Outl's page

I believe the spot on the chronicle that says 1400gp is incorrect.

Most players don't mention their hireling even if they have one. It's not required. In many players' minds it's not even treated as a person, more like a boon roughly equivalent to an Additional Lore feat. Also, many hirelings are mostly used for Earn Income so they wouldn't come up during play anyway.

This isn't all that unusual for PFS play, some things just happen silently in the background. Most players also don't mention when they cast long-term buffs like Mage Armor, Tailwind, Ant Haul, and Deep Breath. Most GMs don't ask whether weapons are drawn while exploring, and might not even ask after initiative is rolled. Preparing and swapping out prepared spells is also usually ignored, and medicine checks, refocusing, and searching are often handwaved after a battle ends. It's just assumed the player will track all that stuff on their own without (or sometimes even with) cheating. Probably a result of trying to get through adventures quickly.

I sometimes mention my hireling(s) during character introductions at the beginning of the sessions, but many players don't. And some groups don't even do character introductions.

When I use the hireling I always try to describe how the hireling is helping, or at least mention them as I tell the GM the result of my roll, but as far as I can tell no one has ever cared. Other players often don't even distinguish it as any different than their character rolling, so maybe you've seen hirelings used in play without realizing it.

If you do take a close look what minions (esp familiars) should be capable of, it wouldn't hurt to also reconsider (nerf!) existing abilities that aren't unclear. For instance:

Why are familiars allowed to fly from level 1, when most other instances of fly are restricted to higher level?

Should familiars be allowed to take a different Lore skill each day?

Should a familiar with Skilled be capable of Treat Wounds?

Should familiars be allowed to take Flier one day, but not take Flier the next day? Is it gaining and losing wings on a daily basis?

Should it be normal for GMs to determine what a familiar does in stressful situations, making it more NPC than player-controlled?

When a cat uses Master's Form, does it somehow manifest clothing? If so, what type of clothing?

If a cat has Flier, and then uses Master's Form, does it still have wings and the ability to fly, or does going into Master's Form remove that (and several other) ability?

Should familiars always have an 'off' trait or look or glow somehow so they can be distinguished from 'normal' animals just by looking at them?

Should familiars be allowed to enter a Familiar Tattoo (or similar cache) while wearing a Collar, or should they have to remove the collar first? (Collar doesn't have the Companion trait)

Should Levitator allow familiars to coast over pressure plates, thus outclassing other sneaky characters like rangers and rogues?

Should Snoop be allowed to work, since it requires focusing on a task for far longer than one minute?

I do recognize that some of the issues in this thread seem ridiculous and rules-lawyery. But each of those issues could be solved by adding as little as two words. A single paragraph could fix most if not all of the questions in this entire thread.

And that's really all this thread is asking for, some simple explanation or clarification of how minions are expected to work, so there can be a common understanding. The design of this feature is incomplete without it.

And I really don't think it would become harmful and restricting. Individual GMs would still, as always, be able to alter the expectations if it suits their table.

There seems to be some inconsistency in the class concept, in its theme. Sometimes apparitions can interact with the world on their own, sometimes they can't.

I see that Animists "Talk to spiritual entities only you can perceive"

and "Apparitions are spiritual entities who generally lack (any way) to enter or affect the physical world."

and "Animists gain their power by serving as a bridge for (apparitions) to commune and interact with the physical world."

But then the abilities don't match that. Apparitions seem more than capable of interacting with both people and things on their own. Grasping Spirits Spell actually drags people around, sometimes even more effectively than a Distant Grasp psychic could do, or more powerfully than PF1 magic spells, let alone PF2 magic spells.

Also some of the vessel spells such as Earth's Bile and River Carving Mountains have the apparitions becoming quite solid and manipulating the environment. Discomfiting Whispers definitely has them being perceived, and even causes real damage to people.

When the apparitions are aiding, guiding, and inspiring the Animist himself, they make sense. They might even use him as a bridge, such as by possessing his body for awhile. I believe the old Medium class had them work in that way. But now that they go around interacting with the world on their own, that seems inconsistent with the whole concept.

A boon that would allow my familiar to participate in the marketplace.

My familiar complains about this incessantly during downtime. What she really wants is to enter Master's Form and make her own Earn Income roll. But I think she would settle for assisting me in my tasks, with an untyped bonus to my Earn Income (or Crafting) roll.

A boon for access to the Aklys weapon.

(currently unavailable through any feat or ancestry, even though it's listed in a core source)

It's been at least a week since the PDF was updated. If I order a hardcover copy of the CRB from Paizo's website today, will I receive the 4th printing?