Hey, everyone, hopefully this was appropriate enough for me to create an entirely new thread. I have never done such thing as this. Hopefully you other fine gamers can help me with the question I shall raise shortly...
My friend is running a campaign meaning this will be my first time playing in a long while since I have become an established DM in my gaming group. I thought the Oracle class looked like a fun, interesting option to play, but I wanted to hear from anyone who has played the Oracle if it is at all a good class? Any problems or advice per chance?
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Hey, everyone, hopefully this was appropriate enough for me to create an entirely new thread. I have never done such thing as this. Hopefully you other fine gamers can help me with the question I shall raise shortly...
My friend is running a campaign meaning this will be my first time playing in a long while since I have become an established DM in my gaming group. I thought the Oracle class looked like a fun, interesting option to play, but I wanted to hear from anyone who has played the Oracle if it is at all a good class? Any problems or advice per chance?
I'm keen on the class and have made up a decent Nature Oracle for a KM campaign, he was a lame halfling with a elk mount. Had a really good "druid" feel without the shape shifting (which is always too much bother for me to pre calculate)
i have not played one myself but a player in a game i run is playing one and he seems to have fun with the class. i love the class because its got a lot of flavor too it in terms of role playing. as far as combat, i always have to do a bit of research and work to make the combat worth while, but i can do it even though i dont care for divine casters too much. but after looking at a few of the revalations, i think they have major potential. and their curses can create some really funny rping moments.
I play a life oracle in my Friday night game. I am the party's dedicated healer, and its way easy. More fun than my cleric was, in the same role.
I am playing an oracle in my current campaign, and i do enjoy it. The various options for revalations and curses let you make an incredibly flavorful character. For example, my oracle has the bones revalation and the haunted curse. He acts like a voodoo priest, consulting with the spirits and channeling them into the bones of the dead to fight again.
Mechanicly, its a lot like a sorcerer, and thats a good thing. The oracle may have a limited spell selection, but he gets enough bonus spells and special abilities that you never feel like you cant contribute.
I am playing a clouded vision/Waves Oracle. I just have fun prophesying all the doom on everything...and pissing off the other characters by reminding them that I can't see things like the moon, the sunrise, the spires of the city, the mountains, the approaching dragon, etc, etc.
If you like role-playing, the Oracle has tons of built in things.
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I play a life oracle in my Friday night game. I am the party's dedicated healer, and its way easy. More fun than my cleric was, in the same role.
Do you have a limp and warn everyone about the dangers of contracting Lupus?
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I play a clouded-vision/Bones Oracle in PFS, and I am loving it. He is a Human, and the Human Preferred Class Bonus of an extra spell really helps make it more livable. Divine casting, Revelation spells, all the "Heal" or "Inflict" spells for free, its like I never run out of options. I took "Extra Revelation" as my feats at lvl 1 and lvl 3, so with 4 Revelations I have plenty of other options if I run out or wish to conserve spells. Did I mention 4 skill points a level, +1 for being Human...not quite a skill monkey, but plenty of skills to go around.
Others have mentioned the flavor involved, I too play a sort of Voodoun type Mwangi-esque character, and its a blast. I usually roll fairly poorly when it comes to initiative, and the other players chalk it up to not being able to see the bad guys usually :)
Its a great class, I really hope "Complete Divine" or whatever its going to be called will have more revelation options, or more curses to further the customization.
Thanks to everyone for giving me your advice! I am excited to delve into the world that is Oracle, bahahaha.
The fact that you all even saw my thread and responded...is pretty kick ass, thanks so much, guys :)
I play a life oracle in my Friday night game. I am the party's dedicated healer, and its way easy. More fun than my cleric was, in the same role.Do you have a limp and warn everyone about the dangers of contracting Lupus?
Naw, he's got clouded vision. He gripes constantly and refuses to heal stupidity. He was a rather handsome charismatic ladies man, whom the gods decided to strike blind and make him do stuff. He's a bit bitter, but isn't stupid enough to resist or refuse the gods.
EDIT: Ahh a House reference I totaly missed. But yeah, he kinda is like House.
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My brother played a Life Oracle in the latter half of our Crimson Throne campaign. He liked the class but not his Mystery. Especially because I played a secondary healer (Paladin), he really didn't feel like he needed to be super healer all the time. Something for you to consider.
We've now moved on to Serpent's Skull and one of our players is runnign a Nature Oracle. We've only had a couple sessions so we're still at level 1 and its hard to say how its going to be for him. From a mechanical perspective, though, I think the Nature Oracle has a lot to offer.
He liked the class but not his Mystery. Especially because I played a secondary healer (Paladin), he really didn't feel like he needed to be super healer all the time.
+1.
I've been multiclassing my character as a sorcerer / oracle (lore) / mystic theurge; mostly due to their being no other dedicated spellcasters in our party of five. Honestly, beyond the dedicated use of a wands of cure light wounds (cheap!), I've never really needed much in the way of oracular healing. Playing an oracle of life sounds a little redundant and boring to me. Best pick a mystery with a more entertaining hook and simply keep healing as a secondary function for your character. My ¢2.
You all forgot to mention how awesome the oracle reference picture is, I just LOVE that character concept!
You all forgot to mention how awesome the oracle reference picture is, I just LOVE that character concept!
+1
I'm playing a level 4 Half-Elf Life Oracle currently; and having a great time with it. I took Channel Energy and Energy Body as my two revelations, and Selective Channeling and Extra Revelation (Life Link) as feats. With the Half-Elf Skill Focus: (Diplomacy) I'm easily the face of the group.
I took the haunted curse to juxtapose it against the life mystery (spirits out to take my life essence), and it's worked out pretty well. The DM tends to forget to make the spirits that follow me do much, though.
I've been able to contribute pretty well to combat via melee and summon spells, though I'm sure the other mysteries are better. Healing is WAY easy and the combination of Energy Body + Life Link is really powerful, letting you act as a damage sink for the group.
Oracle is a fun class with a lot of flavor, I'd recommend giving it a go!
I've played an oracle with the Heavens mystery and clouded vision, but only for 3 PFS mods. As others have said, there's a LOT of opportunity for flavor and roleplay. I started with the female iconic oracle due to circumstances and then decided to tweak her to suit myself and continued with her. She has an 18 Cha. My tag line is "I don't see well, but I look GOOD!"
I got a Harrow deck from Paizo and once I understand it a bit better I plan to bring it to the gaming table for flavor.
I can't say much about higher levels, but my impression is that oracles are lacking in offensive spells and aren't really suited for dps, so if you were planning to play a blaster, not a good choice. There just aren't very many offensive cleric spells. It seems to me the role is still primarily healer, with a lot of NPC interaction thrown in (because of Cha and skill points) and some great utility in specific situations. I would be interested to hear what other folks see as the oracle's role and usefulness.
I do know someone who plays an oracle with Battle mystery and clouded vision. He plays him as a meleer and seems to have fun.
The clouded vision is fun from a flavor perspective; the big drawback is you don't get a chance for ranged attacks until opponent gets pretty close. The haunted curse looks like a blast, but I'm planning to use a lot of wands and I can't afford a whole action to pull one out. My impression is that Life is very strong for healing and Flame is very strong offensively, but I haven't played either one. Bones is too creepy for my taste, ymmv. Wind and Heavens are very strong at low levels; not sure about higher levels.
One thing that bugs me is that most (all?) of the mysteries offer an armor revelation which is essentially useless for Oracle, which is an armor-wearing class, since it doesn't stack. Not sure what the developers were thinking. I suppose if you're on a spy mission or wake up naked chained to a wall it would be ok. shrug. Still seems like a waste of a revelation to me.
FWIW....
Only some of the Mysteries give an armor revelation, and they're usually the ones that give you a class skill with an armor check penalty (like Stealth). I can totally imagine playing a sneaky Wind Oracle who doesn't wear armor, and just uses the ability when necessary (particularly since the armor revelations scale over time, and eventually give you DR).
The melee-focused mysteries, like Battle and Metal, don't give you an armor revelation because they're clearly designed for armor-wearing Oracles.
I'm playing two, currently, a JuJu Oracle in Way of the Wicked and Dark Tapestry in a homebrew Cthulhu-y PbP.
They're both fun, one being a minion master (Fast. Crocodile. Zombies. Yes please.) and the other destroying people's minds and shapeshifting into stuff.
Most of the Revelations have at least SOMETHING worthwhile, except Wood IMO.
Life, Battle, and Dark Tapestry are probably the best I think.
The reason I leave JuJu off is because of the removal of non-evil Undead (so it won't work in many campaigns) and the fact that besides Spirit Vessels (RIDICULOUSLY GOOD) and Undead Servitude (pretty much required to function as a Necromancer) the rest of the Revelations are meh.
I have a concept in the wings for a Dhampir Oracle/Rogue/Monk, leading to Shadow Dancer.
I know that's a lot of classes, but it's the only way to build the concept using PF rules.
The Oracle is Dark Tapestry and will wield shadows and madness, the Rogue part is to take advantage of stepping out of the shadows and really messing up opponents, and the Monk is because the Dhampir is a biter and to get a decent grapple attack I need to take enough Unarmed-style feats that I might as well take the Monk. It also allows a great unarmed attack with nasty Dhampir claws (not Claws, just fluff talons).
The key to the build is the Oracle, which is a class I have played before and love.
Another Oracle was a resurrected priestess of an ancient civilisation (very Babylonian), who had been laid to rest in a tomb covered by Gentle Repose, and was Haunted by the spirits of her former servants and slaves.
You can have great fun with the Oracle class, and it isn't a class that lends itself to stereotypes!
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Necrokick!!!
Anyway, I've only played one Oracle with the Nature mystery. Kinda cool but probably wasn't the best choice as it wasn't really conducive to my playstyle.
I can't really tell you what mysteries are the BEST mysteries but I can give a brief synopsis of what some of the most 'renown' mysteries can do:
Flame: Blast things. You get some of the most notorious blast spells in the game with this one. See the world burn around you while still be capable of healing your allies during your down time.
Heavens: Shut down EVERYTHING with illusion(pattern) spells and get some really nifty powers and perception as a class skill.
Metal: Become a better tank they your fighter and become a better party face than your party bard.
Battle: If I need to tell you what this Mystery does, look elsewhere.
Nature: Ever wanted to dump Dex and have a mount and have some druidic skills without the inherent complexity of playing a Druid? Yo.
Bones: Necromancy ahoy! Raise dead things and make the living regret ever challenging your divine authority with SoS spells. You also get all society skills and stealth from this mystery as class skills and stealth. Lot of possibilities.
Wind: Crowd Control shut down mystery. It's pretty straightforward. Later on you get some very mean spells.
Life: Party band-aid with the option of becoming an Elemental subtype with lots of utility. Plus, if you life channelling then this is your mystery.
I'll leave it at that for now. But it really depends on what you want to do with the Oracle.