
Milo v3 |

Yes it is. You get a small bonus (+1 attack/dam) for being totally focused on a single element, and you also get an extra talent every time you select the same element a second time.
I think the only element that is worth focusing on right now is fire, but I could be wrong.
Great. A lotta concepts I've made up were single element so that's helpful.
I would focus on aether.
I thought you had to focus on your element to get the higher level abilities related to your element?
Sorta. But that only needs taking it twice I think (at least thats what it was in the playtest), and you get up to three elements.

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The reanimated medium isn't still dead, but was once dead and now channels his own ghost! It's one of my favorite medium archetypes, just for the flavor of it. A samsaran reanimated medium would be a great character concept.
I believe we're getting variant samsarans in the Occult Bestiary. ^_^

technarken |

After reading through my copy I got a couple days ago, most questions got answered, though there are still a few.
Is the Spiritualist not having short notice (standard to full round action) manifestation of their phantom a deliberate design decision, or can we expect a Summon Not-Eidolon spell in the future?
More questions to come most likely

Mark Seifter Designer |
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Mechanically the reanimated medium loses the taboo class feature and gains abilities that make it much easier/less taxing to come back from the dead with magic. They also gain resistance to possession and at 20th level they can be channeled by a seance.
Because honestly, getting a taboo from yourself seems silly. But on the other hand, you're possessing this body already, so none of those other possessors can have it; you called dibs, and they have to respect that.

Cadvin |
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Because honestly, getting a taboo from yourself seems silly. But on the other hand, you're possessing this body already, so none of those other possessors can have it; you called dibs, and they have to respect that.
Haha, I like that explanation.
"Shotgun!""Shotgu- aww man, I never get to possess anyone!"

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Anybody (devs too if they want!) feel like sharing stuff they really loved?
Not counting the things I wrote myself, because that's tacky, I loved the teamwork that went into making this project. The development team and Brandon were a dream to collaborate with. Not only that, I was able to work closely with Erik Mona on several sections and that was a rare treat.
As for actual content, I'm incredibly happy with how all the dream travel rules work and how psychic combat turned out. The esoteric planes section also includes some really fascinating lore that I think will help GMs and players alike incorporate the occult rules into their campaigns.
Working on the occult books was a dream project, really. There's so much great content in here (and the upcoming Occult Realms, Occult Bestiary, and Occult Origins) for everyone.

Luthorne |
A Question for those who have the book, was anything changed with the Rare Earth Infusion? Can it still only be used with the Composite Metal Blast or can it be used with the basic earth blast?
You can only make metal into special kinds of metal when your blast is metal, so no change.

Hargert |
I am not sure this is the correct place for this but I have noticed that a number of the shape powers for the kineticist F
limit the damage to half damage and then if saves are made are half of that. Am I not understanding something but it would seem that by the time many of them come online hitting for 1/4 damage in say a 30 foot cone would be less than effective. It also seems that many of the AOE shapes are limited to a single element. I would have thought that having a basic 20 foot fireball style blast would come online much earlier.

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Nate Z wrote:It actually ended up being left out of Ultimate Campaign. For reasons unknown...The caption on the blog reads:
"The quest to find a missing family member is a driving horse for many heroes."
So apparently the quest was not meant to end with Ultimate Campaign after all. :(
EDIT: Actually, it would be kind of cool if Sajni ends up being one of the iconic Evil characters for Hell's Vengeance (mind control? Amnesia?). Be a shame to let such a cool piece of art and an interesting looking character go to waste.
Evil characters? Is there going to be an official Evil AP? If so, where was I when that news dropped?

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Evil characters? Is there going to be an official Evil AP? If so, where was I when that news dropped?
Off topic:

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Robert Brookes wrote:The reanimated medium isn't still dead, but was once dead and now channels his own ghost! It's one of my favorite medium archetypes, just for the flavor of it. A samsaran reanimated medium would be a great character concept.I believe we're getting variant samsarans in the Occult Bestiary. ^_^
Whooo! I like!

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Tabletop Prophet wrote:Evil characters? Is there going to be an official Evil AP? If so, where was I when that news dropped?Off topic: ** spoiler omitted **
Off Topic: Oh! Sorry, I got a little excited for a sec. Not that I enjoy Evil Campaigns that much, but more variety in the AP selection is always welcome, especially direct sequels!

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Adam Daigle wrote:Off Topic: Oh! Sorry, I got a little excited for a sec. Not that I enjoy Evil Campaigns that much, but more variety in the AP selection is always welcome, especially direct sequels!Tabletop Prophet wrote:Evil characters? Is there going to be an official Evil AP? If so, where was I when that news dropped?Off topic: ** spoiler omitted **
Well, it's on my list to run. ^_^
On-topic, when you get a copy of this book, you may want to look up the Necroocultist archetype...

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I are a tad confused...
The Playtest of Rivani has artwork of her floating with stuff orbiting her person, and looking through her spell list I find:
as a 1st level psychic - Mage hand, TK projectile, both are 0 level.
as the 4th level psychic - I do not see any additional TK spells.
At 7th - Rivani has levitate and fly.
So, how is Rivani doing what she does in the artwork?
The first level through fourth level versions can not levitate, I will assume that levitate could have been on the list as a (third?) fourth level psychic.
I look up the spell description of mage hand, and levitate:
Mage hand
levitate
The target of Levitate is ONE (you, someone else, one object, Period).
The description of mage hand can move 5 lbs, but does not mention any digits, fine manipulation, or the ability to hold at separate locations multiple objects up to the 5lbs limit. Also, concentrating to maintain the spell is a standard action. Trying to maintain multiple spells with a duration of concentration is not possible in the rules as you can not cast spells if you are concentrating to maintain one...
So, multiple instances of mage hand just do not solve this question: no fine manipulation, only one at a time. (*I do not know the feats, items and other spells, but I would tend to imagine that "cast and/or maintain concentration on as many spells as you want as a Non-action" would not be allowed.*) Multiple instances of levitation do not enable horizontal movement and would be absurdly wasteful...
Some sort of "Psychic display" (vomit) should have no viable effect on game play; I do not know about you but using a crossbow and reloading it seems pretty dang viable to me!
Edit: I had missed "fly" earlier. Still "Fly" doesn't enable you to hang your stuff in the air around you, and certainly doesn't aim/reload a crossbow.
Was this artistic license, or can Rivani actually somehow able do what she is doing in the artwork?
Should I be angry at the people involved with the occult book for in essence lying to all of us, or not?
Eric, mark, artist for rivani, etc... what do you guys have to say for yourselves?

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My only assumption was that Rivani was originally an aetherkineticist or something.
I do not have any details on any of that; all I have is the Iconic pre-gen and we can see that it does not say anything of the sort. My assumption is that the artwork is mistakenly portraying an ability that NO ONE can have. That the artwork is Not even representative of the character's abilities at levels higher than 7th.
Fly, levitate? sure now She's airborne.
Stuff floating about her head? A "Display"(Pukes)? maybe, but this would be a display with multiple beneficial game effects (holding things as you want them to be held, etc. Her lamp isn't spilling oil everywhere, crossbow bolts poised to reload, so forth.) multiple casting of levitate one per object would be up and down only, very wasteful, and multiple uses of mage hand is not possible. A crossbow floating, aiming, with multiple bolts ready to reload: nope. nothing I read covers that.

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The art is ordered well before the rules are finalised, and if Wayne Reynolds draws your iconic with something that ultimately isn't 100% rules as written, you just roll with it. Why? Because he's gorramn Wayne Reynolds, that's why. ;)
For good or ill; this may be the only answer. yeah, we know he aims to misbehave.
Still, it would be nice to emulate somehow. the book cover mock up appears to have several tomes orbiting Rivani as well; Heck, one book is in position and open for her to read and her lamp is floating in a perfect spot to illuminate her reading. If I were to try to pull this off with my PFS D.M. ugh. nope.
Everyone; this question isn't about when she learns what spell; it is about how does she do what she is doing in the artwork...

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Is this about the pre-gen characters released today? Or is there no Psychic levitation ability in the Occult Adventures book?
uhm, not really. the concern is that I want to know how this:
Rivani floating and orbited by stuff.Is doable in the rules.
and what she is doing here:
swirling cloud of books, one open for reading with the lamp is floating in a spot to illuminate her reading, and she seems to be doing some sort of "Zap-on-the-run" on top of all these actions.
How is she doing all this stuff?

Mark Seifter Designer |

Telekinesis wouldn't explain how she's manipulating all those objects at once. Best answer I'd have from a mechanical standpoint is enchanting all the items with an Ioun enchantment, allowing them to orbit the owner.
The knives in the bilocation picture, for instance, could be violent thrust. But yeah, the lots of stuff floating near her seems like unseen servant to me.

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If you want the lowest-level spells that take care of it, looks like levitate and unseen servant to me. But remember, the art depicts no particular level, so it could just as easily be a much higher level spell like telekinesis.
Wow, thanks for responding to this!
So let's look at T.K. : T.K.Wiz/sorc 5th spell level (i.e. at 10 level?)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Target or Targets see text
Duration concentration (up to 1 round/level) or instantaneous; see text
An object can be telekinetically manipulated as if with one hand. For example, a lever or rope can be pulled, a key can be turned, an object rotated, and so on, if the force required is within the weight limitation. You might even be able to untie simple knots, though delicate activities such as these require DC 15 Intelligence checks.
Okay, some of this passes the smell test. Durations of Concentration cost a standard action. if all the above artwork examples is a single use of the T.K. spell...
She can not use Mage hand to hold the crossbow, because you can not cast a spell while concentrating to maintain another.
T.K. can hold the crossbow with one hand but to reload would be "Two hands" even if the G.M. allowed it to coun as one of these "Delicate" DC 15 int checks - for INT 20 Rivani the odds of fail is 50%.
So, for a player to have this Halo of stuff - you need to be 10th level. for a player to reload a crossbow with t.k. you have to find a way to get that "Second Hand" or a G.M. who don't care about needing two hands.

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Telekinesis wouldn't explain how she's manipulating all those objects at once. Best answer I'd have from a mechanical standpoint is enchanting all the items with an Ioun enchantment, allowing them to orbit the owner.
it isn't on the 1,4, or 7 iconic sheet. so it has to be done at a higher level. telekinesis does allow you to control multiple objects and to make a violent thrust. I didn't see any unseen servant on her list of spells.

Mark Seifter Designer |
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Milo v3 wrote:Telekinesis wouldn't explain how she's manipulating all those objects at once. Best answer I'd have from a mechanical standpoint is enchanting all the items with an Ioun enchantment, allowing them to orbit the owner.it isn't on the 1,4, or 7 iconic sheet. so it has to be done at a higher level. telekinesis does allow you to control multiple objects and to make a violent thrust. I didn't see any unseen servant on her list of spells.
With the exception of the Advanced Class Guide iconics, which I happened to have written as a freelancer (and not part of my normal job) as a coincidence, the PFS pregenerated character sheets are not usually written by the same team who write the RPG line books, and each person who writes a pregen has to decide what they think about fidelity to the art vs other big important aspects. For instance, take a look at Alahazra the oracle (pregen not out yet; I mean look at her art). In her picture, clearly she doesn't have any armor. Should her PFS pregen have armor or just flounder around with really low AC? These are difficult questions that don't always have easy answers. As such, when you reach a different conclusion (for instance, as here) I don't recommend narrowing to the choices of the PFS pregen as the only possible interpretation of the character. For instance, Harsk is a tea aficionado, but there's nothing about it, including skills in that area, on his pregen.

Wayne Reynolds Contributor |
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Gorbacz wrote:The art is ordered well before the rules are finalised, and if Wayne Reynolds draws your iconic with something that ultimately isn't 100% rules as written, you just roll with it. Why? Because he's gorramn Wayne Reynolds, that's why. ;)For good or ill; this may be the only answer. yeah, we know he aims to misbehave.
Still, it would be nice to emulate somehow. the book cover mock up appears to have several tomes orbiting Rivani as well; Heck, one book is in position and open for her to read and her lamp is floating in a perfect spot to illuminate her reading. If I were to try to pull this off with my PFS D.M. ugh. nope.
Everyone; this question isn't about when she learns what spell; it is about how does she do what she is doing in the artwork...
A levitating character with multiple items floating around her head were specifically mentioned in the art description for this Iconic. Your statement that I aim to misbehave is incorrect.
I follow my art briefs and give the client the artwork that they've asked for.
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yeah, the lots of stuff floating near her seems like unseen servant to me.
the servant is undoubtly handy, but... has a movement rate of 15, can't perform detailed skills (DC 10 or higher) and can't attack. So no crossbow aiming. however, the unseen servant can hold the bolts and reload the crossbow, which would be held by Rivani's T.K.
Hrmm. Rivani doesn't know Unseen servant at 1st,4th,7th - has to be sometime after 7th.
as for Unseen servant, there isn't a list for how many limbs it has and thus it could hold multiple objects at different locations in its reach up to its weight limit (Strength 2, 20 lbs).
in terms of action economy, what does it take to command an unseen servant, the text of the spell doesn't say. if it is a free action (talking) no worries.
SO; one, cast unseen servant for the halo of stuffs and minor task doing.
Two cast T.K. for the halo of stuffs, one hand fine manipulation, and thrusting.
oh yeah, normally cary about a few books and other bits, and some five daggers (maybe)... to try to pull this off.

Gisher |
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chad hale 637 wrote:Gorbacz wrote:The art is ordered well before the rules are finalised, and if Wayne Reynolds draws your iconic with something that ultimately isn't 100% rules as written, you just roll with it. Why? Because he's gorramn Wayne Reynolds, that's why. ;)For good or ill; this may be the only answer. yeah, we know he aims to misbehave.
Still, it would be nice to emulate somehow. the book cover mock up appears to have several tomes orbiting Rivani as well; Heck, one book is in position and open for her to read and her lamp is floating in a perfect spot to illuminate her reading. If I were to try to pull this off with my PFS D.M. ugh. nope.
Everyone; this question isn't about when she learns what spell; it is about how does she do what she is doing in the artwork...
A levitating character with multiple items floating around her head were specifically mentioned in the art description for this Iconic. Your statement that I aim to misbehave is incorrect.
I follow my art briefs and give the client the artwork that they've asked for.
And the results are always awesome and inspiring. Thank you.

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According to the magic chapter, redirecting an active spell, when the action isn't specified, is a move action, so still works while concentrating on another spell.
T.K.
FlyLevitate
Unseen servant
Mage hand
Some of these work together to contribute to a combo that does everything depicted in the art. Cool with me, PFS doable too. that resolves my concern.
I wonder if there are other rules, feats, and traits that contribute to such psychic effects. For example, While your unseen servant is in your space it moves as fast as you do because it is holding on to you.
maybe a question for another time.

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chad hale 637 wrote:Gorbacz wrote:The art is ordered well before the rules are finalised, and if Wayne Reynolds draws your iconic with something that ultimately isn't 100% rules as written, you just roll with it. Why? Because he's gorramn Wayne Reynolds, that's why. ;)For good or ill; this may be the only answer.A levitating character with multiple items floating around her head were specifically mentioned in the art description for this Iconic. Your statement that I aim to misbehave is incorrect.
I follow my art briefs and give the client the artwork that they've asked for.
Hey, love your work. No offense was intended.
The whole "Aims to misbehave" is just a phrase from "Firefly" to show that I understood Gorbacz. that is all.

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okay, now. in the same vein as my last question;
what is an under-cast spell?would this enable the use of a weaker T.K. spell at a lower character level or a weaker version of it as a lower spell level once you have learned T.K.?
Undercasting only exists for specific spells, of which telekinesis is not one.
Imagine if you knew summon monster VI. If it had the "can be undercast" text, you could cast it as summon monster I-V instead, with commensurately lower spell slot and effects.
So, essentially, if you know thought shield IV, you know I-III as well.
Does that make sense?

Brew Bird |

okay, now. in the same vein as my last question;
what is an under-cast spell?would this enable the use of a weaker T.K. spell at a lower character level or a weaker version of it as a lower spell level once you have learned T.K.?
Undercasting is a feature of certain psychic spells. There are a lot of spells in Occult Adventures that have different "tiers" like Summon Monster, but knowing one tier allows you to cast all the lower tier versions as well. Here's the text from the playtest document:
Undercast: Some psychic spells can be undercast. This means that the spellcaster can cast the spell at the level that he knows, or as any lower level version of that spell, using the appropriate spell slot. When undercasting a spell, it is treated exactly like the lower level version, including when determining its effect, saving throw, and other variables. For example, a psychic spellcaster who adds ego whip III to his list of spells known can cast it as ego whip I, II, or III. If he casts it as ego whip I, it is treated in all ways as that spell; using the text for that spell, the saving throw DC, and requiring him to expend a 3rd-level spell slot.
Whenever a spontaneous spellcaster adds a spell to his list of spells known that can be undercast, he can immediately learn a spell in place of any lower level versions of that spell. In essence he “loses” the earlier version and can replace it with another spell of the same level that is on his spell list.

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Undercasting only exists for specific spells, of which telekinesis is not one.
Does that make sense?
Yes, I understand under-casting now. "I are disappoint" that aside from magical approximations: unseen servant, floating disk, levitate, fly, mage hand, etc. there isn't a lower level version of the T.K. spell.
at 3 XP a month(generally one month of PFS sessions for me) to earn tenth level is ten months. That can be a really long time to wait before I can do "X-y-Z of awesome. oh well, them is the rules.

Jack of Dust |

Tabletop Prophet wrote:Adam Daigle wrote:Off Topic: Oh! Sorry, I got a little excited for a sec. Not that I enjoy Evil Campaigns that much, but more variety in the AP selection is always welcome, especially direct sequels!Tabletop Prophet wrote:Evil characters? Is there going to be an official Evil AP? If so, where was I when that news dropped?Off topic: ** spoiler omitted **Well, it's on my list to run. ^_^
On-topic, when you get a copy of this book, you may want to look up the Necroocultist archetype...
Speaking of this acrhetype, could anyone give us a bit more info on it? Namely how it fares as a party necromancer. All that's been said so far is a general idea of what it replaces (instead of contacting outsiders and learning from objects you contact and learn from the dead).
My GM allows evil characters so I might just play one if it's good with undead as the name might suggest.

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Necroocultist archetype...Speaking of this acrhetype, could anyone give us a bit more info on it? Namely how it fares as a party necromancer. My GM allows evil characters so I might just play one if it's good with undead as the name might suggest.
Indeed, this Necro occultist could be quite interesting to use as a vile villain! I can just imagine a Necro-kinetic..