All the trickery and wild power of the fey are yours to command with Pathfinder Player Companion: Legacy of the First World. Let the wilderness inspire your heroes with a spectrum of new ways to play fey-touched characters, along with new powers for classes seeking to strengthen their bonds with nature. Choose whether you draw your might from the vitality of the land, the brutality of vicious beasts, or even your faith in the fey realm's inscrutable masters, the Eldest.
Inside this book, you'll find:
Character options for worshipers of the enigmatic Eldest, allowing members of all classes to manifest their god's influence in unexpected ways.
New racial options for both gnomes and gathlains, two player-character races closely tied to the First World.
A host of new archetypes, feats, magic items, spells, and other fey-inspired character options!
This Pathfinder Player companion is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but it can easily be incorporated into any fantasy world.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-941-7
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
Legacy of the First World is a 32-page, full-colour entry in Pathfinder's Player Companion line of softcover books. As the title indicates, it covers the First World, which in the official campaign setting of Golarion, refers to a sort of "first draft" of reality from which the fey originate. I've never really gotten much into the fey during my years playing Pathfinder, but there's some intriguing stuff in this book and I could imagine trying to work more into my games. As with too-many books in this line, Legacy of the First World is essentially a collection of several (15) two-page sections assigned to several (10) different freelancers, with the predictable result that there's some wide disparities in writing quality, consistency between sections, and understanding of what's makes for useful gameplay mechanics. In other words, there's certainly some good material in this book, but it has to be sifted out of plenty of dross. The interior artwork is pretty solid, and I like the bold and vibrant use of color. You can judge the cover art for yourself--it looks pretty cool to me (it's reproduced without text as the inside back cover).
As for those two-page sections, they're a real hodgepodge of new spells, archetypes, magic items, character options, and more. There's no way I can cover everything, but I'll try to hit the high- (and low-) lights quickly.
* "Introduction": Along with a bit of background about the First World and a Rules Index, this section discusses specific regions of Golarion that have been particularly influenced by fey, like Darkmoon Wood in Andoran. Each of the region descriptions is accompanied by a new regional trait, and they're all really good--useful and flavourful. I thought the Witchmarket was a fantastic concept (a travelling fey merchant caravan that buys and sells particularly unusual commodities like the buyer's middle name or the ability to see dogs!). I'll surely work it in somewhere.
* "Fey Origins": This section adds new fey-themed alternate racial traits for all of the Core races. Some of them are pretty powerful, like a constant detect magic for elves. There are also a few new story feats (a concept originated in Ultimate Campaign), but frankly what you get for accomplishing the goals is rarely worth it.
* "Legacy of Gnomes": Here we get an alternative racial trait allowing gnomes to play as a Bleachling, and two related feats (pretty mild in effect). There's a new alchemist archetype called the First World Innovator, which looks interesting: fewer bombs, but more variations on what they do. There's also some new alchemist discoveries and alchemical items.
* "Legacy of Gathlains": These humanoid plant-flesh creatures receive several new alternate racial traits (good and balanced), favored class options, and some new feats (hydroponic adaptation is good, but the rest aren't).
* "Touched by the First World": A new "fey-touched" creature template is added here, but the best parts are a new "Pranked" curse for oracles and a "Whimsy" oracle mystery--both are great! There's a new archetype for bards ("First World Minstrel"), but it's pretty forgettable.
* "Fey-Scarred": The theme here is how to fight evil fey, and the section introduces several new alternate racial traits. There's also a really good new hunter archetype ("Feykiller") and some new spells.
* "Scions of the Traitor": This section is for worshippers of Count Ranalc, an interesting member of The Eldest (powerful fey figures). It contains a new slayer archetype called "Ankou's Shadow" which is potentially super-powerful (but with little flavour) and a new rogue archetype called "Shadow Scion" (looks solid).
* "Grown of the Feasting Flower": The Green Mother (another of The Eldest) is the theme of this section. There's a new shaman archetype called "Gasping Vine", but I found it mostly duplicative of existing options. A new witch archetype called "Seducer" isn't bad. There are also several new hexes and spells--thirsting entanglement could be good.
* "Beneath the Towering Twins": A weird member of The Eldest called Imbrex is the premise for a new summoner archetype called the "Twinned Summoner" and . . . I don't get it. There are also some additional evolutions and new teamwork feats, with "conduit casting" a standout.
* "Illuminated by the Lantern King": This section contains what's probably my favorite archetype in the book, the "Fey Prankster" for bards. I could see a lot of creative fun to be had with this one. The section also has a new bloodrager bloodline called "shapechanger" and a separate sorcerer bloodline with the same name but different effects.
* "Servant of the Melancholy Lord": I really like the feel of the Lost Prince, the member of the The Eldest around which this section is themed. There's a new oracle archetype called "Hermit" which doesn't really fit well, but I like the oracle curse "Reclusive." A new psychic discipline, "Sorrow", is okay, but the 13th level ability doesn't really fit the theme. An interesting new feat type for characters who usually adventure solo is introduced, which is a smart idea--there are a lot of play styles out there, and one GM and one PC is a quite-common one.
* "Born of the Three": Magdh the Three is The Eldest here, and the section contains a well-designed new monk archetype called "Nornkith." There are also several interesting new spells and items.
* "Devotee of the Hooded": Followers of Ng the Hooded may be interested in a new cavalier archetype called "Hooded Knight" (frankly, it's not that good), but a new cavalier order called "Order of the Blossom" is an attractive, interesting option.
* "Child of the Water Lord": Followers of a serpentine beast named Ragadahn could choose a new barbarian archeype called "Deepwater Rager", which is useful on land and water and comes with an awesome ability called "Spiraling Charge". There's also an okay new skald archetype called "Serpent Herald" and some new rage powers and bardic masterpieces.
* "Timekeeper of the Many": Last up is a wizard archetype called "Chronomancer". I was really excited to read this and it does turn out to be kinda good, but it needs some more gonzo (yet somehow not unbalancing) stuff to really be memorable. The section has some new time-themed spells, of which, temporal divergence could be fun.
And that's the book. Like I said, a real mix of stuff. It'd be worth a buy if you plan on having a fey-themed character or you're a GM planning on running a campaign that involves the fey. Otherwise, it's not a must-have.
I think this is the most would-play archetypes (plus mysteries, bloodlines, etc.) I've seen in a player's companion. That's combined with good traits and interesting story feats! A few racial options are a bit much (elf getting constant detect magic or bonus AC versus chaotic creatures is a nuisance for the GM, and gathlain kineticists do half again as much damage as other kineticists), but other than that, things are very nice.
Traits! Two particularly notable ones, but all good. Intelligence has been stealing charisma's thunder thanks to traits, so grab one of these to make your sorcerer as good at identifying spells as a wizard- or go for something fun, like crafting. Retry a hex against somebody once per day? Don't mind if I do.
Archetypes! There's an alchemist that gets a pool of points to spend on random effects (or rerolls for bad results). Very nice for anybody who wants a character with some gambling built in. Two new oracle curses, a new mystery, and an archetype! The mystery is great, with very cool and useful abilities that don't rely on charisma-to-everything. Swift action invisibility! Rod of Wonder effects! Move-action teleportation! Speaking of invisibility, there's a nifty bard archetype that trades out the usual inspire courage for handing out some fey abilities. The rogue will love having swift-action invisibility handed out! It's a versatile list. Ankou's Shadow is the first archetype to really make me want to play a slayer. At-will modified Mirror Image using your shadow, and as you level up, your shadow-selves become more and more independent. Oh, and the swift-action See Invisibility is really nice to have available too. Rogue with built-in darkvision and short-range teleportation is nice. Seducer is a charisma-based witch (still prepared casting) with hexes that get bonuses against anybody attracted. Twinned Summoner is a really classy option to have your eidolon fake being you. Nice to have an unkillable body-double! There's a very serious chunk of material dedicated to making this work even better with an unchained summoner. Psychics get a sorrow discipline, complete with their own private demiplane of solitude. Chronomancer is a wizard that can get back some spell slots when enemies made that save to negate or had good spell resistance, along with options for save rerolls and eventually more flexibility on contingencies.
Shapechanger bloodline for sorcerer gets its own section. It starts off with the underwhelming arcana of +1 CL to personal transmutations, and moves on to what seems like a mildly spiced-up version of the boring and generally useless first level "grow claws" power. Third level, though, is where it really hits. Once per day, boost a minute-per-level personal polymorph to ten minutes per level. That pushes it up into useful for social encounters, or a couple of combat encounters! Then at ninth, it becomes an HOUR per level. Since that stacks with extend spell, by the time you get Form of Dragon I at 12th, you can live your life as a dragon. The other abilities are really cool, too- transmuting yourself into an instantaneous AoE of claws and teeth, modifying your polymorphs with different movement forms, and a solid capstone in the vein of aberration bloodline. New favorite bloodline.
Spells! I don't care if it's not terribly effective- turning somebody's skeleton into jagged cold iron is awesome. Always love getting more fungal spells. The chronomancy spells are the star of the show, though, providing balanced time magic spells for a range of levels.
Feats! Hate teamwork feats? Have the opposite! 0-level Selective Spell metamagic… that only excludes you. Increase your channel's healing… when you exclude everybody else. Spend rage for extra attacks… so long as allies keep their distance. They're pretty cool, actually.
After the combination train wreck/dumpster fire that was Legacy of Dragons, I was completely prepared to write this book off as a part 2 to the Legacy of Trash. Consider my complete surprise, then, when I found that this book was not only good, it was great. Just about everything in here oozes with Fey style, and mechanically just about everything holds their own. The only notable exceptions are the Seducer Witch, which unfortunately falls into the realm of "surprise villain archetype" due to how its class features work based on seduction, and the First World Innovator Alchemist, which is one archetype that I'm still debating over. The rest of the book is rock solid though.
Some great alternate racial traits for core races, as well as some flavorful love for Gathlains that really play up their natural symbiosis.
A Cha focused witch that can hand out some hefty party bonuses if your party is willing to get frisky.
A flavorful slayer archetype, and a Shadowdancer-lite rogue archetype
some cool teamwork feats (Conduit Casting is begging for a blaster Sorc/Magus wombo combo)
some neat oracle options in the hermit archetype and reclusive curse, and new Loner feats give some use to team oriented abilities if the party isn't interested (Skalds in a party that doesn't want strength can get a larger bonus, for example)
a cool and flavorful monk archetype that tragically lacks an unchained version
Stealth horseshoes with 1/day invisibility. Your charge target literally won't know what hit it.
A time manipulation focused wizard and a host of potent temporal spells
All in all, quality work. Nothing's particularly stronger than existing content, but that's alright because it's interesting and makes you want to play it, and you won't feel weaker for it.
Some of the content is pretty bad though, and not including an unchained version of a monk archetype is pretty unforgivable, so it loses a star on that, but still, would recommend
... so Wizards aren't allowed to have nice things?
Since Wizards are on the top end of the power scale there's plenty of room for archetypes that strengthen one aspect at the cost of another or just shift focus in a way that might be technically weaker than a straight wizard but enables a different playstyle that an unarchetyped one couldn't pull off. For example, the Scrollmaster and Spellslinger archetypes are weaker than your standard Wizard because of their focus, but they enable new builds that I personally find more fun. Or the Undead Master from Horror Adventures which shifts focus over to necromancy without significantly boosting the power of the class beyond whatever boosts undead minionmancy grants inherently.
The Seducer Witch archetype definitely sounds like it works better as an antagonist than as a PC, it seems. It is very difficult, after all, for a PC to arrange to seduce and sleep with an enemy in advance of combat.
Depends on the campaign. They would do well as PCs in games where combat isn't the primary / sole means of conflict resolution.
... so Wizards aren't allowed to have nice things?
Since Wizards are on the top end of the power scale there's plenty of room for archetypes that strengthen one aspect at the cost of another or just shift focus in a way that might be technically weaker than a straight wizard but enables a different playstyle that an unarchetyped one couldn't pull off. For example, the Scrollmaster and Spellslinger archetypes are weaker than your standard Wizard because of their focus, but they enable new builds that I personally find more fun. Or the Undead Master from Horror Adventures which shifts focus over to necromancy without significantly boosting the power of the class beyond whatever boosts undead minionmancy grants inherently.
While I agree with this philosophy overall (how many other classes, all weaker than the Wizard, get something outrageous like the HH Pact Wizard? None?), it's still premature to say that the Chonomancer is actually a violation of it yet. I mean, the powers sound bonkers compared to arcane bond and especially a feat, but the magnitude of bonuses, frequency of uses, and level of the abilities matter some, too.
Edit: On second thought, part of the problem is that we're limiting our view to Archetypes, where the Wizard stands out when buffed because it has no meaningful stuff to trade away, and forgetting that these things are in Player Companions, which specialize in occasional OP abominations.
Psychic Anthology had a "LOL, God mode" spell and a spell (with multitarget version) that dazed even on a successful save, plus a way for a very strong 6th level caster class to also get full BAB. They aren't archetypes, but they're in the same Really Bad Idea league as HH Pact Wizard (and maybe Chronomancer) from a balance perspective.
Is it possible to get a little more info on how the Twinned Summoner works? I see twinned listed as an eidolon subtype but no archetype for it listed in the earlier spoiler. And if the eidolon looks like you how do evolutions interact with it? ^_^
Is it possible to get a little more info on how the Twinned Summoner works? I see twinned listed as an eidolon subtype but no archetype for it listed in the earlier spoiler. And if the eidolon looks like you how do evolutions interact with it? ^_^
Whoops, that's my bad.
Twinned Summoner:
So, this archetype can be for either the regular summoner or the unchained summoner. If you're a regular summoner, you're restricted to the biped base form for your eidolon, and if you're smaller than Medium, the eidolon has to be small. However if the summoner is non-bipedal, at GM discretion another base form might be used, such as for, say, a mermaid character. An unchained summoner uses the twinned eidolon subtype, which only twinned summoners can use. They swap out shield ally and greater shield ally for some teamwork feats, maker's call and transposition for the ability to swap places with each other if in range, and trade merge forms for the ability for the eidolon to transform more completely into the summoner, gaining their mental ability scores, as well as the ability to cast their spells.
The twinned eidolon subtype grants the ability to use some weapons and a bonus to Disguise which is higher when imitating the summoner, the ability to use a spell-like ability that is a spell the summoner uses, some of the new evolutions, and some other things like DR, fast healing, ability score increase/skilled, etc.
I'd been looking at a build -possibly a Mesmerist - based on Leonid Andreyev's story "Lazarus" (he who had been three days under the "enigmatical sway of Death" and "through the black rings of his pupils, as through dark glasses, the Unknowable Yonder gazed upon humanity.") but the new Sorrow psychic discipline is very interesting for something like that.
Yeah, I didn't say anything, but it's...possibly too powerful? I mean, you are giving up the bonus hit points, and you do already have a Con penalty, so maybe it's warranted, but you can start tossing out composite blasts as soon as you get them, and empowered composite blasts when you get supercharge...now, if it had just been increasing how effective infusion specialization was at the same rate, I don't think I'd be as leery about it. That said, it would be fun, and it's certainly very thematic to have a gathlain phytokineticist...so I still kind of want to do it. Definitely no other race has that kind of favored class bonus for the kineticist.
I'm sure nobody will mind, probably a lot weaker than the wizard archetype everyone is talking about anyway. Think I'll need to make a phytokineticist backup for sure.
... so Wizards aren't allowed to have nice things?
Since Wizards are on the top end of the power scale there's plenty of room for archetypes that strengthen one aspect at the cost of another or just shift focus in a way that might be technically weaker than a straight wizard but enables a different playstyle that an unarchetyped one couldn't pull off. For example, the Scrollmaster and Spellslinger archetypes are weaker than your standard Wizard because of their focus, but they enable new builds that I personally find more fun. Or the Undead Master from Horror Adventures which shifts focus over to necromancy without significantly boosting the power of the class beyond whatever boosts undead minionmancy grants inherently.
I'd love to see more wizard archetypes like Undead Master, which make the wizard far more specialized in a particular school. (Things like a conjuration archetype that can increase the time on their summons to make them more of a class feature, or an illusionist archetype that gives greater combat utility to illusionist spells.) The undead master doesn't really increase the wizards power, but it does make a certain style of play more viable, and I liked that kind of design.
I'm glad to see people like some of the stuff I designed for this one, such as the twinned summoner and the sorrow discipline. ^_^ Can't wait to get my contributor copy!
I could see the gathlain's FCB for the wood element but for every element, not so much. It is an awesome FCB but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets some erata in the near future. I wish there were more favored class bonuses this awesome.
Looks like Luthorne already answered your question Plausible Pseudonym;)
Could anyone give me some more information on the Skald archetype? Like what they trade out and what they (roughly) get in return? Limited Wildshaping was mentioned but how limited is it?
\Since Wizards are on the top end of the power scale there's plenty of room for archetypes that strengthen one aspect at the cost of another or just shift focus in a way that might be technically weaker than a straight wizard but enables a different playstyle that an unarchetyped one couldn't pull off. For example, the Scrollmaster and Spellslinger archetypes are weaker than your standard Wizard because of their focus, but they enable new builds that I personally find more fun. Or the Undead Master from Horror Adventures which shifts focus over to necromancy without significantly boosting the power of the class beyond whatever boosts undead minionmancy grants inherently.
Agreed. Wizards can have nice things, but they definitely need to make it a trade.
Plausible Pseudonym wrote:
Edit: On second thought, part of the problem is that we're limiting our view to Archetypes, where the Wizard stands out when buffed because it has no meaningful stuff to trade away, and forgetting that these things are in Player Companions, which specialize in occasional OP abominations.
I wouldn't say there's no meaningful stuff to trade away. Arcane bond, schools, or heck, trade in some casting, reduce slots per day or something!
Could anyone give me some more information on the Skald archetype? Like what they trade out and what they (roughly) get in return? Limited Wildshaping was mentioned but how limited is it?
Serpent Herald:
So, they trade their 3rd-level rage power for the ability to grant various serpentine aspects to those affected by inspired rage as a polymorph effect, and spell kenning to wildshape into specific forms once a day, scaling up to three times a day at high levels. Initially they can still sing for using inspired rage and such,
but not for other things, but eventually they get the benefits of Wild Speech. Also at high levels they get freedom of movement
while wildshaped.
Really impressed with the book. Lots of interesting options, such as Cha-based Monk and Witch archetypes along with a trait that changes skills to Cha, one of the cleverest racials I've seen in Imposter-Wary and some ridiculously flavourful time magic. In fact the flavour across the board is spot on. Great work by all involved.
Ths book sounds really nice! I'm really interested in the shapeshifter bloodlines and the Whimsy mystery. Too bad there isn't a kineticist archetype, though.
Could someone tell what the Heart of the Fey racial is about?
Ths book sounds really nice! I'm really interested in the shapeshifter bloodlines and the Whimsy mystery. Too bad there isn't a kineticist archetype, though.
Could someone tell what the Heart of the Fey racial is about?
Heart of the Fey:
Trades Skilled for low-light vision, a +1 bonus on two saves, and treating Knowledge (nature) and Perception as class skills. Quite nice.
I'm glad to see people like some of the stuff I designed for this one, such as the twinned summoner and the sorrow discipline. ^_^ Can't wait to get my contributor copy!
The twinned summoner gave me a great idea for a character. Outflank. Paired opportunist, improved out flank, broken winged gambit...
And have combat reflexes, two weapon fighting, and exotic weapons profile cycle, wakizashis. 18-20 critical range soon to be 15-20 with keen. Two AOO with every critical and two AOO if attacked... plus my AOO get a +8 bonus due to flanking and paired opportunist...
Twinned summoner is also a nice choice for a character with a body double. It's a much easier route to go than kitsune summoner with realistic likeness and an ancestor eidolon.
Could I get a little more info on the new sorcerer bloodline? What makes it such a great shapeshifter?
Spoiler:
Well, one of the abilities lets you bump a single casting of a minute-per-level polymorph up in duration by a factor of ten, and eventually sixty! With extend spell, you can start being a dragon permanently. The normally-boring first level melee ability is actually useful, as you can use it to boost claw damage if you have claws already. The other abilities are really neat, like adding movement abilities to your personal transmutations, or turning yourself into an AoE attack.
So, the first thing I turned to in the book was the Grasping Vine Shaman Archetype. Coincidentally, a few weeks ago I made a Shaman who worships The Green Mother and submitted it to the character contest Tonya Woldridge held, so I’ve put a lot of thought into this type of character. I have some constructive criticism of the archetype.
First, I think it’s common knowledge that first level Shamans are pretty weak since they don’t have a hex yet, and they can’t take the Extra Hex feat until 3rd level. So, the first hex the shaman gets at 2nd level is pretty important for making the character enjoyable in combat at low levels. This archetype trades away that first hex for an improved “speak with plants” ability. That means the first hex doesn't come until 4th level and the character can't take Extra Hex until 5th level. That’s probably going to make the first few levels pretty painful to play through.
Secondly, the archetype seems to try to solve a problem that wasn’t really there: to make a plant focused Shaman. Between the Nature spirit and the Wood spirit, that aspect was actually covered pretty well already. Yes, this archetype gives access to “plant shape I” and “plant shape II” effects, but Wood already granted access to a “plant shape III” effect.
If the idea was to make a Shaman more in line with the Green Mother’s characteristics, I think it would have been more interesting to give this archetype some charm/enchantment spells and/or abilities, which are not well represented on the Shaman’s spell list at several levels. (One solution I did find for this is to use the Human favored class ability to add enchantment spells from the Cleric’s spell list to round out the character.)
In general I could see this archetype being interesting for an NPC of 8th level or higher, but most players are probably better off sticking with the standard Shaman for low level play.
I'm really enjoying some of the stuff in here. I love the idea of having some more time manipulation spells, especially since I have an Oracle of Time at the moment.
I think there is a problem with the Army Across Time spell. It functions like Ally Across Time, but can make one duplicate per level. However, Ally Across Time only makes 1 temporal box per 2 levels and the box disappears after one duplicate has appeared in it. So effectively, the number of duplicates in the higher level spell is actually limited to the number of boxes in the lower level spell, i.e. 1 per 2 levels.
I'm really enjoying some of the stuff in here. I love the idea of having some more time manipulation spells, especially since I have an Oracle of Time at the moment.
I think there is a problem with the Army Across Time spell. It functions like Ally Across Time, but can make one duplicate per level. However, Ally Across Time only makes 1 temporal box per 2 levels and the box disappears after one duplicate has appeared in it. So effectively, the number of duplicates in the higher level spell is actually limited to the number of boxes in the lower level spell, i.e. 1 per 2 levels.
Check the "Effect" line- it gets a lot of extra boxes over its lower level cousin.
Oops, okay, thanks for pointing that out. So much for the only "two exceptions" in the text.
Well, I mean, it's also a different spell level, so I would take that to mean two further exceptions. Anyway, glad they didn't accidentally limit the spell.
Edit: On second thought, part of the problem is that we're limiting our view to Archetypes, where the Wizard stands out when buffed because it has no meaningful stuff to trade away, and forgetting that these things are in Player Companions, which specialize in occasional OP abominations.
There's always stuff to trade out.... want your Wizard to become uber specialised and gnarly??... Fine
Trade out all bonus feats (including scribe scroll), arcane bond and lose 1 spell slot per level....
After all specialisation takes time and lots of study....
Edit: On second thought, part of the problem is that we're limiting our view to Archetypes, where the Wizard stands out when buffed because it has no meaningful stuff to trade away, and forgetting that these things are in Player Companions, which specialize in occasional OP abominations.
There's always stuff to trade out.... want your Wizard to become uber specialised and gnarly??... Fine
Trade out all bonus feats (including scribe scroll), arcane bond and lose 1 spell slot per level....
After all specialisation takes time and lots of study....
I was following you until you said lose 1 spell slot per level. I can't imagine playing a wizard archetype like that.
Edit: On second thought, part of the problem is that we're limiting our view to Archetypes, where the Wizard stands out when buffed because it has no meaningful stuff to trade away, and forgetting that these things are in Player Companions, which specialize in occasional OP abominations.
There's always stuff to trade out.... want your Wizard to become uber specialised and gnarly??... Fine
Trade out all bonus feats (including scribe scroll), arcane bond and lose 1 spell slot per level....
After all specialisation takes time and lots of study....
I was following you until you said lose 1 spell slot per level. I can't imagine playing a wizard archetype like that.
Do you like Wizards? I mean, your nickname and your profile kind of hint at that, but vaguely.
Edit: On second thought, part of the problem is that we're limiting our view to Archetypes, where the Wizard stands out when buffed because it has no meaningful stuff to trade away, and forgetting that these things are in Player Companions, which specialize in occasional OP abominations.
There's always stuff to trade out.... want your Wizard to become uber specialised and gnarly??... Fine
Trade out all bonus feats (including scribe scroll), arcane bond and lose 1 spell slot per level....
After all specialisation takes time and lots of study....
I was following you until you said lose 1 spell slot per level. I can't imagine playing a wizard archetype like that.
Do you like Wizards? I mean, your nickname and your profile kind of hint at that, but vaguely.
Nah I hate them. They're awful. All joking aside they're probably my favorite class and I'm a fairly big fan of trying out different builds for them. I've just never had that big a click with any of the other classes (although I suppose the magus is ok). Is that that uncommon to tend towards playing a specific class?
How is the book organized? By function (archetypes, spells, feats, etc.), or by theme? Lots of the abilities are obviously associated with a particular eldest, do they each get their own section, plus some others for those with a critical mass of non-Eldest options?
How is the book organized? By function (archetypes, spells, feats, etc.), or by theme? Lots of the abilities are obviously associated with a particular eldest, do they each get their own section, plus some others for those with a critical mass of non-Eldest options?
Generally by theme, various Eldest get their own two pages, while others focus on things like fey heritage, killing fey, and other such.
Personally, while I'm still fine with it as written, I think I'd like the chronomancer better if it replaced arcane school (plus possibly one or more bonus feats). It does feel like it gives a little too much as-is.
That would be me. I both outlined and developed it, which means the criticisms fairly land with me, and the accolades fairly land with the incredibly talented authors. :-)
But I can answer questions from the outline/developer perspective, if anyone has them. To answer a few things that have come up on those:
First, one key reason there wasn't a kineticist archetype here is not just because it didn't seem to fit well, but also because I didn't feel as though I fully grokked the class well enough at that time to develop an archetype for it (but fear not, kineticist fans, as a project I developed coming out a bit later has oodles of kineticist goodness. What happened in the meantime? A player in my Hell's Vengeance campaign has a kineticist, so I've really dug into that class!).
Second, I was so taken with the lengthy descriptions of the Eldest in First World, Realm of the Fey, that I wanted to break down new player rules in the same way here in this book (at least, in large part). That ended up being particularly convenient to break out the new rules like "oh, sneaky stuff goes with Count Ranalc, barbarian/ocean stuff goes with Raghadan," but it also meant I could think mine the great stories of the Eldest for ideas (like the Twinned Summoner for Imbrex).
