
Mark Seifter Designer |

Milo v3 wrote:But it does make dhampirs very vampire-like!brad2411 wrote:it is just that a few immunities and stop agingSo the capstones useless for vampires, that's disappointing.
Very very. Ultimately, for an archetype that lets you control blood and thus gain some of the qualities of vampirism without being a vampire, it was sort of inevitable that there would be some overlap with what a vampire already has somewhere or another. The only real main overlap being at 20th level means that the overlap effects vampires much less than, say, if the 5th level ability was something vampries already had.

Mark Seifter Designer |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

At first the kinetic chirurgeon seemed a hard sell, then I realized that enemies don't get a save vs burn. They also don't have limits on how much burn they can get subjected to. Fear the doctors, man, fear the doctors.
You can't use kinetic healer on an unwilling target. While unconscious creatures count as willing, you could have also coup de graced them, so I'm not particularly concerned with the exploitation potential of inflicting burn on 'em.

MythicFox |

A couple of questions have come up regarding the Kineticist here...
1. First off, I know this is one of those 'am I reading this right' questions and I hate to ask those, but does the '1 burn per round' limit basically mean that effects with a burn cost could require some charging up to unleash? (above and beyond Gather Power, of course)
2. When you're using telekinetic blast to throw unattended objects, what if one of those objects is a vial of acid or alchemist's fire or something? The object takes the damage as well, so the vial should break. Does the target take the acid (or whatever) damage as well? (I can see that being a fair trade-off for requiring objects for the blast in general.)

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A couple of questions have come up regarding the Kineticist here...
1. First off, I know this is one of those 'am I reading this right' questions and I hate to ask those, but does the '1 burn per round' limit basically mean that effects with a burn cost could require some charging up to unleash? (above and beyond Gather Power, of course)
I don't have the book in front of me, but the burn limit in the play test, and from what I can tell of the pregens increases as you level. So at low levels you can gather energy to use things that cost more than one point of burn, at higher levels you can just ahead and do some burning. There was also something in the play test that I assume survived, you could specialize in types of infusions reducing their burn by one. So again, as you levelly can do more for less burn.

QuidEst |

MythicFox wrote:I don't have the book in front of me, but the burn limit in the play test, and from what I can tell of the pregens increases as you level. So at low levels you can gather energy to use things that cost more than one point of burn, at higher levels you can just ahead and do some burning. There was also something in the play test that I assume survived, you could specialize in types of infusions reducing their burn by one. So again, as you levelly can do more for less burn.A couple of questions have come up regarding the Kineticist here...
1. First off, I know this is one of those 'am I reading this right' questions and I hate to ask those, but does the '1 burn per round' limit basically mean that effects with a burn cost could require some charging up to unleash? (above and beyond Gather Power, of course)
Now, instead of specializing, you just reduce the burn on your total infusion cost. Yay flexibility!

MythicFox |

MythicFox wrote:A couple of questions have come up regarding the Kineticist here...
1. First off, I know this is one of those 'am I reading this right' questions and I hate to ask those, but does the '1 burn per round' limit basically mean that effects with a burn cost could require some charging up to unleash? (above and beyond Gather Power, of course)
I don't have the book in front of me, but the burn limit in the play test, and from what I can tell of the pregens increases as you level. So at low levels you can gather energy to use things that cost more than one point of burn, at higher levels you can just ahead and do some burning. There was also something in the play test that I assume survived, you could specialize in types of infusions reducing their burn by one. So again, as you levelly can do more for less burn.
Well, right, I just mean in general. If, after everything, you have multiple burn left over as a cost, do you have to spend multiple rounds taking it before you can use the power? And if so, what are you doing during those other rounds? Just charging up?

Luthorne |
Galnörag wrote:Well, right, I just mean in general. If, after everything, you have multiple burn left over as a cost, do you have to spend multiple rounds taking it before you can use the power? And if so, what are you doing during those other rounds? Just charging up?MythicFox wrote:A couple of questions have come up regarding the Kineticist here...
1. First off, I know this is one of those 'am I reading this right' questions and I hate to ask those, but does the '1 burn per round' limit basically mean that effects with a burn cost could require some charging up to unleash? (above and beyond Gather Power, of course)
I don't have the book in front of me, but the burn limit in the play test, and from what I can tell of the pregens increases as you level. So at low levels you can gather energy to use things that cost more than one point of burn, at higher levels you can just ahead and do some burning. There was also something in the play test that I assume survived, you could specialize in types of infusions reducing their burn by one. So again, as you levelly can do more for less burn.
You can't use something if it would require you to accept more burn in a round than you can take, as I understand it. You'd have to use Gather Power, Infusion Specialization, Internal Buffer, or something similar to get it down to a level of burn you could accept in a round.

Luthorne |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Curious as to how there are 2 reviews of the PDF up but it is not yet available for sale until 29th!
People who pre-order the physical book (or are subscribers) get it earlier than the pdf is available, which is delayed to allow friendly local gaming stores to have books stocked and ready to sell at the same date.

Mark Seifter Designer |

Got my PDF! I'll be on tonight to pay my dues and answer questions. XP
Mark, quick question- Aether has a bunch of cool form infusions (force hook, foe throw, etc.) Am I correct in assuming these are always limited to 30ft because Extended Range is also a form infusion?
They are 30 feet, as indicated. Extended range is also a form infusion. Some forms, like snaking, require extended range and then go farther.

Hargert |
I was bummed that I could not get long range foe throw. Also that many of the forms are locked to a single element. I understand that there is always a battle with power creep but getting within 30 feet of my players tend to end up with dead npcs. Will have to settle with 120 foot blasts. That or wait for the optimum build masters to post winning combos.

QuidEst |

QuidEst wrote:They are 30 feet, as indicated. Extended range is also a form infusion. Some forms, like snaking, require extended range and then go farther.Got my PDF! I'll be on tonight to pay my dues and answer questions. XP
Mark, quick question- Aether has a bunch of cool form infusions (force hook, foe throw, etc.) Am I correct in assuming these are always limited to 30ft because Extended Range is also a form infusion?
Ah, that keeps them within move/attack or charging distance. That makes sense from a balance perspective. I was mostly thinking about dragging fliers down to earth.

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Aurore wrote:Curious as to how there are 2 reviews of the PDF up but it is not yet available for sale until 29th!People who pre-order the physical book (or are subscribers) get it earlier than the pdf is available, which is delayed to allow friendly local gaming stores to have books stocked and ready to sell at the same date.
Ahah ok. Pfff! Living in the UK I can't really sub as I have to then pay postage from the US for the hardbacks. Since Amazon ship for free, that isn't really viable.

Axial |

I wonder what kind of occult characters people will play as in Way of the Wicked.
I can picture an alluring Mesmerist on a mission to tear apart Talingarde one seduced noble at a time, a fiery Kineticist who sees herself as a conduit of Hell's wrath, and a cursed Medium who calls upon the damned, burning spirits of the pit to grant him power.

QuidEst |

What kind of spirits does the medium have. I'm just interested in what kind of abilities the medium is going to be able to pull while possessed/channeling.
Six spirits, as mentioned.
- Archmage gets makes you a 6/9 caster, tacking on a single wizard spell known of each level you can now cast. You will want Arcane Armor Training for them. You can eventually cast a single 9th level spell per day too, chosen on the fly!- Champion gets bonus damage/attack and weapon proficiencies. Get an extra attack to make up for lower BAB, and get a nice almost-pounce. Eventually you get flexible bonus feats.
- Guardian gets extra AC and shield proficiencies. Get DR and blanket resistances to everything short of force. You'll have sucky damage, though, so attacks with battlefield control riders are nice. Eventually you can ignore a single attack (including harmful spells) per day.
- Hierophant also makes you a 6/9 caster, but with the Cleric list. Get channeling and a the ability to pass out minor +1s for a round if you over-heal. Eventually get 1/day minor miracle (not one of the biggies).
- Marshal gets to be Elan! Okay, so you really focus on your surge ability, passing out bonuses on failed checks. (Just don't use it to much, or the GM will play you as Elan.) You can spend your turns passing out flat bonuses as well. Eventually you can use a weaker surge without worrying about actually becoming Elan. Super-flexible!
- Trickster gets skill bonus stuff, and plenty of it. Early on, it's mostly for non-combat days with a minor boost in emergencies. Later, you can swipe one magical effect per day (more if you don't mind not benefiting from any of your allies abilities, more or less). Your early-capstone is amazing, though! At-will shapeshifting in a ton of forms, mimicking individuals if you want.

Joe Hex |

It's frustrating that I still can't find an in-store released date for the book anywhere. Everyplace I check, has a different release date listed, and those dates are constantly changing. Some don't have a date at all. As of this week, I've seen Aug 20th, Aug 18th, and Aug 13th. I wonder where they are even getting those dates?
Is July 29th exclusive to the Paizo store? If so,it makes it hard on us players who want to support the local hobby/game shops. Not only are those shops owned locally, they are also the places that host things like organized play, and even let a group reserve a night just to play with their own group. It would be sad to see these stores accommodate Gamers like that, and then have all those players just end up buying their books online. It's hard enough that small stores cannot compete with online prices, but getting their books almost a month later makes things worse.

Urath DM |

It's frustrating that I still can't find an in-store released date for the book anywhere. Everyplace I check, has a different release date listed, and those dates are constantly changing. Some don't have a date at all. As of this week, I've seen Aug 20th, Aug 18th, and Aug 13th. I wonder where they are even getting those dates?
Is July 29th exclusive to the Paizo store? If so,it makes it hard on us players who want to support the local hobby/game shops. Not only are those shops owned locally, they are also the places that host things like organized play, and even let a group reserve a night just to play with their own group. It would be sad to see these stores accommodate Gamers like that, and then have all those players just end up buying their books online. It's hard enough that small stores cannot compete with online prices, but getting their books almost a month later makes things worse.
The listed PDF release date is also the expected store release date. All stores are supposed to wait until this date... though some may put it up for sale early.
Local stores in the US should all have the book in time for the release date, unless their distributor ships to them oddly, etc. That's not under Paizo's control.
Amazon and other sellers sometimes estimate their release dates when their distributors have not given them the firm date, often well in advance of the final date. So sometimes those dates are far from accurate.

Joe Hex |

Joe Hex wrote:It's frustrating that I still can't find an in-store released date for the book anywhere. Everyplace I check, has a different release date listed, and those dates are constantly changing. Some don't have a date at all. As of this week, I've seen Aug 20th, Aug 18th, and Aug 13th. I wonder where they are even getting those dates?
Is July 29th exclusive to the Paizo store? If so,it makes it hard on us players who want to support the local hobby/game shops. Not only are those shops owned locally, they are also the places that host things like organized play, and even let a group reserve a night just to play with their own group. It would be sad to see these stores accommodate Gamers like that, and then have all those players just end up buying their books online. It's hard enough that small stores cannot compete with online prices, but getting their books almost a month later makes things worse.
The listed PDF release date is also the expected store release date. All stores are supposed to wait until this date... though some may put it up for sale early.
Local stores in the US should all have the book in time for the release date, unless their distributor ships to them oddly, etc. That's not under Paizo's control.
Amazon and other sellers sometimes estimate their release dates when their distributors have not given them the firm date, often well in advance of the final date. So sometimes those dates are far from accurate.
I thought the PDF and store dates were usually in the same ballpark- I wonder why things are so wonky this time?
I could see places having an inaccurate date a month before release, but the week before the official release is high strangeness.
Edit: Worth noting that the Paizo store does not undercut the local shop's prices, which is good for local shops.

Plumaweaver |
Can someone with the PDF please tell me about the Faith and Self Perfection Disciplines of the Psychic? Are there any other interesting changes or additions to the Psychic class from the play test? How does the Formless Adept archetype work?
I've combed the thread and have been able to find very little mention of the Psychic, which seems odd in a book about "psychic magic"!
Thanks!

QuidEst |

Can someone with the PDF please tell me about the Faith and Self Perfection Disciplines of the Psychic? Are there any other interesting changes or additions to the Psychic class from the play test? How does the Formless Adept archetype work?
I've combed the thread and have been able to find very little mention of the Psychic, which seems odd in a book about "psychic magic"!
Thanks!
For Faith, you need to pick a deity. Standard "within a step". You get spontaneous cure or inflict spells, but you can't only convert one slot per spell level. (You also don't qualify as having cure/inflict spells for anything.) You also get a phrenic point back, making it one of the more reliable means.
Eventually you get a scaling resistance bonus on saves, freeing up your cloak slot and some gold. You also get a prayer aura effect. I hate round/level aura Su effects because they really should be easier/clearer to activate, but Prayer is pretty good. Spells are iconic divine spells for the most part.
Self Discipline gives you + Wis to AC/CMD, along with adding it as a bonus on physical skill checks a few times per day. Succeed, and you get a point back. (Acrobatics check to jump one foot?) You eventually get a pool of self-healing and immunity to disease/poison.
Formless Adept- okay, so the big question is what ditching your body is like. It's blur/gaseous/incorporeal scaling with pretty limited duration. Eventually you can possess somebody. You get double the bonus spells, but only access them while in your formless form.

MythicFox |

You can't use something if it would require you to accept more burn in a round than you can take, as I understand it. You'd have to use Gather Power, Infusion Specialization, Internal Buffer, or something similar to get it down to a level of burn you could accept in a round.
Ah, okay, thanks, I get it now.
Anyone have any ideas on my second question?
2. When you're using telekinetic blast to throw unattended objects, what if one of those objects is a vial of acid or alchemist's fire or something? The object takes the damage as well, so the vial should break. Does the target take the acid (or whatever) damage as well? (I can see that being a fair trade-off for requiring objects for the blast in general.)

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- Archmage gets makes you a 6/9 caster, tacking on a single wizard spell known of each level you can now cast. You will want Arcane Armor Training for them. You can eventually cast a single 9th level spell per day too, chosen on the fly!
- Hierophant also makes you a 6/9 caster, but with the Cleric list. Get channeling and a the ability to pass out minor +1s for a round if you over-heal. Eventually get 1/day minor miracle (not one of the biggies).
Huh. Is the casting stat the same regardless of whether you go arcane or divine?

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ErisAcolyte-Chaos jester wrote:What kind of spirits does the medium have. I'm just interested in what kind of abilities the medium is going to be able to pull while possessed/channeling.Six spirits, as mentioned.
- Archmage gets makes you a 6/9 caster, tacking on a single wizard spell known of each level you can now cast. You will want Arcane Armor Training for them. You can eventually cast a single 9th level spell per day too, chosen on the fly!
- Champion gets bonus damage/attack and weapon proficiencies. Get an extra attack to make up for lower BAB, and get a nice almost-pounce. Eventually you get flexible bonus feats.
- Guardian gets extra AC and shield proficiencies. Get DR and blanket resistances to everything short of force. You'll have sucky damage, though, so attacks with battlefield control riders are nice. Eventually you can ignore a single attack (including harmful spells) per day.
- Hierophant also makes you a 6/9 caster, but with the Cleric list. Get channeling and a the ability to pass out minor +1s for a round if you over-heal. Eventually get 1/day minor miracle (not one of the biggies).
- Marshal gets to be Elan! Okay, so you really focus on your surge ability, passing out bonuses on failed checks. (Just don't use it to much, or the GM will play you as Elan.) You can spend your turns passing out flat bonuses as well. Eventually you can use a weaker surge without worrying about actually becoming Elan. Super-flexible!
- Trickster gets skill bonus stuff, and plenty of it. Early on, it's mostly for non-combat days with a minor boost in emergencies. Later, you can swipe one magical effect per day (more if you don't mind not benefiting from any of your allies abilities, more or less). Your early-capstone is amazing, though! At-will shapeshifting in a ton of forms, mimicking individuals if you want.
Well, I hope we get some more spirits soon to add some spice to the class. The playtest idea was amazing, with good, neutral, evil, lawful and chaotic spirits of each attribute jostling for power over the character. There was some really cool potential for npcs and player interactions as the person could be a calm collected negotiator one day and a violently agressive psychopath the next. Each spirit being a soul with their own personal agendas, and mediums body the vessel for them to make their own way. While the current one is stable, I really want to see some more crazy personalities from these characters.
As for the mythic idea, to me it seems like a waste of what could have been. we exchanged spirit balancing and 54 Harrow sprits for 6 mythic types we already had in another book. I'm still getting the book... But this just sliced my expectations and enthusiasm into quaters.

Brew Bird |

Don't worry! As has been repeatedly stated, Mark intends on finding a way to release a "Harrowed Medium" archetype providing the original 54 spirits from the playtest. As for the current version, don't knock it till you try it. I think there will still be plenty of ways to be possessed by a psychopath.

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When a haunt "gains control" of a medium does it have access to all their powers (e.g. spells?)? Does it count as a 'spirit' and 'suppress' their currently channelled spirit like with 'Spacious Soul'? Does the haunt itself have any abilities it can use while controlling the medium? Can the medium 'funnel a portion' of a haunt to ask it a question and then funnel the full haunt based on the answer? Can a haunt choose to suppress its own effect on a medium it is controlling (e.g. does a haunt that burned to death have to suffer the sensation of burning alive again because some fool medium decided to absorb it into their body)?

Mar Nakrum |

Don't worry! As has been repeatedly stated, Mark intends on finding a way to release a "Harrowed Medium" archetype providing the original 54 spirits from the playtest. As for the current version, don't knock it till you try it. I think there will still be plenty of ways to be possessed by a psychopath.
No waiting for me, I'm still playing around with the playtest material. It has a certain something that you just can't get out of the OA version.
I do look forward to having access to all of the spirits though.

QuidEst |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |

Well, I hope we get some more spirits soon to add some spice to the class. The playtest idea was amazing, with good, neutral, evil, lawful and chaotic spirits of each attribute jostling for power over the character. There was some really cool potential for npcs and player interactions as the person could be a calm collected negotiator one day and a violently agressive psychopath the next. Each spirit being a soul with their own personal agendas, and mediums body the vessel for them to make their own way. While the current one is stable, I really want to see some more crazy personalities from these characters.
As for the mythic idea, to me it seems like a waste of what could have been. we exchanged spirit balancing and 54 Harrow sprits for 6 mythic types we already had in another book. I'm still getting the book... But this just sliced my expectations and enthusiasm into quaters.
I'm certainly looking forward to the Harrowed Medium as well, but in the meantime, the current Medium will allow you to roleplay that just as effectively.
Some tips!
- Spirits are tied to locations, so you've already got incentive to think about what kind of spirits would be hanging around the area.
- Hierophant spirits are tied to a deity, resulting in very wild swings in temperament depending on the kind of altar (or other religious site) you channel them at. One day your spirit may be sparing people to offer them a chance at redemption, and the next it may be so that it can sacrifice them itself. Plus, some of your abilities flip depending on deity alignment, so this one probably has the starkest differences.
- Trickster spirits come with two associated skills, plus a minor seance boost. That makes a good starting point for the spirit's character. If you only need one skill, make the other one a highly specific profession to really get into character.
- Spell selection say a lot about a person, so Archmage can vary between a pyrotechnic arcane demolitionist to an unnervingly quiet necromancer who prefers to just suffocate people.
- Marshall is dabbles in everything, and is a very overpowering spirit with a lot of force behind it, so just playing the many hammy bards, cavaliers, and skalds that have died over the years should be fun and provide contrast to some of the other spirits.
- I'm too lazy right now to cover the two martial spirits, but you get the gist.
- Taboos! You can accept unique conditions to get along with your spirit better. Marshall might demand that you be the leader (or at least called the leader), while Champion might want you to never back down from a challenge to prove your manliness (regardless of how applicable that is). This is where you get a mechanical reward if you decide to really roleplay the different spirits, and the GM gets to be creative.

QuidEst |

Quote:2. When you're using telekinetic blast to throw unattended objects, what if one of those objects is a vial of acid or alchemist's fire or something? The object takes the damage as well, so the vial should break. Does the target take the acid (or whatever) damage as well? (I can see that being a fair trade-off for requiring objects for the blast in general.)
Requiring objects for the blast isn't really a penalty that needs a tradeoff. Keep a deck of cards on hand, and you're good for 54 rounds, even in a featureless plane of boring.
You can use an object as a full-damage projectile, in which case it never uses any of its properties. Telekinetic force kept it intact? Who knows. If you're going to argue that it should break, I would argue that it shouldn't do as much damage as a boulder then. Alternatively, you can treat it as a thrown projectile, using Con in place of Str. In that case, it gets all of its properties- that's how you'd get splash damage. The option is built right into to the telekinetic blast, with no extra talents to take.

Brandon Hodge Contributor |
5 people marked this as a favorite. |

I hate the fact I have to indirectly choose between buying this book right away and getting broken fingers. Can't get the book and armored gloves this month.
Is that what you want Mark? Do you want my fingers broken in a terrible sword fighting accedent? I see now you're really a terrible person.
We specifically discussed this scenario during development in hopes of forcing these hard decisions. Our channels of power with Oress grow with each broken digit.

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It's frustrating that I still can't find an in-store released date for the book anywhere. Everyplace I check, has a different release date listed, and those dates are constantly changing. Some don't have a date at all. As of this week, I've seen Aug 20th, Aug 18th, and Aug 13th. I wonder where they are even getting those dates?
Is July 29th exclusive to the Paizo store? If so,it makes it hard on us players who want to support the local hobby/game shops. Not only are those shops owned locally, they are also the places that host things like organized play, and even let a group reserve a night just to play with their own group. It would be sad to see these stores accommodate Gamers like that, and then have all those players just end up buying their books online. It's hard enough that small stores cannot compete with online prices, but getting their books almost a month later makes things worse.
We do everything we can to make sure that the paizo.com release date is the same as the hobby store release date.
Big box stores like Barnes & Noble and websites like Amazon often have a couple more stops in their distribution chain, so it sometimes takes about a week longer for books to come out in those venues.
The book should be available in hobby stores on or around the 29th.

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5 people marked this as a favorite. |

*gets to the magic items section*
*dies*
This is too perfect for this world, too pure. The cursed items and minor artifacts are amazing, and do a fantastic job of implying encounters or entire campaigns.
Glad to hear it. I'd guess about 70% of the items in this book came from the initial brainstorming sessions Brandon and I put together. Other freelancers wrote most of those items and added a bunch of their own, but this book was somewhat unusual in that the magic items and many of the spell concepts were determined as part of the overall outline, and freelancers were assigned specific item concepts rather than "write 50 items," or whatever.
It was really fun to be involved so heavily in the outlining of this book, and it's interesting to see how people react to what amounts to a relatively subtle "behind the scenes" change from our normal operating procedure.