Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
I'm cutting all Prepared Spellcasting in my campaign, so Wizards, Clerics, and the like are simply gone, and other classes with prepared spellcasting are modified so that they don't have prepared spells. I feel comfortable that most of the "roles" needed by the prepared spellcasters are covered, but I didn't feel totally comfortable that the idea of a "Spellcaster of a God" was adequately covered by the Oracle. As such, I wrote up an archetype called the Divinely Inspired Oracle, which is meant to be an Oracle that gets powers from their diety.
In this archetype, the Oracle loses the Oracle's Curse, Oracle's Mystery, and Spontaneous Cure/Inflict spells.
In return, the Oracle chooses two domains of her deity, and gains the Domain Powers of the deity and the Domain Spells as bonus spells. They also gain the ability to channel positive energy if their deity is a good deity, and channel negative energy if their deity is Neutral or Evil.
How does this Divinely Inspired Oracle stack up against the regular Oracle? Again... the idea of a Cleric is totally removed from the game, so the comparison is really meant to be one spontaneous caster versus another.
Does this balance well?
Channel Energy is a sort of meh class feature, although admittedly an oracle will get more mileage out of it than a cleric. Domains are on the whole less powerful than mysteries, I think, although I could certainly think of a combination of two domains which I would like to have a lot more than certain mysteries, so that's debatable. Possibly you could throw a few bonus feats their way, like wizards get? Otherwise I think it should be basically fine, albeit a lot more dull than a standard-issue oracle, who gets cool rad stuff via their revelations. Bonus points if this archetype is a Wis-based spontaneous caster like the inquisitor, though, with Wis-based channeling.
Cheers,
- Gears
Oracles get more milage out of domains than Clerics, though they certainly are less powerful than mysteries. Perhaps you keep WIS-based casting, otherwise you run the risk of the semicleric being totally overshadowed by the Oracle. I'd keep spontaneous casting, as it's a shared class feature and not Oracle-unique or anything. If CHA is your casting stat, have WIS be your backup ability (channeling, domain power DC, etc.) stat. If WIS is your casting stat, have CHA be your backup ability stat.
Or perhaps you switch the casting style to more Arcanist-like, in that you can pray for a number of divine spells each day, and have access to the whole list when you prepare, but you can cast fewer spells per day. This suggestion wasn't balance-tested, but it seems like a cool idea.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
I'm fairly set on Charisma as the primary casting stat as a whole. Using Sense Motive vs Bluff, I highly like Wisdom as the "How strong does your sense of self protect you" vs Charisma's "How strong does your sense of self allow you to manipulate the world".
There is a reason why Charisma is so often viewed as a "dump stat" - it has one usage, which is intercharacter interaction. This shifts drastically with Sorcerers as the primary spellcaster instead of Wizards. In this world, the only non-Charisma spellcasters are Clerics of Numbers / Divine Engineers (a custom class that I'm deciding the name for, but someone that get magical inspiration to build things) as an Intelligence caster, Inquisitors as Wisdom casters, and Sage/Empyreal Sorcerers. Those first two go out of the window if you want a full nine-level caster. It's intentional, and I REALLY like it, as it better balances the value of the stats.
Here's a more specific thought in terms of balance: I viewed the domain spells of the first domain as cancelling out with the Mystery spells. So we're balancing spontaneous cure/inflict vs channelling (a wash?), the Curse bonuses with the domain powers, and the Revelations with a second set of domain spells.
I actually thought I was making the Divinely Inspired Oracle MORE powerful than a standard Oracle, since spell selection is the name of the game for spontaneous casters.
Channeling is equivalent to a revelation (life mystery), bonus spells is equivalent to a feat or two (expanded arcana), which are roughly equivalent to a revelation or two (extra revelation), spontaneous cure/inflict should be kept, but is also roughly equivalent or weaker than spontaneous SNA, which is equivalent to a revelation (nature mystery). Domain powers are probably worth a couple revelations.
Domains are weighted a bit differently for Clerics vs Oracles. Perhaps you institute a separate domain slot that can be used to spontaneously cast domain spells, and only those. Clerics can only cast one domain spell of each spell level they know a day, which severely limits their number of uses. Oracles can cast their mystery spells any number of times a day from any slot, which is awesome. If a Cleric with Burning Hands sets you ablaze, and an Oracle with Burning Hands burns you, you know the Cleric can't do it again, but the Oracle almost definitely can. This is a significant advantage, significant enough that it (along with a couple other abilities) was what the Ecclesiastheurge archetype picked up when it traded out all its proficiencies and armor. Don't underestimate the ability to cast out of regular slots as opposed to domain slots.
Cleric - Oracles
Proficiencies > Proficiencies
Saves > Saves
Skill points < Skill points
Prepared Casting = Spontaneous Casting
Domain spells 1 = 1/2 Mystery spells
Domain spells 2 = 1/2 Mystery spells
Domain powers 1 = 2 Revelations
Domain powers 2 = 2 Revelations
Channeling = 1 Revelation (see Life mystery)
Spontaneous cure/inflict = Spontaneous cure/inflict (they both have it)
? = Curse
? = Final Revelation
Why the need to change mechanics?
Personally, I'd just have them choose a specific deity, and be limited to mysteries that are thematically appropriate for such a deity. They would need to follow their deity's goals and ethics, like a cleric would.
As far as curses, just flavor them under something like "my god tested me to determine my faith, and when I did not waver they instilled me with their divine power so I could show the world the strength of my faith".
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber
Claxon wrote: Why the need to change mechanics?
Personally, I'd just have them choose a specific deity, and be limited to mysteries that are thematically appropriate for such a deity. They would need to follow their deity's goals and ethics, like a cleric would.
As far as curses, just flavor them under something like "my god tested me to determine my faith, and when I did not waver they instilled me with their divine power so I could show the world the strength of my faith".
Why the need for any archetype? It's to make a more specific version of the original idea. I'd like there to be a difference between a generic Oracle of Bones and an Oracle of Nerull in specific.
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