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It's entirely possible my search skills are failing me here, but was it ever answered whether the medium's caster level is equal to their class level or class level - 3? I know rangers and paladins have the latter, but it's not explicit in the medium's spells section. Not a hugely pressing matter, but I figured it's something that will eventually require some clarification.
Those are both not using your fortuitous aid ability, but instead using swift aid and bodyguard (it's why later abilities say things like "when using fortuitous aid" rather than "when using aid another"). I'll make sure to clarify in the final. Yeah, thought that might be too good to be true. Thanks, Mark.
While we're clarifying the Unicorn, the Fortuitous Aid ability mentions "ignoring other abilities that alter the bonus you grant when you aid another." So if I have the Swift Aid feat, can I use it together with Fortuitous Aid and grant Spirit Bonus +2 with a swift action? Or are they not compatible at all? How about the Bodyguard feat, which doesn't alter the actual bonus?
I noticed the Paizo folks sometimes do something similar by maybe adding gemstones or precious metals to a piece of ordinary gear, which works too. Here are a few of the other items I came up with:
So, recently I was statting up some low-level NPCs -- artisans and townsfolk, that sort of thing. And I realized when assigning them gear that if you closely follow the rules for NPC creation, there's a bit of gap where you have too little gold to purchase magical items but way too much to spend on ordinary gear. I mean, the local blacksmith walking about town in full plate seemed excessive. Instead, how about some magic items for the common person? This was perhaps the only item I came up with that was actually of practical use:
But that got me thinking about other options. Here are a couple of the completely frivolous examples:
Please do post your own examples if you have them...
19. Heir to a long line of weapon merchants, you find yourself haunted by the ghosts of those slain by your family's swords, and you are driven to appease their restless spirits. Sure, they aid you, but to what cryptic end? (Loosely inspired by this real world example)
15. Years ago, a famous but foolhardy Pathfinder opened an Osiriani tomb, whose engravings promised vengeance on any who disturbed the sleeping dead. When nothing immediately happened, he dismissed the curse. However, when he returned home from his long journey, he found his only child possessed by the spirits of departed Osiriani kings. Now grown, the child has managed, only barely, to control the spirits and turn them to her advantage, but for how long?
13. The young scion of a noble family--and one of a pair of star-crossed lovers--takes her own life, only to be rejected by death. But when she returns to life, she returns with company: the spirits of her departed ancestors who have vowed to ensure that she fulfills her destiny and makes her line proud...
12. A precocious young scholar so obsessed with reading about the exploits of past heroes that they begin to invade his dreams. Initially the dreams are dismissed as the product of an overwrought imagination, until the heroes of his books begin to appear to him during his waking hours as well...
I’m between gaming groups at the moment, so this is somewhat theorycrafting, but I had a day off and an impulse to create some Occult Adventures characters and run them through a few simulated combats. The party comprises a gnome geokineticist, a human medium, a tiefling occultist, and (for purposes of having a “control character”) a human fighter, all at level 1 to start. I used encounters from the Burnt Offerings module of the Rise of the Runelords AP, so potential minor spoilers ahead. Here's the party: Trig, gnome geokineticist 1 stats:
Female gnome geokineticist 1 CG Small humanoid (gnome) Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +7 DEFENSE
OFFENSE
STATISTICS
Gear hide shirt, dagger, belt pouch with 17gp
Initial Impressions
Also, the two-feat tax to avoid the penalty for blasting into melee is going to be a bear for low-level non-human characters. If there were, perhaps, a single feat that worked like Precise Shot only for kinetic blasts or even a 1st-level universal Wild Talent with the same effect, that might level the field a bit. I suspect the low skills points and the two-feat tax combined will strongly discourage non-human kineticists, which is a shame since there’s potential for some great thematic combinations, like pyrokinetic goblins or earth-chucking oreads. Mandraiv, human medium 1 stats:
Male human medium 1 NG Medium humanoid (human) Init +1; Senses Perception +1 DEFENSE
OFFENSE
STATISTICS
Gear chain shirt, dagger, light crossbow with 10 bolts, belt pouch with 1gp
Initial Impressions
I could definitely see some great RP opportunities for this class, but I can also see it surpassing the bard for being the least useful class in combat at early levels: At least the bard gets some spells, a universally useful party buff, and some flexible skill support right out of the gate; the medium has to wait until 2nd level for a single highly-situational party buff and until 4th level for a much narrower selection of spells. Plus, compared to the bard, they get worse saves, fewer skill points and class skills, and fewer weapon proficiencies. Melee-oriented builds may fair slightly better, but as I said, I feel that should be an option, not a requirement. For the same reason, if I had to choose between the two main “fixes” that have been proposed for this class, I’d rather go with the versatility of six-level spellcasting over a full BAB progression, especially since mediums who choose a Strength spirit as their primary spirit get more or less the equivalent of the latter anyway, and several of the the lesser powers for the mental stats buff spellcasting abilities that a low-level medium wouldn’t yet have, making them much less attractive choices at early levels. Nishka, tiefling occultist 1 stats:
Female tiefling occultist 1 CN Size outsider (native) Init +1; Senses darkvision 60ft; Perception +4 DEFENSE
OFFENSE
STATISTICS
Gear chain shirt, longsword, robe, mirror, belt pouch with 14gp
Initial Impressions At first glance, this character looks almost a bit overpowered at 1st level. Yes, her spell choices are extremely limited, but her selection of focus powers means she can also potentially summon any combination of zombies, skeletons, or monsters from the summon monster I list up to nine times a day before she exhausts her mental focus. Add to that some additional spellcasting along with medium armor and martial weapon proficiencies, and you’ve got a 1st level character with no lack of combat options (and broad skill selection for out-of-combat roles). That being said, some of these powers, like the servitor power, won’t scale well, so I’m not sure how long these advantage will endure as she advances. The other downside I anticipate to playing this character at higher levels is the bookkeeping: In theory, I like the idea of resonant powers diminishing as the occultist depletes the stored mental focus in the implement, but having to constantly recheck and recalculate the effects of those resonant powers might get a little old. Galliard, human fighter 1
stats:
Male human fighter 1 LG Medium humanoid (human) Init +1; Senses Perception +0 DEFENSE
OFFENSE
STATISTICS
Gear scale mail, great sword, throwing axes (3), belt pouch with 50gp
A classic big dumb fighter. The group needed a melee specialist, and I figured a no-frills two-handed fighter would be a solid “control” to serve as a basis for comparison. Combat Results
Trig (gnome geokineticist 1): Trig scored three total kills, which was second best in the party after the fighter Galliard. Her blast damage is high enough to one-shot a goblin on a successful hit, but she really struggled to land hits once the enemies were engaged in melee. Had I made her human (and chosen Precise Shot as her bonus feat), she probably would have dominated the combat, or at least kept up with the fighter. As it is, she’ll have to wait until 3rd level to rid herself of that penalty, which is a bit frustrating. Mandraiv (human medium 1): Mandraiv did take out one goblin on a lucky crossbow hit, but his main function proved to be siphoning off damage from the fighter with The Desert’s bond of reliance ability. It feels a little boring spamming the crossbow and absorbing one point of damage a round, but at one point, the latter ability actually kept the fighter in combat long enough for Nishka to cast a cure light wounds, so it turned out to be a fortuitous choice. However, Mandraiv had no reason to trance whatsoever: Looking at his spirit options, the only combat-relevant lesser powers were The Cricket’s +10’ speed boost, The Unicorn’s +1 increase to the aid another bonus, or The Desert’s very situational intermediate power, none of which seemed worth blowing a full round action. I can’t see trance getting used much at all until 6th level, when it becomes a standard action. Nishka (tiefling occultist 1): Nishka used her necromantic servant focus power to summon a skeleton for the first and second waves of gobbos, and her servitor power to summon a fiendish riding dog for the climactic fight with the goblin commander. Both scored only one kill a piece, but they did soak up some hits and provide flanking opportunities. Her spell casting also came in handy, especially cure light wounds when the fighter got critically low on hit points. Overall, hardly the star of the battlefield, but solid support role and a good variety of options in combat. Minor point of confusion with the occultist: I noticed that necromantic servant doesn’t specify the range within which the skeleton can appear. I assume it’s something like 30’, but it should probably be explicitly stated. If I get more time in the next week, I might bump these guys up to maybe sixth or seventh level and try another encounter to see how they scale. |
