Bonus Feat: Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Deaf: You cannot hear and suffer all of the usual penalties for being deafened. You cast all of your spells as if they were modified by the Silent Spell feat.
Bones Mystery: You draw upon the divine mystery of Bones to grant your spells and powers. An oracle with a bones mystery adds Bluff, Disguise, Intimidate, and Stealth to her list of class skills.
Mystery: Each oracle draws upon a divine mystery to grant her spells and powers. This mystery also grants additional class skills and other special abilities. This mystery can represent a devotion to one ideal, prayers to deities that support the concept, or a natural calling to champion a cause. For example, an oracle with the waves mystery might have been born at sea and found a natural calling to worship the gods of the oceans, rivers, and lakes, be they benign or malevolent. Regardless of its source, the mystery manifests in a number of ways as the oracle gains levels. An oracle must pick one mystery upon taking her first level of oracle. Once made, this choice cannot be changed.
At 2nd level, and every two levels thereafter, an oracle learns an additional spell derived from her mystery.
Oracle’s Curse (Ex): Each oracle is cursed, but this curse comes with a benefit as well as a hindrance. This choice is made at 1st level, and once made, it cannot be changed. The oracle’s curse cannot be removed or dispelled without the aid of a deity. An oracle’s curse is based on her oracle level plus one for every two levels or Hit Dice other than oracle.
Skilled: Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Spells: An oracle casts divine spells drawn from the cleric spell lists. She can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time. To learn or cast a spell, an oracle must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against an oracle’s spell is 10 + the spell’s level + the oracle’s Charisma modifier.
Like other spellcasters, an oracle can cast only a certain number of spells per day of each spell level. Her base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Oracle. In addition, she receives bonus spells per day if she has a high Charisma score.
Unlike other divine spellcasters, an oracle’s selection of spells is extremely limited. An oracle begins play knowing four 0-level spells and two 1st-level spells of her choice. At each new oracle level, she gains one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Oracle Spells Known. Unlike spells per day, the number of spells an oracle knows is not affected by her Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Oracle Spells Known are fixed.
In addition to the spells gained by oracles as they gain levels, each oracle also adds all of either the cure spells or the inflict spells to her list of spells known (cure spells include all spells with “cure” in the name, inflict spells include all spells with “inflict” in the name). These spells are added as soon as the oracle is capable of casting them. This choice is made when the oracle gains her first level and cannot be changed.
Upon reaching 4th level, and at every even-numbered oracle level after that (6th, 8th, and so on), an oracle can choose to learn a new spell in place of one she already knows. In effect, the oracle loses the old spell in exchange for the new one. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. An oracle may swap only a single spell at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell at the same time that she gains new spells known for the level. She cannot swap any cure or inflict spells, nor can she swap any spells gained from her mystery. Unlike a cleric, an oracle need not prepare her spells in advance. She can cast any spell she knows at any time, assuming she has not yet used up her spells per day for that spell level. Oracles do not need to provide a divine focus to cast spells that list divine focus (DF) as part of the components.
Undead Servitude (Su): You gain Command Undead as a bonus feat. You can channel negative energy 7 per day, but only to use Command Undead.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Oracles are proficient with all simple weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields). Some oracle revelations grant additional proficiencies.
BACKGROUND:
”Even if I succeed, I shall never be rid of... It.”
Necress was born in Roderic’s Cove and until recently had lived there her entire life, having only been as far as Riddleport once. Necress had a good life, despite her mother’s disability that left her unable to get out of bed most of the time. As a result of her mother’s diminished capacity, Necress had an especially close relationship with her father.
At sixteen years old, Necress had never believed that Roderic’s cove was haunted, even though most of her friends said it was. She simply hadn’t seen anything to make her believe it. She had heard the tale of Sir Roderic’s ghost at the helm of a mysterious ship scuttling in the harbor. Her friends had dared her to run up and touch the front door of Roderic’s Wreck. Though time and neglect had caused the once-magnificent, moss-covered building to sag into the water, all Necress had seen were lots of bugs as she ran away laughing.
Necress was a happy youth, but all that changed with the sudden death of her father. Necress spiraled into sadness and depression. Though Necress knew she couldn’t bring her father back, she thought there must be some way to talk to him. She had heard of magic that could help the living speak with the dead, and she began an intense research of the subject, spending hours poring over any book she could find in the library or private collections.
Necress settled on a ritual she found in an obscure Thassilonian treatise, one associated with ancient and forbidden lore. Though many said this was dark magic, she had read about a ritual she might perform that would allow her to speak with her beloved father again. With her preparations made, Necress went late at night to the Roderic’s Cove graveyard, where her father was buried. Stealing inside, she placed candles, animal bones, and other trinkets around the grave as prescribed in the ritual. She then began to chant the required words.
That’s when everything changed.
A breaking wave of darkness overtook Necress, and she fell to the ground unconscious on top of her father’s grave. She dreamed of a powerful eldritch entity, who said she could speak with her father, but she must strike a bargain with it. Necress can’t recall the very high price she had to pay, but in the dream she paid it. In exchange, she dreamed of speaking with her father, and for a time was quite content.
But when she awoke, everything was different. The caretaker of the Roderic’s Cove graveyard found Necress the next morning and roused her. Necress could see the caretaker’s lips moving, but could no longer hear anything at all. She was completely deaf. Well, that’s not entirely true. She could not hear the voice of any living soul, but she could hear the dead. She could hear whispering, scraping, and moaning. It was almost as if she could hear and see elements of another realm, one where only the dead walk. Some of them even wanted her help, as if she possessed some power to shepherd them to peace. She came to despise the dead she saw, though no one else could see them.
This overwhelming emotional trauma associated with undeath transformed her. Now twenty years old, she has had strange dreams of the dead and even conversed with them. Her hometown of Roderic’s Cove was certainly haunted, along with everything else in her life. She never fit in with her friends again, who thought of her as the bizarre deaf girl who talked to herself and displayed mysterious powers.
Necress’s mother died a few years after her father, and Necress decided to leave Roderick’s Cover. Though it has always been her home, she does not want her poor choices to bring any misfortune upon her home town, and she would like to determine how she might overcome her curse. Perhaps there is a way go back on this dire bargain she struck.
Now an outcast of a sort, Necress has traveled to Magnimar, where she has a well-to-do cousin. She's also heard of a new cathedral dedicated to various deities being dedicated in nearby Sandpoint. Perhaps this holy edifice holds answers. She can feel Whoever—or Whatever—she struck this ill-advised deal with at the edge of her mind. Surely, the vastness of Varisia holds ancient lore and lost secrets that will help her break free.
Appearance: Necress is lithe and very pretty, with long, straight black hair and pale skin. Despite her attractive appearance, something seems...off. There is an eerie feel about her, almost like fingers on a chalk board. She occasionally whispers to herself, scowls, or rolls her eyes at seemingly nothing.
Personality: Though she is deaf, Necress is able to speak well, having grown up most of her life without her recent affliction. She has been learning to read lips. Necress is generally a pessimistic person. She is controlled, cautious, and conscientious. Most would describe her as cold, or perhaps disagreeable. She is reserved but freethinking.
”It is here. It lurks at the periphery of my mind...”
1. Background
a. Conflict
b. Challenges
c. Mystery
d. Passion
e. Birthplace
f. Family
g. Professions and Crafts
h. Significant Past Events
i. Family-related events
ii. Personal events
iii. Notable individuals
i. Mysteries
j. Existing Conflicts
k. What triggered adventuring?
l. Initial possessions
m. Bound duties
n. Quests
2. Primary Motivators - Peace and Liberation
3. Emotion and Core Traits
a. Emotional Disposition and Moodiness - Melancholy, Labile
b. Core Traits
i. Outlook: Pessimistic
ii. Integrity: Conscientious
iii. Impulsiveness: Controlled
iv. Boldness: Cautious
v. Agreeableness: Disagreeable
vi. Interactivity: Reserved
vii. Conformity: Heterodox
4. Secondary Personality Traits
a. Sense of Humor: Dry
b. Favorite Topics of Conversation: The dead, peace, philosophy
c. Group Affiliations
d. Religion and Spirituality
e. Quirks, Habits, and Oddities
f. Hobbies and Enjoyments
g. Mental Disorders
h. Barks
