons played a large part in my own decision to rewrite those parts of the Grimoire--Dario's was simply out of practicality, as loosing the PCL would have wrecked the book's layout.

Currently the Grimoire is being reviewed by Paizo. It is a HUGE book, and it will take time to clear Paizo's internal processes. I'll post again when we know more.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Alexander Augunas wrote:
That it was almost like exercising old demons..

Unless there is some scooby doo reference I am unaware of, wouldn't it be "exorcising"? ^^;

1,051 to 1,100 of 1,105 << first < prev | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder First Edition / Third-Party Pathfinder RPG Products / Product Discussion / [Radiance House] Pact Magic Unbound: Grimoire of Lost Souls Backer Playtest Feedback All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.