Infused With the Planes

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

In a previous blog, I spoke generally about some of number of player-facing rules elements found in Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures, giving rough numbers of different kinds of new mechanics for your characters.

Now I want to dig down a little deeper and talk about something brand new. Amid the archetypes, spells, magic items, and feats, Planar Adventures includes a new type of feats: conduit feats. Here's how the book describes them.

Illustration by Ian Perks

Conduit Feats

Conduit feats grant the ability to draw energies from other planes. The effects of conduit feats are supernatural and do not function in an antimagic field or similar effect. In addition, since these abilities require energies from other planes, you cannot use them in areas that are warded against planar or dimensional travel (such as those under the effects of dimensional lock or forbiddance) or when you have been denied this ability (such as via dimensional anchor).

There are nearly two dozen conduit feats, the most versatile of which is Planar Infusion. Each of the planes (and demiplanes and dimensions) detailed in Planar Adventures has a stat block listing things you've come to expect like alignment, gravity, time, and how magic works there, but the stat blocks also contain other new pieces of information. One of these is infusions. Infusions are meant to represent how planar energies can affect characters if exposed over a period of time or during a significant event. There are three tiers to infusions: basic, improved, and greater—each granting powers unlocked by the Planar Infusion, Improved Planar Infusion, and Greater Planar Infusion feats.

As an example, I'll share the infusions for a demiplane near and dear to my heart—Xibalba.

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

Infusions

Basic The dread horrors of Xibalba infuse your being, and there is little that can further unnerve you. Increase the save DC of fear effects you create by 1, and you gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws against fear effects.

Improved You can use phantasmal killer as a spell-like ability once per day.

Greater You can use insanity as a spell-like ability once per day.

Other conduit feats grant your character unique abilities, all deeply linked to a particular plane of existence. For example, Axiomatic Discourse helps you influence others, Blazing aura wreathes you in flame, Malleable Form converts you to a semi-gelatinous state, and Phasestrike lets you phase out a weapon and resolve attacks as touch attacks. Here's a full example of one of these conduit feats, the wonderfully named Chaos Reigns.

Chaos Reigns (Conduit)

The Abyss dreams of devastation; the slightest taste of its power is an incitement to bare-fisted violence.

Prerequisite: Knowledge (planes) 3 ranks.

Benefit: As a swift action, you can allow Abyssal wrath to overtake you. While in this state, you can use one of your hands as a slam natural attack that deals 1d6 points of damage (or 1d4 for Small creatures). A creature that does not have hands can instead use a different part of its body to make this slam attack.

You can use this feat's benefit for a number of minutes per day equal to your ranks in Knowledge (planes). These minutes need not be consecutive, but they must be spent in 1-minute increments.

That's it for now! Pick up Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures here on paizo.com or at your local game retailer! Keep your eyes on the blog for more details about Planar Adventures.

Adam Daigle
Managing Developer