Deadric's page

Well, the level 7 ability *does* say that the Oracle and the single student "gain full benefit of having read the book". To me that means they both get the boost and they both get it permanently.

Anyone else care to throw in their two bits? Maybe someone who worked on the class?

OK, maybe I'm not reading it right and am a little too hopeful.

"Whirlwind Lesson (Ex): You can quickly browse through a magical tome or manual, gaining its benefits with only a single 8-hour study session (rather than the usual 48 hours over a period of 6 days). At 7th level, you may allow another character to join in your study; both of you gain the full benefit of having read the book. At 15th level, you may share your whirlwind lesson with a number of characters equal to your oracle level. The benefits to you are permanent, whereas your students gain the tome or manual’s benefits for a number of days equal to your Charisma modifier but then forget what they have learned."

So, at level 7 the Oracle can have another character read along and "both gain the full benefit of having read the book". To me that means they both get the full benefit, a permanent increase to whatever stat they were studying. Then at level 15 the Oracle can study with x-many students, but the students only benefit from the session for x-many days.

So does the level 7 ability get scrubbed by the level 15 ability even if the Oracle only has 1 student? Or do the Oracle and student still get full benefit?

I ask because the level 15 ability uses a plural the whole time, and never the singular when referring to "student".

Anyone out there care to enlighten me?

Here's a thought:
Could Nature's Whispers be different because it's an (Ex) and Sidestep Secret is a (Su)?
Meaning that Sidestep Secret keeps the Cha mod to AC when flat-footed while Nature's Whispers doesn't.