Upgrade to a Spiritualist's Phantom


Occult Adventures Playtest General Discussion

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

I have been reading a lot about how inferior the phantom is to an eidolon and how people feel it is weak in general. Some of it I agree with. The phantom could use some tweaking to make it better, but I don't relish the idea of an eidolon clone and would like to see something different. I roughed out an abiity for the phantom. I am not 100% sure this is the proper area for it but this is my best guess.

Spoiler:

Possession (Su)
As a standard action, a phantom can attempt to possess a corporal creature. The target gets a will save (10+1/2 the phantom's hd + the phantoms charisma modifier) and lasts a number of rounds equal to its charisma modifier.

At 1st level this interferes with the creatures normal actions and results in it only being able to take a single attack or move action.

At 5th level the phantom can take over the targets body, if it is mindless. The phantom can use the targets basic attacks and movements but not use any supernatural or spell like abilities. The phantom still uses its BAB and mental stats, but will use the targets physical stats.

At 8th level, the phantom is no longer restricted to mindless targets, when controlling the targets body. They can attempt a knowledge check appropriate for the target. Success means that is can use one supernatural or spell like ability during the possession.

The phantom does take half of the damage that the target suffers. It doesn't take any extra damage from attacks that the phantom wouldn't qualify for due to its alignment or creature type. For example, a chaotic good phantom wouldn't take the extra damage from a paladin's smite or a ranger's favored enemy ability unless they have Outsider(phantom). It does take all the extra damage beyond what is needed to kill the target. If the target only has 10hp with a 12 con and takes 30 damage from a single attack, the phantom would take 11 (half the 22 needed to kill the target) and then the 8 left over, for a total of 19.

This action requires the phantom to move into the targets space and does provoke an attack of opportunity.

Whether or not the phantom succeeds, it can't try again for 24 hours vs the same target.

The phantom can leave the target as a move action that doesn't provoke from the target and leaves the phantom in any square that it can legally occupy adjacent to the target.

Liberty's Edge

A knowledge check will be ridiculously hard for the phantom's 2 skill points per HD -2 INT modifier...and Know: Planes is their only class knowledge.

Perhaps this would work for an archetype where you can set INT as the main stat rather than DEX.


IMO the eidolon is too good. Without needing the full-round action to use handle animal (which is SUPPOSED to be done with druid ACs, but is often ignored) to direct the eidolon, which is an intelligent creature, the summoner has a HUGE advantage, but I may be a minority on that opinion.


Big Lemon wrote:
IMO the eidolon is too good. Without needing the full-round action to use handle animal (which is SUPPOSED to be done with druid ACs, but is often ignored) to direct the eidolon, which is an intelligent creature, the summoner has a HUGE advantage, but I may be a minority on that opinion.

Handling an animal (using a trick it knows) is a move action, not full-round. And it's free for Druids and Rangers. Pushing (having it do something other than a trick it knows) is full-round, or move for a Druid or Ranger.

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