Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures (OGL)

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures (OGL)
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There is an unseen world all around you. On the streets and in the halls of power, in your dreams and across the bizarre planes of the multiverse, there are those who walk among us like giants among ants, twisting reality to their wills in their search for ancient knowledge. Now pull back the curtain of the mundane world and learn the secrets of these occult masters—if you dare!

Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures is an indispensable companion to the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. This imaginative tabletop game builds upon over 15 years of system development and an Open Playtest featuring more than 50,000 gamers to create a cutting-edge RPG experience that brings the all-time best-selling set of fantasy rules into a new era.

Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures includes:

  • Six new occult base classes—the energy-shaping kineticist, the spirit-calling medium, the deceptive mesmerist, the mind-bending psychic, the uncanny occultist, and the phantom-binding spiritualist.
  • Archetypes for all of the new classes, as well as a broad selection of strange and mysterious archetypes and class options for existing characters.
  • New feats to flesh out your occult character, plus a whole new way to use existing skills to become a master of faith healing, hypnotism, psychometry, and more!
  • More than 100 spells using the all-new psychic magic system, plus rituals that grant even non-spellcasting characters occult power! Explore worlds beyond imagining with dream voyage, or defend yourself from mental threats with tower of iron will!
  • Rules and advice to help you steep your game in the occult, from chakras and deadly mindscapes to possession, psychic duels, and the Esoteric Planes.
  • A wide variety of new magic items, such as the eerie spirit mirror and the peculiar tin cap, plus new cursed items and powerful artifacts.
  • ... and much, much more!

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-762-8

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An Endzeitgeist.com review

5/5

This massive hardcover clocks in at a whopping 271 pages, though 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page ToC and 1/3rd of a page decrease that down to 267 2/3 pages of content, so let's take a look!

Well, before we do, let me deal with the confusion for a second that this review undoubtedly will cause. Yes, I usually only do 3pp material. This has several reasons: For one, I want to showcase the fringe of gaming, the evocative books that push the envelope. Secondly, I'm not particularly affluent, to say the least and want to reward the publishers that do send me their books. Well, I obviously *HAVE* to get the Paizo books anyways, but for the most part nowadays, that means pdf or waiting until they're open sourced - I just can't afford them all. Then again, I do have a policy of covering all books I receive...and I got this book on gencon.

That would be the justification I provide from an intellectual point of view. There is another reason. I *WANT* to write this review and, since I have the hardcover now, have absolutely no reason not to.

Now usually, I provide the respective breakdowns of classes and crunch, but frankly, there are whole guides devoted to that out there, which is why I have elected to pursue a different path this time around. (Different path...that'll be a leitmotif, as you'll see...) In order to properly be able to contextualize my take on this book, I will have to embark on a little recap of Paizo's hardcovers and my history with them, so if you're not interested in that, please skip ahead.

When I got my hands on the core rules hardcover for Pathfinder, I was generally positively surprised - it represents a tightening of 3.X's engine and some sensible, smart tweaks to the mechanics. Still, it didn't manage to elicit cheers or particular excitement at my table - that only came with the APG. The Advanced Player's Guide, in spite of its minor flaws, would represent, at least to me, the truly identity-constituting moment of Pathfinder. It is here, with the alchemist, witch, oracle, etc. that the game set out to truly distinguish itself from its roots and transcend basically anything 3.X ever offered. To this day, the APG classes rank among the favorites at my table, which only bespeaks their staying power and coolness. Next up were Ultimate Magic and Combat and with them, alas, came the power creep.

While, much like many out there, I did enjoy the magus, not much else from Ultimate Magic sees regular use in my games and I went through the book with a fine-toothed comb and ban-hammered/restricted material. Ultimate Combat is a more complex story - on one hand, I did like the new classes and e.g. the emphasis on the narrative aspect the gunslinger entailed; alas, for said class, player agenda suffered and mathematically, it would have been served better with a slightly different chassis. So while I like what it represents and quite a few pieces of UC's options, many aren't used in my games. Mythic Adventures is peculiar - I like mythic gameplay, but only when supported by the ton of Legendary Games material I own - I tried running vanilla WotR and it was PCs curbstomping through everything. Still, I do like this book - just not as a stand-alone. I adore Ultimate Campaign. Its downtime and kingdom building make sense to me, are used a lot at my table and story feats are a good idea as well - there's nothing I don't like about that book and what it has brought to my table.

Well, and the less I say about the ARG and ACG, the better. My stance on both books is well known. (Hint: To say I don't like them would be a gross understatement.)

Fast forward to Occult Adventures. For one, this book's class design represents an organic development that benefits the game. An easy way to look at a class would be to examine it regarding player agenda and character agenda. Character agenda, in this instance, would pertain the ability to contribute meaningfully to various situations. It's why I think that skill unlocks are a good idea and 2 + Int skills for all but Int-based casters, generally, is not a good idea. It's just not as fun to play a fighter who can only kill things and excels at one non-combat thing...unless, of course, that's how you roll, but in general, I have observed players gravitate to classes that provide more skill-use and versatility. Player agenda would be just as important: Can the player make meaningful choices that alter the playstyle? The higher the player agenda is, the more rules-knowledge is required; true. But at the same time, it does help immensely in the long run to generate a unique being from a mechanics point of view - if you don't get to choose, you'll sooner, rather than later, run into a character on distinguished from you by his skills, equipment and feats. Pathfinder, as a system, has covered the base classes for a while; it has advanced players that demand unique concepts. As such and at this point in the system's life, the occult classes with their plethora of meaningful choices are very much appreciated - and if you need some proof of players loving choices, look no further than the modularity of the "Talented" classes invented by Owen K.C. Stephens.

Speaking of classes - let us talk a bit about them and begin with the least "occult" class herein and the most popular one. That would, obviously, be the kineticist...and while I kinda like Avatar, I'm not a rabid fan of this franchise, though I get its appeal. This does not change the fact that the class, as presented, is very niche in focus. Then again, thankfully the 3pp-circuit has since expanded the kineticist's appeal far beyond its thematic confines. (A cheers to N. Jolly for that, even if I don't always agree with all balancing...) So, flavor-wise and regarding base-options, I am not the biggest fan of this class...but at the same time, I absolutely ADORE it. Why? Because it is an engine that would be daring for a small publisher, much more so for Paizo as the industry leader. The rules-engine employed by the kineticist is inspiring and complex and its success is well warranted. Were I to nitpick this class, then my complaints would pertain the fact that its power-curve could be a little better distributed; 17th level plus in particular can be an issue...but that extends to more than just this class and is, to an extent, system-inherent. That being said, I still love this class, though for completely different reasons than probably 99% of its fans and players. It remains a great addition to the class roster and I'm glad it exists.

Now, let us talk a bit about the classes that are designated as occult not only by inclusion in the book, but also by their themes...but for that, we need to talk a bit about genre conventions. It is a general truism that Pathfinder, as a game, is indebted by proxy of D&D to Tolkienesque fantasy and a society structured very much akin to the Early Modern period in history due to the advances of magic. Kobold Press' Midgard is closer to the beginning of the Early Modern period and features a more feudal, medieval flair. Golarion and Pathfinder's default, due to the influences of the weird that made me enjoy the setting in the first place, can be roughly situated at the end of the Early Modern period, with overlaps with the Edwardian and Victorian age - once China Miéville (one of my favorite authors - read the Bas-Lag books!!!)-like aesthetics come into play, you're definitely looking at a society that is bordering a magical industrial revolution. This suits me well, for I come from a Ravenloft background (don't ever get me started on 4th and 5th edition Ravenloft and what I think of those...for all of our sakes...) as such, have always been in love with the fantastic aesthetics of Penny Dreadfuls, early weird fiction, Sword & Sorcery, Sword & Planet...you get the idea. I enjoy these somewhat less standardized, less covered aspects that have been an organic part of the old school aesthetic back in the day, but fell by the wayside somewhere along the lines. Anyways, the classes herein very much support this slightly advanced aesthetic; they resonate well with both the ancient and the more modern themes evoked in their resurgence in aforementioned timeframes. The more subtle magic psychic magic represents and the emotional component inherent in the variant spell system works well in the context of more magic-hostile environments as well as in less fantastic settings with more subdued themes than all out fireball-slinging. The marriage of the aesthetics associated with occultism and their relevant mechanical representations are what makes the classes interesting for me.

Take the medium - while I prefer spirits with names and unique identities, the need to offer the general mechanical framework for the defining spirits of the medium is obvious for such a book and in this context, employing the nomenclature of the mythic paths does make sense and can generate some pretty fun tricks. Had a mythic campaign? Use the PC-names when acting as a vessel for the respective spirit - it's simple, but incredibly rewarding. The general notion of taboos and the influence mechanic similarly can make for some great roleplaying. The mesmerist class tends to be called unfocused by some reviews I've read...and frankly, I have no idea why. The mesmerist, from the cool concept to the execution, makes for a very rewarding playing experience and has some serious optimization potential to boot -the implanting of tricks, the skill-array...both from the perspective of the stories you can tell with this class and the options available for the enterprising player, this class is absolutely amazing and allows for some neat, diverse characters. The stare-mechanic is also something that can be employed to rather great effect. The occultist is a similarly evocative concept - the focus on implements and fact that each can make for an unique item on its own is a lot of roleplaying potential and the respective focus powers provide a similarly interesting playing experience. The psychic, as the full caster, ranks as one of the more intriguing full casters in my book, with magical amplification and disciplines providing a nice array of diverse builds. The spiritualist, finally, would basically be a balanced take on the summoner with a fluff that I consider amazing.

This would bring me to what sets the classes apart more so than their mechanical validity - the fact that, to me, they represent, universally a great blending of providing player and character agenda, but this also means that they have things they can do beyond the confines of combat - there is a significant emphasis on the ROLEplaying aspect of the game we all know and love, with a wide variety of diverse tricks associated with actual roleplaying; the classes have means of depicting interesting characters; a player can really make each class its own: The implements, phantoms and all the components of the classes and their structure almost demand, organically, to be used by the player to make something that exceeds the totality of the mathematical components. In short, as far I'm concerned, these are the best player-focused options since the APG and as a whole, I consider the roster to be superior to even that gem of a book.

However, the customization options similarly provide some seriously cool tricks: Want to play Scarecrow from Batman? Yup. Cultist leader? Yep. Eat books and draw strength from it? Yeah. Amnesiac psychic? Yup. As a whole, covering archetypes and feats would obviously bloat the book beyond compare - but one crucial point as opposed to most books of this size lies in the big C-word - consistency. There are no overpowered options here...and neither are there options that you'd consider to be subpar traps sans value - there is some character concept, some specific thing that makes sense from a build and/or flavor perspective. (The options that I won't use will be the onmyoji, elemental annihilator, psychic duelist and kami medium - the Eastern-themed ones mainly since I prefer Interjection Games' take on the Onmyoji and its themes; the psychic duelist is a nice specialist, but doesn't blow me away. Finally, the annihilator...well, I have 3pp options that are more versatile.) - notice something? My criticism here pertains mostly taste.

Now this alone does make the book shine very much for me; at the same time, I wouldn't be me if I didn't have complaints, right? So there we go: The book contains various pieces of advice and alternate rules/subsystems of the material and one would by psychic duels...which are generally an awesome idea and provide for cool, creative minigames when handled right. Alas, the spell used to start them, instigate psychic duel, pretty much is a save-or-suck option, since the affected target has the save...and while the duel is in process, the target cannot move...which allows allies to stab the foe to bits. Oddly, the instigator of such a duel can end it via a Will-save as per the spell, when the psychic duel-rules do not mention such an option for the affected character - this is intended, undoubtedly, since those caught in a duel can be shaken out of it. At the same time, I think that pretty basic modifications could have prevented that little lockdown-aspect: For example, taking a penalty on MP to be capable of at least utilizing a fraction of the action array available...you know, moving slowly towards the instigator while battling him in the duel, maintaining at least defenses...the like. Granted, the system is optional and can be modified rather easily, but I'm still somewhat astonished that this very basic strategy was not used, particularly after the complaints the slumber hex etc. received. Still, this represents a relatively minor issue when seen in relation to the number of things that *do* work pretty perfectly...and the fact that psychic duels work infinitely better than 3.X's mindscapes and similar tricks.

Once again, the storytelling potential is what sells this on me. Beyond the copious GM-advice, the book contains some information on esoteric planes like the akashic record, the positive/negative energy plane and the like - which I generally enjoyed. At the same time, I did feel like the book could have done a little bit more with unique planar features for some of them, since not all receive this component in detail. Of course gear, both mundane and magical, can be found in this tome - from the phrenologist's kit (phrenology being the by now debunked belief that the size and shape of the skull influences personality etc. - and yes, there's a feat inspired by it here!) to the Dorian Gray-ish pictures, we notice one thing - the items, much like a ton of material herein, is steeped in a sense of the real, in the occult traditions and pseudo-science of days gone by.

What do I mean by this? Take alchemy, an established concept in our fantasy games. If you have the stamina to power through them, I'd sincerely suggest getting a copy of the writings of real world alchemists, sit down with the cool alchemy recipes and start - I guarantee you'll come up with new and evocative material. A similar observation can be made here - the tying into concepts and ideas established in our world generates basically the largest hand-out you could fathom and some research will almost assuredly provide a vast selection of truly evocative concepts to represent, while also teaching something new along the way. You do not have to be interested in masons, OTO, etc. to enjoy this book - but you can draw upon esoteric and occult knowledge to enrich the game tremendously. Heck, I'm pretty much a nihilistic atheist and my fascination with the subject matter stems from a purely intellectual point of view, but I still appreciate all the ideas and their impact on the genesis of our mode of thought. Similarly, the idea of locus spirits, of tapping into ley lines and similar high-concept tricks complement an implied world-building and -conception that goes beyond the surface, that extends into a level of depth beyond the superficial pushing of numbers.

Part II of my review can be found here!


Fun, but a bit esoteric

3/5

Don't take it the wrong way. You can have tons of fun with this book in other games. I played a mesmerist and it was hilarious, had a whole Doctor Orpheus thing going on. The Kineticist can be flavored a little and it basically becomes a bender from Avatar! How freaking cool is that?!
There are quite a few spells and special abilities that feel like they can only come in handy in very specific ways though. All the mindscape things would almost never come up in a regular game. This feels very much like a book that would be a lot more fun if all your players HAD to take a class from this book, which is a terrible premise for a core book.
On a personal note, almost none of these classes work with Mythic Adventures...


Solid Product

4/5

Really, nothing in this book is bad overall, and while there's a few mechanics that I would like to change, it's not enough to change my thoughts. The psychic casters are interesting with different mechanics that still feel familiar, and everything else works very well. I'd say it's worth picking up.


Finally psychic powers makes it's way to Pathfinder

5/5

I have been waiting for psychic related rules for Pathfinder for a long time and I am happy for what I see.
Kineticist- This one has become one of my favorite classes with it's all day blasting and at will/always active spell powers and supernatural abilities. I would love to see more classes that focuses on spell powers and supernatural abilities then just spellcasters, martials, and skill monkeys.
Medium- While I am not big on this one, it does have some interesting flavor and good story ideas. My only problem is it is one of the more complex classes.
Mesmerist- I like this one, it is a debuffer counter part to the bard and also makes a great villain. It is also a good spiritual successor for the Beguiler class.
Occultist- As with the Medium interesting flavor and good story value but complex mechanically. Not one my favorites but like all classes in this book, it fills a niche.
Psychic- Interesting class and fills the 9th caster for psychic magic but lacks in the flavor/story department compared to the other 5 classes. Still a solid class with some interesting abilities.
Spiritualist- One of my favorite classes has good flavor/story value and is not as complicated to use as the Medium and Occultist. A great class when dealing with incorporeal creatures especially undead.
These classes are just the tip of the iceberg, we get rules for auras, chakras, psychic duels, possession, occult rituals, occult skill unlocks, loci spirits, ley lines, mindscapes, and more. This one is as useful as the APG and the ARG.


A great addition to the game

5/5

Read my full review on Of Dice and Pen.

Occult Adventures is a great addition to the Pathfinder game. It does more than just introduce a bunch of new classes and create Pathfinder's version of psionics. It adds a whole new flavour and style of campaign with new rules options that back that flavour up. I eagerly look forward to trying out some of its ideas in a future campaign.


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I am most interested in the kineticist but I am also interested in the mesmerist, psychic, and spiritualist.


actually...if you look through the other Occult Adventures art in the Io9 article, I think you can see the mesmerist (from behind, with the iconic warpriest), spiritualist (who is casting a spell), and maybe the kineticist in the art with the dybukk???


I thought the Kineticist iconic is supposed to be a girl?


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Dyubuk in Occult Adventures eh? I see Paizo's been watching their horror movies. Loved the Unborn.


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Will there be anything on mythic for these classes?


nighttree wrote:
I'm most eager for the Spiritualist....I have several character concepts I'm hoping I can bring to life with this class.

I see what you did there.


I would be surprised if there is anything mythic in this book but you never know.


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"Tin Cap"? In a book about the Occult? I don't know about you, but my fingers are crossed for a magic tinfoil hat.

Silver Crusade Contributor

Brew Bird wrote:
"Tin Cap"? In a book about the Occult? I don't know about you, but my fingers are crossed for a magic tinfoil hat.

Wish granted. ^_^


I hope there will magical puzzle boxes, dice, cards, crystal balls, fans, handkerchiefs, monocles, watches, top hats, cufflinks, suits/dresses, ties/bowties, coins, and music boxes.

I would also like to see magical and mundane umbrellas, bicycles, and yoyos.


Dragon78 wrote:

I hope there will magical puzzle boxes, dice, cards, crystal balls, fans, handkerchiefs, monocles, watches, top hats, cufflinks, suits/dresses, ties/bowties, coins, and music boxes.

I would also like to see magical and mundane umbrellas, bicycles, and yoyos.

Judging by the iconics, this is not going to be going full Victorean. We do already have magic puzzle boxes, cards, crystal balls, fans, monocles, ands coins, as well as mundane umbrellas.


I hope there is some stuff on mystery religions and how they relate to the Gods. Would be cool to have esoteric religions of the Golarion deities, especially Pharasma(who is pretty esoteric to begin with), Gozreh, Shelyn, and Zon-Kuthon.


I doubt we will have anything on Golarion's deities since this book is world neutral but I am sure there will something in there you could adapt to Golarion.


I remember talk about this book having psychic/occult monsters in it, is it safe to assume that they were all moved to the Occult Bestiary?

Liberty's Edge

I doubt it. More likely the rulebook will have world-neutral monsters and the Campaign Setting book will have world-specific monsters.


Yes but recent descriptions of this book have no mention of any monsters in them.

Liberty's Edge

Oh I see what you're saying.


I asked Mr. Jacobs and he said that there will not be any monsters in this book. So I was right they moved the monsters to another book to make room for....other cool stuff.


That's disappointing. My group doesn't allow stuff from golarion, I'll have to make my own psychic monsters or wait till Bestiary 5.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Milo v3 wrote:
That's disappointing. My group doesn't allow stuff from golarion, I'll have to make my own psychic monsters or wait till Bestiary 5.

If there are no monsters in OA, I would imagine that a good chunk of the monsters from the Bestiary will be setting neutral, or at least not explicitly related to Golarion.

Designer

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Evan Tarlton wrote:
Milo v3 wrote:
That's disappointing. My group doesn't allow stuff from golarion, I'll have to make my own psychic monsters or wait till Bestiary 5.
If there are no monsters in OA, I would imagine that a good chunk of the monsters from the Bestiary will be setting neutral, or at least not explicitly related to Golarion.

At the very least, it has some really awesome setting neutral monsters that would have been in OA but got moved so we could fit even more occult awesomeness into the book. So it's a case where you guys get to have your cake and eat it too, since the awesome split off into a second book instead of just being cut!


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Mark Seifter wrote:
At the very least, it has some really awesome setting neutral monsters that would have been in OA but got moved so we could fit even more occult awesomeness into the book. So it's a case where you guys get to have your cake and eat it too, since the awesome split off into a second book instead of just being cut!

Excellent. That's precisely what I thought. Bring on the occult goodness!

Dark Archive

Mmm, vaguely Victorian monsters? And / or psychic-themed beasties?

Might we see Spring-Heeled Jack? Tulpa? Or, all peanut butter in my chocolate, Spring-Heeled Jack *as a tulpa?*


Well when the book comes out I would like to know what was the monster's replacement.

Silver Crusade Contributor

Set wrote:

Mmm, vaguely Victorian monsters? And / or psychic-themed beasties?

Might we see Spring-Heeled Jack? Tulpa? Or, all peanut butter in my chocolate, Spring-Heeled Jack *as a tulpa?*

We already have Spring-Heeled Jack. First printed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #43: The Haunting of Harrowstone, recently reprinted in Bestiary 4. ^_^


Kalindlara wrote:
Set wrote:

Mmm, vaguely Victorian monsters? And / or psychic-themed beasties?

Might we see Spring-Heeled Jack? Tulpa? Or, all peanut butter in my chocolate, Spring-Heeled Jack *as a tulpa?*

We already have Spring-Heeled Jack. First printed in Pathfinder Adventure Path #43: The Haunting of Harrowstone, recently reprinted in Bestiary 4. ^_^

Oh yes and how he vexed my sons! They still recall the boldness of the spring-heeled jack who back stabbed the paladin as they sat around the campfire...


Mark Seifter wrote:
At the very least, it has some really awesome setting neutral monsters that would have been in OA but got moved so we could fit even more occult awesomeness into the book. So it's a case where you guys get to have your cake and eat it too, since the awesome split off into a second book instead of just being cut!

Hopefully that will let the book be allowed into the games. I'll definitely hope it has some elemental stuff considering the kineticist's presence.


If we do get a B5 this year then I am sure will get plenty of campaign neutral occult/psychic related monsters.

Designer

Dragon78 wrote:
Well when the book comes out I would like to know what was the monster's replacement.

There isn't any one particular thing, but rather a series of possibilities for what else might have been cut down; pick your favorite section, when you have the book, and it probably was considered for snipping (although not too seriously, since making the monsters separate and still keeping them seemed like a slam dunk choice compared to cutting any of those). The main reason the pagecount needed to be adjusted is that the class chapter was budgeted in pages for 60% of the length of the Advanced Class Guide class chapter since it had 6 classes and ACG had 10. Of course, ACG had several that didn't have lists and lists of class options at all and were super short (like brawler) and a few others that were relatively short despite being casters due to not having a spell list and such, whereas that was not the case for the occult classes.


Mark Seifter wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
Well when the book comes out I would like to know what was the monster's replacement.
There isn't any one particular thing, but rather a series of possibilities for what else might have been cut down; pick your favorite section, when you have the book, and it probably was considered for snipping (although not too seriously, since making the monsters separate and still keeping them seemed like a slam dunk choice compared to cutting any of those). The main reason the pagecount needed to be adjusted is that the class chapter was budgeted in pages for 60% of the length of the Advanced Class Guide class chapter since it had 6 classes and ACG had 10. Of course, ACG had several that didn't have lists and lists of class options at all and were super short (like brawler) and a few others that were relatively short despite being casters due to not having a spell list and such, whereas that was not the case for the occult classes.

I appreciate the noble sacrifice of those monsters so that I might have more archetypes!


Well I think it is for the better, when it comes to hardcovers, monsters should be in bestiaries and hardcover campaign setting books.


Milo v3 wrote:
That's disappointing. My group doesn't allow stuff from golarion, I'll have to make my own psychic monsters or wait till Bestiary 5.

Use the monsters from the Golarion book and if asked by your players just lie and say you created them.

Liberty's Edge

If the monsters from Occult Adventures got moved to a Campaign Setting book, does that mean they will or won't be included on the PRD?

We have one precedent for CS material on the PRD in Technology Guide, might this be another?


What are the top 5 things from this book you guys are most excited about?

Liberty's Edge

Psychic artwork.

New archetypes for existing classes.

...

...

...

um, I guess that's it. ;) I'm not really sure I know what to expect or how to make use of the stuff.


1) The Psychic and Medium are my most anticipated classes
2) All the other classes
3) The rules for idols; I heard them talked about on Know Direction
4) Seeing how the book references real-world Occultism
5) Making an Awakened goat NPC with Psychic levels


1) Medium. Fifty-four spirits, and the ones we've seen so far are already amazing.
2) Archetypes. I love archetypes for and based on new classes! The Mesmerist options have me even more excited. (And, as an added bonus, we've got Occult Origins coming along as well for even more archetype goodness!)
3) The five other classes. Mesmerist is the Bard I never knew I wanted; Kineticist is the telekinetic combatant I always knew I wanted; Psychic is a full caster with focus on all the sorts of spells I like; Occultist it the final piece for a great no-full-casters game; Spiritualist will probably have a lot of interesting changes. (Sorry Spiritualist; you were not quite my jam in playtest.)
4) The feats. #1 hope is for something that lets you hide casting. The only option we have also requires the spell to only have somatic components. Apart from that, though, ACG had some really cool feats that gave some really cool class-specific options. Fingers crossed for more!
5) All the new occult-flavored campaigns that'll be starting up, of course.


Just preordered mine, though not from here, unfortunately. Had to use a retailer that took Paypal.


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Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

1) Skill-based hypnotism and psychometry. I hope it's not just skill unlocks, but we'll have to see.

2) Psychic duels. The io9 article makes it seem like apparently you create mental monsters and battle it out, which sounds pretty awesome.

3) Mindscapes. Sounds like it could allow a lot of fun stuff, especially if it alters methods to remove a curse or enchantment on someone by entering their mind and battling the inimical effect.

4) Esoteric planes, I love extraplanar stuff, and the astral/ethereal/dimension of dreams could definitely use more love.

5) New classes...kineticist, mesmerist, occultist, and medium primarily. And the new prestige classes.

...I'm also pretty excited about stuff related to ki and chakras...hoping for some neat stuff there.


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

1) Kineticist, My newest favorite class to play and all the Archetypes, Feats, and Magic Items for them.
2) Occultist, interesting theme and concept, also interested in Archetypes, Feats, and Magic Items for them.
3) Mesmerist, probably a fun to play class, also interested in Archetypes, Feats, and Magic Items for them.
4)the new Archetypes for the non-Psycic classes.
5)information on occult themes, worlds, and magic.


1) The new classes -- Occultist and Psychic most among them.
2) All of the rules for psychic magic. I love the twist on it compared to traditional Vancian magic.
3) Rules for psychic combat, possession -- really hoping there are techniques for fleshing out mind-affecting spells into a kind of struggle on the same level as a physical fight.
4) The Dimension of Dreams and dream voyage are practically BEGGING me to write an Inception-style adventure. (The deadliest dungeon I can put my players through -- their own minds!)
5) Unchained support. Luckily, they mentioned skill unlocks in the preview. Really hoping to also see some ki power options.

Bonus:
6) Rituals.


1)The Kineticist, Psychic, Mesmerist, and Spiritualist.
2)The esoteric planes especially the dimension of dreams.
3)Rules for psychic battles and mindscapes.
4)Rules for chakras, auras, and other occult stuff.
5)Everything else.


1) Flavor (so pretty much this whole book).
2) Kineticist. Always wanted Avatar-style bending, and the playtest looked amazing. The other classes look pretty awesome too, but I'm hung up on this one for now.
3) New rules: chakras, dreamscapes, hypnotism -- bring it on!
4) "AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!"
5) Artwork.


I hope the psychic class does get some kind of psychic healing spell(s) and/or abilities.


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PSYCHIC COMBAT!!!!!

:D


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I doubt it will be included, but with a theme of ancient occult traditions being rediscovered, it would be cool if the First World has ties to the occult. Not pixies and stuff- but secrets far older, forgotten and weird!


IIRC, there is nothing to do with the First World in this book, although I do agree that thematically I feel it is appropriate (as I recall, there were fey overtones to a lot of the Victorian occult studies, or at least some crossover.)


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Cthulhudrew wrote:
IIRC, there is nothing to do with the First World in this book, although I do agree that thematically I feel it is appropriate (as I recall, there were fey overtones to a lot of the Victorian occult studies, or at least some crossover.)

Yeah, I'm just thinking in terms of Occult meaning hidden secrets- that the First World being so much older than material world, that the ancient beings there, would have knowledge of hidden secrets all but lost to time. Things they don't share... :)


I agree that there fey overtones in a lot of Victorian occult studies and also psychic magic makes more sense for fey. I mean you can't tell me that magic based on thought and emotion doesn't fit fey or the first world in general.


I'm hoping there will at least be something to do with occult and the First World in the Occult Origins book. The First World might be considered more of a Golarion specific thing than a "core" thing, so that might be where they'd feel more comfortable addressing it.

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