Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Realms (PFRPG)

Dragon78 wrote:

The only thing complex about the Kineticist is the burn mechanic and even then it isn't that bad.

Burn was a heck of a headache when i first read the class but i am coming to grips with it. it is annoying to figure out costs and reductions, or rather, it is not as quick on the fly if i want to try a combination i havent worked out before.

i.e.

Blast cost A
Form Cost B
Infusion cost C
Metakinesis cost D

infusion specialization can negate or reduce B or C, composite specialization can reduce A, metakinesis master can reduce or negate D, gather power/supercharge can reduce anything left over and internal buffer may be in play to further offset costs.

After all of this find the final burn cost X and:
- compare against your burn limit
- adjust modifiers for Elemental Overflow
- adjust Elemental Defenses
- Then take your just modified attack roll and just modified damage rolls.
- Apply nonlethal damage.

This is after the, hopefully done before game, comparison of what infusions are legal with which elemental blast types.

I love the flexibility of the class but even as i come to familiarity with its workings it feels much more complex than any other class i have played.

This is why I still miss the warlock - the kineticist was a poor replacement. The warlock was simple, easy, and straightforward... plus, I liked the invocations and the theme of dark pacts way better. (They're meant to draw on very different tropes and archetypes, of course.)

I could have spelled out Elemental Overflow being divided into flat attack modifiers and size bonuses to stats in there too but i think i got the point across.

Never played the warlock... i was very much put off by the 3.5 change negating the hundreds of dollars invested already and left the game for a while to play in other systems.

I hated the warlock both in name and flavor.

I agree with Kalindlara, the Warlock was a much simpler class to play compared to the Kineticist. I think the way burn works does have too many variables that make tracking it a pain and allow errors to creep in during play. I too loved the warlock from 3.5, shame it did not fall under the OGL.

That said I think most are just waiting to see what will be in the book for the Kineticist. When will the subscribers start getting the PDFs?

I agree with Kalindlara, the Warlock was a much simpler class to play compared to the Kineticist. I think the way burn works does have too many variables that make tracking it a pain and allow errors to creep in during play. I too loved the warlock from 3.5, shame it did not fall under the OGL.

That said I think most are just waiting to see what will be in the book for the Kineticist. When will the subscribers start getting the PDFs?

Why the answer to that question is always the same, not soon enough. :P

Hey, they could still do a archetype with a arcane version of the Kinecticist, that uses the eldrich element and call it Eldrich Warlock, someday.

Hey, they could still do a archetype with a arcane version of the Kinecticist, that uses the eldrich element and call it Eldrich Warlock, someday.

I've actually been pondering for awhile homebrewing a kineticist archetype called the "outer kineticist" that channels the power of the outer planes rather than the inner planes via the astral planes, essentially replacing the normal elements with Chaos, Evil, Good, Law, and maybe Neutrality, with combinations like Law and Evil composite blasts being a hellfire blast, and gaining utility talents themed around various outsider abilities...basically emulating the warlock, but with a kineticist twist.

if someone has the PDF, could you give details about the Thassilonian Phantoms?

Has anyone gotten this one yet?

If so what does the book have for kineticist?

Also what info did we get for Castrovel?

I have the PDF, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

However, since I have it, chances are that others will begin to share details soon.

if someone has the PDF, could you give details about the Thassilonian Phantoms?

The Thassilonian phantoms are phantoms with the emotional focus of the seven deadly sins. The book introduces the three new focuses; Greed, Lust and Pride.

Greed focused phantoms grants a bonus on appraise checks and on spellcraft checks to identify magic items when confined within the spiritualist's consciousness (seperate from their skill focus thing). at 3rd level they also get an increased crit threat range on slam attacks and an increased crit modifier later on. Greed focused phantoms gain the ability to also be affected by spells the spiritualist casts on themselves and an aura that lets them be affected by harmless spells cast within the range of the aura. The aura is activated and doesn't last loing however. Their late level ability lets the phantom transfer all harmless spells affecting them to their spiritualist when they hit 0 HP

Lust focused phantoms gain increased Constitution and a penalty to Dexterity. Whenever their dexterity would increase when leveling up, they instead get their constitution increased. The lust phantom gains the ability to make a diplomacy check to cause any creature attempting to target the spiritualist with a harmful effect to instead target the phantom. Later, they gain the ability to allow themself or their spiritualist to roll a will saving throw twice, one roll using the phantom's modifier, one using the spiritualist's. Like many phantoms, they also gain an aura. An aura of ecstasy in this case that can shaken and stagger while within the aura provided they fail the saving throw. Finally at a late level they get a once per day dominate monster ability.

Pride focused phantoms are immune to fear effects however failing certain rolls can cause them to lose ht immunity for an hour. They gain the ability to use a sort of inverted combat expertise where they gain a bonus on attack rolls while taking a penalty to their AC. They gain the ability to extol their (false) bold deeds to shaken enemies within a certain radius. Their mid-level ability lets them gain double the benefit from morale bonuses while immune to fear however this turns into a penalty instead should they lose it. Their late level ability lets them place an illusion of an idealized version of themselves over themselves to deal extra damage however the effect can be disbelived

@Dragon78: Kineticists can attempt to attune themselves to powerful points of elemental power within golarion by making checks in succession to gain unique wild talents. Not sure about Castroval since I was mostly in awe of the mechanics.

PS: I just want to congratulate whoever designed the idol worshipping rules in Occult Realms. The mechanics are brilliant and I hope we see more of it in the future!

Edit: By the way, we now have a new shadow "school duplicating" spell; Shadow Enchantment!

PS: I just want to congratulate whoever designed the idol worshipping rules in Occult Realms. The mechanics are brilliant and I hope we see more of it in the future!

Thank you! Idols are one of my favorite mechanics I crafted for my home campaign, and we just couldn't let all this occult goodness come around without getting them in the mix somewhere. And definitely stay tuned for House on Hook Street!

What are some of the legendary spirits for the medium?

I'm wicked interested in psytech and the new psychic discipline, anything in those you can share?

I just wanted to share my appreciation for the reference to a certain crowned and imprisoned what-the-hell-kind-of-fiend-is-that-no-seriously-it-doesn't-fit-and-why-doe s-it-want-to-chat-and-make-deals that shows up in the Mnemovore write up. Tegresin is watching. Tegresin is always watching.

Beyond that little shout out to Tegresin though, it's a lovely expansion on the original write up of the demiplane from 'The Great Beyond'. Really nice adventure hooks.

Can we stack Id rager with the Thassilonian Phantoms, thus getting a warrior powered by his sheer lust?

Bestiary 5 seems to be getting most of the love today, any spoilers for here ? maybe a Table of Contents ?

Well, there was a blog post on it here...

I'm wicked interested in psytech and the new psychic discipline, anything in those you can share?

You should ask Amanda Hamon Kunz, since in developing the book, she revamped the psi-tech system, so she's the writer on that system. :-)

Initial reaction-bits:

Abrogail Thrune I is a Legendary Spirit. This is so awesome!
The bonus powers from places of elemental saturation are a cool thing for Kineticists. I'd like to see more.
The Psi-Tech discoveries look nifty at first glance, particularly the upload-self-into-robot one.
More Nidal content is something I approve of, even if Mesmerist isn't a class that has fully drawn me in yet.
A lot of the more exotic occult locations look like they'll be interesting to read about.
More Rituals remain a good thing. It's good to see the system getting support across multiple products.
The rules for Idols look rather nifty.

Initial reaction-bits:

The bonus powers from places of elemental saturation are a cool thing for Kineticists. I'd like to see more.

Care to elaborate on these powers ?

Lore Monochrome wrote:

I'm wicked interested in psytech and the new psychic discipline, anything in those you can share?

You should ask Amanda Hamon Kunz, since in developing the book, she revamped the psi-tech system, so she's the writer on that system. :-)

Oh, how would I go about getting her attention? I'm in the middle of an iron gods game and my character just died and we're in need of a full caster so it just seemed to fit perfectly. I'm extremely interested in how it all works

*Poof!* You've got it.

So, the psi-tech section is meant for folks interested in melding the psychic class with some of the offerings in the Technology Guide. Specifically, the book details several psi-tech discoveries, which are like wizards' arcane discoveries but for psychics. You can take them in place of a phrenic amplification or a feat.

The section also offers the mindtech psychic discipline, which conceptually lets a psychic funnel her psychic power through technology. The discipline powers interface with using batteries or generators, cybernetic implants, and, at a higher level, with dominating technology.

*Poof!* You've got it.

So, the psi-tech section is meant for folks interested in melding the psychic class with some of the offerings in the Technology Guide. Specifically, the book details several psi-tech discoveries, which are like wizards' arcane discoveries but for psychics. You can take them in place of a phrenic amplification or a feat.

The section also offers the mindtech psychic discipline, which conceptually lets a psychic funnel her psychic power through technology. The discipline powers interface with using batteries or generators, cybernetic implants, and, at a higher level, with dominating technology.

so it allows them to be a technopath?

*Poof!* You've got it.

So, the psi-tech section is meant for folks interested in melding the psychic class with some of the offerings in the Technology Guide. Specifically, the book details several psi-tech discoveries, which are like wizards' arcane discoveries but for psychics. You can take them in place of a phrenic amplification or a feat.

The section also offers the mindtech psychic discipline, which conceptually lets a psychic funnel her psychic power through technology. The discipline powers interface with using batteries or generators, cybernetic implants, and, at a higher level, with dominating technology.

I've been looking for so long to find a way to integrate casting and cybernetics/tech without the use of the technomancer and this genuinely sounds like exactly what I was looking for! How well suited do you think it would be for the iron gods setting? Does it work at all with androids? I know that there is some weird rules implications there but.

Care to elaborate on these powers ?

Aether, through the Spellscar Desert, gains the ability to cause Primal Magic events. Air, through the Eye of Abendego, boosts Enveloping Winds and can break the cap on it. Earth, through the Crystal Womb, stacks Oread powers on your normal racial traits and turns you crystal. Fire, through Mount Kumijinja, lets you burn away enchantments and drain effects with fire. Water, through Outsea, lets you transmute fresh and salt water into each other.

Amanda Hamon Kunz wrote:

*Poof!* You've got it.

So, the psi-tech section is meant for folks interested in melding the psychic class with some of the offerings in the Technology Guide. Specifically, the book details several psi-tech discoveries, which are like wizards' arcane discoveries but for psychics. You can take them in place of a phrenic amplification or a feat.

The section also offers the mindtech psychic discipline, which conceptually lets a psychic funnel her psychic power through technology. The discipline powers interface with using batteries or generators, cybernetic implants, and, at a higher level, with dominating technology.

so it allows them to be a technopath?

Broadly speaking, that's the idea. Although, of course, they can also still cast psychic spells as normal.

Shadow_Charlatan wrote:

Care to elaborate on these powers ?

Aether, through the Spellscar Desert, gains the ability to cause Primal Magic events. Air, through the Eye of Abendego, boosts Enveloping Winds and can break the cap on it. Earth, through the Crystal Womb, stacks Oread powers on your normal racial traits and turns you crystal. Fire, through Mount Kumijinja, lets you burn away enchantments and drain effects with fire. Water, through Outsea, lets you transmute fresh and salt water into each other.

Hmm.. I have this weird feeling I know where Yoon went when she was learning her powers...

To everyone who worked on this, the core-rules stuff for Bestiary 5 +Occult Adventures, and the CS products over the course of this release season: Wow, wow, wow, and wow. Not only did you do the occult/psychic/esoteric genre well, you literally set a standard for gaming material that is truly mind-blowing in scope and imagination.

For everyone who included the bizarre conspiracy-theory stuff - THANK YOU. You just lightened my future design work load by SO MUCH.

I'll throw this out there to really excite folks. The mindtech psychic discipline's 20th level ability allows you to upload your consciousness into a robot.

:D

What do Lashunta or Vudrani get?

Shadow_Charlatan wrote:

Care to elaborate on these powers ?

Aether, through the Spellscar Desert, gains the ability to cause Primal Magic events. Air, through the Eye of Abendego, boosts Enveloping Winds and can break the cap on it. Earth, through the Crystal Womb, stacks Oread powers on your normal racial traits and turns you crystal. Fire, through Mount Kumijinja, lets you burn away enchantments and drain effects with fire. Water, through Outsea, lets you transmute fresh and salt water into each other.

What use would causing Primal Events be ?

Amanda Hamon Kunz wrote:

*Poof!* You've got it.

So, the psi-tech section is meant for folks interested in melding the psychic class with some of the offerings in the Technology Guide. Specifically, the book details several psi-tech discoveries, which are like wizards' arcane discoveries but for psychics. You can take them in place of a phrenic amplification or a feat.

The section also offers the mindtech psychic discipline, which conceptually lets a psychic funnel her psychic power through technology. The discipline powers interface with using batteries or generators, cybernetic implants, and, at a higher level, with dominating technology.

I've been looking for so long to find a way to integrate casting and cybernetics/tech without the use of the technomancer and this genuinely sounds like exactly what I was looking for! How well suited do you think it would be for the iron gods setting? Does it work at all with androids? I know that there is some weird rules implications there but.

I think it'd be pretty perfectly suited for the Iron Gods adventures. The more your character uses technology, the more they're going to find this psychic discipline useful, and IG ...

So I think it's a perfect fit.

As far as the android question, the higher-level dominate technology ability involves a slightly modified version of control construct. While we haven't issued an official FAQ about it, I consulted with the design team, and since androids don't have masters the ability won't allow your psychic to control them. But it does have quite a few other potential uses as far as Iron Gods is concerned.

Will the MindTech discipline allow a psychic to use mind affecting effects on constructs? Or, if not, is there another way to affect constructs like Will of the Dead allows you to affect the undead?

Will the MindTech discipline allow a psychic to use mind affecting effects on constructs? Or, if not, is there another way to affect constructs like Will of the Dead allows you to affect the undead?

The impossible bloodline for sorcerers works

Herald's Fall? Interesting. Sounds like it could be related to Arazni or Kohal, perhaps.

Turns out you were right - Herald's Fall is indeed linked to Arazni. More specifically, it's a mobile phenomena in the Ethereal Plane that manifests as a super-powered haunt. There are no rules given for how the haunt functions, but based on the description, it's a doozy. It may also be the creation of Tar-Baphon.

What are idols?

They are part intelligent magical items, part artifacts, part minor god. They often come to be as a result of prolonged worship. So if a statue were worshiped by a group of people over the years, it could gain a number of powers. Idols have alignments, mental statistics, and ego scores. Unlike true gods, their power depends entirely on the number of worshipers they have.

What do Lashunta or Vudrani get?

Nothing rules-wise. The Lashunta have one of their cities briefly detailed, while the Vudrani have one of their elite schools detailed in depth. The latter is a place where they train spies, courtesans, and similar clandestine types.

Here were some of my favorite bits from this book:

The four-page layout on the Orvian Vault of Denebrum. That place is apocalyptic, mythic-level terrifying. The three top worms are a:

For Dominion of the Black enthusiasts:

There's also a ritual detailed for freeing Tylicharius, the Drowned God of the Dominion of the Black. Only the most capable cultists could pull it off, and the penalty for failing the ritual is nasty, but if someone happens to succeed... well, the accompanying art does a gruesome job of showing the results.

And speaking of the Dominion of the Black, it turns out that they have some interesting connections to the nation of Razmiran of fall places.

An awesome book to be sure.

The impossible bloodline does, but that doesn't help a Psychic who really just wants to Mindtrust an annoying A.I. I really hope that this book gives Psychics those kinds of tools.

The Lashunta have one of their cities briefly detailed, while the Vudrani have one of their elite schools detailed in depth.

How much page count wise for these two?

Primal Magic events can do all sorts of nifty stuff. Heal/Harm, unluck zones that use the Pugwumpi double-roll-take-worst effect, morale bonus to attacks and saves if you join a chant that fills the air, magic jar body-swap, etc. They're random, but I can see someone wanting to take the power to do all sorts of crazy stuff.

The school on Jalmeray gets 4 pages and the Lashunta city gets one.

Really liked the investigators journal at the start seems they may be building up to something more in Razmir in the future (At least I hope)

Really liked the investigators journal at the start seems they may be building up to something more in Razmir in the future (At least I hope)

Combine that with The Ancient One hanging out in a Razmiran cave, the hints that Sivanah is involved in Razmir's charade, and the fact that big R himself has to be approaching death by old age, and this nation is all but bursting with Adventure Path potential.

Were I Razmir, I would hire someone to Reincarnate me. Who cares about old age when we can buy mid-level scrolls. :-p

I think the problem would be, Ixos, that would undermine his claim of godhood.

Don't his sorcerous priests know the truth of the gig? They could do it behind closed doors in a divination proofed location. But if he has fooled even his false priests, then the it would definitely undermine his claim.

Reincarnate then a Wish to return to what he looked like before

Surprised more Golarion icons don't do it more often

I'm pretty sure most of the priests (especially those in the higher levels) have no idea they're dealing with a fraud.

Reincarnate then a Wish to return to what he looked like before

Surprised more Golarion icons don't do it more often

Maybe he's worried the wish will go wrong... I mean they DO tend to do that.

Plus there's always a chance some Marut might come along...

Plus there's always a chance some Marut might come along...

Huh. I wonder if that is the reason that Reincarnated Druids get a bonus against gather information checks.

It wouldn't surprise me, Ixos.