Legendary Kineticists II unleashes the true potential of the kineticist class with a vast array of new kinetic options, starting with 8 amazing archetypes for both kineticists, like the onslaught blaster and telekinetic bladeshifter, as well as for other classes like the planar custodian druid and order of the scion cavalier. You'll also find dozens of new infusions, wild talents, and kinetic feats and spells to enhance your kineticists of every specialty. In addition, you can expand the bounds of kinetics like never before with the kinetic mystic prestige class, variant multiclassing for kineticists, and a complete 20-level rebuild of the core kinetic class, the legendary kineticist! On top of everything else, you will also find Trueno, herald of the White Sky, a richly detailed kineticist master complete with combat tactics and a compelling history and personality, to show how these powers play at the table in a ready-to-use character you can drop right into an existing game or even build an entire campaign around. Add this 40-page class expansion to your Pathfinder campaign today and Make Your Game Legendary!
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The second of Legendary Games‘ expansion books for the kineticist clocks in at 40 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page inside of front cover, 1 page ToC, 1 page SRD, 2 pages of introductions, 1 page advertisement, 1 page back cover, leaving us with 32 pages of crunch, so let’s take a look!
We begin this supplement with a selection of new kineticist archetypes, starting with the bestial kineticist. Here’s the thing. It’s not for your CHARACTER. It’s for your animal companion! A bestial kineticist may select any feat that requires kineticist levels, using HD as kineticist levels, as companion feats. Additionally, if the companion and master know the same kinetic blast of the same element and have Interweave Composite blast both, they may use that feat to interweave a composite blast that requires the element as primary and expanded elements in addition to the normal effects. Kudos: Takes wood properly into account, even if you play prior to Arcane Anthology’s addition of a wood/wood composite blast. Instead of a trick, a bestial kineticist can choose to gain an infusion or utility wild talent, but the critter may never have more than 2 more infusions than utility wild blasts, or vice versa. Cool: wild talents learned this way are correctly codified via Handle Animal, and if the master knows the same wild talent, the DC is reduced. As far as ability score bonuses are concerned, the companion chooses either Strength or Dexterity and gets +1 per druid levels the master possesses, minimum 0 – this bonus also applies to Constitution.
Instead of evasion and improved evasion, the bestial kineticist gains all kineticist class features except elemental defense, expanded element, metakinesis and omnikinesis. No utility wild talents or infusions are gained beyond those taken as tricks. Nice catch: The critter may fire kinetic blasts with any appendage with which they could execute a natural attack. The companion is treated as a native outsider in addition to its creature type to determine what spells can affect it, which can be a bit wonky – what if an effect affects outsiders and the creature type differently? Interesting: While elemental overflow is active, the bestial kineticist takes on an elemental subtype defined by the simple blast, with a nice list provided. The kineticist does Not attain subtype-based vulnerabilities, and if the creature has 5+ Burn, it is also treated as the elemental subtype. Instead of multiattack, we get a cool teamwork charge: Standard action, fire simple blast at master; after that, the master may fire the blast, treating its damage as from a kineticist with the bestial kineticist’s HD +2. The blast must be used by the end of the round, and it may include infusions that the bestial kineticist has. At 16th level, composite blasts may be used thus. The ability has a range of 60 ft. and still makes the bestial kineticist take burn. 12th level’s bonus trick is replaced with expanded element, and if the bestial kineticist takes the primary element, we get +1 to atk, damage DC and caster level checks for that element’s wild talents, as well as gaining a bonus infusion or wild talent. I really loved this one!
The second archetype would be the metakinetic savant, who may, at 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, choose a metamagic feat instead of one of the metakinesis progressions, which they may then apply to any kinetic blast, with burn cost increasing as per the increased spell level of the respective metamagic feat. Cool: Schools and subschools of blasts are properly codified, and unlisted blasts are up to the GM’s control, with some guidance provided. Also nice: A whole series of potentially problematic metamagic feats are noted. A metakinetic savant may take Expanded Metakinesis as soon as 1st level, and starting at 5th level, the metakinetic savant may select any metamagic feat for Expanded Metakinesis, provided it increases the spell level by 1 or less, and the interaction of abilities if retained in a tight manner. The internal buffer of the archetype is doubled in size and multiple points may be spent per round on the same wild talent, but the points may only be spent to avoid accepting burn from metakinesis or metamagic feats added to blasts. Instead of metakinetic master, 16th level metakinesis and metamagic feat burn cost is reduced by 1, with the effect not stacking when multiple such modifications are added to a single blast. The archetype may btw. be taken in conjunction with other archetypes that modify metakinesis, but may not replace metakinesis which other archetypes alter or replace. A really interesting engine tweak!
The nihilicist must be one step within neutral alignment and may not be forced to gain an element, kinetic blast or wild talent. If the archetype ever willingly gains a primary element or any non-universal wild talent, except those aligned with the ones granted by the archetype, they lose this archetype. A nihilicist gains no element, but rather nothingness. Empty blast is a simple blast, which may be a physical or energy blast. It is kinda untyped, damage-wise, but actually not and drains away a part of the target’s existence. 7th level provides the Zero blast composite blast, at the cost of 2 burn. Universal infusions may be applied to these, as well as e.g. chain, cyclone, etc. Nice: Damage output here is balanced and modified individually to account for the damage type, a decision that bespeaks the knowledge of the authors regarding the deep levels of kineticist design. The archetype starts with empty infusion and 7th and 15th level nets a bonus feat, infusion or utility wild talent. This ability replaces the basic utility wild talent, elemental focus and expanded element and alters utility wild talents. Now, I noted that special damage – this would be nihil damage. This is nonlethal damage for purposes of being cured, but transcends immunity to them. Nihil damage ignores hardness and staggers targets that have their HP exceeded by it, even if they would be immune. Additionally, a nihilicist can select up to one creature per 60 ft. away, plus 1 per 3 class levels, converting all nihil damage to lethal damage as a standard action, which may also be done in conjunction with gathering power as a full-round action by decreasing the burn reduction it provides by 1. Cool: An amount of damage from the conversion may also be changed into conditions, with a scaling save to avoid. This replaces the infusions gained at 1st, 9th and 17th level and offers a unique playstyle…and seriously, in spite of usually HATING new damage types thrown in, this one is so rooted in existing ones and works so smoothly (and so intricately entwined with detailed features) that I really liked it.
Instead of elemental defense, the nihilicist can convert Constitution modifier lethal damage into nonlethal damage 1/day as a full-round action, +1/day at 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter. Whenever they accept burn to use a wild talent, they gain DR equal to class level + Constitution modifier versus nonlethal damage for 1 round; it does not prevent burn, nor does it affect nonlethal damage converted to lethal. Also at 2nd level, we get constant negate aroma, less food and sleep required and 6th level, this also includes nondetection and at 12th level, mind blank. Additionally, folks will forget the nihilicist, though the character can prevent this permanently via accepting burn and a touch attack – though even willing targets have to save! This one costs 3 utility wild talents, gained at 2nd, 6th and 12th levels. Instead of the 3rd level infusion, the archetype may increase the burn cost of a nihil damage-causing kinetic blast by 1 to immediately apply the effects of the lethal/condition conversion effect, but only pertaining the blast’s damage, not any previously sustained nihil damage. The conversion ratio begins at ½ here and upgrades to full and may later also convert previously sustained nihil damage, but at the cost of additional burn. The capstone reduces the damage-conversion cost for conditions and the capstone also allows them to go out with a…non-bang. The character can center a sphere of annihilation on themselves. This is…beautiful. The ultimate self-sacrifice, an sans suffering left behind, but also with one’s mark completely obliterated. This is a truly tragic and super potent way to go that fits perfectly with the archetype.
The onslaught blaster is amazing for epic battle scenes: Whenever the character uses the kinetic blast, he may fire multiple blasts, equal to 1d6 + 1 damage for physical energy and 1d6 for energy damage, with an additional blast for every 2 kineticist levels past 1st. Each individual hit takes damage equal to the onslaught blaster’s Constitution modifier for physical blasts, half as much for energy blasts. Attacked targets are decided prior to rolling an attack roll and substance or form infusions applied apply to all blasts. Versus a single target, the attacks are pooled into a stronger blast, which is treated as a single attack and effects apply only once to the blast, so no cheesing there. For every 2 blasts beyond the first that target the same creature, damage increases by +3 for physical, +1 for energy blasts. However, an onslaught blaster may not have any form infusion that reduces the range, emulates a melee attack or many throw infusion applied. Telekinetic blast can only throw a single object. This…is beautiful. I’m beaming right here. Once more, this showcases system mastery to a truly impressive degree. Instead of gather power, supercharge and metakinesis, the character can use the onslaught blast as a full-round action at -1 burn, with 11th and 19th level providing further options to reduce burn, tied to action economy.
At 3rd level, when using the aforementioned ability while having 1 burn, they may execute an additional blast, with 9th and 15th level providing +1 blast at 3 and 5 burn, respectively. Elemental overflow does not provide a bonus to damage for the archetype, though. Metakinesis (empower) is replaced with the option to accept burn to execute additional blasts, with 7th level and every 4 levels thereafter adding to that. Additionally, the ability nets a slight damage-increase, which also extends to the other abilities that replace the metakinesis ability tree. At 9th level, we add temporary debuffs to creatures pummeled, and 13th and 17th level allow for artillery style additional blasts for increasing burn costs. This fellow is pretty brutal, but also rather epic – it’s actually a really good mook-mower, and the archetype has a rather easy means to scale for lower-powered games, with the bonus damage granted by the metakinesis-replacements making for an easy choice to slightly decrease the damage output, should you so choose.
The final kineticist archetype herein would be the telekinetic bladeshifter, who gain proficiency with all simple melee and one-handed martial weapons, as well as all thrown simple and martial weapons as well as light and medium armor, and shields, excluding tower shields. They are locked into aether as primary element and telekinetic blast as the kinetic blast, but retains archetype compatibility regarding these features. The archetype has a full ABB-progression, but only 1/3rd class level Reflex-save progression. At 1st level, the archetype chooses a light or one-handed melee or thrown weapon that is neither unarmed, natural or projectile-based and when using telekinetic blast, rather than normal, it transforms the object used into the chosen weapon and may be used as a free action once per turn, treating the bladeshifter as if wielding the weapon, dealing damage as a warpriest’s sacred weapon. The weapon thus wielded may be enhanced as a kinetic blast and substance infusions as well as metakinesis applied to telekinetic blasts work as if used with the kinetic whip infusion. 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the bladeshifter gets an additional weapon that may be chosen as such, with 9th level unlocking advanced weapon/armor training options, substituting elemental overflow attack roll bonus for the weapon training bonus. Non-telekinetic blast kinetic blasts deal damage as a ½ class level sacred weapon and 1/3 spell level, if relevant. Elemental overflow does not provide a bonus to attack roll (would have been overkill here) and the damage-bonus it provides is equal to the burn the character currently has. The archetype is locked out of form infusions. The archetype may choose combat feats instead of utility wild talents, using their class level as fighter levels to qualify. At 5th level, they can choose substance infusions instead of wild talents, but at 4 class levels lower. This reduction also applies to infusions chosen as part of the expanded element.
At 2nd level, elemental defenses is replaced with forcewoven shield, which allows the character to accept burn in order to increase the enhancement bonus of a shield used by +1, not interfering with gather power. There is an issue here: The bonus scales up to +10, and can generate shields with basically a +15 bonus, which surpasses the cap assumed by PFRPG for enhancement bonuses. It probably won’t break the game, but since high-level math is already finicky for the GM to get right, that amount beyond the usual…well. Not a fan. This effect may also be used in conjunction with other abilities that grant a shield bonus, btw. Not as happy with this one. 3rd level nets the option to make telekinetic blast weapons out of force and target touch AC, which is, for a full BAB-class, an all but guaranteed hit. Sure, at the cost of halved damage and being subject to SR…but still. For 2 burn, the blast can inflict full damage while in force mode. Additionally, for a swift action, telekinetic blast weapons can be enhanced (up to +5) or add a variety of different special weapon properties. For the weapon mods, the archetype loses the 3rd, 11th and 19th level infusions. 9th and 17th level provide a specialization based on armor, shield, or weapon type preferred, allowing you, for example, to make two-handed melee weapons for the telekinetic blade ability, etc., but at the cost of composite and infusion specialization at 5th, 11th and 17th level as well as metakinesis (twice/maximize). The capstone is bland, with auto-confirmed crits and critical multiplier increase by +1 (x4’s bad enough, imho) as well as DR when having the shield active. This archetype is the one of the kineticist archetypes herein that feels a bit rough – it’s not bad, mind you, but it feels like it tries to do a whole lot, and could do so much more with its concepts, but instead had to settle for a cut-down version that used numerical bonuses instead of diverse abilities. This left me with the impression that it should have received a hybrid class treatment akin to the cool kinetic shinobi.
N. Jolly and Onyx Tanuki hit it out of the park again with Legendary Kineticists II, delivering the quality you'd come to expect from the authors' other works and the first Legendary Kineticists.
The first section is full of new archetypes which not only expand the kineticist with a slew of new thematic options, but also provides other classes like cavaliers, druids, oracles, and even animal companions(!) with a taste of kinetic powers. I'm a huge fan of the Bestial Kineticist animal companion archetype in particular, as it blows the door open for thematic character builds. Now, anyone with access to an animal companion can evoke the long-standing image of an animal charged with elemental or psychic powers. In particular, it's great for obtaining a unique and flavourful sidekick who can stand their own in combat, unlike most familiars. It also isn't as involved as an eidolon, and simplicity is golden in my books. This is one I'd like to personally use in a game, and that's a high bar to jump for something that builds on first-party content.
Talents comprise a short section, providing support for ice and electricity-themed kineticists, undead specialists, and a good number of quality-of-life and miscellaneous talents to enable countermagic, shillelagh-style fighting, and more. Kinetic Lich catches my interest as a capstone ability which turns you into a special kinetic lich, complete with phylactery. It's rather simple for what it does and doesn't really involve applying a template to your character, so it's far cleaner than more traditional options in that regard.
Feats on offer provide options for kineticists in general, support for specific kineticist archetypes, and multiclass support. I'm always a fan of feats that facilitate multiclassing in Pathfinder, and Legendary Kineticists encourages you to experiment with kineticist/monk, kineticist/magus, and kineticist/arcanist hybrids. Of course, with the slew of kinetic content that the authors have previously published, there's room for even more creativity within the scope of those feats.
There are a few kineticist-themed spells provided, though most of them either work better against kineticists or otherwise apply burn to enemies. Delayed Burn is the exception here, which does what it says on the tin. As a 2nd/3rd-level spell, it's another incentive to multiclass kineticist with a caster class rather than strictly being there for a caster ally to support a kineticist. It can also be used thematically to great effect if a character is willing to sacrifice long-term health for short-term power, like a punishing limit break or heroic sacrifice.
Kinetic Mystic is a prestige class on offer which acts as a dual-progression class for kineticist/arcane casters or kineticist/psychic casters, further cementing the multiclassing theme present in this book. It features 6/10 casting progression, synergistic abilities for blending the two parent classes, as well as exclusive kineticist talents. This prestige class stands out as one that is incentivized through multiple different types of content in the book, which I appreciate from both a design and a play standpoint. Most prestige classes are poorly thought out and suboptimal at best, but Kinetic Mystic has enough support within Legendary Kineticists II that it manages to become an appealing option for creative character builders. I'm impressed to say the least.
The Legendary Kineticist is the main attraction of this book, and why most kineticist fans will want to pick this book up. For those unfamiliar with Legendary Games, their legendary class series often introduces alternate classes which are more or less a strict upgrade from Paizo's offerings to account for poor balancing. The Legendary Kineticist is no exception, making the class far more user-friendly and less punishing to use. While it is chock-full of tweaks and additions, the meat of the class's changes is how it handles burn. Burn is changed to a penalty to Strength and Dexterity-based ability and skill checks, meaning that you can use your class features without dying to a stiff breeze! It's an innovative way to offer a penalty to the character while keeping them happy, and creative GMs will find new ways to challenge the players as burn's new penalties open up more ways to challenge kineticists without simply removing their hit points.
Finally, variant multiclassing support is offered for the kineticist, and we're given a sample Legendary Kineticist. The VMC kineticist works with both the regular and legendary versions of the class, as does all the other content in the book. GMs who want to allow the content in the book but are wary of the radical change to how burn works should take comfort in this fact, even though it is the opinion of this reviewer that the change to burn should be embraced. The sample character is a great way to introduce the book's content into the game as always. Trueno, Herald of the White Sky comes with beautiful artwork, detailed backstory, advice for how GMs can use her in their games, and even an optional mechanical benefit should the players befriend her!
--The Aftermath--
Legendary Kineticist II is an impressive work on all levels, from clean game design to creative content to much-needed boosting of the traditionally weak Kineticist's power level. Any fan of the class will want to pick this up, as will game balance afficionados and game designers who want to research quality material in the industry. As a game designer myself, I've benefited from studying this book, regardless of if I get the chance to use it in actual play or not.N Jolly and Onyx Tanuki should be proud of this accomplishment, and publishers should take notes as to the capabilities of the authours. I whole-heartedly recommend the book to anyone interested.
-Siobhan Bjorknas
Another awesome Kineticist book by LG and N. Jolly? you bet!
DISCLAIMER: This review is based on a free PDF provided by the author and the publisher, which in no way had an influence on the final score.
Legendary Kineticists II is a sequel for the critically acclaimed volume 1, by the same author and master of all things kinetics N.Jolly.
What’s inside?
30 pages of content, which include:
-8 archetypes: Bestial Kineticist for animal companions, which mean you artic druid can have a cold-breathing wolf, or a sky druid an air-blasting eagle etc. Metakinetic savants are kineticists who get different, more varied metakinesis ability, and a metakinetic buffer that has more points but are only usable for metakinetics. Nihilicists are weird, using the power of nothingness itself; their blasts dealing a new type of “nihil” damage; they lose any access to other elements and getting only universal talents, but are their own breed of awesome. Onslaught Blasters are multiple targeting kineticists, able to throw myriad of weaker blasts. Order of the scion is not really an archetype, but an order for the cavalier and samurai classes; they devote themselves to an element, gaining a minor blast ability, and enhance the power of certain powers and spells related to their element. Planar Custodians are druids whose devotion to an elemental plane becomes a blessing, in the form of kineticist abilities. Planestouched Oracles lose both their mystery and revelations in exchange for kineticist’s toys. Telekinetic bladeshifter are the true warriors among the kineticists, getting a full BAB and getting a normal Ref save; they control their blades with their mind!
-6 general infusions: Two manipulate water-related blasts to dehydrate their targets, two other counter spells, one affects them with the masochistic shadow spell and one makes blasts ricochet.
-13 wild talents: These include basic abilities for cold and electricity, while the others mostly focus beyond the basic 5 elements presented in OA.
-11 Feats: some of them focus on multiclass kineticists, while others enhance archetype’s abilities.
-4 Spells that interact with the burn mechanic, forcing it on targets, delaying its effects etc.
-1 Prestige Class: Kinetic Mystic, a 10 level “theurge” class that mingles kinetics with either arcane or psychic spellcasting.
-1 variant class: Legendary Kineticist sport many changes, but the biggest one is how burn affects the LK. They also get a special, temporary “battle burn” that instead of weakening the kineticist, weakens the ability it enhances. This class hack may sound too strong, but it is still ok when compared with what wizards or clerics can do.
-1 variant multiclassing for the kineticist, perfect for Avatar-like campaigns where everybody who is somebody does the kinetics.
-1 NPC: Trueno, Herald of the White Sky, an 8th level middle-aged female half-elf onslaught blaster legendary kineticist who focuses on wind and aether. Trueno has ties with Mindfang, another NPC from the previous Legendary Kineticists book. She is different in the sense that she LOOKS like she has been in some serious adventuring, sporting a missing arm and eye. As always with the author, the NPC can bestow a boon, but in this case it is a tad too strong for my tastes.
Of Note: The nihilicist archtype is awesome in concept, while the non-kineticist archetypes and options are perfect introductions for the kineticist system. The NPC looks like a true adventurer, with scars and even missing body parts to show it.
Anything wrong?: This book is not really about kineticists but about “kinetics”, their unique magic system. Many of the kineticists toys are used by many a class, which is good in my opinion. The only thing I’m missing is the class template for monsters. I would love an efreet fire kineticist, or a dryad wood kineticist… You get my drift. Also since there is an archetype for animal companions, why not familiars? Eidolons? Elemental eidolons with a kind of minor magic evolution but with kinetics.
What cool things did this inspire?: A dhampir or tiefling nihilist is too obvious to not try one. A sylph telekinetic bladeshifter makes my wuxia boil. And man, I really want a dwarven planar custodian druid with an earth badger.
Do I recommend it? If you really like the kineticist magic system, yes. If you just wanted more options for the kineticist, you might be disappointed. So, 4 stars if you wanted more Kineticist-only stuff, full five if you wanted more kinetics in your games.
I'll begin by saying I was provided a review Copy for this.
Here we are, Legendary Kineticists 2. Is the ride coming to an end? well... If it truly is, this is leaving with a decent bang, ill tell you that. Although, I think the sentiment from me on this is "not what I was expecting." Lets see what we have here.
Bestial Kineticist- Right off the bat, something I didn't expect.This is new animal companion archetype! Your animal companion is infused with a level of kineticist energy and can trade tricks for limited access to wild talents and infusions. It can also enact blasts on it's own, and even pass you it's blast for use- plus if you and it own the same element of blast, it can tag-team blasts with you. I find this archetype pretty interesting. That cats a Dynamo!
Metakinetic Savant- Hrm... you can modify and manipulate metakinesis by way of using metamagics at an improved degree, including improving your internal buffer specifically to use it - it has a helpful list of what the blasts you can manipulate count as and what you can't take using this archetype. it can be taken so long as not EVERY metakinesis is replaced by another archetype, and metakinetic master or internal buffer aren't modified. not my style at all, but credit where due.
Nihilicist- Now this is an intriguing one. This one denies the use of ANY established element (if you willingly do, you lose access to this), and must be within two steps of neutral to stay in "class". In exchange you get a notable blast pair- empty and Zero, which do Nihil damage. You can fire both blasts as physical or mental, and they come with their own selection of infusions to choose, but you only get universal wild talents to pick from. Nihil Damage is nonlethal damage that can't be ignored- if you take to much of it you become outright disintegrated. Intriguingly you can convert nihil damage from nonlethal to lethal in a few ways, which allows you to turn it into a condition you can inflict based on damage dealt (wow, reminded of healing hands...), and some of these are killer effects. Defensively they can convert lethal damage taken to nonlethal, eventually become untraceable, even disappearing from peoples minds. The finale is two fold. You can do far more pain with Nihil conversion for statuses, but if you want, you can go out with a... shall we say Annihilation- tier bang. Just make sure your affairs are in order- nobody else will remember them.
Onslaught Blaster- OOH HOO HOO, I was waiting for this one. This is one of my favorite Kineticist variants, and one of the two reasons I wanted this product. It changes up the gameplay by adjusting how the blast works- instead of one big shot based on your level, you can splinter it into many smaller ones with some caveats- or essentially pool them all back up into one. damage takes some adjustments, and ill admit my brain wishes some of the additional damage written into some of these abilities stack across the board, but I know better. if you play kineticist for its ranged damage component over its melee variants, and no other archetype intrigues you, this one has some great applications for spreading debuff centric infusions around at the least. plus its the missile spam Kineticist- what's not to love about this, assuming you can take the cost?
Order of the Scion- This is a Cavalier order that turns them somewhat into Kineticists- or more apt, Knights of the elemental balance. You get a kinetic whip simple blast as a level 1 kineticist that can function as a lance on charge, you get elemental defense and an odd variant of elemental overflow. But you have to strive for elemental balance, do an 1 hour ritual each day to maintain your powers, and your challenge is limited in effectiveness by what element you chose... ill just say this isn't for me. but I DID see an opening in my Knights of Flame.
Planar Custodian- First off, love the art around this class. second of all, PARTIALLY KINETIC DRUIDS. Storm Earth and Fire, heed my call? No, not sorry- couldnt resist. This pulls power from the druid shell to add Kineticist elements into it- Bestial kineticist animal companion, a kinetic blast, some infusions, Element defenses... but to get the full effects your druid elements tinge to a specific set of element focuses and there are some as I see it major tradeoffs. I like the feel, but I don't know how many would use it, and there's things I just wouldn't give up to have this.
Planetouched Oracle- Hrm. A simple modification to the Oracle in my eyes, but a partially kinetic Oracle is the result. however, much like the Planar Custodian I do not know if this would be worth the trade off, which I see as even bigger. You trade mysteries and revelations for an element focus, a simple blast and a progression of infusions and wild talents- plus a method of reducing infusion cost and some blast modifications as you progress. I'm lost on this one- with so many kinetic elements combined with the number of mysteries and revelations, this adds a LOT of potential options overall but the stipulations involved just have me going no from what I know about oracles. But it is a functional Kineticist/Oracle hybrid, and if your looking for more "all-day" capability, it can provide a thing or two.
Telekinetic Bladeshifter- So we have an Aether Full BAB Kineticist archetype that can turn items they effect with telekinetic blast into a chosen one light melee, one handed melee, or thrown weapons, dealing damage with it as a Warpriest Sacred Weapon. In exchange, other Kinetic blasts are WAY weaker than normal, and you get no form infusions. From there they progress down a fighters route, using burn and elemental overflow to modify weaponry and shields, trading talents for bonus feats if you wish to, and progressing into two handed, dual wielding, blade and board, or throwing style. it's.. pretty cool, but it's specialized element comes into it's own a bit to late for my taste, and it's not the only class sharing this kind of space nowadays- but it is the Kineticist Fighter, and it appears to do that job pretty well.
Kineticist Talents- Some new stuff to play with here. In infusions my favorites are Water dehydration blasts, and the ability to ricochet blasts- though counterspellers will love some of these. My picks from wild talents include modifications to chain and ricochet infusions, the ability to specialize in electricity or ice blasts, Wood gets a variant of Shillelagh with some new tricks, and mind gets some new tricks (YES!, more for mind!) including wiping memories and access (along with Aether) to the oddity of Life after Undeath, which lets you become a positive energy undead if you were undead and human shaped! Oh, and also Void Kineticists can become Liches. figured id bring that up. However, i spy a reprint- improved Celerity is here from LK 1. an awesome one to reprint, but it wasn't helpfully marked at such or anything.
Kineticist feats- YUM. Some of these could be great for multiclassing, like using burn in place of Ki pools, for example. Theres some stuff in here for Dark Elementalists, but also Bestial Companion users- those with metakinesis can teach their bestial kineticists metakinesis as well, for example. But my love is the classic efficiency stuff. Enhanced Composite Boost is sweet for those who use the Boost series- it allows you to add the substance infusions of that type to the usable list with a blast you apply the boost to. Though the example is apparently illegal, oopsie! Still works with a different type of simple blast though! I'm a bit to into single elements mentally to spot them all, but there's potential here. Kinetic Disruption means you can kinetic counter ANY evocation (if mental) or Conjuration (creation) if physical- spell on top what you already could counterspell. This lets you mess with some parades. plus there's a bit more for certain other elements. but anyone who likes the Onslaught Blaster will NEED this one- Kinetic Railgun. It seems to function as the Onslaught Blasters rendition of Kinetic Acceleration from KOP 3, with a bit of difference involved. Color me a haste junky if you like but- GIMMMMMEE!
Kinetic Spells- ...Eww. Here we have spells that inflict burn on enemies, can turn burn into lethal damage, and one spell that lets you suppress the negative effects of burn in a buff form for a time. my favorite one is Burning Prohibition. once applied it forces will saves based on what you try to do and if it was prohibited by the caster. Succeed? Eat a burn. Fail? Eat a burn and waste the action. it's also a permanent duration. it's nice, but personally? I'm just not a fan of this section otherwise. this feels to me like an anti-kineticist section- and as someone who doesn't care for casting usually, and likes Kineticists not exactly what I signed up for!
Kinetic Mystic- Speaking of unexpected things. But to be fair, the books got more than a few, a arcane/psychic and kineticist prestige class. I remember this kind of thing and it's nice to see something like it again. while you miss out on some levels of spellcasting progression here, you do count as the class you got the kinetic blast you need this prestige from for all features EXCEPT spells. in play.. okay, I JUST professed I don't care for casting very much, but this is COOL. you start breaking down the lines between magic and kineticism, turning the blasts into functional touch spells (OH MAGUS!) and being able to stick blasts as the vector for hitting with casted touch spells, which progresses as you do. the capstone is intriguing as well- you can accept a certain amount of burn to cast spells, but you can reduce burn costs a few ways, AND you can sack spell slots in order to make a kinetic blast precanned in that slot that uses that much burn (with some limitations, not including specialization reductions, sadly). This is one neat capstone to me. Id like to give this one a shot someday, and perhaps I will... one thing though, there's an issue in my copy. The fraction is missing at the end in Kinetic Conduit. Based on the list, it takes some time before you can use your kinetic blast fully in this set up- it begins in fractions of 1/5th, but the text seems to have an error here.
Legendary Kineticist- The OTHER thing I wanted this book for. This is a redone kineticist that in my opinion was sorely needed. So, what's new? Well so far as I can tell, Wild Talents now autoscale in DC (YES!). Burn is changed from nonlethal damage to a penalty on all STR and DEX ability and skill checks except for Initative (well, im not half-killin' myself normally, but...). Gather power needs only one hand now. Metakinesis Maximize is gone and Metakinesis Persistent is in it's place (yay, personally!). Internal Buffer is a level earlier and naturally fills up (no more "well, ill light myself up before i go to bed for internal buffer anymore!, GOOD!). Expanded element kicks in a level earlier each, you still normally get a utility talent choice then as normal and you still get an infusion choice at its old level, PLUS YOU NO LONGER SUFFER THE PENALTY FOR THE EXPANDE- okay look. about the only negatives to this are loss of maximize, the skill burn (if that bothers you more then nonlethal damage), and expanded element chosen for the same element does NOT let you take an extra wild talent. It only allows infusions (*SHAKES FIST*). There's other class changes I didn't mention, one of which is a SWEEET buff, and the old Extra wild talent feat is also listed here, and changed to fit in with this kineticist. If your worried about archetypes not matching, there's even a piece here about helping them fit. anything replacing Metakinesis Maximize eats the Persist. adjust down the levels of expanded element and internal buffer. and War Kineticist from LK 1? STACKS. this solves a lot of those concerns, and this is my Kineticist +1 as a consequence. If you are allowed to use it, JUST DO IT. you will be glad you did.
Lastly there's a Kineticist VMC (I do not use this system, so i cannot begin to comment- but i don't care for it at a glance) and there's a sample Onslaught Blaster, who ill say I enjoy the theme of- they use a combination of air and Aether that puts both to good use.
I spied a few issues with the writing in this book- the missed fraction in the Kinetic Mystic for example, another being the lack of bolding on the Metakinesis ability in the Legendary Kineticist. not enough to take away much for me, but... still worth pointing out.
My thoughts overall on this book? well, some of it either really intrigues me (Nihilicist, Kinetic Mystic), or blows me away (Onslaught Blaster, Legendary Kineticist). Everything in here appears to work just fine as written, but a good bit of it does nothing for me at all. The last LK book had me dancing in glee by comparison. but then again, I got Bob Ross and Adagio Dazzle-esc Kineticists out of it- the arts in combat are things I ALWAYS want more of. a lot of this book feels more like an expression of the kinetic elements on the world at large, rather than the kineticists themselves- after all, 4 of the archetypes in this book aren't for the base kineticist, Kinetic Mystic is a hybrid prestige, and there's the spells. in that context it is a good book, but as a dedicated Kineticist player book, is it still worth it?
Yes. because this book still provides more kineticists abilities and feats, 4 good Kineticist archetypes that is bound to at least intrigue someone, and an amazing quality of life increase to a class that I feel could use it in the Legendary Kineticist. if this is the end, it came around pretty good, back to where it all started. It didn't light the fire under me like the last book, but it's STILL one worth picking up.
See you on the other side, folks. I have some kineticist sizing up t'do. got a Lucha Libre wrestler Gestalt to make, and some of the stuff in this book reminds me of ideas...
Wow, didn't think that Jolly had another book left in him, especially one of this quality, but I got proven wrong hard. From the nihilicist actually exploring no element (not void, literally no element) to the onslaught blaster basically being the beam spam hero that every shonen anime portrays, there's still a lot of untouched ground in this class. Big props for the legendary kineticist, the rebuild that this class desperately needed; with this, you can easily play the class with far less issues than the original version, and it's pretty compatible with all the old content as well, something which I was worried about. Overall, you're looking at an amazing book with a really cool sample character who helps show off the mechanics of the new rebuild very well, making this a solid addition to the legendary kineticists/kineticists of porphyra family.
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Jason Nelson
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
Still working through this, but I just wanted to check in and say Bestial Kineticist is awesome. Don't recall seeing an aninal companion archetype before. Kudos. Also, the Nihilicist, man, the flavor potential here is HUGE! Keep pushing the envelope guys. Another solid release.
Jason Nelson
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
Fellfire wrote:
Still working through this, but I just wanted to check in and say Bestial Kineticist is awesome. Don't recall seeing an aninal companion archetype before. Kudos. Also, the Nihilicist, man, the flavor potential here is HUGE! Keep pushing the envelope guys. Another solid release.
Thanks man. I think the nihilicist is my favorite of the archetypes the guys came up with for just that reason. Love the entropic end of the world type of people! :)
Basic Cryokinesis is broken as is right now: it gives 1+level in natural armor and cold blast damage.
Based on electrokinesis I think the bonus should be 1+1/5 level?
Another book, and another dev post, this time for Legendary Kineticists II, the first sequel book in the legendary heroes line:
Bestial Kineticist
This was something that'd been brought up by a few people, and personally, it lets you get a fire breathing penguin as an AC, which is the only thing we need in life. It's a nice inclusion onto most ACs, but still needs you to build towards it to make it too good.
Metakinetic Savant
People do seem to like to alter their blasts, and that's the idea here, giving you the chance to really switch up your blast with a lot of new metamagic style options. It's yet another new way to alter the already versatile kinetic blast that I think people are gonna like.
Nihilicist
So we have the void element, but what about NO element? The nihilicist does just that, it's emptiness at its most pure, and it deals special damage that curses targets rather than just damaging them. There's a lot of versatility here, allowing you to not only hurt others but debuff them in interesting ways, eventually fading from existence yourself.
Onslaught Blaster
The selling point of the book, this is the DBZ blaster spam archetype, and the one that's most likely to get you rolling a hundred dice a round. Rather than a single blast, you launch a wave of different attacks, which opens up tons of new options for combat, and more importantly, just looks awesome.
Order of the Scion
Cavaliers are pretty plain, but throwing elemental energy onto them is a great way to make your horse ownership all the more interesting, as well as giving you an elemental spear to joust like a real hero.
Planar Custodian
If you really want a more elemental druid, this is the way to go, mixing talents and normal druid abilities into a more concise package. Sure you only get elemental form with wild shape, but you also nab a kinetic blast to give you yet another tool with your elemental abilities.
Planestouched Oracle
Another simple mix, this is another way to nab a kinetic blast with a few other unique options to help you play more like a proper hybrid of the two classes.
Telekinetic Bladeshifter
The martial archetype, there's just a ton of cool stuff you can do with this archetype, building weapons out of force or just using telekinetic power in a very melee intensive way. Really, if you're looking for a way to play yet another unique martial kineticist, this is it.
New Wild Talents
The new basic X talents are around so that if you'd rather focus on electricity or ice while choosing your elements, you can do just that, making for a more customizable experience with the same ability to swap them as other basic talents in the line. Throw in other stuff like Kinetic Lich to actually play an elementally sustained lich, and you've got a nice new addition of talents.
New Spells
A shock, this book actually includes spells to help you simulate being a kineticist, including the ability to force burn onto others or to delay your own burn, perfect for the casting archetypes to keep themselves safe.
Kinetic Mystic
This was originally slated for LK 1, but we had to hold it back. The real joy here is an old school 'hybrid prestige class', mixing kineticist with casters to try and make both more interesting. This'll eventually give you the ability to mix blasts with spells, which should make for some very interesting combinations.
Legendary Kineticist
Ah, the big point of this book, my kineticist rebuild. People have been asking for this for a long time, and now you have what I would do to change the kineticist. While less in need of a rebuild than other classes, the legendary kineticist has a few slight power boosts as well as mechanics to make it more dynamic in combat with the inclusion of battle burn. Add to that the new burn mechanics that keep you from killing yourself with your primary class feature and a slight alteration of class feature placement, and to me, this feels like a far more smooth class, especially with the lack of the ability to pick up new wild talents.
Kineticist Variant Multiclass
VMC always seems feast or famine, and I wanted to make an experience that worked for players to dip into kinetic power. While your blast is weaker than a full kineticist, you still have plenty of options to buff it, as well as being able to access utility wild talents through the Legendary Extra Wild Talent feat in the previous section, making you far more adept at playing a kineticist even if you didn't want to take the class.
Sample Character: Trueno, Herald of the White Sky
I talked about it to some friends, but I find it funny that all my LG kineticist seem to be differently abled in some way, be it with Mindfang's missing eyes or Trueno's missing arm. Trueno was a fun character to write, and her stat block includes her burn stats too so that you don't have to do the math yourself.
Storyline wise, I just love old mercenaries, and she helps introduce more character types for me, including the eventual inclusion of Black Chains into the Ehn/LG storyline. She should be easy to toss into most games, and she serves as a great example of what can be done with both the legendary kineticist and the onslaught blaster.
Final Thoughts
This is the last full kineticist book I have planned, and while I'll probably still be doing some light misc kineticist content, I feel like I've gone as far as I can with this class. I also can't ignore Onyx, who's contributions to this were even larger than before. Onyx has been a joy with which to work, as well as an insightful designer who's helped push me further. I could say that about any of the others on this project, as Blue Maculagh, Jacob McCoy, Timothy Mclaughlin, and Blake Morton all deserve thanks for making this book nearly as good as it was. Thank you to everyone who's been following my work, it means a lot to me, and I'll be doing my best to continue making content that you all enjoy.
Thanks for the review, World's Okayest Fighter! Nihilicist was something we had to play around with for a while before it was in proper fighting shape, and I'm glad we took the time we did with it to make sure that it came out as cool as it did.
Ehn covered pretty much everything that needed to be said, but I'll at least try and give my perspective on this.
Bestial Kineticist - You really don't see archetypes for animal companions too often, and I wanted to have something that would be compatible with a lot of different classes and archetypes that weren't kineticists. One of the more unfortunate things about this is how much errata it's gonna need with the release of Arcane Anthology, but hey, the book was submitted before AA was out, so it is what it is. *shrug* I'll note the errata below.
Metakinetic Savant - This is one of those archetypes that's going to really need to rely on GM fiat more and more in the future, especially if other 3pp content is used which adds other metamagic feats. Again, AA's release means a little errata here. It's probably my least favorite of the archetypes, but it's very easy to plug it into most other archetypes. Even if you don't replace any of the base metakinesis abilities, it's a sidegrade for internal buffer and a VERY solid upgrade to metakinetic master.
Nihilicist - One of my babies in this book. As Ehn said it did take some tweaking to get it to work well, but I love where it ended up. It was in part inspired by the Monk of the Healing Hand archetype, acting as a character willing to sacrifice not only their life, but their very existence and the memory thereof for the greater good.
Onslaught Blaster - This is one of the parts of the book I didn't have nearly as much of a hand in, aside from helping with balancing things out math-wise. It does fill a role that people really wanted however, expanding one of the infusions (Flurry of Blasts) into an entire playstyle.
Order of the Scion - Not exactly an archetype, but it just adds an order which allows for a kineticist lean on the base cavalier. This is another thing hit by the introduction of AA, but not quite as much so, since the wording still supports its additions without much errata.
Planar Custodian - Something of a "hybrid" archetype, splicing the kineticist's abilities into a druid. There is a little bit of errata to be added, but it should play nicely with AA as is.
Planestouched Oracle - Is it odd that I'm surprised when one of our archetypes fits on one page of a book? :P Anyway, despite its simplicity, this is a smoother hybrid archetype IMO than the planar custodian ended up being.
Telekinetic Bladeshifter - Another of my babies~ Originally I wanted this to be sort of a kineticist/fighter hybrid, and frankly I think it could have been a hybrid class with a little more polish, but as it is it feels more like a class hack, which I'm completely fine with.
Legendary Kineticist - I'll fully admit - and I may be in the minority here - that I'm a fan of the baseline kineticist versus the legendary kineticist, but I think Ehn did handle this remake of the class quite well, and it's something a lot of people wanted to happen.
Kinetic Mystic - And the last one I feel I can truly consider my offspring. As mentioned, it's essentially in the spirit of the old "class hybrid" prestige classes, in this case combining aspects of the kineticist and the magus. What you come out with is a way to really enhance both your kinetic blasts and your attacks.
Beyond the above, I don't have a whole lot to add. Overall, I'm very proud of how the book came together, and I had a blast working on it~
Now, I'll go ahead and include my errata; ya'll can take these as suggestions, though I do hope Ehn approves of these, and they might be applied to any reprints of the book:
- For the bestial kineticist's Wild Tricks, the whole exception for Wood Blast can be removed. It was meant as a workaround for wood not having a wood/wood composite blast, which it now does as per AA.
- For the bestial kineticist's Elemental Form, if the bestial kineticist has Positive Blast, I'd say to count it as the aether subtype. Unfortunately I couldn't find any other subtype that fits it without being linked to an alignment. Also, while I'm sure you all know what it means, feel free to ignore where it states "elemental subtype" except where it specifically states it adds THE elemental subtype. Everything else is meant to be "subtype provided by its element".
- Metakinetic Savants should count Positive Blast as Evocation [light] and Verdant Blast as Conjuration (creation) [light]. I could also see a case for Conjuration (healing) and Conjuration (creation, healing) respectively but I personally prefer the former.
- Planar Custodians should be able to pick the Badlands domain. It's something that should be pretty clear since it's mentioned elsewhere, but it was something we went back and forth on including and ultimately did include it (but in the process accidentally omitted from the list of viable domains).
- Already mentioned, but Basic Cryokinesis should add 1 + 1/5 your kineticist level in natural armor, not 1 + your kineticist level.
- Add Basic Phytokinesis or Wood Blast as prerequisites to Brutal Club. Wouldn't make much sense to be able to shape a wooden weapon if all you have is positive energy, right?
- Life After Undeath can be chosen now as a wood wild talent, and can be chosen in place of Basic Phytokinesis. Yay!
- Similarly, Lingering Energy is a wood wild talent now as well, though its prerequisites stand (although it's not that useful unless you're fighting a horde of unintelligent shambling zombies).
- Lastly - and this is more a point of pseudo-OCD - Trueno's art is backwards in the title page, and this wouldn't bother me if not for the fact she's asymmetrical. I understand it was done for layout reasons but bruh! I'm triggered!
*clears throat* Alrighty, that's pretty much it. It does rather disappoint me that this is the last of Ehn's planned kineticist books, but between the LK and KoP series, I think we've turned what was originally a fun-but-flawed class into something that rivals - no, even exceeds - the versatility of many 9th level casters, and I think that's a hell of a feat all on its own. It's been an absolute honor to have worked with him, and I do really hope he'll be willing to include me in at least some of his future projects.
So, I told a friend about the onslaught blaster and how it fills the DBZ spam-blaster role. He looked at me, chuckled and said, "I'm thinking more along the lines of Uryu Ishida than I would Vegeta." He was so matter of fact about it, I died laughing. Thankfully, he was able to retrieve my soul and reinsert it back into my body before it could pass on so that I could post this. Anyway, he loves it.
So, I told a friend about the onslaught blaster and how it fills the DBZ spam-blaster role. He looked at me, chuckled and said, "I'm thinking more along the lines of Uryu Ishida than I would Vegeta." He was so matter of fact about it, I died laughing. Thankfully, he was able to retrieve my soul and reinsert it back into my body before it could pass on so that I could post this. Anyway, he loves it.
It can be used to simulate quincy (the race or the TV show character) and saiyajin alike, it's versatile like that. I'm glad it wasn't the cause of your ultimate murder though.
Tels wrote:
*sigh*... You know, I've never bought so much material for a single class before. *add to cart*
Let's be honest; has a single class ever needed material more than this one?
Once you've gotten the chance to check through it, please take a minute to review it if you can. This is Onyx's first time as lead designer along with me, and I'm sure they'd appreciate it as well.
Alright, was looking through things, and...how does the Countering Infusion wild talent counter a supernatural or extraordinary ability? More specifically, what's the DC of the Spellcraft check? Normally it's 15 + spell level, but without a spell...for that matter, should it even be a Spellcraft check if it isn't a spell?
Alright, was looking through things, and...how does the Countering Infusion wild talent counter a supernatural or extraordinary ability? More specifically, what's the DC of the Spellcraft check? Normally it's 15 + spell level, but without a spell...for that matter, should it even be a Spellcraft check if it isn't a spell?
Ya know, I actually hadn't considered that when designing that, so good catch! I'm gonna say it uses the typical 15 + spell level, using the effective spell level if it has one (such as the levels of spells used as SPAs which are provided by racial traits or the effective spell levels of wild talents), 1/2 the user's effective class level for the ability if it's provided by a class and doesn't have an effective spell level (such as a sorcerer's bloodline abilities or a cleric's channel), or its 1/2 HD (such as a dragon's breath weapon), in that order. Not sure if that'd be too wordy though, so I'll let Ehn weigh in on it as well; perhaps he can come up with a more graceful solution that doesn't use as many words.
Again, thanks for pointing that out. One more thing to add to the errata list. Also, if you use this assessment, it goes for spellturning infusion as well.
Alright, was looking through things, and...how does the Countering Infusion wild talent counter a supernatural or extraordinary ability? More specifically, what's the DC of the Spellcraft check? Normally it's 15 + spell level, but without a spell...for that matter, should it even be a Spellcraft check if it isn't a spell?
Ya know, I actually hadn't considered that when designing that, so good catch! I'm gonna say it uses the typical 15 + spell level, using the effective spell level if it has one (such as the levels of spells used as SPAs which are provided by racial traits or the effective spell levels of wild talents), 1/2 the user's effective class level for the ability if it's provided by a class and doesn't have an effective spell level (such as a sorcerer's bloodline abilities or a cleric's channel), or its 1/2 HD (such as a dragon's breath weapon), in that order. Not sure if that'd be too wordy though, so I'll let Ehn weigh in on it as well; perhaps he can come up with a more graceful solution that doesn't use as many words.
Again, thanks for pointing that out. One more thing to add to the errata list. Also, if you use this assessment, it goes for spellturning infusion as well.
No worries, was just looking at it and going...how does this actually mechanically function...? Then went off to look at counterspell rules and how the kineticist's blast already interacts with it in case I was missing something. But yeah, it's a cool idea, though I'm honestly unsure as to whether I would take it normally, given that it's still quite niche...does make me ponder an infusion that suppresses a target's ability to use attacks that use the given element, though...
Jason Nelson
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
These books have a lot of options that can be niche for a generalist kinetic but allow you to build a lot of quirky specialized builds if that's the way you want to run it.
These books have a lot of options that can be niche for a generalist kinetic but allow you to build a lot of quirky specialized builds if that's the way you want to run it.
Indeed. I liked the original Legendary Kineticists a bit more, but there are definitely some fun options here.... Countering Infusion becomes much nicer in conjunction with the Kinetic Disruption feat, for example. And becoming a kinetic lich is cool, as is being able to use a quarterstaff or club with wood, and several others.
That said, I must still waggle my finger for Enhanced Composite Blast's example not being legal...you'd need to use negative admixture with fire blast, since gravitic boost only boosts physical blasts.
Alright, was looking through things, and...how does the Countering Infusion wild talent counter a supernatural or extraordinary ability? More specifically, what's the DC of the Spellcraft check? Normally it's 15 + spell level, but without a spell...for that matter, should it even be a Spellcraft check if it isn't a spell?
Ya know, I actually hadn't considered that when designing that, so good catch! I'm gonna say it uses the typical 15 + spell level, using the effective spell level if it has one (such as the levels of spells used as SPAs which are provided by racial traits or the effective spell levels of wild talents), 1/2 the user's effective class level for the ability if it's provided by a class and doesn't have an effective spell level (such as a sorcerer's bloodline abilities or a cleric's channel), or its 1/2 HD (such as a dragon's breath weapon), in that order. Not sure if that'd be too wordy though, so I'll let Ehn weigh in on it as well; perhaps he can come up with a more graceful solution that doesn't use as many words.
Again, thanks for pointing that out. One more thing to add to the errata list. Also, if you use this assessment, it goes for spellturning infusion as well.
No worries, was just looking at it and going...how does this actually mechanically function...? Then went off to look at counterspell rules and how the kineticist's blast already interacts with it in case I was missing something. But yeah, it's a cool idea, though I'm honestly unsure as to whether I would take it normally, given that it's still quite niche...does make me ponder an infusion that suppresses a target's ability to use attacks that use the given element, though...
As Jason noted, it would be quite a niche build, as I doubt a player's going to just randomly take countering infusion because they have nothing else they feel like taking. However, I could easily see someone designing a denial-based soundweaver (since soundweavers have access to a larger selection of simple blasts) or at the least an aether and/or void kineticist. Give them countering and spellturning infusions and Kinetic Disruption (and, if they can access cold, fire, or water blast, Kinetic Counter). Granted there's still plenty you can't counterspell, but even a dedicated caster needs to focus on certain feats or abilities to function as a denial mage without preparing counterspell or spell turning in every spell slot available.
As for other feats, I'd say Atheist Abjurations, Cooperative Counterspell, Improved Counterspell, and Ordered Mind wouldn't function with countering infusion, since they all call out spells in particular or a particular school (which kinetic blasts do not belong to). However, Parry Spell could work; it'd save you two burn, but at the cost of two feats. If you have a spell list, Spell Bluff would work with the appropriate kinetic blasts as well. If allowed, you could also use the Spell Duel Prodigy trait, and it should work with countering infusion.
These books have a lot of options that can be niche for a generalist kinetic but allow you to build a lot of quirky specialized builds if that's the way you want to run it.
Indeed. I liked the original Legendary Kineticists a bit more, but there are definitely some fun options here.... Countering Infusion becomes much nicer in conjunction with the Kinetic Disruption feat, for example. And becoming a kinetic lich is cool, as is being able to use a quarterstaff or club with wood, and several others.
That said, I must still waggle my finger for Enhanced Composite Blast's example not being legal...you'd need to use negative admixture with fire blast, since gravitic boost only boosts physical blasts.
Dagnabbit. Just assume I said (random physical blast) instead.
The problem with using negative admixture as an example is it wouldn't work for Enhanced Composite Boost. RAW, negative admixture doesn't count as the modified blast, it's simply a void-element energy composite blast that deals half negative and half [energy type] (so for example, negative admixture fire blast is half negative, half fire, where negative admixture positive blast would be half negative, half positive).
Counting only Paizo and LK content, this works with with aetheric boost, gravitic boost, and cerebral empowerment, as all three have language that state that it "otherwise counts as the simple blast."
I did actually have a feat planned for negative admixture as well for the KoP series, but it was nixed since it was a bit too niche. At present though, negative admixture and positive admixture are technically only usable with universal infusions. I'll consider bringing it into future products though, especially since we now have positive admixture to mess around with.
Review (though maybe impression is more apt) posted.
I got distracted and missed the drop of this. but with my station back in order, i have to say this book will definitely get use out of me. Onslaught Blaster (love the name now), Legendary Kineticist, and the Nihilicist really appeal to me.
just to verify, the additional +1 damage from the ability that require activation at the front of them for the Onslaught Blaster (like Excessive blast) are not passive themselves, right? I highly doubt they are, but stacking all those damage bonuses would be sweet. I'm sad I can't have an Onslaught Nihilicist, but I can easily see why. that hwole concept of propelling nothingness is... just awesome in ideal.
Echoing on the Legendary Kineticist itself. This thing is a must-have for anyone who can use it. it's a +1 for me just for how much it smoothes out. I may be a single element Kineticist, but I may finally shelf that just because of some of these changes.
Hmm, really? I can't say I'm a fan of the way burn works for the legendary kineticist, but maybe I value Acrobatics and Stealth more...as well as Disable Device and Sleight of Hand for the telekineticist, sometimes Escape Artist. Climb a bit for terrakineticists. But yeah, feels like it punishes utility in favor of combat. Battle burn is kinda nifty, though.
Still some cool wild talents, though, so I'm still happy.
Jason Nelson
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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There are also 3 non-kineticist archetypes/class options in the book: The Planetouched oracle loses mystery and revelation in favor of spliced in kineticist options; the planar custodian druid takes a similar role, but take a more interesting stance as far as I’m concerned, in that they require the companion to take the bestial kineticist archetype, with domains being pretty detailed in their guidance as well. Domains can also tie in with the elemental focus from the kineticist class, which replaces wild empathy and creates an interesting alternate choice here. It should be noted that even exotic choices like plant companions are addressed. Thus, the modification of nature’s bond is already a pretty big change on how this plays. It is also interesting to note that the level-based mechanics of the companion-archetype tie in rather well here, with burn instead applying to the kineticist level, providing an engine that feels different. Infusions gained are balanced versus wild shape improvements and the primary element’s defense wild talent is similarly powered by wild shape starting at 6th level, with the woodland stride and venom immunity features paying for it. We can, obviously, also find elemental body/plant shape (for wood specialists) here, though annoyingly the spell-references are not italicized properly. (They are hyperlinked, though!). The capstone makes burn costs of infusions be treated as less and adds wild shape uses. Really nice hybrid-style archetype. Play differently from both parents, like it!
Finally, there would be the order of the scion, which would be a cavalier order devoted to keep the world in balance. Interesting: Depending on element chosen, the challenge will bestow bonuses for allies associated with the respective element, making that aspect team-focused. The order thus has a pretty extensive, if not exhaustive list of abilities associated with the element chosen. The 2nd level nets a no-burn at-will simple kinetic blast modified with kinetic whip, but only as a 1st level kineticist, which is upgraded at 7th level, where a challenge use may be expended to increase the damage versus a challenge target. The blast, however, is treated as a lance for how it interacts with charges. Yeah, that’s a damn good reason for the base damage-scaling’s subdued nature here! 15th level nets a composite blast and 8th level provides the defense wild talent, with 15th level unlocking elemental overflow, and in the absence of burn, the order once more has an interesting cooldown here.
The pdf contains 6 general infusions: Lingering Darkness adds masochistic shadow to one target of the negative energy-based blast. Ricochet does what it says on the tin for 2 burn, with only a 15 ft. bounce of range, bludgeoning damage and no further ricochet possible beyond the first. Works for me. Dehydrating blast, at 2 burn, reduces damage die size by one step and does not travel to the target; SR applies and the target may end up fatigued until it had something to drink. Nice: Blood kineticists may use it with blood blast. Dehydrating blast also has a greater level 6 upgrade for 4 burn, which makes the extracted water as a globe of water the origin for a follow-up water blast, which is all kinds of cool and allows for neat point-of-origin tricks. Countering and spellturning infusion are great ideas, but RAW do not work as intended. They can be used to counter activated extraordinary or supernatural attacks as well, but fail to specify a metric by which you could determine the success of the like, which is a real bummer, for the idea here is pretty cool!
Unless I’ve miscounted, 13 wild talents are next and included here are basic cryokinesis and electrokinesis, improved celerity is back from LK I, afflicting targets with dyslexia…and BECOMING A KINETIC LICH. *_* YES! Happy. (There is also one for kinetic undead PCs, fyi, if you for example wanted to play an undead wight/vampire via Rite Publishing’s In the Company-series, for example.) What about having energy linger around targets reduced to 0 hp, making for nasty surprises for the healers? Or the one that links hit targets together, drawing them magnetically to one another? Yeah, I really liked this section. It’s complex, creative and has some true gems. We can also finmd 11 feats here, some of which have some interesting synergy: Kinetic Railgun makes onslaught blaster capable of benefiting from haste with their onslaught blast and adding metakinesis to animal companions, dark elementalist support…and then there is Autobuffer, which is usually the type of feat IM not too keen on. When accepting burn on a wild talent, you have a 20% to regain a point of burn in the internal buffer at the beginning of next turn. Each time you fail it, the chance increases by +20%, and upon success, it resets to 20%. However, the feat has no effect when already having maximum points in the internal buffer…and it’s interesting in that it’s slightly unreliable nature makes it exciting at the table. So yeah. Well done.
Speaking of “well done” – there are 5 spells within (covering, class-wise, all the classes, including ACG and OA): Here we have turning nonlethal to lethal damage temporarily, delaying burn…and two real gems. One that forces the target to accept burn (ouch) and the second one is actually a permanent spell that stipulates a prohibition, a violation of which causes the target to accept burn. I can see whole evil empires or “benevolent” The-state/church/etc.-knows-what’s-best types use this one to chilling efficiency. Inspiring!
The pdf also includes a 10-level PrC that nets d8 HD, ¾ BAB-progression, ½ Fort- and Will-save progression as well as 3/5th spellcasting progression. The PrC requires 5 ranks in Spellcraft and Knowledge (nature) or (planes), ability to cast 2nd level arcane or psychic spells and needs the kinetic blast class feature as well as an additional one like spellstrike and its variants, arcanist exploits, fetish, harrowing, etc. The PrC nets 4 + Int skills per level and nets proficiency with simple weapons, light armors and bucklers. If you haven’t noticed via the prerequisites – this is pretty much a classic, hybrid-y kineticist/caster multiclass and as such, kineticist-advancement takes place whenever the class does not gain spellcasting progression. The PrC is, design-wise, once more an impressive achievement, as it manages to codify blasts as something that may be delivered via e.g. spellstrikes while retaining balancing factors that prevent this aspect from being cheesed to smithereens. The PrC also has a rather interesting series of three conductive substance infusions that allow you to lace kinetic blasts into touch spells, with composite blasts unlocked via the Greater version and there is progression of previous class features hard-coded into the PrC as well. I was also rather positively surprised by the extended holding charge mechanic, which does not automatically delivers a held spell when touching someone, providing additional control via a rather rarely employed angle. Burn to power spellcasting and the ability to prepare kinetic blasts in spell slots makes for an interesting capstone as well. While we’re on the subject of multiclassing/hybrid-concepts: The pdf does contain proper variant multiclassing rules that provide some meaningful, if less potent, options. I liked how these turned out.
Now, obviously, there would be the *big* thing still missing – here, that would be the Legendary Kineticist variant class. (I’ll abbreviated the fellow as “LK” from here on out.) The LK gets d8 HD, 4 + Int-mod skills, proficiency with simple weapons as well as light and medium armors, ¾ BAB-progression and good Fort- and Ref-saves. 1st level nets elemental focus alongside the basic utility talent as a bonus wild talent. 2nd level and every 2 levels thereafter nets a new utility wild talent, and at 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter, one may be replaced, but not if it’s been used to qualify for another wild talent. Wild talents auto-scale in DC, with save DC governed by 10 + ½ class levels and Constitution modifier. 1st level also nets kinetic blast, obviously, and gather power only requires ONE free hand now, which can be pretty potent as a minor tweak, but which also makes sense to me. 1st level nets an infusion, with another one granted at 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, with 4th level and every 4 levels after that allowing for retraining of one. This represents an upgrade in flexibility, obviously. Form infusions still use Dexterity to calculate the save DCs, thankfully. They may NOT replace an infusion with a wild talent. 2nd level nets elemental defense and 3rd level provides elemental overflow. Infusion specialization is retained as well. Metakinesis (ability name not bolded properly) is modified: 9th level is actually better balanced here: For the burn cost, the LK can force a target to reroll the save as if using Persistent Spell.
Expanded element is, as a base-line, more powerful now: It is gained at 6th level (again at 14th) and retains its benefits; however, the second element is no longer treated as -4 kineticist levels for the purpose of qualifying for wild talents. HOWEVER, and that is one of the balancing components here, expanded element no longer can grant you wild talents when expanding a previous element. To offset that, internal buffer is moved up to 7th level. This one works differently: It now starts at 1 and replenishes each day, but may not be simply charged back up. Points spent from it don’t activate elemental overflow and do not add to its effects, and the buffer may explicitly be used to exceed a single turn’s burn, but may not be used with battle burn. Buffer-size increases to 2 points at 11th and 3 at 16th level.
Wait, battle burn? Well, yeah, that’s one of the big differences here. Gained as soon as 4th level, battle burn means that the kineticist can accept 1 point of battle burn that has no physical effect. This may be taken when using an infusion or utility wild talent, but the respective ability must have a non-instantaneous duration measured in rounds or minutes. Wild talent duration is reduced to 5 minutes when powered by battle burn, or their normal duration, whichever is less. LKs can accept battle burn alongside normal burn (thus exceeding the limits) and 11th and 18th level increase the battle burn by +1, though the LK can only accept one per round. Here’s the catch: A 5 minute rest replenishes all battle burn. Yeah…I enjoy the idea, but I think that, in conjunction with the tweaks to the Burn-engine and slight power-upgrades here and there, this goes slightly too far.
Supercharge may now also be used as a swift action to reduce burn cost by 1 in addition to its classic effects. Composite blast remains at 16th level, metakinetic master remains at 19th level, and the capstone accounts for the changes wrought by battle burn. Extra Wild Talent has been rewritten for use in conjunction with this class.
Okay. I postponed this long enough. Let’s talk Burn. The LK’s burn cap is 3 + Constitution modifier, and the class can accept 1 point of burn per round, +1 at 6th level and for every 3 levels thereafter. Now, for one, battle burn, as noted, does not come into play here; neither does the internal buffer require this long to “recharge”, so we have as a whole some improved flexibility. But what’s the effect of burn? Well, it’s a -1 penalty to all Strength and Dexterity-based ability and skill checks, except initiative. That’s it. No save-penalty. No AC-penalty. Now, granted, this supersedes immunity to taking penalties to these, but the design ramifications are vast. I’ll get to those below.
The pdf, as has become the tradition with these files, concludes with a fully realized character, Trueno, the herald of the white sky, a middle-aged half-elven onslaught blaster legendary kineticist 8 with a nice backgroundstory and boon.
Conclusion:
Editing and formatting are very good on a formal level – while I noticed some minor deviations here and there, the pdf as a whole is pretty crisp and clean in that regard. Rules-language is impressive. The pdf juggles top-tier complexity concepts and displays an in-depth knowledge of rules-intricacies and balancing tweaks that few books showcase. While a few minor snafus have crept into the book, they are few and far in-between, and I’ll rather have highly complex and fun options with minor blemishes than perfect, low-difficulty blandness. Layout adheres to legendary Games’ 2-column full-color standard for the series and the pdf features a blend of classic and new artwork from LG’s catalogue. It should be noted that the layout crams a ton of information on each page, making this a very dense book. The pdf comes fully bookmarked for your convenience.
N. Jolly and Onyx Tanuki, with contributing editors Blue Maculagh, Jacob McCoy, Timothy Mclaughlin and Blake Morton, have delivered what I did not expect here.
To get that out of the way: As a person, I LOATHE, with a fiery passion, the legendary kineticist’s burn mechanic. To me, the decreased combat capability and increasing vulnerability of kineticists due to burn is what makes them unique, fun and exciting to play. It’s literally what made me like the class. The LK gets rid of that in favor of a penalty that even a moderately capable group can play around without too much hassle. The LK retains combat power without a meaningful compromise in its defenses, which is pretty much what made it interesting for me. (Unless you get grappled and need to pass through threatened squares/climb/etc. in combat – then, you’ll suffer…if you didn’t plan ahead via magic items etc.) In short, the LK’s burn is more of a minor inconvenience than a question of survival/betting/etc. I hate the loss of flexibility regarding movement on the battlefield in favor of raw power here.
That being said, this is NOT a bug. It’s a feature. It’s what a lot of folks wanted. You see, the regular kineticist is a class that can be pretty challenging to play, simply because it can become so damn fragile. What excites me may be frustrating for others. And so, while I, as a person, despise it, am cognizant as a reviewer, that it will be just what the doctor ordered for many, many folks out there. It requires less system mastery, less teamwork and cautious playing, particularly in combination with battle burn. For me personally, this combo catapults the class to the point where I wouldn’t allow it in my games. HOWEVER, at the same time, there is a ton to love about the LK. I love pretty much all other tweaks t the chassis of the class. I really do, and, as a whole, I consider the chassis to be smoother and more elegant, with internal buffer as one example that many a group should scavenge. So yes, in spite of knowing about the burn beforehand and knowing I’d hate it, there is still a lot to love about this class...and if you want my advice and feel the same, you can put a hard, scaling daily cap on battle burn and use the old burn with this chassis sans breaking the game…so that’s probably what I’ll do.
Now, what I did not expect, was to like the archetypes and other supplemental material to this extent: With the notable exception of the telekinetic blademaster and its slightly weird design decisions, I found myself grinning rather broadly while reading this. The druid-companion double team, the unique tweaks to kineticist tricks, the inspired nihilicist…there is a ton to love here, and indeed, I consider this to be one of the best kineticist expansions out there. There is a lot of creative, high-concept and high-difficulty material in this book. It is creative and manages to convey a surprising amount of flavor in its dense crunch. Indeed, in contrast to my expectations, in spite of the couple of hiccups regarding the counter/spellturn options, in spite of knowing that I wouldn’t like the cornerstone of the damn main selling point of the book, I still found myself enjoying this book. The spells, the little options here and there…there is so much passion evident here, even after so many kineticist books. This is, in short, a book I’d consider to be a must-have for kineticist-fans. If you gravitate towards grittier playstyles, you should treat the LK with care and consider nerfing it, but even then, this will have so many cool concepts within its pages that it remains worth the asking price even if divorced from the alternate class. As such, my final verdict will clock in at 4.5 stars due to the minor hiccups and balance-concerns, but I absolutely HAVE to round up for this book. It made me smile with its ambition and skill, and as such, I’ll also slap my seal of approval on this. In case you were wondering: This, for me as a person, shares the throne of best kineticist supplement with Kineticists of Prophyra III.
Reviewed first on endzeitgeist.com, then submitted to Nerdtrek and GMS magazine and posted here, on OBS, etc.
Endzeitgeist out.
Jason Nelson
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
Folks, If you haven't already, pick this up. Even though I didn't like the LK, this is still one of the best class-centric crunch-supplements out there! It's really inspired!
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
