Since the playtest began, I have started to notice a (unfortunate) trend. Out of all of the classes, the Kineticist has gained the most attention, followed up by the Medium.
But, why?
In reading posts and the actual classes themselves, I think most people are put off by the Spiritualist, Psychic, Mesmerist, and Occultist because they have the least "fantasy fullfillment", as opposed to the Kineticist. The Medium brings forth this strange and unique opportunity to become, I daresay, the most versatile class (with work).
The Kineticist allows people to further various roleplaying fantasies, such as playing characters from various shows. That is at the core of roleplaying, fantasy fullfillment.
I respect all of the new classes, and yes they all have a basis for inspiration, but I feel they are all overshadowed by the popularity of The Kineticist and Medium.
Do you believe there is a flavor issue? Maybe an overwhelming difference in playstyle? Maybe there is simply more to fix with the Kineticist and Medium? What are your thoughts?
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The kineticist and the medium are just the most ambitious in terms of their design space.
The kineticist is casting from his constitution and getting punched in the stomach to power up special abilities and the medium is a g%!+#*n hydra of interacting rules.
People just want to talk about them. Other than that, everything else can kind of be derisively said to be "just more per-day powers, spells, and companions." However, that just means that those class abilities have more precedent.
I am excited by a lot of this design stuff, though. It is probably the most daring work the Pathfinder team has ever done.
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Mesmerist is honestly quite good, but a lot of the "scorned" classes simply have easier mechanics. Medium has a lot of attention because it is ridiculously complicated and going to get more complicated in the final release.
I wasn't inspired by Occultist or Psychic.
These answers raise some good questions.
What actually MAKES a class appealing? Flavor and mechanics definitely have a part in it, and so, for all the classes, what improvements could be made for more people to have the desire to play them? A class can be neat and well done and still be... bland. Are tried and true mechanics king, or is a little bit of "weird" needed? How do you feel the flavor of some the classes can get some spice?
Flavor wise I'm liking all of the new classes.
Kineticist is a cool idea, but I don't really look at it and go it's a cool idea....that needs lot's of work....so thus far I'm just watching what happens and hoping it get's cleaned up a bit.
Spiritualist may need some polish...but it's already doing a pretty good job of representing ideas/themes that I have tried many times (and failed) with other classes....so again, as long as it doesn't change too much it will fit the bill for what I'm looking for from it.
Medium covers a concept that I am completely in love with...but like the Shaman in the ACG....really seems to need a lot of attention to get it to where it could/should be to make it viable....during the ACG playtest I felt the Shaman was more or less ignored in favor of the Arcanist (loved what it evolved into by the way)Warpriest, and other classes....so I guess I see that as the concept I would most like to see worked on to bring out it's potential AWESOME...
Flavor wise I'm liking all of the new classes.
Kineticist is a cool idea, but I don't really look at it and go it's a cool idea....that needs lot's of work....so thus far I'm just watching what happens and hoping it get's cleaned up a bit.Spiritualist may need some polish...but it's already doing a pretty good job of representing ideas/themes that I have tried many times (and failed) with other classes....so again, as long as it doesn't change too much it will fit the bill for what I'm looking for from it.
Medium covers a concept that I am completely in love with...but like the Shaman in the ACG....really seems to need a lot of attention to get it to where it could/should be to make it viable....during the ACG playtest I felt the Shaman was more or less ignored in favor of the Arcanist (loved what it evolved into by the way)Warpriest, and other classes....so I guess I see that as the concept I would most like to see worked on to bring out it's potential AWESOME...
I agree. I think all of the classes have potential. I just feel some need to be tapped into more than others.
The Medium is a very interesting one to me that I'm definitely keeping an eye on (and testing).
As the designer of the kineticist and the medium, I think it's just more the kineticist being the runaway. The medium has more posts in part because one of the more thorough posters posted his thoughts in a series of many posts rather than in one large post. Add that to a very interesting two-sided discussion between different medium fans with differing opinions on the class's direction, and it accounts for the extra posts. It's really not that much longer than occultist anyway.
Kineticist, on the other hand, that's statistically significant.
As the designer of the kineticist and the medium, I think it's just more the kineticist being the runaway. The medium has more posts in part because one of the more thorough posters posted his thoughts in a series of many posts rather than in one large post. Add that to a very interesting two-sided discussion between different medium fans with differing opinions on the class's direction, and it accounts for the extra posts. It's really not that much longer than occultist anyway.
Kineticist, on the other hand, that's statistically significant.
Ah, I see, that's good to know for the purpose of the thread.
And yeah, the Kineticist definitely has a much larger amount of post. Do you have an opinion on why the Kineticist is the "runaway"?
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Like most of the other posters, I love the flavor and mechanics of the class. I think it has real potential.
I would be happier with the current damage if the class had more skills and utility.
I would have difficulty living with 2 skill points on a non-INT based class, but could manage if it was good at offense/defense.
As someone who has tried many, many times and failed to create the various A:TLA/Korra benders, the kineticist obviously resonates with me. I can finally make a Master of the Unseen Hand now as well, solely using PFRPG materials. Speaking for myself, the aforementioned fantasy fulfillment is a major draw.
That being said, my hope is that I can use these classes to run pseudo-historical Gothic horror campaigns a la Ravenloft: Masque of the Red Death or the Showtime program Penny Dreadful (which I understand is a noteworthy source of inspiration for Occult Adventures). Classes like the occultist, medium, spiritualist, and mesmerist (tricks notwithstanding) certainly fit that mold. The kineticist, meanwhile, feels like more an outlier though I fully understand where it fits in to that landscape (particularly with pyrokineticists and telekineticists).
Personally, I feel as though the psychic needs a great deal more attention than it is currently receiving. The class deserves to be critiqued/playtested further as the class looks like it could be tremendously rewarding to play, but not in its current state. I'll be playtesting one soon and will report my experiences.
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I think the Kineticist attracts so much attention mostly for 3 reasons:
1- it's really cool! And something many people have wanted for a long time!
2- It's unique! Well... Every class has is own gimmicks and stuff, but the Kineticist is very different from every other class in the game.
3- It's really underpowered as it is. So people want to help Mark and the others to make it a great class.
As cool as the class is, having to choose between "lose half your hp" and "attack with the accuracy of a Rogue with a non-magical, non-masterwork crossbow" is not a very appealing choice...
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For me the popularity of the keneticest is a bit of a turn off. There is also something about the occultist that just clicks with me.
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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I think it also has to do with time. The first two classes in the playtest are the kineticist and medium, and both are pretty long and complicated. Between work and other stuff (like my regular game), I just finished reading the mesmerist today and haven't read a bit on the other three.
Also, I feel that the kineticist really doesn't have the subjective feel of occult adventures from my perceptions, and a lot of the people talking about it like that, and possibly aren't really that interested in the rest of the occult adventures theme.
Admittedly, the Spiritualist excites me almost as much as the Kineticist. I just haven't been going to that thread as much because I don't play my Spiritualist until next Wednesday. I'll have things to say then.
No excuses for the theorycrafters who haven't played any of them yet, though. :v
I think it also has to do with time. The first two classes in the playtest are the kineticist and medium, and both are pretty long and complicated. Between work and other stuff (like my regular game), I just finished reading the mesmerist today and haven't read a bit on the other three.
Also, I feel that the kineticist really doesn't have the subjective feel of occult adventures from my perceptions, and a lot of the people talking about it like that, and possibly aren't really that interested in the rest of the occult adventures theme.
I think time definitely is a factor. The Kineticist and Medium are both very chunky in content, so some people have gotten a little lost in the content, and between work and other things, getting through it all may take a while. Also, it is still very early in the playtest, and I think it might even out over time.
And I agree, sort of. I think some people look at the Kineticist, and they don't see OA. They see Avatar, or some superhero. Nothing wrong with that at all. Like I said, rpgs are all about fantasy fullfillment. But that is why it draws in such a diverse group. As opposed to people just looking for the theme.
Admittedly, the Spiritualist excites me almost as much as the Kineticist. I just haven't been going to that thread as much because I don't play my Spiritualist until next Wednesday. I'll have things to say then.
No excuses for the theorycrafters who haven't played any of them yet, though. :v
I really like the flavor of how a Phantom reacts to an eidolon. :P
And honestly, I can't run a playtest until next week, so it has been a lot of reading and theory crafting. Hopefully I can gain a better idea of the classes in the coming weeks.
In terms of my favorites, I'd say it goes down the line like this for me, from top to bottom most inspirational. For now at least.
1 ) - Kineticist: I'll be honest there are a few media "archetypes" that I love and this fits a few of those all its own (to an extent). From element benders, to the classic telekinetic that tosses people about (which is only sort of does currently); this hits a lot of things I like. Plus, it it's a class that sort of dares you with the burn mechanic and I sort of like that, despite not using the mechanic much in playtests yet. It does need some work on utility, skills and early powers, but I'm sure things will get worked out well enough to handle that.
2) - Medium: Again another media "archetype" but more so in books than movies or television for me. It can be built a bunch of different ways, has complexity to really sink ones teeth into and while I've yet to playtest one, at the very least it inspires me with a lot of RP ideas for the spirits that could inhabit ones self. Whether it's capable in battle is yet to be seen.
3) - Spiritualist: When I read over the class, I was actually pretty excited. I mean heck, you call up a spirit to help you out. I'll need to re-read over the class actually, as it has a lot of potential for RP, but I recall only a couple of the spirits really intriguing me at the time. But that may be because I haven't gone back over yet after skimming the first time.
4) - Occultist: I like that it has powers attached to items, and it brings that media thing I've mentioned above with it (harry potter wands, dresden files rings and staff, etc...) and really I do like this class, yet it hasn't quite inspired me just yet. I will say that while this is at 4, it could easily be at 3. Almost a tie with the spiritualist really. I need to read more into the class though, as there was a lot of stuff. I wonder what happens if your items are stolen. I'll have to read again. I suppose they'd just pick up another item that was like the implement. "Lost my pen and now I can't do magic stuff! Oh wait, found another different pen. That'll work."
5) - Mesmerist: I like it's idea. I like It's flavor and the possibilities for RP. While I haven't gotten to playtest it yet, it felt like the stare tricks (more so the buffs) would be a pain in the neck to use smoothly and/or effectively. I want to playtest this later in fact, but since I'm self playtesting that means making a like level melee character for it to support, because right now, from what I've seen, its more a support class than one that could handle itself in a full on fight. I could be wrong though and I sort of hope I am. Probably just need a dex build really.
6) - Psych: I like the class, and to be honest I do like all of them. The disciplines are what set it apart from say a sorcerer or wizard and some of the phrenic amplifications seem awesome. I can't honestly say why it doesn't quite inspire me. But chances are I just need to see it in action to get that spark of excitement going. I enjoy playing my wizard, and the Psychic seems to be on par with at least a sorcerer if not a wizard too. I think having not tested it, is actually why I'm not excited for it, because I can feel it's awesome-ness radiating off of its cold exterior, but I think I have to break it open to bask in said awesomeness.
In the end though. I do like all of the classes, it's just that the kineticist and mesmerist have inspired me out of the gate with their RP potential alone. While the others I feel I'll need to build and playtest them to feel the inspiration. Which isn't as easy as my play group has been down for some months due to DM getting into military training and time constraints. So. I have to self playtest. Which can be tedious and daunting.
Perhaps though I could find a thread game where they're looking to solely test out these classes. Hmm...
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For me the popularity of the keneticest is a bit of a turn off. There is also something about the occultist that just clicks with me.
This describes my thoughts exactly.
I have no conversant fandom for Avatar or the "bender" trope so Kineticist is boring thematically for me, though I will investigate the mechanics further.
Something about the Occultist clicked with me, I just wish it was completely divorced from existing Arcane schools, though I completely understand why this was done. I guess that is what Archetypes are for... Domain based Occultist, Mystery based Occultist etc; Implements not based on schools, domains, bloodlines or mysteries
my first thought really was that being the the first classes, a lot of people are getting caught up in them, without moving onto other classes.
I would also say that Kineticist and Medium are replacing popular 3.5 classes (Warlock and Binder), and Kineticist is just the easiest class to grock, rule wise than most of the other classes (Psychic may actually be easier, but at current it reads as just another 9th level caster, so mechanically may be less interesting).
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Kineticist is not just Avatar/Korra, it's also pretty much Fullmetal Alchemist and a dozen other anime archetypes. The moment I opened the playtest document I knew the book is going to be pretty much 'Kinetic Adventures + 5 other classes' because all the threads where people broke their craniums trying to build a faithful representation of a Bender or a State Alchemist.
The kineticist is the real new class here, filling a long needed niche that has been requested for years. Many people have high hopes for the class and interested in helping make it great.
About the classes:
1- The Kineticist: As already said, this one is the jewel of the playtest. Great flavor and mechanics needing a huge power up.
2- The Medium: A really complicated class, that reminds me of the binder. I find it requires discussion because of the enormous complexity on coordinating it's options to achieve a solid niche in a group. Also needing a power up.
3- The Mesmerist: Not much to discuss, this class seems ready to play. Has a niche, good power (although still lacking in combat) and flavor. I think it should get the charm and sleep witch hexes, and -1 to will saves is a bit underwhelming.
4- The Occultist: Pretty much a ready to play class. Still lacks some "wow ability". Something like Spell Kenning from the Skald might be appropriate.
5- The Psychic: Great class. Not much to change either. Surely the final version will have some tweaks, but its as good as ready.
6- The Spiritualist: Could be a summoner archetype. The lack of evolutions and the belief that the summoner is overpowered (misguided, IMO), made a class that brings not much new stuff, and didn't grab that much interest.
So while some classes have not much to discuss, as they are nearly ready, others do not inspire so much and people will rarely talk about them. Witch, is a good thing. It allows the Dev. team to grab this results as feedback, work with them, and launch a great product.
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Just putting my putting my two cents in there... The medium and the kineticist are the most interesting because Mr. Seifter posts far more often than the other devs.
Occultist is actually missing a lot of spells that would make some of it's focus powers useful. It has no summoning spells or pattern spells, yet has focus powers that deal with both sets.
For me the popularity of the keneticest is a bit of a turn off. There is also something about the occultist that just clicks with me.
Not a fan of the kineticist class, but then I never had the pleasure of watching the Avatar series. The occultist class, much like the bloodrager class from ACG, just clicked with me. I like the fluff concept of the occultist. Didn't really care for the other classes, but since I watched Insidious last night, I am starting to dig the Medium.
Kineticist is not just Avatar/Korra, it's also pretty much Fullmetal Alchemist and a dozen other anime archetypes. The moment I opened the playtest document I knew the book is going to be pretty much 'Kinetic Adventures + 5 other classes' because all the threads where people broke their craniums trying to build a faithful representation of a Bender or a State Alchemist.
It's also the closest thing to 3.5 Warlock, and to any blasty mage from MMORPG. Somewhat simple in its general role and with engaging mechanics.
People were trying to design similar class for years.
Myself I had two three different attempts here on the boards, one with warlock, one with 'blaster', one with mage, and I am pretty sure that others done that as well.
Medium seems to be a good idea but needs work in my opinion. Occultist and mesmerist are ok classes but doesn't spark that much interest with something really novel. Spiritualist is psychic summoner. Psychic is solid but again not really a novelty - a psychic equivalent of sorcerer.
I think it might end as Kinetic Adventures, his Medium sidekick and four other guys.
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For me the Kineticist gets so very close to the Biotic concept of Mass Effect. I hope that Mass Effect will have some future influence in the powers of the Telekinetic group.
As to the other class.
I don't care for Medium - to complex and will eat up way to much of the page count for my liking.
I love the Mesmerist but I will admit that it needs some help. It's supposed to be a 3/4 BAB and 6th level caster but all of it's abilities don't really call for that so much as 1/2 and 9th level caster. It's possible with a bit more combat relevant abilities (maybe making it so the stare ability penalizes AC and increases the amount of damage the target takes by the same penalty the Stare gives to Will saves) the Mesmerist will fit the chassis it is built with.
I'm kinda meh towards the Occultist. It doesn't intrigue me that much, not sure why. I have looked at it. Mechanically, it's kinda interesting, gets seven spells known of each level, invests points into items and does things based on those items. But no character concepts jumped out to me based on what I saw.
I will need a bit more Disciplines for the Psychic then what is currently present before I have a full opinion. But I agree with the assessment that it's just a Sorcerer that has a pool of points to activate non-blo...non-discipline powers... which all comes back to the Sorcerer being really sad.
And the Spiritualist.... A different flavor of summoner. Could of been an Archetype. Don't care for it.
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Kineticist has a few things going for it that attract discussion.
Firstly it is an infinite 'caster'. For a long time I've seen third party and homebrew attempts to replicate, reproduce or remix the Warlock class. Having unlimited blasts drags out every dream of warlocks but with a very different flavor.
It 'casts' like no other caster. The way that it shoots magic is simple and keeps to its theme. When I made one for level 5 play Thursday, it was so fast to construct and better yet it stuck to a theme. Also everything you do is completely related to everything you know. You don't just fly with a fly spell, you fly in a way that's related to what kind of magic you do. You used fire to rocket yourself into the air, you use telekinesis to lift yourself, you blow air out of your butt and fly around. With normal magic you cast whatever you find with only a scant few spells to hold your gimmick together. I cast Burning hands one level and then Black Tentacles. Those things are totally unrelated. Meanwhile the Kineticist feels natural. You learn how to control fire and so you do more fire stuff unless you learn some different element too.
Then there are the Avatar: The Last Airbender feel to it all. How many threads have we had of 'I want to make an Airbender' or 'I want to make Elsa from Frozen'. Having the whole master of the elements theme is next to impossible. As soon as you run out of burning hands and fireballs you stop being a fire mage, then you're just a regular-ole wizard like everyone else casting things that have nothing to do with fire. You know how often I've tried to pick an element as a gimmick with a caster and it not working out because there's no real way to stick with your gimmick without gimping yourself.
Kineticist is also probably the weakest class in the bunch. Aside from Craft and Profession, which almost everyone has anyway, it has five class skills. 7 after it's element. I'm pretty sure that's a record and the 2 skills per level makes it all worse. The Burn mechanic isn't scary until you start missing. then you realize you have to eat away HP in order to get bonuses to hit. Nobody wants the playtest's coolest class to become another Rogue. They want it to succeed.
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Great Post Malwing!
I just started reading the Occultist, and after the Kinetic, it's the next most interesting class.
I will add that its odd for me, because I admit that after I read through this thread I went into the other threads to see what was up. So to speak. After I did so and another gloss over the other classes last night (it was 4 am, or I would have just read them in detail) I'm actually more amped about the occultist and to a lesser extent the psychic classes more than I was originally. That's probably because I didn't fully understand what they could do.
Granted I'm still most amped about the kineticist (not only because of "bending" but because of jean greying/magnetoing/carrie-ing amongst many other different tropes). However, now that I've dipped into the other class threads so to speak, I'm going to look into the occultist tonight and see about building one for testing and understanding.
This thread helped in this slight shift. So good on ya'! :)
This thread helped in this slight shift. So good on ya'! :)
That was part of my intent of the thread. One, to see what people thought of the classes, and why. And two, to see how the other classes could appeal to more, because, I feel they are scorned. They have potential, but I feel people tend to focus on one thing when this is a playtest. I don't want to buy a book with one class done really well and the others sort of left in the dust. That being said, I obviously have my preferences (Kineticist, Mesmerist, and Medium), but I feel they all need some lovin'.
I don't think the other classes are scorned. I know from my point of view They all function fine for the most part. Each one is somewhat exciting. The only one I'm concerned about is the Psychic which seems okay enough but kind of boring in the sense that its just expected and generic. Its almost a Sorcerer with a different spell list. Its probably pretty necessary but not as exciting as the other classes.
I explained the Kineticist. The Medium I could leave only because I have a 3pp product that does the same thing only more fleshed out and in my opinion better, but outside of that the very idea is exciting. The Mesmerist is almost a Bard without the art/music gimmick so you can be Mentok the Mind-taker without needing a lute. The Occultist pushes into a realm that I thought the Magus would do but is cool as it's own thing. The spiritualist is like the Medium and the Summoner put together. Each of the classes has some kind of magical effect that handles magic in a new and exciting way (except psychic) its just that Kineticist is the one that has the mold-breaking 'casting' that makes it the talk of the town.
Point of note: the playtest forum shows a lot of kineticist players, but the other 5 classes are relatively equal footing from a cursory glance. Until Saturday, I didn't even see any playtests for the Medium in there.
What actually MAKES a class appealing? Flavor and mechanics definitely have a part in it, and so, for all the classes, what improvements could be made for more people to have the desire to play them? A class can be neat and well done and still be... bland. Are tried and true mechanics king, or is a little bit of "weird" needed? How do you feel the flavor of some the classes can get some spice?
For me, the reasons a new class either attracts me or does not cam be summed up in a few key points;
1) Does it feel like a different and unique class or just a slightly rewritten existing class. The Kineticist feels like a unique class. Some of the others just feel like variations on existing classes to me.
2) Can I see the class as part of the setting? Even though a class might be new can I see that it has always been there in the setting, figuratively speaking. If the class feels out of place it turns me off. The psychic, for example, just does not feel right. For me, it feels like I am trying to force in another class that really does not fit. Again, I realize that is an opinion, but it does impact me.
3) Are the mechanics fun to play? In this case, the mechanics don't have to be vastly different from any other class per say, but rather if the mechanics feel like too much work or a bore then they distract from the class and I loose interest in it.
As I said above, I know these three are subjective and thus hard for a developer to plan for, but they are the factors that play into my wanting a class or not.
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Reading through the playtest those two classes and the spiritualist felt the most off and in need of work which leads people to come in with their opinions on how to fix it. Everyone wants these classes to be fun, interesting and most of all playable so the more broken they are the more people are going to want to fix them.
Occultist is pretty much ready to go other than an updated spell list. It is a great representation of a caster using implements to focus their power
Mesmerist sticks hard to its theme and you can easily see what is trying to do. Again I felt not much had to change for it to be good to go.
Psychic basically is ready to go out the door. It just needs more psychic spells which are being held back for the actual release and more disciplines.
Whereas the spiritualist feels like a toned down summoner archetype. It inspires with its theme but its mechanics are copy pasted from the summoner with a reduction in power. It needs to find its own niche. The developers need to step back and ask what role is this intended to fill in the party.
The Medium is a huge amount of potential in a slow and hindered package. Again the theme is strong in this one but people are trying to improve, streamline and simplify what looks to be an interesting flexible late game class with currently poor mechanics. It provides something that currently nothing else can achieve so people are interested in seeing it succeed.
The Kineticist excites people due to its theme but lacks punch in what people are seeing as its niche. People have said over and over again that this lets them do something that they couldn't do otherwise. This investment makes people want it to succeed and if the mechanics were good the thread would be character builds left right and center but they don't seem to add up so people are trying to find a way to make it work.
Since we're discussing the classes and what makes them 'click' (or not)...
Like a good number of others here, I'm a tabletop gamer along with anime fan and vidgamer. I have ported character concepts from some of my favorite series, and many times there's been characters that didn't have a great 'fit' for what I want. When I came into the ACG playtest, I found that most of what I was looking for was...not there.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the end results (and seem to be one of the few who do), but they were not the classes I was looking for, barring the shaman, swashbuckler, and arcanist - the latter of which I originally had no interest in originally.
Occult Adventures has jumped out at me for having so many things that match so many characters I've been fond of in the past.
Kineticist - most people immediate think Avatar. I think El Hazaard. Miz Mishtal, Shayla-Shayla, and Afura Mann have long needed love beyond being shoehorned into magery and/or sorcery.
Medium - obscure at this may be, and lacking in admitted taste, Jungle de Ikou comes to mind as how I picture Medium working, though of course as an anime focusing on an individual having a primary spirit that they use/bond with, and activation giving the user an appearance to align with the spirit in question. Were it in my hands, I would play up that aspect further, along with gaining more powers from the spirit in question with specialization, as opposed to wearing a multitude of hats. Less esoterically, the Persona users of Persona 1+2 (Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment) also fit with the fell, with less focus of influence gained over the users. If I were porting it into a revamp of Nyambe, I'd be inclined to use medium for clerics, when not using shaman. I'd also reference Chen Gong from Dynasty Warriors 8, if only because he uses spirits to assault his foes while using the Art of War scroll as the focus.
Spiritualist - for me the comparison is a bit specific. Any who have experienced JoJo's Bizarre Adventres: Heritage for the Future (the Capcom fighting game) would likely recall that there were two versions of Dio Brando - the regular version with the fully-realized (and more Eidolon-like iteration of) The World, and 'Shadow Dio', who at the time had not fully unlocked the powers of his Stand, and it manifested most often as a vague, incomplete form vaguely akin to its eventual completed look. It was used more as a 'fire and forget' attack than a on-and-off-again companion power. I think of that as the distinction between a Summoner and a Spiritualist; the Eidolon is a more active component and more of a priority, while a Phantom is still a danger, but less of a directly attack-able one, which makes it a theoretically awesome for tag-teaming with a summoner, were it not for the jealousy aspect. One other variant that comes to mind; Oichi from Sengoku Basara, from 2 onwards, where she's beome a Sadako-expy with shadowy hands of doom for her weapon.
Occultist - LOVE this class, even if I'm 'doing it wrong'. I want it to be more the Fullbringers from Bleach, as well as the classic Final Fantasy 'Use Item/Get Spell Effect' class without being a crafter class. In fact, it in many ways makes me think of games where items that can be picked up have limited uses as weapons - think of the Angel Arms picked up in Bayonetta, or the 'Evidence Attacks' used by Phoenix Wright in Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3. Granted, that's a very broad range of concept, but I like to think with archetypes there's plenty of room for both ends of the spectrum.
Mesmerist - the Gaze version to the Bard's Sound Power. I would like to see them have more of a 'blue mage'/enemy abilities exploiter, with a side-order of Ghost Rider's Penance Stare. I also want to play a medusa mesmerist who can toggle her petrification gaze due to hypnotic gaze, but also able at higher levels to use her gaze without eye-contact to petrify someone, sniping slowly as it would build until the it reaches full effect, resulting in people NOT being in shocked poses, and thus lessening the odds of immediate assumption of 'oh, someone saw a medusa, time to hunt her down'. Admittedly, part of what I pictured was Quistis' 'Lazer Eyes' limit break from Final Fantasy VIII - being able to possibly cast spells that 'ride the gaze' to its target, would be rather awesome, but I can imagine where people would find that too powerful. I also would like to see the Mesmerist's eye-and-gaze themed powers used to obliquely reference a certain gaze-themed beasties that is closed content, yet was circumvented into Dragon's Crown by use of an alternate name.
Psychic - The only class I'm 'meh' about, but only because it seems like one archetype is a psychic version of the WoW Shadow Priest. I'd like to see more focus on mind-screwery overall, but also subtly referencing more of the traditional foes of psionics as more psychic, occult horror. Aboleths already have a known portfolio of things that are tied to the Aberrant sorcerous bloodline - they are far from the only sort of thing that fit that role and niche.
All that said, Psychic Magic and Spells overall come across as being severely lacking. I like seeing the classic attacks as spells, though I think they should be more of a focus for Psychics, and possibly somewhat for Mesmerists. Overall, to me the classes that aren't Medium or Kineticist have a feeling of 'MOAR PLOX', but that's because I personally think that the fear of them being overpowered is foremost on the developer's minds.
YMMV, see Manufacturer for details.
Since we're discussing the classes and what makes them 'click' (or not)...
Like a good number of others here, I'm a tabletop gamer along with anime fan and vidgamer. I have ported character concepts from some of my favorite series, and many times there's been characters that didn't have a great 'fit' for what I want. When I came into the ACG playtest, I found that most of what I was looking for was...not there.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the end results (and seem to be one of the few who do), but they were not the classes I was looking for, barring the shaman, swashbuckler, and arcanist - the latter of which I originally had no interest in originally.
You are a bad person for not thinking that the investigator is the raddest class in the game.
You are a bad person for not thinking that the investigator is the raddest class in the game.Since we're discussing the classes and what makes them 'click' (or not)...
Like a good number of others here, I'm a tabletop gamer along with anime fan and vidgamer. I have ported character concepts from some of my favorite series, and many times there's been characters that didn't have a great 'fit' for what I want. When I came into the ACG playtest, I found that most of what I was looking for was...not there.
Don't get me wrong, I liked the end results (and seem to be one of the few who do), but they were not the classes I was looking for, barring the shaman, swashbuckler, and arcanist - the latter of which I originally had no interest in originally.
I am a bad person for many reasons, but Sherlock-fellation is not one of them.
( •_•)⌐■-■
In fact, I found the 'Elementary' Holmes-worship...
(⌐■_■)
rather 'Primary'.
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To hell with Sherlock Holmes. Play batman and get good.
To hell with Sherlock Holmes. Play batman and get good.
Sorry, can't here you over how much more awesome The Shadow is. :D
Okay, semi-serious question for those familiar with the materials referenced.
Anyone played Muramasa: the Demon Blade/Rebirth? If so, you know of course that the female protagonist
In fact, a lot of the thematic feel of the Occult Adventures play test classes feel like a different power paradigm than the usual classes. Which is by no means a bad thing; I just am not sure where, exactly, others are aiming or what they are expecting.
So far, I have built a couple of kineticists and a psychic, all of which are going to see play in one form or another (mostly in pbp here, with one kineticist reserved for my superman build in my emerald spire justice league home game).
I am staying away from the mesmerist, just because I promised myself that I wouldn't play enchantment focused characters anymore (cause they make me go to a bad place).
From my read of the occultist, I think it's one of the more balanced classes I've seen from a RPG in a while, where each choice you have to make there is an actual choice (in the sense that there are two or more things that you want equally). I would be interested in trying out one next I think.
The spiritualist isn't really my bag, but then again I'm not a huge fan of the playstyle of pet classes.
I will probably avoid the medium, as from my brief overview it looks like a bookkeeping problem.