I've been going through the Shaman class to try and decide which Spirit to take as primary spirit. They all seem to have something interesting, in their powers. None of them really stand out at me, but when I look at the Lore Spirit I see the first Hex it offers 'Arcane Enlightenment' and begin to think 'Except with dice rolled ability scores, is it even possible to make this hex function well'
Arcane Enlightenment (Su): The shaman’s native intelligence
grants her the ability to tap into arcane lore. The shaman
can add a number of spells from the sorcerer/wizard spell
list equal to her Charisma modifier (minimum 1) to the
list of shaman spells she can prepare. To cast these spells
she must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 +
the spell’s level, but the saving throw DCs of these spells
are based on her Wisdom rather than Intelligence. When
she casts these spells, they are treated as divine rather than
arcane. Each time the shaman gains a level after taking
this hex, she can choose to replace one of these spells for
a new spell on the wizard/sorcerer spell list.
Firstly the Hex requires you to have a decent CHA score to gain more than 1 spell from the Wizard/Sorcerer list, then it requires decent INT score to cast the spell level of the spells you want, then as a Shaman your primary casting stat is WIS. So its asking for 3 mental stats to be decent enough. And I find it rare that any class uses DEX or CON as a dump or low stat, So that is 4-5 ability scores needing a decent score to make this Hex worthwhile.
What would you guys say threshold for a points buy is to make this worth it? The way I see it 15 pretty much reads as at 1-2 lvl 1 spells. Not exactly a fantastic use of the hex in my opinion. 20 can push that to 2-3 lvl 1 spells or 1-2 lvl 2 spells. So to me making it worth while would only work in a 25 points buy or rolled stats game.
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Note that it is the intelligence SCORE, not modifier, that matters.
So int 13 let's you get 3rd level spells. A 20 pt buy can almost trivially afford int 13 or 14, cha 14, wis 16
Sure, you won't have a starting wisdom of 20 and you won't be able to wade into combat but something like (20 pt buy, not at all optimized human) is QUITE viable
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 14
Gets spells up to level 4. By the time it needs it it will be able to afford magic items to boost that.
Is this a power gamers dream? No.
Can one use it to make interesting, viable characters in moist games (including PFS)? Yes
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Headband of Mental Superiority +6 (the band of all mental stats+6) loves this hex.
Its at least conceivable that the CHA part was a typo. I'm not sure why an ability for the LORE spirit called arcane ENLIGHTENMENT would have anything to do with the force of your personality. As a GM I would definitely consider allowing Intelligence instead - because even if you have access to a few 7th level spells, you still have to have them prepared. In fact, using intelligence would allow a shaman to pick up a few key spells if one's party didn't have a full arcane caster or if the spells were of the wizard's opposing schools...
Even with 12 Int and 12 Cha (which isn't a huge investment for a shaman that's not trying to be CODzilla), having an extra 1st- or 2nd-level sorcerer/wizard spell of your choice (that can be switched out each time you gain a level to boot) is pretty nice. Adding a couple Int and Cha boosting items (the mentioned headband of mental superiority or just a headband of mental prowess +4 and an ioun stone (either a pink and green or scarlet and blue sphere, depending on if you want more or higher level extra spells) for a bit of WBL savings) at higher levels gives more utility (3 spells of levels 1-4 or 2 spells of levels 1-6 with the headband/ioun stone combo for 48,000 gp, assuming the 12 Int and 12 Cha; or just 2 spells of levels 1-4 with both ioun stones for 16,000 gp and a headband of inspired wisdom +6 for 36,000 gp).
Granted, it's not the same as an ancient lorekeeper oracle, but it's not limited to elves (as the archetype), you learn the spells at the sorcerer/wizard spell-level (instead of spell-level +1), and can learn spells up to your current maximum spell level (instead of max. spell-level -1).
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Its at least conceivable that the CHA part was a typo. I'm not sure why an ability for the LORE spirit called arcane ENLIGHTENMENT would have anything to do with the force of your personality.
Especially since the fluff is "The shaman’s native intelligence grants her the ability to tap into arcane lore." Perhaps the shaman at one point used Cha as a casting stat and this hex was muddled as a result?
Alternatively, maybe they're intentionally trying to make non-combat casters more MAD (and a Lore Spirit shaman is unlikely to be built for combat). As some of the other posters have pointed out, it's still useful even with only 12-14 in Int and Cha, and it's not the only class that needs 5 decent scores. Melee alchemists, and Monks and Fighters using Maneuvers all need everything but Cha. One of the characters in my current game had 10/13/13/17/16/17 at level 1, partly due to generous rolls and partly due to racial +2 to int and wis.
On the other hand, while it's somewhat useful with just Int 12 Cha 12, without higher stats it does seem less useful than many other shaman hexes, and getting a Headband of Perfection instead of just a Headband of Wis is expensive. It seems reasonable to houserule the Cha reference to another Int reference, especially in a lower stat game.
It seems reasonable to house rule...especially in a lower stat game
That's a great point. And I can definitely see how even modest scores would get you some use out of the hex. Oh well, its up to each GM and group at this point. Either ruling would be reasonable.