...I suggested this in another thread as a means to mitigate the curses discouragement of multi-classing, but the discussion didn't go anywhere really
** spoiler omitted **
I strongly support this "progressive handicap" alternative. It is a great mechanical fix as well as a great thematic one. The Oracle's vision becomes progressively clouded by the light of heaven as he gains in wisdom and divine insight. The Oracle's hearing is progressively drowned out by the celestial chorus as he gains in...etc.
Not sure how to do Lame with this, but I think it could be cool. Making the Oracle more lame as he gains more powers....somehow.
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I am about to run an Oracle with the Deafness curse as an NPC in my game. She will also multiclass to Sorcerer - a high Charisma works for both, and she can become a Mystic Thurge later on if she wants.
For dealing with deafness, I am going to rule the following:
- Her curse came on as a teenager, so she is able to speak whatever languages she knows.
- The only PF rule for reading lips is in the Zone of Silence spell, and it uses Linguistics - I'm not crazy about that, so I'll probably instead go with the 3.5 way - Spot/Perception with a DC of 15
- I will give her a bonus on Perception checks while reading lips, maybe +2, and also allow her to take 10 in normal, non-combat situations, so she can reach 15 using this +2, and a combination of ranks, Wisdom bonus, skill focus feat, etc. - Not too hard to get to 15. Even with just a total of +4 her take 10 results in a 14, so she'll just be missing a bit of what she's trying to get (which may or may not be important).
So in the end, she can talk to people whose language she knows, if they're facing her. She can cast spells silently, and she gets additional benefits later.
The one thing I would like to see is a more complete set of official rules around deafness and reading lips (and sign languages).
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I was thinking about this some more, and I spent a lot of time thinking about languages: the Linguistics skill, Perception, Knowledge, Comprehend Languages, etc.
I think Perception has a lot of uses, so it may be best not to add still more to that skill; plus it is more about detecting stimulus, not interpreting complex stimulus. Linguistics is about interpreting complex ideas and extrapolating, using your intelligence as well as training. So I think a good set of rules, with a minimum of rule additions would be:
- Campaign information: Some societies have sign languages which are common. We have Common Tongue, and for my campaign at least, some of these have a Common Sign Language (because Sign Languages are true languages, with their own grammar, vocabulary, and cultural contexts). Drow Sign Language is another possibility for some characters. I will have some of my other cultural/racial groups have one too - mostly the "good" ones who care about less fortunate individuals.
- Since Sign Language can be chosen as other languages (at the start, or as a Linguistics rank), but it doesn't have a written script, choosing it also gives a bonus for attempting to Read Lips. Apparently reading lips is not all that hard. My dad, who's losing his hearing, does it without realizing it. So, +4 to read lips if you're deaf and you choose Sign Language as a language; maybe +2 if you're not deaf.
- To read lips, its a Linguistics check, every round. DC 20 and you can get all of what's said by one person in the round (assuming you know the language). DC 15 and you get the gist, but are missing some details. DC 10 and you have an idea what is being said, but are missing most of the important details. If you do it for a full minute, you can choose to take 10. Reading Lips for a round does not allow you to take 10 because it is a short phrase with little chance of repetition, and little context. In combat, many people are talking and you must choose just one person whose lips to read. Reading lips in combat situations is a Move action that does not provoke an AOO.
- Thus, any deaf character could take 1 rank in Linguistics and try to read lips. With the +4, and taking 10 in a "normal" conversation, they would automatically get the gist of it, and with some bonuses for Intelligence, a class skill, or Skill Focus, they could potentially understand everything. In the chaos of combat it would be harder, and some choices would have to be made.
An important side effect of this is that thieves are going to learn sign language if they can, to communicate silently over short distances. I think that is realistic, and has some truth to it in the real world - but it's more a set of gestures that are sufficient to get the job done.
Comments?
just because you are Deaf doesn't mean you are Mute.
it's Mute oracles that cannot speak.
and there are some sounds that the Deaf actually CAN hear. i will ask anyone else who volunteers to elaborate on these sounds.
This isn't politically correct, but honestly.
The problem with the deaf oracle is that the group would leave them at the temple/shrine and find someone else.
"Hey He's deaf, mind taking him along on your harrowing, dangerous journey? "
"uhh.. no thanks."
I mean seriously: he is a hindrance for all the reasons adventurers *need* to communicate for during an adventure.
WATCH OUT!
DON'T STEP THERE!
MEEEDDDIIIICCCCC!
The adventuring group wouldn't take the guy along.. they just wouldn't. It is the extreme side of "metagaming" that the deaf oracle ever does anything but sit in the temple and do anything but cast spells for parishioners who come by. (not saying there are no good jobs for the deaf oracle- just that adventuring isn't one of them).
You do not take someone with the group who you have to coddle and take special care of just for them to stay alive.. At least- not unless its the king's Son/daughter and you are getting paid for it.. :)
-S
I mean when you want to tell someone "The pen is in the yellow can" it can turn into a big deal. Or "The instructions say to put the 1.25mm bolt with the philips head into slot B."
Or "What in the-- OH! DRAGON!!!"
;)
I guess this might have been covered before, but:
Tremorsense allows you to pinpoint things. This means you know what square they are in, but unless you can actually see them you still have a 50% miss chance against them.
Tremorsense is the same as blindsense - but applies to everything that touches the surface you are touching. This is both stronger than blindsense (can act through walls) as well as weaker (doesn't get things not in contact with the surface). It doesn't allow you to have an accurate 3D image of the terrain surrounding you, but it can give you some indication of the general layout.
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You do not take someone with the group who you have to coddle and take special care of just for them to stay alive.. At least- not unless its the king's Son/daughter and you are getting paid for it.. :)-S
What about a first level wizard with two spells prepared?
I now run a deaf Oracle as a PC in one game, and so far she's holding her own, at first level. She communicates by writing on a slate. She watches others' reactions, so if there's a Dragon, she'll find out soon enough. She has +9 in Perception, so in many cases she'll be first to notice (visual) things. And her group has not found her to be a hindrance, at least not yet.
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Now I just wanted to add to this fabulous thread, what would most players allow to subvert the worst parts of the Deaf curse? Would a player with a trained Pseudodragon be able to be at least communicable? The Pseudodragon is telepathic (60 ft.) after all. What about a player that dipped a level of Wizard (or Arcane Sorcerer) to gain a Familiar? Empathetic Link would still overcome many types of surprise/blindsiding [pardon the pun] that would happen to an Oracle.
What is the general consensus of a Oracle with a Familiar?
What is the general consensus of a Oracle with an Improved Familiar Pseudodragon (telepathic 60 ft.) ??
What is the general consensus of a Oracle with an Improved Familiar Pseudodragon (telepathic 60 ft.) ??
Something akin to a mute old pirate with a parrot-dragon talking for me?
Now I just wanted to add to this fabulous thread, what would most players allow to subvert the worst parts of the Deaf curse? Would a player with a trained Pseudodragon be able to be at least communicable? The Pseudodragon is telepathic (60 ft.) after all. What about a player that dipped a level of Wizard (or Arcane Sorcerer) to gain a Familiar? Empathetic Link would still overcome many types of surprise/blindsiding [pardon the pun] that would happen to an Oracle.
What is the general consensus of a Oracle with a Familiar?
What is the general consensus of a Oracle with an Improved Familiar Pseudodragon (telepathic 60 ft.) ??
Half elf with eldritch heritage and then improved familiar from arcane bloodline?
The Oracle still isn't hearing anything, so it's fine. The "subversion" issue comes up when trying to subvert the curse.
The curse is about not hearing anymore, not about "no communication". Writing things down on a small chalkboard wouldn't be subverting, so telepathic/empathic communication should be fine too.
If you have a psionic ability of synesthete, and get "everything about hearing" through another sense, that might not work, as it's not about your ears not working, it's about a curse stopping the ability to hear. I think that would qualify as "subverting".
I like the Eldritch Heritage/Improved Familiar->Pseudodragon thing. Very cool idea.
Slightly off topic, but...
In my own game, I have a player with a dark tapestry Oracle. He worships a neutral goddess who has the Nightmare and Madness domains.
He took the Haunted curse. But we reflavored it. Instead of it being a haunting, he's suffering from permanent insomnia. He's jittery from lack of sleep (permanent nightmares keeping him from sleeping well). He drops things if he doesn't take his time, things go skittering away because his hands twitch constantly. Like a caffein addict in withdrawal.
There is also a darklands language called Sakvroth that everyone could dump a point in linguistics in ton speak a signed langauge. It is used by the drow.
This is a 1st level psionic power, and honestly I see no reason not to let the deaf oracle have it on their spell list as part of having the deafness curse. still costs a spell slot to use and it's not always on, but it mitigates the isolating yourself from RP aspect without eliminating it entirely so you can play on the deafness sometimes without it becoming the sole defining aspect of your early level character.
Synesthete Level 1
10min/level
std action
You receive one kind of sensory input when a different sense is stimulated. In particular, you can either feel light or feel sound.
You can also use this power to see sound if you are deafened, or hear light if you are blinded, thus removing all penalties associated with either condition.
With DC linguistics your feeling sound or seeing sound could interpret them into actual words, although just like those hard of hearing or lip readers some words might "feel" the same.
I find your interpretation of this ability EXTREMELY liberal. The very first thing that comes up "inanimate objects do not vibrate" this makes the whole ability contradictory. You detect vibrations but you pinpoint the location of anything in contact with the ground. Which is it? Do you pinpoint the location of anything in touch with the ground or anything in touch with the ground that gives off vibrations?
Now assuming you can sense the atomic vibration of inanimate objects. You can say, "Hey there are shelves behind this brick wall." It does not say you know what is on them or even how much they weigh. Only their location and tacitly their size. So no saying there 1986234 coins in burlap sacks on the granite shelves. "Fine the sacks are on the floor." Same thing. X amount of sacks that could be filled with gold, flour, ants or empty. "Fine then, the coins are on the ground!" Then better hope they have been used to tile the floor and not stacked on each other. It can get even more retarded from there and someone moving across the coins would not be detectable because he is not in contact with the ground.
I am not mocking. I am trying to point out how someone can take the definition of Tremorsense and give it a Draconian/Opposite end of the spectrum definition. Also, if there is some kind of official ruling on this in rule section I would love to see it because I did do my research before writing this.
This interpretation is worthless. If a GM pulled that I'd quit and find another game. The vibrations of animate objects, including your own feet, move THROUGH inanimate objects like sonar, and that's what you're detecting. Everyone knows this. The rules spell out pretty specifically what you can sense, and it includes inanimate objects.
Here's some research material:
If I were playing a deaf Oracle, I'd buy a helm of telepathy.
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I agree with you that the Oracle isn't a class that I would multi with. But I disagree strongly that it is a weakness in class design. The oracle is a person cursed by the gods/powers whatever to be a medium for thier power. The class works well as a single track and that's good design.
What about an Oracle/Sorcerer? Both use CHA as their spellcasting stat. To become a Mystic Theurge later on (at 9th instead of 7th level like a Wizard/Cleric).
That's not my plan for my deaf Oracle, but it is for my Oracle who has the Tongues curse.
I agree with you that the Oracle isn't a class that I would multi with. But I disagree strongly that it is a weakness in class design. The oracle is a person cursed by the gods/powers whatever to be a medium for thier power. The class works well as a single track and that's good design.What about an Oracle/Sorcerer? Both use CHA as their spellcasting stat. To become a Mystic Theurge later on (at 9th instead of 7th level like a Wizard/Cleric).
That's not my plan for my deaf Oracle, but it is for my Oracle who has the Tongues curse.
I personally dare you to play an oracle with the deaf curse.
Also, this thread will not stop being necromanced. Awesome!
I personally dare you to play an oracle with the deaf curse.
I'm playing an oracle with the Deaf curse currently. It hasn't been too much of a hardship so far; he just happily follows the other PCs, doing whatever they're doing. If it's clear what the rest of the party is talking about (e.g. they just found something unusual), he'll join in, and otherwise he'll just smile and nod.
This is the first module of the Serpent's Skull AP, so it's mostly wandering through the wilderness. If it was a really social-setting heavy adventure or if he were expected to be the party leader, it would probably be much more painful.
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I agree with you that the Oracle isn't a class that I would multi with. But I disagree strongly that it is a weakness in class design. The oracle is a person cursed by the gods/powers whatever to be a medium for thier power. The class works well as a single track and that's good design.What about an Oracle/Sorcerer? Both use CHA as their spellcasting stat. To become a Mystic Theurge later on (at 9th instead of 7th level like a Wizard/Cleric).
That's not my plan for my deaf Oracle, but it is for my Oracle who has the Tongues curse.
I personally dare you to play an oracle with the deaf curse.
Already doing it....
Already doing it....I agree with you that the Oracle isn't a class that I would multi with. But I disagree strongly that it is a weakness in class design. The oracle is a person cursed by the gods/powers whatever to be a medium for thier power. The class works well as a single track and that's good design.What about an Oracle/Sorcerer? Both use CHA as their spellcasting stat. To become a Mystic Theurge later on (at 9th instead of 7th level like a Wizard/Cleric).
That's not my plan for my deaf Oracle, but it is for my Oracle who has the Tongues curse.
I personally dare you to play an oracle with the deaf curse.
Good! I hear about 'character plans' all the time, and most of the time it isn't actual characters who are being played. The deaf oracle is honestly really cool, and time has changed my opinion, but it still requires a lot of initiative on the GM and player's parts and still works with parts of the rules strangely.
More people should play the unplayable.
Good! I hear about 'character plans' all the time, and most of the time it isn't actual characters who are being played. The deaf oracle is honestly really cool, and time has changed my opinion, but it still requires a lot of initiative on the GM and player's parts and still works with parts of the rules strangely.
More people should play the unplayable.
a friend of mine played a monk with the vow of silence. he carried a chalk board everywhere so that he could communicate with the rest of the party. i'm thinking that something similar could work with a deaf oracle... though a bard with perform (act) or perform (mime) might also be good.
come to think of it, that would be a pretty cool start for a party. who should be member number 4 do you think?
Good! I hear about 'character plans' all the time, and most of the time it isn't actual characters who are being played. The deaf oracle is honestly really cool, and time has changed my opinion, but it still requires a lot of initiative on the GM and player's parts and still works with parts of the rules strangely.
More people should play the unplayable.
a friend of mine played a monk with the vow of silence. he carried a chalk board everywhere so that he could communicate with the rest of the party. i'm thinking that something similar could work with a deaf oracle... though a bard with perform (act) or perform (mime) might also be good.
come to think of it, that would be a pretty cool start for a party. who should be member number 4 do you think?
An illiterate orc barbarian.
On a side note, the deaf oracle having a chalkboard to talk to other people isn't the problem. The deaf oracle can communicate just fine if their player decides they've not been deaf since birth, and maybe they still can just because.
if the rest of the party has chalkboards they can relay whats going on to the oracle. also, +1 to the illiterate barbarian. shame it's not standard any more.
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Good! I hear about 'character plans' all the time, and most of the time it isn't actual characters who are being played. The deaf oracle is honestly really cool, and time has changed my opinion, but it still requires a lot of initiative on the GM and player's parts and still works with parts of the rules strangely.
More people should play the unplayable.
a friend of mine played a monk with the vow of silence. he carried a chalk board everywhere so that he could communicate with the rest of the party. i'm thinking that something similar could work with a deaf oracle... though a bard with perform (act) or perform (mime) might also be good.
come to think of it, that would be a pretty cool start for a party. who should be member number 4 do you think?
An illiterate orc barbarian.
On a side note, the deaf oracle having a chalkboard to talk to other people isn't the problem. The deaf oracle can communicate just fine if their player decides they've not been deaf since birth, and maybe they still can just because.
The deaf oracle I played was deaf since birth, but made up a form of sign language. After some initial difficulties communicating, other members of the party spent their hard-earned 1 rank into linguistics and learned the language. Turned out to be quite useful in stealth situations.
I think my biggest problem with all the drawbacks is the drain that you will be in your party. My biggest problem with oracles in general is you can't have one that isn't cursed, so if you want to play an oracle you must bend your character concept to them. Because of this, oracles are the least useful class in terms of building characters of a concept unless that concept is being cursed. It's a lot of forced fluff.
But as to the Deaf (and some other curses but especially Deaf) curse, I wouldn't adventure with anyone who was cursed like that. Not without a remove curse spell involved, and when I found that wouldn't work on them, I'd find a new adventuring party, or drop the guy who can't communicate, can't notice ambushes, and is generally a failure-cleric on the side of the road and find someone who was legitimately useful in a group.
What I'm saying is, it's great and all to take penalties to have a challenge when it's a solo-game. There are people who play Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance II with the barbarian while wearing no armor and using only 1d3 clubs on very hard mode, or play Baldur's Gate I & II doing a single-character challenge. That's great! If you die, you can reload, re-roll, try again, whatever. But in a tabletop D&D game, you have other people relying on you. When you sleep through entire battles, fail to notice your friends dying or crying for help, or refuse to carry potions that could heal your friends (like people with Vow of Poverty) you aren't fit to be in an adventuring party where you put other peoples' lives at risk.
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Not gonna lie, didn't read everything in this thread before posting.
I only have one simple thing to say. I have a Deaf Oracle in my current campaign that I'm running. Its been easy. I've added Sign Language/Thieves Cant as a language standard in the world, and I also allowed the player to not take a language for one of his ranks in Linguistics to instead be able to read lips.
Its made for some funny stuff! I'm running a serious campaign though, and my group in the game and myself have not found it to be crippling.
Also, when you're the GM, you can change things for your campaign. You can make oracles not be cursed in your world. Easy peasy.
Being a rules natzi usually causes people to forget certain golden rules. Such as, Always Have Fun! The Books/Rules are guidelines. There have been numerous times that I've asked my players if they'd rather go by the book on certain things or house rule them for favor of play style and campaign style. This has resulted in the House Rule in my current campaign that skills are auto fail on a 1, and auto success on a 20, tie goes to defender.
Now to roll up a daul-cursed deaf/blind oracle!
Wish me luck! :D
Not gonna lie, didn't read everything in this thread before posting.
I only have one simple thing to say. I have a Deaf Oracle in my current campaign that I'm running. Its been easy. I've added Sign Language/Thieves Cant as a language standard in the world, and I also allowed the player to not take a language for one of his ranks in Linguistics to instead be able to read lips.
Its made for some funny stuff! I'm running a serious campaign though, and my group in the game and myself have not found it to be crippling.
Also, when you're the GM, you can change things for your campaign. You can make oracles not be cursed in your world. Easy peasy.
Being a rules natzi usually causes people to forget certain golden rules. Such as, Always Have Fun! The Books/Rules are guidelines. There have been numerous times that I've asked my players if they'd rather go by the book on certain things or house rule them for favor of play style and campaign style. This has resulted in the House Rule in my current campaign that skills are auto fail on a 1, and auto success on a 20, tie goes to defender.
While I agree people are talking about things as they are, and I don't think the deaf oracle is all that bad. The blind curse however is something I will never try.
While I agree people are talking about things as they are, and I don't think the deaf oracle is all that bad. The blind curse however is something I will never try.Not gonna lie, didn't read everything in this thread before posting.
I only have one simple thing to say. I have a Deaf Oracle in my current campaign that I'm running. Its been easy. I've added Sign Language/Thieves Cant as a language standard in the world, and I also allowed the player to not take a language for one of his ranks in Linguistics to instead be able to read lips.
Its made for some funny stuff! I'm running a serious campaign though, and my group in the game and myself have not found it to be crippling.
Also, when you're the GM, you can change things for your campaign. You can make oracles not be cursed in your world. Easy peasy.
Being a rules natzi usually causes people to forget certain golden rules. Such as, Always Have Fun! The Books/Rules are guidelines. There have been numerous times that I've asked my players if they'd rather go by the book on certain things or house rule them for favor of play style and campaign style. This has resulted in the House Rule in my current campaign that skills are auto fail on a 1, and auto success on a 20, tie goes to defender.
Personally I dislike several of the oracle curses. The blind oracle curse is also exceptionally bad, because unless you are specifically in a dungeon, it probably means you are oh-so-dead in any campaign I'm involved in. :P
But I mostly dislike oracle curses on principle. They're forced fluff. You can't play a not-cursed oracle to my knowledge, which basically makes the oracle far less useful for building a character concept. No other class has so much forced fluff.
I hated it when it first came out, and I don't think the curses, which are unavoidable, are needed.
I do wish there were other curses since there is no noncurse option.
I hated it when it first came out, and I don't think the curses, which are unavoidable, are needed.
I do wish there were other curses since there is no noncurse option.
I haven't bothered with it since clerics are essentially entirely better than Oracles, but giving them cleric domains and adding the domain spells to their list of spells known in exchange for curses would probably go a long way towards making an oracle that didn't have a lot of forced fluff, make them far more useful in terms of character concepts, and still leave you with a spontaneous casting type class.
We still need to get rid of the nerfed spell progression. 3 instances of this game and sorcerers are still getting hosed.
I do agree with the nerfed spell progression not helping at all. They play better than they look on paper though.
I do agree with the nerfed spell progression not helping at all. They play better than they look on paper though.
I'll agree with that, since I have a player in an online campaign playing an oracle with the tongues curse and basically functioning as a dedicated healer/buffer. On the flip side, I believe she would be in every way better off as a cleric.
EDIT: Another thing that bugs me is that not only did they drastically reduce the classes' options compared to the cleric, but they also gave them poorer saves as well.
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I do agree with the nerfed spell progression not helping at all. They play better than they look on paper though.I'll agree with that, since I have a player in an online campaign playing an oracle with the tongues curse and basically functioning as a dedicated healer/buffer. On the flip side, I believe she would be in every way better off as a cleric.
EDIT: Another thing that bugs me is that not only did they drastically reduce the classes' options compared to the cleric, but they also gave them poorer saves as well.
What do you mean by "Nerfed spell progression"?
One thing not mentioned much here regarding the curse. The curse becomes less of a detriment with levels, and even gains some interesting pluses, right at first level. For instance, the deaf oracle:
You cast all of your spells as if they were modified by the Silent Spell feat. This does not increase their level or casting time. At 5th level, you receive a +3 competence bonus on Perception checks that do not rely upon hearing, and the initiative penalty for being deaf is reduced to –2. At 10th level, you gain scent and you do not suffer any penalty on initiative checks due to being deaf. At 15th level, you gain tremorsense out to a range of 30 feet.
The Silent Spell feat (with no level increase) alone might be worth a level in Oracle, in some circumstances, i.e. for a stealthy type or in a game where stealth is important.
What do you mean by "Nerfed spell progression"?I do agree with the nerfed spell progression not helping at all. They play better than they look on paper though.I'll agree with that, since I have a player in an online campaign playing an oracle with the tongues curse and basically functioning as a dedicated healer/buffer. On the flip side, I believe she would be in every way better off as a cleric.
EDIT: Another thing that bugs me is that not only did they drastically reduce the classes' options compared to the cleric, but they also gave them poorer saves as well.
Sorcerers and Oracles received a "nerfed" spell progression by comparison to other full casters. Spellcasters receive new levels of spells every odd level, 3rd, 5th, 7th, etc. Sorcerers and Oracles (AKA handicapsters) receive new spells at 4th, 6th, 8th, etc. Combine this with their already exceedingly bad spell selection, and you end up with a spellcasting class that sucks at spellcasting; and also tends to be very easy to screw up because you picked a spell that wasn't versatile.
There's also the fact that Sorcerers and Oracles don't really get more spells per day on average than wizards and clerics do. For example, let's take the Cleric vs Oracle. Now at first glance you think "Oh look, Oracles get more spells per day"! Well, not for long.
See clerics get the wizard spell progression, plus their domain. So at 1st level, clerics get 2 spells per day versus the Oracle's 3. Thing is, the cleric can also have access to every 1st level cleric spell in existence, and can change them day to day. Now at 2nd level, the Oracle still isn't doing too badly, as they do have a net +1 on the cleric.
But at 3rd level, it all breaks down for the Oracle. Now the Oracle has 5 1st level spells per day. But the Cleric now has 3 1st level spells and 2 2nd level spells, which mean the cleric at least matches the Oracle in spells per day, but actually has the option of a higher quality of spells each day as well. At 4th level when the Oracle tries to catch up and get their 3/day 2nd level spells, the cleric gains another 1st and 2nd level spell, and just chuckles because he's just better. Repeat on and on and on.
But wait, it gets better. See we also have these things call Pearls of Power, and they're just peachy keen. Nothing wrong with these items really, but their existence is a nail in the coffin for oracles and sorcerers. See, they allow you to recall a spell you have cast to cast it again. They're also not terribly expensive either. A 1st level pearl of power is 1,000 gp (500 gp if crafted) and is practically like getting another spell slot.
So the cleric could take Craft Wondrous Item at 3rd level, and then invest 500 gp into getting another 1st level spell every day. Neat-o.
But wait, it gets better STILL. See, at 5th level, the cleric can take Craft Wand. Now the cleric basically owns the oracle in terms of spellcasting potential because they can craft their own wands, and they can select almost any spell they want to put in the wand because they know all their spells. If an Oracle tried to do this, the oracle would be limited to a tiny handful of spells they can already cast.
That means that a Neutral cleric who channels negative energy for undead and combat applications can drop 375 gp and a day to make happy sticks (wands of cure light wounds) worth about 250 hit points worth of healing. Since most of that healing is probably going to the party, most parties will ante up to help pay for these (it's only 93.75 gp if divided by 4). The only way a Neutral oracle channeling negative energy could do this would be if they also took cure light wounds as one of their known spells; which would only further illustrate their "suckitude".
Meanwhile, virtually all instances of this example function with Wizard vs Sorcerer as well. Even the spells per day thing, since most good wizards are going to be specialized.
House Rules: In my games, we gave the sorcerers and oracles an un-nerfed progression, which basically means you assume you're 1 level higher when determining your spells per day and spells known. Even with this adjustment, they haven't managed to one-up their preparation counterparts in general effectiveness, but it helps a lot to make sure they're at least relevant. I mean when your wizard is dropping haste and stinking cloud and everyone's looking at you like you're some sort of left-back reject from arcane-preschool because you're still using enlarge person as your best party buff, and sleep as your primary crowd control.
One thing not mentioned much here regarding the curse. The curse becomes less of a detriment with levels, and even gains some interesting pluses, right at first level. For instance, the deaf oracle:You cast all of your spells as if they were modified by the Silent Spell feat. This does not increase their level or casting time. At 5th level, you receive a +3 competence bonus on Perception checks that do not rely upon hearing, and the initiative penalty for being deaf is reduced to –2. At 10th level, you gain scent and you do not suffer any penalty on initiative checks due to being deaf. At 15th level, you gain tremorsense out to a range of 30 feet.The Silent Spell feat (with no level increase) alone might be worth a level in Oracle, in some circumstances, i.e. for a stealthy type or in a game where stealth is important.
Actually the original poster pointed out the benefits already, but also showed that they were far outweighed by the Cons.
I love seeing the responses of playing the Deaf Oracle.
"It's been super easy! I've just added <insert houserule here>!"
Taking a Deaf Oracle through PFS and going from GM to GM (especially at gaming conventions) would be horrifying.
Yeah, that would be hilarious. It'd be a griefer's dream class too. Loves going to every game, messing with the DM, reminding him at every description to divide what he can and can't see or hear (depending on the curse).
Or better yet.. mess with the other players, and legitimately ruining teamwork and cooperative play without having to resort to an Evil alignment!
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As I said before in this thread, there should have been rules for playing a mostly blind or completely deaf character in Pathfinder. A sidebar on alternative methods of communication could have given DMs a standard baseline to work with when running the curse.
I love seeing the responses of playing the Deaf Oracle.
"It's been super easy! I've just added <insert houserule here>!"
Not me -- my deaf oracle is just plain deaf. He just does a lot of smiling and nodding and following the other PCs around.