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So, being the nerdy history grad student, I came up with the idea for this archetype while reading about Enlightenment philosophes during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. A lot of the changes I implemented were heavily borrowed from other archetypes, because if it isn't broke, don't fix it. Please tell me what you think!

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Philosophes are proficient in all simple weapons, plus one martial weapon. Philosophes are not proficient in any armor or shield; unlike bards, philosophes are subject to arcane spell failure even when casting in light armor or when using a shield.
This replaces the normal bard armor and weapon proficiencies.

Higher Learning (Ex)

A philosophe gains a bonus equal to half his bard level on Diplomacy, Knowledge (history), Perform (oratory), Knowledge (nobility), and Profession (scribe) checks (minimum +1). Once per day, the philosophe can also re-roll a check against one of these skills, though he must take the result of the second roll even if it is worse. He can re-roll one additional time per day at 5th level and every five levels thereafter.

This ability replaces bardic knowledge.

Scribe Scroll

A philosophe gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

Bardic Performance

A philosophe gains the following types of bardic performance:

Satire (Su): A philosophe can use performance to undermine the confidence of enemies who hear him, causing them to take a –1 penalty on attack and damage rolls (minimum 1) and a –1 penalty on saves against fear and charm effects as long as the bard continues performing. This penalty increases by –1 at 5th level and every six levels thereafter. Satire is a language-dependent, mind-affecting ability that uses audible components.

This ability replaces inspire courage.

Advise (Su): At 3rd level, a philosophe can use his wisdom to teach an ally civility or grace, as well as information, albeit the knowledge is fleeting and not retained. This ability functions as inspire competence, but only affects Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Knowledge (chosen individually), Linguistics (cannot be used to learn a language), Profession (chosen individually), Sense Motive, and Spellcraft checks. This ability takes 1 hour to use, and uses 4 performance rounds, but the recipient receives the benefits for an hour after that. To gain the benefits of this ability, the philosophe must have at least a rank in the respective skill.

This ability modifies inspire competence.

Gather Crowd (Ex): At 5th level, the philosophe is skilled at drawing an audience to his performances. If he is in a settlement or populated area, he can shout, sing, or otherwise make himself noticed in order to attract an audience to his impromptu stage. The size of the crowd depends on the local population, but typically is a number of people equal to 1/2 the bard’s class level × the result of the bard’s Perform check. The crowd gathers over the next 1d10 rounds. If the bard fails to engage the crowd (such as by performing, kissing babies, trying to use fascinate, and so on), it disperses over the next 1d10 rounds.

This ability replaces lore master.

Righteous Cause (Ex): At 18th level, the philosophe can lift a crowd’s emotions and turn them toward a common purpose. First, he must fascinate the crowd, at which point he can use righteous cause. At this point, he fills them with purpose. Fascinated creatures must make Will saves (DC 10 + 1/2 the bard’s level + the bard’s Charisma modifier) to resist. Those who fail are affected by mass suggestion of a plausible idea that lingers with them for one day. Typical uses of this ability are to spark rebellion, overthrow a king, build a beneficial structure such as an orphanage, or donate money to a cause.

This ability replaces mass suggestion and is modified from the demagogue archetype.

Magical Influence

In addition, a philosophe’s class spell list includes the following:

1st—comprehend languages, cultural adaptation (Humans of Golarion), delusional pride
2nd—hideous laughter, oppressive boredom, whispering wind
3rd—heroism, tongues, unadulterated loathing
4th—crushing despair, overwhelming grief
5th—smug narcissism, telepathic bond
6th—legend lore, true seeing, unconscious agenda (Rise of the Runelords), utter contempt

A philosophe may add one of these spells or any enchantment spell on the bard spell list to his list of spells known at 2nd level and every four levels thereafter.

This ability replaces versatile performance.

So, I decided that I'd like to make a couple of races for a couple of games I have coming up. The first is an alternate human build. I wanted them to go away from the skills and focus more on martial prowess. So, I based this new human race off of the Spartans, and named it in their honor. Here it is:

Spartan (8 RP)

Medium Humanoid (human)
30 foot movement speed
+2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Charisma: Spartans are strong and hardy, but brash.
Bonus Feat: Spartans start off with a bonus feat that they qualify for.
Mountain Born (Ex): Spartans gain a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics checks to cross narrow ledges and on saving throws to avoid altitude fatigue and sickness.
Weapon Training (Ex): All Spartans are proficient with the gladius (closest thing I could find to the xiphos) and the longspear.
Languages: See human.

The other race is called a skulkling. They started off as the offspring of halfling slaves and skulks (not a pleasant union). Despite this, the race prospered on its own. They are the most personable creatures from the Darklands, but they still have that feeling of uncanny valley. They make decent trackers, though they are best suited to finding wounded creatures or the dead (or in some cases, the undead). They live underground mostly, where they have adapted perfect vision, and can see perfectly in any darkness. Since they are the most personable, they can act as emissaries for the Darklands if they wanted to (though this scenario would not likely happen). Skulklings rely upon the shadows to be their shield, and do not often engage in direct combat. When they do, they rely upon finesse, rather than brute strength to bring down their foes. Their physiology has been warped, and they are very frail. Despite this, skulklings boast an amazing resistance to venom, toxins, and poisons of various degrees. They are also resistant to many spells that attack the mind. Most skulklings, like their halfling kin, are neutral in alignment.

Skulkling (14 RP)

Humanoid (skulk)
Movement: Skulklings have a move speed of 30 feet.
Small: Skulklings gain a +1 size bonus to attack rolls and AC, but a -1 size penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB) and Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD). They also gain a +4 bonus to Stealth checks.
+2 Dexterity, +2 Charisma, -4 Constitution: Skulklings are quick and cunning, but very frail.
See in Darkness (Ex): Skulklings can see perfectly in darkness of any kind, including that created by spells such as deeper darkness.
Carrion Sense (Ex): Skulklings have a natural ability to sniff out carrion. This functions like the scent ability, but only for corpses and wounded creatures (creatures with 25% or fewer hit points).
Envoy (Su): Skulklings with an Intelligence of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities: 1/day – comprehend languages, detect magic, detect poison, read magic.
Nimble Attacks (Ex): Skulklings receive Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat.
Resistant (Ex): Skulklings gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws vs. poison and mind-affecting spells.
Underground Sneak (Ex): Skulklings gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy), Perception, and Stealth checks. The bonus to Stealth checks increases to +4 while underground.
Languages: All skulklings begin play speaking Undercommon. Skulklings with high Intelligence scores can choose any of the following bonus languages: Common, Abyssal, Aklo, and Draconic.

Is there a sample sheet for this character with equipment, formulae, and such? A friend of mine is looking for it, because he wanted to make a character like him, but wanted to see some of his stats and equipment.

So, I'm thinking of buying some masterwork ammunition for my level 1 character. When it says that I need to add 6 gp to the cost of a single unit of ammunition, does this mean add 6 gp to the cost of a single arrow, thus making it 6 gp, 5 sp (20 arrows = 1 gp, 1/20=0.05), or do I add 6 gp to the cost of the quiver of ammunition? I'm pretty sure my first guess is correct, but it never hurts to check.

First, I'll post the wording:

Ancestral Weapon (Su): You can summon a simple or martial weapon from your family’s history that is appropriate for your current size. You are considered proficient with this weapon. At 3rd level, the weapon is considered masterwork. At 7th level, 15th level, and 19th level, the weapon gains a cumulative +1 enhancement bonus. At 11th level, the weapon gains the ghost touch weapon property. You can use this ability for a number of minutes per day equal to your oracle level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be used in 1-minute increments. The weapon disappears after 1 round if it leaves your grasp.

When an oracle takes the Ancestral Weapon revelation, is he or she limited to that weapons the entire game? If so, by the wording above, would he or she gain proficiency with that weapon, or just the summoned version of it?

So, I'm testing the race builder out, and figured I'd grab a few opinions. I'm making a monkey bird race (for a Pirates of Dark Water themed campaign), and figured I'd throw out what I've built and see what opinions I get of this non-Niddler monkey bird. Total race points: 12.

+2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength (0 RP): Mobo are nimble and quick-witted, but lack the strength of larger races.

Monstrous Humanoid (3 RP): Mobo have the monstrous humanoid template, and can be affected by spells and abilities that affect such creatures (such as hold monster or by being a ranger’s favored enemy). As well as this, Mobo have 60 feet of darkvision. Mobo eat, sleep, and breathe.

Small (0 RP): Mobo gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a -1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.

Slow (-1 RP): Mobo have a base land speed of 20 feet.

Flight (4 RP): Mobo have a base fly speed of 30 feet with clumsy maneuverability.

Defensive Training, lesser [human] (1 RP): Many Mobo have been captured and sold into slavery, but many more have been trained to defend themselves against human slavers, and as a result, Mobo gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against humans.

Camouflage [jungle] (1 RP): Mobo live in and survive because of the jungle. They have learned use the terrain to their advantage, to keep themselves hidden from the eyes of a slaver looking for an easy mark. Mobo gain a +4 racial bonus on stealth checks within jungles.

Gliding Wings (3 RP): Mobo take no damage from falling (as if subject to a constant nonmagical feather fall). While in midair, Mobo can move up to 5 feet in any horizontal direction for every 1 foot they fall, at a speed of 60 feet per round. Mobo cannot gain height by gliding alone; it merely coasts in other directions as it falls. If subjected to a strong wind or any other effect that causes a Mobo to rise, it can take advantage of of the updraft to increase the distance it can glide.

Terrain Stride [jungle] (1 RP): Mobo have lived in the jungle long enough to not be hindered by the terrain. Mobo can move at their normal speed while within jungles. Magically altered terrain affects them normally.