The Lost Arts: Free 219 Page Pdf


Homebrew and House Rules


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Here is The Lost Arts, a FREE pdf supplement for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. This supplement is the end result of over a year and a half of work on my part to compile, convert, and create new and interesting options for my favorite rpg. Inside you'll find:

*Archetypes for the alchemist, cleric, ranger, and wizard, including Uringen Soujourner, Devotee, and Seeker of the Arcane Conjunction
*1 new domain, contagion
*5 new subdomains, including chitin, naga, and scale
*2 new oracle curses, claustrophobic and skeletal
*5 new oracle mysteries, including Gold, Hell, and Justice
*5 new bloodlines, including Ghul-touched and Incandescent (Numerian specific)
*29 new feats, including Blood Magic and Extra Nanite Surge
*1 new weapon, shielded crossbows
*2 new alchemical items, gem grenades and sparkwands
*8 new special substances, including star amber, skystone, and soulsteel
*Wonderous alchemical items, including goggles of discernment and jet boots
*9 new magic weapon special abilities, including alkaline and caustic burst
*9 new wonderous items, including the philosophic scabbard and the handwraps of Irori
*112 new spells, including Tiered spells and Spells of Sin Magic
*83 new traits, including Proficiency traits
*7 new options, including the Calistrian Copulomancy, Lost Arts, Magic Sterility (a method of play asthetic characters), Ritual Casting, and Thematic Channeling

This pdf is my gift to the Pathfinder community, whether you decide to use the options within or not. Feel free to change or adapt these options into your games to help enrich your gaming experience. If you have any questions or comments, please post them in this thread or send me a private message on here and I will be happy to get back to you promptly. I hope you enjoy The Lost Arts and all it has to offer. Happy gaming!

Note: This file is virus free, and if you are having trouble downloading it, please let me know in this thread or private message me on here and I will fix the problem asap. Websites today have been doing some really weird and frustrating things.


Bump


I've downloaded it, but must admit, delaying to read it 'cause it lacks bookmarks.


Yeah I'm not that adept at creating pdfs and bookmarks would have drawn out the finished product a lot longer than I would've had patience for. I apologize. Best thing is to just flip through it.


Downloaded. Will comment after I've read it.


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Let me start by saying math is hard. So I'm not much good at what is "over powered", "under powered", or "juuust right". I'm kind of a intuitive sort of player and DM. And my intuition tells me you've got a really good thing going here. It's a great looking document with a good layout, easy to read descriptions, and some knockout artwork (some professional 3PP's could take a hint from this).

All in all I'll be sneaking bits and pieces of this into my games. Thanks for all your hard work!


Son of Blackleaf wrote:

Let me start by saying math is hard. So I'm not much good at what is "over powered", "under powered", or "juuust right". I'm kind of a intuitive sort of player and DM. And my intuition tells me you've got a really good thing going here. It's a great looking document with a good layout, easy to read descriptions, and some knockout artwork (some professional 3PP's could take a hint from this).

All in all I'll be sneaking bits and pieces of this into my games. Thanks for all your hard work!

Thanks for the kind words. The artwork I just pulled from my Pathfinder inspiration folder and off the internet. I tried to make the options clear to understand, balanced, and interesting, and every option I created or was contributed I tried my hardest to make sure was viable to take (not wasted and not worth taking). I'm glad you enjoy the end product.


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Echoing what Son of Blackleaf said.

Very nice work, and thanks for putting this PDF together!!!

You, Set and the other author are to be heartily commended...and yes, some very nice artwork throughout!

Dark Archive

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It looks great, but you must use this:

http://paizo.com/paizo/about/communityuse

Richard


I put it up on the Community List.

Sovereign Court

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Looking pretty nice, I'll have to read it more thoroughly but I could potentially see some uses for my future game.


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I didn't download it yet, but one advise would be "be carefull with art you "found" on the internet, some artists can be very angry if you using their arts without permission.

Dark Archive

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I really like this. The spells and the feats will definitely be worked into my campaign. As will the thematic channeling, my favorite option.

The Exchange

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Reading it now,....So far liking how well done it looks and I am looking forward to delving deeper and giving a true opinion on the content.


Thanks. I look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions.


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I read and thoroughly enjoyed it :)

The Exchange

I also will comment further when I have read it through. As a matter of interest do you know where the art came from? I know you culled it from le interwebs just curious if you have the creators names somewhere...


I don't really have the names but I can put the pictures into a google search and find out the artists.


So it's been about a week or so now since I uploaded the document. Some peoole have said they'd give some more in depth opinions. Was wondering if anybody had any further thoughts on the project.


In terms of the content I love it. there are some decisions I find odd and would rather not see but as a whole it brings a lot to the table and without the lifted art and fixed glitches it is perfectly sell-able.


I'll let you know what I think as soon as I finish looking it over.


Malwing wrote:
In terms of the content I love it. there are some decisions I find odd and would rather not see but as a whole it brings a lot to the table and without the lifted art and fixed glitches it is perfectly sell-able.

What were some of the decisions you didn't agree with? It may inspire me to make different options for future material and I may be able to shed light on why I created it a certain way. You may still not see things as I do, but at least you'll know where I'm coming from.


Looking at battle adaptation what would be the best use of this feat? Jdging from the requirements wouldn't you just be better off taking thre actual feat since you have to meet the requiremtns for it anyway.


I'll check it out tonight, might be interesting.


havoc xiii wrote:
Looking at battle adaptation what would be the best use of this feat? Jdging from the requirements wouldn't you just be better off taking thre actual feat since you have to meet the requiremtns for it anyway.

There's just too many combat feats in the game to have them all, even for a fighter. Some you may want but just don't have the room for them, but they may be needed to complete a certain task. This way you can drop some feats you know and utilize other combat feats instead. Basically gives you the flexibility of a wizard in relation to feats.


Fnipernackle wrote:
Malwing wrote:
In terms of the content I love it. there are some decisions I find odd and would rather not see but as a whole it brings a lot to the table and without the lifted art and fixed glitches it is perfectly sell-able.
What were some of the decisions you didn't agree with? It may inspire me to make different options for future material and I may be able to shed light on why I created it a certain way. You may still not see things as I do, but at least you'll know where I'm coming from.

Mostly things like Winter's Lore that are either setting specific or has a require materials beyond the core Pathfinder hardcovers. Basically some options are not as setting neutral as I'd like.

As a side note since it came up, I love Battle Adaption. I've seen it before in other products and it was amazing then too. You have to get really creative with it but it does amazing things. in conjunction with a number of feats. The first ones to come in mind are stye feats. New kung fu every day.

Overall a lot of things I can imagine myself playing/using. In fact I do plan on using a number of these options for villains and all the alchemical information for future space/tech-based campaigns.

The only real hiccup other than the non setting neutral options is that I saw talk of rituals in the feat section and that should probably go to the back with the optional rules. Probably should take with them the Proficiency traits and some traits which are probably too good.


I wanted to keep the feats and traits together. That's why I didn't put those at the back of the book. As for the proficiency traits, I put a side note in there about them. Are they too good? Yes and no. Yes because they mimic a feat, but no because I don't think that a weapon proficiency is worth a feat. You can easily role into your backstory that you trained with a specific weapon and it's more balanced to take a trait for that proficiency than a feat. No one likes to be feat taxed, especially so they can use a specific weapon.


Fnipernackle wrote:
I wanted to keep the feats and traits together. That's why I didn't put those at the back of the book. As for the proficiency traits, I put a side note in there about them. Are they too good? Yes and no. Yes because they mimic a feat, but no because I don't think that a weapon proficiency is worth a feat. You can easily role into your backstory that you trained with a specific weapon and it's more balanced to take a trait for that proficiency than a feat. No one likes to be feat taxed, especially so they can use a specific weapon.

I can understand that, but it does disrupt some assumptions that the game has about itself and were I to use them I'd probably house rule them to make them worth two traits rather than one.

While I have your attention While the rest of the spells didn't catch my attention I immediately zoned in on the Magus touch spells that basically give you a Shocking Grasp for each element + status effect. If I had these before some of my Magus concepts would be consistent as there are not enough simple damaging touch spells for Magus. If you were to remake and sell this what would be an insta-sale to me are analogues to Frostbite for each element. basically getting multiple touch attacks per spell that does minor damage plus status effect.

On another note I recently got into a discussion about single column format. I personally think you could save a lot of space with double columns which would making printing this so much more easier.


Malwing wrote:
Fnipernackle wrote:
I wanted to keep the feats and traits together. That's why I didn't put those at the back of the book. As for the proficiency traits, I put a side note in there about them. Are they too good? Yes and no. Yes because they mimic a feat, but no because I don't think that a weapon proficiency is worth a feat. You can easily role into your backstory that you trained with a specific weapon and it's more balanced to take a trait for that proficiency than a feat. No one likes to be feat taxed, especially so they can use a specific weapon.

I can understand that, but it does disrupt some assumptions that the game has about itself and were I to use them I'd probably house rule them to make them worth two traits rather than one.

While I have your attention While the rest of the spells didn't catch my attention I immediately zoned in on the Magus touch spells that basically give you a Shocking Grasp for each element + status effect. If I had these before some of my Magus concepts would be consistent as there are not enough simple damaging touch spells for Magus. If you were to remake and sell this what would be an insta-sale to me are analogues to Frostbite for each element. basically getting multiple touch attacks per spell that does minor damage plus status effect.

On another note I recently got into a discussion about single column format. I personally think you could save a lot of space with double columns which would making printing this so much more easier.

You are more than welcome to change any of the options in that book to work for you.

I'm not really tracking what your second comment was. Are you asking my thoughts on making spells with less damage + status effects or are you asking me to make some?

As for the single format, I'm not a professional when it comes to creating books. I work with the programs I have to create my books. The problem I see with double columns is I don't know if I'll be able to put a big picture that covers both columns or not. I may tinker with it a bit in my next book, but that's the reason I went with single column.


Well Frostbite reads: "Your melee touch attack deals 1d6 points of nonlethal cold damage + 1 point per level, and the target is fatigued. The fatigued condition ends when the target recovers from the nonlethal damage. This spell cannot make a creature exhausted even if it is already fatigued. You can use this melee touch attack up to one time per level."

This spell can be spectacular for magi but as far as I know there are three spells that grant multiple touch attacks in the Magus spell list and having one for each element would open up a lot of options. Basically I'm asking you to make a 'frostbite' for each element: spells that grants multiple 1d6+caster level touch attacks.


I understand now. I could make those, it's not a hard task, but I think that spell is terrible (not saying you're wrong for liking it, we just have different tastes in spells it seems). I'm wondering why you don't make them yourself (I'm not trying to be rude, just trying to understand). You have frostbite as a base to work off of, and you can just tie a different status effect to each one (staggered for electricity, sickened for acid, etc). You don't have to create a big pdf like it did. You can just create a small word document with them in there. That way you can create the spell exactly as you've envisioned.

I can easily make them, but honestly I'm wore out of Pathfinder homebrew after completing this, and a little bummed because my Mass Effect rpg file isn't opening now and I'm trying to find a way to salvage the text. I'd be happy to help you if you need assistance though.


Fnipernackle wrote:

I understand now. I could make those, it's not a hard task, but I think that spell is terrible (not saying you're wrong for liking it, we just have different tastes in spells it seems). I'm wondering why you don't make them yourself (I'm not trying to be rude, just trying to understand). You have frostbite as a base to work off of, and you can just tie a different status effect to each one (staggered for electricity, sickened for acid, etc). You don't have to create a big pdf like it did. You can just create a small word document with them in there. That way you can create the spell exactly as you've envisioned.

I can easily make them, but honestly I'm wore out of Pathfinder homebrew after completing this, and a little bummed because my Mass Effect rpg file isn't opening now and I'm trying to find a way to salvage the text. I'd be happy to help you if you need assistance though.

I don't make them because I don't think the GM will be happy with me making up my own spells, but when push comes to shove I'll probably add them to my house rules doc.

Frostbite is mostly just terribly because of the nonlethal damage. If I find a target that can take nonlethal damage it goes down fast and has been my most frequently cast spell. as it stands my magus currently at 10th level has 2 attacks, 3 when I use hasted assault. I do 1d6+15at my base, so when I have an active Frostbite I wind up doing 2d6+25 per hit with a 30% chance to crit. Combined with Rime Spell I've been doing really well with that spell. Its not a spell for the BBEG but it gets you through mooks really fast and prevents the magus from being 'that guy' that runs out of spells and has to beg for a rest.

The Exchange

I was someone who had committed to read through it and I am still working on it.

I am curious about intention here. Just a labor of love? Looking to be noticed by the community or the developers? Is this part of a longer arc of working towards publishing, selling, or working in the industry?

I ask because it impacts what feedback I have to give and why others might say something like "will you do X" as they believe a product, update or revision may be something you are working towards...


PirateDevon wrote:

I was someone who had committed to read through it and I am still working on it.

I am curious about intention here. Just a labor of love? Looking to be noticed by the community or the developers? Is this part of a longer arc of working towards publishing, selling, or working in the industry?

I ask because it impacts what feedback I have to give and why others might say something like "will you do X" as they believe a product, update or revision may be something you are working towards...

My group enjoys homebrewed content but we like it to be typed and presented in the most professional manner possible. I'm not looking to sell my work, nor am I doing it for acceptance by the community. I mostly did it for my group but it ended up being more for the Pathfinder community in the long run.


Bump for those that haven't has the chance to download and/or comment


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I'm playing an inquisitor of Abadar with a shielded repeating crossbow alongside my friend playing an inventor type alchemist using your alchemical wonderous items. Also homebrewing alchemical guns for a setting inspired by sparkwands. Still digging through the feats/spells though.


Son of Blackleaf wrote:

Let me start by saying math is hard. So I'm not much good at what is "over powered", "under powered", or "juuust right". I'm kind of a intuitive sort of player and DM. And my intuition tells me you've got a really good thing going here. It's a great looking document with a good layout, easy to read descriptions, and some knockout artwork (some professional 3PP's could take a hint from this).

All in all I'll be sneaking bits and pieces of this into my games. Thanks for all your hard work!

Finally had time to sit down and finish everything. Amazing stuff in that there pdf! You should seriously consider offering some of your work to the various 3PPs out there.


While I would be interested, I'm not sure how I would go about starting that sort of arrangement.


Free is just the thing for me. :)

You could even put in mention of the Pathfinder Community Compatibilty thingy somewhere in there ('cause you really incorporate alot of ip stuff), just to cover your tracks and make it like you're ready for being a 3pp-in-waiting or something. ;)


Fnipernackle wrote:
While I would be interested, I'm not sure how I would go about starting that sort of arrangement.

I'm sure some of the 3PP folks have seen this by now. Most of them are always looking for new talent. Just contact the powers that be in the different publishers and ask if they're looking for freelancers. You've got talent and you should be gettin' paid!


Bumping this thread so others who haven't had the chance can get the pdf.

Also, if there's any additional feedback on this product or the options within, please let me know.

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