For curious readers who wish to hone their psychic skills, a plethora of occult tomes, lost scrolls, and even stranger items lie hidden throughout Golarion. From the kaleidoscopic Recursion Tablets to the never-ending Infinity Scroll, Pathfinder Player Companion: Psychic Anthology presents a diverse archive of texts elucidating esoteric ideas and techniques that can benefit any psychic spellcasting class, as well as other spellcasters. Alongside feats, magic items, and spells, this volume unlocks the hidden powers of the mind!
Inside this book, you'll find:
New archetypes for nearly every occult class, including the phantom blade spiritualist and the autohypnotist mesmerist.
Panoplies—collections of occultist implements that harness the power resonating between the items—and numerous kineticist wild talents for all the elements.
A new corruption arising from raw psychic energy that, if left unchecked, could mutate one's form into an all-consuming horror of writhing flesh.
This Pathfinder Player Companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-928-8
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
I'm not going to talk about the psychic or mesmerist much here. The psychic gets to be the magic and magic item section, and it's a mixed bag. Mesmerist just isn't a class I much care to play (outside of one archetype), so I haven't spent much time looking at it.
Spiritualists get a nice chunk of stuff, a fun new emotional focus (and rules for using it with older archetypes). Two new archetypes, one bringing in some black blade magus fun, and a phantom animal one. I have intentions of using the phantom blade, the totemist I might if an appropriate campaign comes up. My only real problem with either is they lose emotional focus (something I enjoy about the flavor of the class).
Medium gets a fun new archetype. It doesn't really address any issues with the class, might even make some of them worse (forcing taboo). It get's fun abilities and has cool flavor though. Look for a thematic campaign to use it in.
Kineticist gets a lot of expanded selections. The invocations are a cool idea, and possibly a good tool for the future, but the feat look for most characters is disappointing. More talents, especially for wood and void is nice. Wood's new simple blast is disappointing, and makes for a (mostly) true pacifist if taken as your first. Not practical but interesting choice. More blade abilities make the melee fan happy. Speaking of which the Kinetic Knight is everything I ever wanted for the Kineticist, not just supporting but encouraging a strength based build, nice defensive features. I've already started playing one and it's one of m favorite builds. The lack of form infusions can be limiting somewhat though.
Occultist is another nice package here. The panopolies are great. Between giving you a way to go deeper into your spell list with out giving up too much versatility and some nice new focus powers. the archetype to support them is a nice addition too.
Overall a great book that supported the four psychic classes I care about in fun ways, and inspiring at least 4 new characters I want to play.
A Fantastic Expansion of Occult Options (for the most part)
This is a fantastic companion book for those interested in playing one of the classes in Occult Adventures. And for the most part, it gives these classes a lot of love. In order of how much (and the quality of) the love they receive:
1. (A+): The Spiritualist was originally my least favorite class in Occult Adventures. A class with cool flavor but weak mechanics. This book changes that. It introduces not one, but two archetypes that turn the Spiritualist into a viable and interesting option. The first is essentially a psychic version of the Blackblade Magus, and the second gives you a phantom animal companion (or two!) that's a viable option in combat. And it introduces a new Kindness emotional focus that the Id Rager can take(!). This went from a class I couldn't imagine getting myself to play, to a class I have at least two character ideas for. Fantastic stuff.
2. (A+): The Mesmerist, on the other hand, was one of my favorite classes in Occult Adventures. It's a lot like the alchemist -- a 6th level caster with lots of skill points and a bag of abilities that, though neat, don't obviously fit together (in the case of the alchemist: bombs, mutagens, self-buffing extracts, poison-using abilities and alchemy/potion-oriented abilities, in the case of the mesmerist: stares, tricks, touch treatments and a bevy of mind-affecting spells). In the case of the Alchemist, this was fixed by a bunch of great archetypes and options that allow you to really focus on one of the themes of the Alchemist (e.g., bomb focused alchemists, mutagen + self-buffing alchemists, poison-focused alchemists, etc). But until now the Mesmerist didn't really have the options to do the same.
This book starts to change that. It introduces a trick-focused archetype and a bunch of feats that make the Mesmerist's tricks cool and effective enough to really build a character around. Likewise, there are some great Stare feats that make stares effective enough to build a character around. Add in a cool Possession-focused archetype and a "mind-over-matter"-style archetype which moves away from *just* mind-affecting spells, and there are now a number of interesting and distinct options on the table to focus your Mesmerist around. More great stuff.
3. (A+): The Occultist was originally in the middle of the pack for me -- lots of flavor, and reasonably effective mechanically, but with a couple awkward features that make it hard to develop all of the versions of the class one might like to try (such as the dramatic difference in the power of different schools -- from the virtually obligatory Transmutation to the painfully bad Necromancy and Evocation -- and the strong disincentive to choose a school more than once, essentially locking you into a single spell per school). This book (combined with the incredible Silksworn archetype from the Heroes of the High Court) do a fair bit to change that. By adding panoply options (and the corresponding panoply-focused archetype) you now have a cool and flavorful way of getting multiple spells from a given school, and of spreading out your spell picks a bit more. There's still a few awkward features of the class left over (it's still hard to imagine building an Occultist without Transmutation, or with Necromancy and Evocation), but the class is definitely more fun to play with than before.
4. (A): The Kineticist was a class I liked a lot, and it also gets a lot of love, in the form of the first good Kineticist archetype (a melee-focused armor-wearing kineticist tank) and a big batch of new wild talents which open up the variety of builds to pursue, especially if you want a Wood or Void-focused Kineticist. Granted, a lot of them are high-level abilities which only the DM is likely to get to play with, and it's hard to not to wish there were even more utility Wild Talents and Kinetic Invocation options. (More! More! More!) But this still opens up a lot of interesting options, making this book pretty much a "must-have" for anyone building a Kineticist.
5. (B): The Medium was one of my least favorite classes in Occult Adventures. It had great flavor, making it a class I very much wanted to play. But mechanically, the only really viable option seems to be building your character around the Champion spirit and making them a kind of psychic-flavored fighter, which didn't fit very well with most of the Medium-style character ideas I wanted to play with.
This book adds some more neat flavor options to the Medium (you can tie yourself to a kind of outsider), with an accompanying archetype, which someone building a Medium might consider. But none of these options make the class feel like it would play very differently, or open up the possibility of making a Medium which isn't basically a psychic fighter. Of course, these demerits of the Medium class aren't this book's fault, and it's a little unfair to expect it to resolve all of the problems facing the Medium. Still, given how much I like the idea behind this class, it would be great to someday see some options for making a viable character focused around one of the non-Champion spirits.
6. (B-): The Psychic was originally another class from Occult Adventures in the middle of the pack for me. The disciplines have lots of flavor, but, much like the sorcerer's bloodlines, most of them don't have enough mechanical "meat" to make them feel like they'd play that differently. The amplifications are kind of neat-ish, but most don't do interesting enough things to be memorable. And the overwhelming focus on mind-affecting spells makes the Psychic feel a bit fragile, usefulness-wise, for a 9th level caster.
This book does a bit to round out the Psychic's spell casting possibilities, and adds in some psychic analogs of arcane spell-related magic items. But the class feels much the same as before (in both good ways and bad) in light of these options, and there's little that seems specific to the Psychic that's on offer. Okay stuff.
All told, if you're mostly interested in the Medium or the Psychic, then while there are some new options in this book, there isn't anything that you really need in this book. But if you're interesting in playing around with Spiritualists, Mesmerists, Occultists or Kineticists, then this is definitely a book you'll want to have.
Lots of great stuff and a little bit of really, really bad
I would strongly recommend you buy this book, but I can't give it more than three stars because it has some really poorly conceived and edited options in here that should be mildly embarrassing to Paizo.
The mesmerist, spiritualist, and occultist options are generally great, a couple of bad archetypes and unclear rules ("holding" panoply occultist implements) aside. As far as I can tell the medium and kineticist stuff is of similar quality, but I don't care about those as much. If you want more options for these classes absolutely buy this book and you won't regret it.
Where the book falls down is the Psychic items and spells section. I can agree that this was arguably more necessary to grow the class than an archetype or more disciplines would have been, but the implementation is pretty poor. Most of the magic items are uninspired psychic retreads of (bad) arcane options that in some cases already worked fine for psychic casters. The spells have some decent options, and a couple of weak options, but the real problem is that there are two absurdly strong options. One allows you to daze lock a creature even on a successful save (at 3rd level!), the other is basically a Moment of Prescience god mode that applies to almost every roll you do for 1 full minute. I think you can easily solo higher threat CR creatures in melee with this spell and a few standard buffs. It's that ugly.
Publishing either of these spells would have been irresponsible, publishing both makes me doubt Paizo takes this line seriously anymore with respect to maintaining the integrity and balance of their game. PFS will ban the hell out of them, but having this sort of awful munchkiness out there as an idea that someone at Paizo thought was ok to publish is troublesome.
My final complaint is that there are a few more than the usual (already disappointing) level of poor editing and rules mistakes that we've come to expect in the Player Companion line. You have an unprecedented casting time of "1 full round action" on some spells (a big problem on Psychic classes that need their move action to add metamagic or center and avoid concentration penalties and not an innovation that should be dropped in without explanation), missing explanations of partial saving throws, and a couple of other minor signs that this needed a better development pass from a responsible adult.
That aside, you should reward Paizo for the good things with your money and put the good options to use responsibly. I just hope the bad things get more attention in future products and don't become a trend.
The fluff and items range from good to alright, but everything else is sorta meh. The new spirits for the Medium are pretty cool, as well as some of the Stare feats/tricks for the Mesmerist, but other than that...
I'll be honest. I wanted more kineticist talents when I bought this book, and I was nothing but disappointed. Oh gee, more ways to melee as a kineticist - as though there weren't a half-dozen archetypes that did pretty much the same thing. Oh look, *more* blasts that expand the use of your kinetic blade! Oh look, *feats*! Like there aren't *enough* feats, and these simply add a few spells as kineticist talents.
It was alright overall, but frankly, I would've saved the 10 bucks.
I pride myself on long detailed reviews, but there is very little to say about this. Uninspired, tending to overly dramatic and "uncontrolled!" type wackiness. Lack of content covered by larger than normal bad magic items section.
The biggest thing about Kinetic Knight is that you lose metakinesis and supercharge. That unfortunately caps the kinetic blade's "nova power".
Eww...too bad loosing access to move action empower is prolly a major hit to damage at most levels.
Fortunately, it's not.
1-4: Didn't have it anyway. Enjoy not needing any feats at all!
5-7: This is where it actually hurts. The party may have Haste or similar effects this early (5 with a Wizard, 6 with a Sorcerer, and 7 with a Bard, Summoner, or Cleric), which helps mitigate suckiness.
8+: You have iteratives now, so spending your move action on empowering doesn't make much sense.
It's good that the archetype lost them- metakinesis pretty much requires gather energy to be worthwhile, and gather energy requires giving up your full attack. If I'm playing a character based on making full attacks, I'd want metakinesis and supercharge traded out for stuff I can actually use.
8+: You have iteratives now, so spending your move action on empowering doesn't make much sense.
An iterative has a 25% lower chance of hitting though so your full attacks aren't all that powerful IF you target regular AC.
Also I think Blade Rush is a standard action so gathering power and moving and making one attack actually works.
Also Vital Strike + Empower would have been nice.
8+: You have iteratives now, so spending your move action on empowering doesn't make much sense.
An iterative has a 25% lower chance of hitting though so your full attacks aren't all that powerful IF you target regular AC.
Also I think Blade Rush is a standard action so gathering power and moving and making one attack actually works.
Also Vital Strike + Empower would have been nice.
Yeah, energy is a better choice for this archetype. That's nice, because it wasn't a good option for Elemental Annihilator. Empower increases your damage by 50%, so losing 25% on your chance at double damage is still good.
Like all melee combatants, the Kinetic Knight prefers to take no more than a five-foot step to get a full attack. The Blade Rush edge case only comes up when you're level 8-12 (can pay for Blade Rush with infusion specialization but don't have a cooler option for way more damage from your archetype), and between 10 and 20 feet away (within single-move distance, but not a five-foot step).
It can be a short description of the phantom blade?
Black Blade Magus as a Spiritualist. And it's pretty good...
What he gives, and whether to use a spirit chips?
Dunno what you mean by spirit chips, but no, we can't list off all the features it gives. The short summary is pretty accurate, but I'll mention that it also addresses the issue of psychic casting in melee.
It can be a short description of the phantom blade?
Black Blade Magus as a Spiritualist. And it's pretty good...
What he gives, and whether to use a spirit chips?
Dunno what you mean by spirit chips, but no, we can't list off all the features it gives. The short summary is pretty accurate, but I'll mention that it also addresses the issue of psychic casting in melee.
Okay, had some more time to read through this, so here's my thoughts...
Psychic Anthology:
So, first off, Psychic Apotheosis is nice to have, though Magic Tactics Toolbox also covered this nicely, helping to provide some nice context for psychic spellcasting and how your character might have it. I'm sure a lot of people don't care, but I love little tidbits like this about magic.
Encyclopedia Etherica is delightfully gross, though I kind of wish we had more details about it...is it an artifact? Does it provide any benefits to the bearer? If not, is it okay to just have a copy hanging around as a spiritualist...provided you don't mind, uh, producing it? Urggggggh...
Kindness Phantom looks pretty handy to have floating about - no pun intended - with opening strike and etheric healing available. Bodyguard seems like a no-brainer, too. Kudos for providing the sidebar that lets it work with id rager, Emotional Conduit, fractured mind, and spirit-bound blade.
Phantom Blade looks pretty sweet, though please tell me that it functioning similarly to black blade doesn't mean it has to be a "one-handed slashing weapon, a rapier, or a sword cane"? I love weapon of the mind, it's super-cool, lots of fun possibilities.
Totem Spiritualist looks pretty cool, not really my bag, but I like that you can have either multiple phantom animals to swap between, or get to boost up a single one. Generally very neat.
Usher of Lost Souls, not bad for a more healing-oriented spiritualist. I think losing out on spiritual interference and its upgrade is a bit painful, but getting etheric channel is pretty nice even if I think the haunt stuff is probably niche.
The centering jewel is amazing for its price and I'm surprised more people haven't mention it...makes for a great ectoplasmatist or mindblade, and I bet lots of psychic casters would want it. Though I suppose the fact it takes up the headband slot is the real problem...but if your GM allows you to combine magic items, probably a no-brainer. If you can't...probably a tougher call.
The ring of mysticism is also nice to have around, though pricy, just like its arcane counterpart. While a spell lattice works for psychic casters, the shard of psychic power doesn't have a weight, so it's still nice to have around.
Burst of force is kind of fun, though having it centered on you is a bit of a bummer. Debilitating pain is, uh, wow. Mind-affecting, but you're screwed even on a successful save for a round, so that's pretty damn potent. Reflexive barrier is pretty nice, I think, and I love the rend body line of spells...gruesome.
Outer Channeler is pretty cool, I've never liked the basic medium compared to the playtest version, but this one offers some interesting options...and I like the expanded summoning. Might actually give one a try...maybe. Though I still hold out hope for the harrowed medium coming along someday...
Mesmerists certainly get some interesting feats...I'm particularly fond of Blinding Stare, Confusing Stare, Contingent Trick, Reflexive Trick, Spell Trick, and Split Trick. Mmm, so much fun, though mesmerists are already tight on feats...
Material manipulator is a pretty fun archetype for mesmerist, revision reminds me a bit of fey trickster's glamers, but it still plays out quite differently. Would definitely like to try one sometime...almost tempted to swap out my current mesmerist for one, but I think I'll refrain and just add on something from Heroes of the High Court instead.
Projectionist is another very fun archetype, I remember being disappointed when Occult Adventures came out that mesmerist really wasn't that great when it came to possession, well, this archetype definitely fixes that.
Kineticists! Finally! Some nice new stuff. I like blade whirlwind and whip hurricane. Reasonably certain that maelstrom is supposed to be a form infusion, though. And positive admixture is wood and not void. Kind of cool that wood gets an energy blast, but at the same time hard to imagine anyone picking it at 1st-level, seems more like an add-on. But hey, there's now a wood/wood composite blast, which is good. Slick infusion looks fun. Synaptic infusion is pretty nice. Wish weighing infusion had been around before...if it gets approved for Pathfinder Society (and I don't why it shouldn't), definitely going to see about retraining my chaokineticist to get that in place of pushing infusion. Telekinetic boomerang seems nice to have an iconic item you use you for your telekinetic blast. Aether architect, body of air, tree step, and undead grip I like.
Kinetic Crafting is pretty nice, though I have to wonder how often you'll actually be able to emulate a spell. Well, I certainly can't be bothered to go through the prerequisites of various magic items... Kinetic Invocation is quite nice, while there's some stinkers there's at least one or two options I would consider good in most elements, and it's nice that elemental races can get the bonus. Though I still boo at wayang not count for void.
Kinetic Knight is pretty good all in all, works reasonably well for a kineticist sacrificing some damage potential for some defensive capabilities, and makes a Strength-based kineticist far more viable, in my opinion.
Panoply stuff, wasn't really wowed, it's okay and offers some fun things here and there, but I'm not super-enthused...maybe just because my only occultist character is a sha'ir. I would have liked some more default focus powers or perhaps even alternate resonant powers, as well as some feats for occultists. Still, it's not bad, just wasn't as impressed with what occultists got as I was with what most other occult classes got.
Finally, the corruption, it's pretty cool, but it is a corruption and thus a GM toy 90% of the time. Makes a cool narrative thing, mind you, and I do like that you can get a telekinetic blast and a few other neat toys.
Okay, had some more time to read through this, so here's my thoughts...
** spoiler omitted **...
In regards to the Enyclopedia Etherica as well as all of the occult anthologies, they are more meant as a fun little tool for GMs. The Encylcopedia for example, could be a macguffin required for a player to learn more about their phantom's origins or it could be a powerful item that can grant strange new powers. The overall abilities of the anthologies are kept intentionally vague so GMs can use them as they see fit.
As for the type of weapon available for the phantom weapon, my intent was to allow any weapon with which you are proficient. i.e. If you have longbow or greataxe proficiency, you can use a phantom longbow or phantom greataxe. That's why the artwork features the pantom greataxe.
Glad you like the book! I'm always happy to hear that our stuff is a hit.
Okay, had some more time to read through this, so here's my thoughts...
** spoiler omitted **...
In regards to the Encylopedia Etherica as well as all of the occult anthologies, they are more meant as a fun little tool for GMs. The Encylcopedia for example, could be a macguffin required for a player to learn more about their phantom's origins or it could be a powerful item that can grant strange new powers. The overall abilities of the anthologies are kept intentionally vague so GMs can use them as they see fit.
As for the type of weapon available for the phantom weapon, my intent was to allow any weapon with which you are proficient. i.e. If you have longbow or greataxe proficiency, you can use a phantom longbow or phantom greataxe. That's why the artwork features the phantom greataxe.
Glad you like the book! I'm always happy to hear that our stuff is a hit.
Awesome. Yeah, I was just confused if that aspect of the black blade was meant to be included. If it gets approved for Pathfinder Society, I'd love to make a tengu with the exotic weapon training alternate racial trait and use a meteor hammer...
Large review! Book had some issues, but I only really noticed this much because of the awesome material being covered. It was solidly outweighed by how much great stuff there was!
Regarding wayangs: if I recall correctly, Blood of Shadows wasn't yet out when I was writing this. As such, I didn't have the insight into the race I do today. If I were to do it over, they likely would get the nod over caligni.
I wholly support GMs expanding the list of appropriate races, such as wayang for void or lashunta and astomoi for aether. As for PFS... who knows what will happen? ^_^
Okay, had some more time to read through this, so here's my thoughts...
** spoiler omitted **...
I highly recommend adding a proper review to the book, up there in the other tabs. Those are your best way of shaping future products, whether you want more or less of what you saw here. ^_^
In regards to the "all evil outsider subtypes get summon" bit, Quid, I actually disagree that it lacks flavor.
All of the intermediate abilities that all of the outsider subtypes grant to an outer medium come directly from the race's racial traits. Agathions get lay on hands. Archons have aura of menace. Psychopomps have spirit touch. And all three evil outsider types in the book (demons, devils, and daemons) get the summon ability. In fact, if I remember right, the only outsider subtype in the whole list that breaks this inspirational rule is the azata, because azatas don't have a cool racial power. (They get truespeech, which isn't as evocative as what the outer medium gets at 8th level.)
But yeah, that's what its "the same" for all three of them. Because all three outsider types actually summon more of their kind as a racial ability.
Fair enough. The cool varied good-aligned options raised my hopes, and getting just one option (until the gift comes into play) was a bit of a let down. Thematic rather than thematic and unique. Part of that was curiosity over what comparable stuff could be used for the evil outsiders. That said, it's not a bad option to have- useful for the casters.
If you can craft magic items, but don't have much by way of spell prerequisite meeting, it would be awfully nice to have an ability that allowed you to ignore magical crafting spell prerequisites and the associated crafting DC increases…
(There's a Sorcerer bloodline that gets just that.)
If you can craft magic items, but don't have much by way of spell prerequisite meeting, it would be awfully nice to have an ability that allowed you to ignore magical crafting spell prerequisites and the associated crafting DC increases…
(There's a Sorcerer bloodline that gets just that.)
Also at a higher level completely ignore being in your own reverse gravity if you're a void kineticist
So with the spirit blade, how do the alternate spirits come into play??? How do those individuals spirit abilities work?
They don't, because you don't get them. Phantom abilities aren't really consistent enough to hand to a sword, and the last thing Spiritualist needs is another archetype that requires special treatment by all future phantom types.
So what's the benefits / detriments between black blade magus and the spirit blade?
You'll probably want the full archetype to make a proper comparison. There's a lot going on. Presumably you're playing the archetype for the intelligent weapon, though, and this one is a much better choice for that. You get it right from level one!
There isn't much to Elemental Knowledge, so it's tough to not give it all away, but it basically lets you add news skills to your class skill list for each new element you take.
Elemental Overload increases Elemental Overflow's ability to ignore cries.
Metamagic Invocation predictably lets you use a metamagic with your Kinetic Invocations.
There isn't much to Elemental Knowledge, so it's tough to not give it all away, but it basically lets you add news skills to your class skill list for each new element you take.
Elemental Overload increases Elemental Overflow's ability to ignore cries.
Metamagic Invocation predictably lets you use a metamagic with your Kinetic Invocations.
So with Kinetic Invocations will there be an option for using mythic versions?
Since it's treated as spellcasting, taking the Mythic path ability or Mythic feat and choosing the appropriate spells should work fine. ^_^
I'll have to double-check to make sure all the wording works out, though.
Does this mean the Archmage Arcana mythic path abilities might be able to be used in combination with Kinetic Invocations ? or possibly adapted in the future via a talent or other ability.
So with Kinetic Invocations will there be an option for using mythic versions?
Since it's treated as spellcasting, taking the Mythic path ability or Mythic feat and choosing the appropriate spells should work fine. ^_^
I'll have to double-check to make sure all the wording works out, though.
Does this mean the Archmage Arcana mythic path abilities might be able to be used in combination with Kinetic Invocations ? or possibly adapted in the future via a talent or other ability.
No, and very unlikely. (Mythic doesn't get a lot of support, and the psychic classes are probably a little higher on the list than a player companion ability.) Occult classes need houserules for mythic anyway, and the invocations are easy to include.
The weapon can be harbored in your mind, where it provides some pretty cool benefits, or manifested in ectoplasmic form, if that's what you mean by static. If by static you mean changing what kind of weapon it is, it's initially static, but can be changed once a day when you hit level 7.
The weapon can be harbored in your mind, where it provides some pretty cool benefits, or manifested in ectoplasmic form, if that's what you mean by static. If by static you mean changing what kind of weapon it is, it's initially static, but can be changed once a day when you hit level 7.
Excellent...
By static I meant are you always carrying it. But if it can be stored "in your mind"....that's perfect :P
What kind of benefits for panoplies give? Does the warrior one JUST increase BAB, or does it have other benefits?
They're basically another implement school. Anything you'd get from a new implement school, you get from this. (Modified in how it works in some cases, of course, but still there in some form.) Resonance power, basic power, new power options, more spells, the works. And like implements, each generally has one thing that stands out as the reason you'd actually take it, with the rest being gravy on top. Warrior's is BAB, the social one is really good disguises against magic, and the divine one is probably more healing beyond just hitpoints. (Don't remember what the magic-focused one had as its deal.) So, for instance, I'd take the divine one if I'm a player that considers healing stat damage to necessary for a real healer (and access to that would probably be enough to convince me), but I certainly wouldn't object to also healing more hitpoints as a free resonance power, and getting additional choices for focus powers.
Panoplies sound wonderful. Almost like little, in-class prestige classes.
They're somewhere between that, super-stackable archetypes, and a patch for the weak option of picking the same school for a second time to get more spells of a particular school.
Hmm, taking a closer look, spell combat only works "while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand", which is definitely a bummer. And given spellstrike doesn't work with Vital Strike or anything like that, so I'm not sure how feasible a build that ignored spell combat completely would be...also wish spellstrike would work with the future touch attacks granted by chill touch. Ah, well, it's still a cool archetype...
Hmm, taking a closer look, spell combat only works "while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand", which is definitely a bummer. And given spellstrike doesn't work with Vital Strike or anything like that, so I'm not sure how feasible a build that ignored spell combat completely would be...also wish spellstrike would work with the future touch attacks granted by chill touch. Ah, well, it's still a cool archetype...
Yeah I was getting excited about Double Orcish waraxes and such... The way chill touch works (or any other touch spell) is that once you cast a spell (any spell) you loose said touch spell. So it will work on two attacks in your initial spellcombat round but it won't stick around for your next turn if you spellcombat again.
Hmm, taking a closer look, spell combat only works "while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand", which is definitely a bummer. And given spellstrike doesn't work with Vital Strike or anything like that, so I'm not sure how feasible a build that ignored spell combat completely would be...also wish spellstrike would work with the future touch attacks granted by chill touch. Ah, well, it's still a cool archetype...
Yeah I was getting excited about Double Orcish waraxes and such... The way chill touch works (or any other touch spell) is that once you cast a spell (any spell) you loose said touch spell. So it will work on two attacks in your initial spellcombat round but it won't stick around for your next turn if you spellcombat again.
Yeah, what I wish is that you could treat the extra touch attacks as if you were casting a spell with them, and thus use them as part of a full-round action with spell combat or perhaps use them to trigger spellstrike. Chill touch could work with unarmed strikes, at least, so I suppose that's a possibility, though not the most fun one.
How do you figure two, though? Spell combat only allows one casting as a part of a full-tound action, which can trigger a spellstrike, and if you don't use spellstrike, you have to use a standard action to cast the spell and get a free spellstrike...am I missing something?
Hmm, though by a strict reading, spell combat would be very problematic, since it says, "...and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action..." Fortunately I think most GMs would agree that it should be spiritualist spell list for the phantom blade.
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