Wow ... I'm caught up? I'm caught up!
*Does Mishpo's Dance of Victory*
That being the case....
Q: Will there be any bumps in overall strength for Cromwell? As currently his major seems a bit weak in comparison to other spirits.
Q: For the accuracy pact augmentation, is it meant to be available earlier? Right now it reads "The occultist gains a +1 bonus on all weapon attack rolls and damage rolls that she makes. An occultist can select this pact augmentation once at 1st level, and again at 4th, 10th, and 16th level," but it only becomes available as a 6th lv. pact augmentation currently.
By the way, I just want to say thanks Alexander for all the diligence you've shown. I know I can be a bit critical a couple things, but I guess I just want to make sure some of the spirits I really liked are still solid enough for me to want to play. :)
Wow ... I'm caught up? I'm caught up!
*Does Mishpo's Dance of Victory*
Not for long! I'm working on writing up the Level 4 Spirits now, and I posted some earlier questions about the Occult Weapon secrets. :)
Seriously, though, thank you for taking the time to go through all the messages and addressing our questions. I know we tend to trip over ourselves sometimes when we miss the edit windows (me and Abjure Missiles, for one), but I think it goes to show how much love and excitement there is for pact magic.
Q: With the Unbarred binder secret, should the additional penalty of half-binder level with Unbarred constellations still be there? I feel that this is quite a penalty as the archetypes with Tunneled Lore are normally limited to one constellation and having a second as a choice at the sacrifice of a bonus feat, versatile performance, etc. should be enough of a penalty.
Its only for binding checks, so there's simply not a good chance that you'll get capstone empowerment or avoid personality influences. The actual power of what you get isn't affected.
In short, you're not very good with those spirits, even if they're available to you. It broadens your options while reminding you that these aren't your choice spirits you're dealing with.
Also, let it be known that Starless spirits aren't affected by tunneled lore. They're not a "constellation."
Also, let it be known that Starless spirits aren't affected by tunneled lore. They're not a "constellation."
Ah! That was my next question for clarification. Excellent!
Shroud of Shadows:
Requires: Occult Weapon, Seal of Living Darkness
While wielding your occult weapon you can gain concealment as a move action for one turn, but this only works against melee attacks. This concealment doesn't let you use Stealth.This secret hurts, especially since it's required for Tendrils of Darkness. It long gets overshadowed once you get a full-attack, and is nigh-useless for a caster-type occultist (who would be the only type who could arguably keep this ability up). If this protected against ranged attacks as well it would be better, and if it eventually upgraded to only be a swift action instead of a move action then I could see it remaining useful.
Look at it like this: Shroud of Shadows is the melee version of the Wind Stance feat.
Tendrils of Darkness:
Requires: Occult Weapon, Seal of Living Darkness, Shroud of Shadows, 4th Level Spirits (Occultist 7 or non-Occultist 10)
The flavor of this one is still great--as a CMB check you target a creature within 30 ft. and pin its shadow, reducing the speed of all its movement to 5 ft, and the creature needs to eat standard actions to escape, at a DC of your ability DC.I like this ability and it's still great for a tank and stays useful, but at the higher levels with the more-powerful creatures I don't know if your normal ability DC is going to cut it. Maybe if it upgrades to 10 + full binder level + Charisma eventually?
I agree that the DC is low. Its now equal to the occultist's CMD + her Charisma modifier.
Q: Does Occult Weapon allow you to reconfigure your weapon with a 10-minute ritual? If so, that will add versatility to the secret as well as negate my issue with you losing the weapon and being out a spirit for 24 hours, provided you can perform the ritual without the weapon present.
No. Once you choose a set-up, that's what the spirit gives you for the entire day.
I'm going to be making some changes to occult weapon. They look like this:
"Instead of binding a spirit onto her soul, an occultist with this secret can bind it into a weapon as part of a ritual. She may select any manufactured weapon or her body in this manner; if she chooses to bind the spirit to her body, this secret’s benefits apply to all of her natural weapons and unarmed strikes. While wielding the weapon, the occultist can use the bound spirit’s major granted ability as if the spirit were bound to her soul and the selected weapon is empowered with occult energy, granting it a +1 enhancement bonus for 24 hours. For every three binder levels beyond 4th, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 16th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5.
..."
In effect, you trade all of your minor granted abilities for the enhancement bonus. Additionally, corrosive, corrosive burst, and returning were added to the list of abilities that the occult weapon can grant and a note was made that if the spirit has two major granted abilities, you only get one (of your choice).
Q: With a full-round attack, can you target as many creatures with Tendrils of Darkness as you have attacks?
No. Using tendrils of darkness is a standard action; it is not an attack action and it does not replace attacks during an attack or full attack action.
I agree that the DC is low. Its now equal to the occultist's CMD + her Charisma modifier.
"Instead of binding a spirit onto her soul, an occultist with this secret can bind it into a weapon as part of a ritual. She may select any manufactured weapon or her body in this manner; if she chooses to bind the spirit to her body, this secret’s benefits apply to all of her natural weapons and unarmed strikes. While wielding the weapon, the occultist can use the bound spirit’s major granted ability as if the spirit were bound to her soul and the selected weapon is empowered with occult energy, granting it a +1 enhancement bonus for 24 hours. For every three binder levels beyond 4th, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 16th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5.
..."
I like these changes--they make Occult Weapon much more attractive to where I can see taking it as a situational secret; I may not use it every day but if I know I'm going to fighting (or what I'm going to be fighting) it helps me tailor my build for the day.
I feel like this was assumed common sense before, but now its official
Never assume common sense. Didn’t working at a school teach you this? :)
Re: Researching the Spirit rewrite. The rewrite helps a lot in terms of clarity. Thank you!
Re: Referencing sections. The book does do a really good job of referencing sections where appropriate, so that’s a huge step forward compared to books that don’t reference at all. In addition, this book does little “splitting up rules,” which is a very good thing; it’s nice to have the rules in one location for easy understanding. The only major rule that didn’t do this was the rules around Constellations; it took me a bit to understand how they work.
Speaking of which, your constellation rewrite helps a lot in this regard. I also notice that when talking about constellations, this is the first time you mention the phrase “good pact” (page 5). This should reference the "Key Terms for Pact Magic" in Chapter 3 - Pactmaking. This is important for the reader to get a definition of what a “good pact” is.
Re: Root stance. I look forward to the rewrite.
Re: Canny Prediction. Having this work in a similar fashion to the Cyclops insight ability makes a good amount of sense, but do note that the Cyclops insight ability doesn’t reference anything about natural 1s.
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I want to go ahead and say thank you for listening to our concerns and addressing them.
Level 4 Spirits
More new spirits, more revisions, and we're starting to get into some of the most fun abilities.
Anajira, Prideless King
Our first catfolk spirit, and one whose ceremony will leave your character traumatized. Some very nice abilities for the cost of a visit with a Profession(Psychologist). His extended legend also starts with, "It is good to be king."
Skirmisher's Pounce: This is Spring Attack, but with the capstone even better as it allows you to use any feat or ability that modifies an attack action, like Vital Strike. The only issue I have here is that unlike Spring Attack it doesn't protect you from attacks of opportunity from your target.
Dark Magic: Melee touch that deals untyped damage for 2d6 + 1/4 binder levels, or an 80 ft. ranged attack for 1d6 + 1/4 binder levels. For a 4th-level spirit this ability and its damage is somewhat lacking; however, it has a synergy with Flurry that makes it better. And it's always good to have a ranged touch attack.
Flurry: Choose Dark Magic or Form of the Pantheress. With Dark Magic you can use a full-round action to attack at your normal rate of attacks with this ability. Considering it's a touch attack it's great for when you're up against something heavily armored, or when you're out of range and still want to do some damage. If you choose Form of the Pantheress you gain the benefits of Multiattack while polymorphed as a Pantheress. Both of these are nice synergies, but the Multiattack is somewhat limited due to the Form of the Pantheress only having two claw attacks and no bite, but if wielding a weapon you'd still get an additional claw attack at -2.
Form of the Pantheress: You turn into a female catfolk (pantherfolk). Not only do you look cool, but you gain two claw attacks, bonuses on Athletics and Stealth, and +10 ft. to speed when running/charging/withdrawing. You don't gain any enhancement bonuses, but you are the pantheress for the duration of your pact with Anajira, and since it's a polymorph effect it will protect you against other such effects, which is an added bonus.
Grace: You gain a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and Charisam, +4 at 12 and +6 at 19. If you're an Occultist you should have a good Charisma bonus (as should other pact magic users, honestly) so you won't get much use out of that, but Dexterity will help both melee and ranged characters and can save you some money on items.
Vestigial Bond: You gain panther that functions as a cavalier's mount. You exchange Flurry, which is a fair.
Influence: You go after males with power, and ignore females with power. This can spell trouble in a matriarchy.
Catha of Codex, Sleuth of True Names
I'm pretty sure this is our first spirit that is a city, and it's a good spirit to boot.
Call by Name: You single out a target and use its true name to cause it a major headache. You get +2 to your binder level and to attack rolls on the target, and the target suffers -2 to AC and savings throws against abilities you use on it. Will negates, but the effect lasts for the duration of your pact, and multiple uses don't stack. The capstone let's you hit 1 target/2 binder levels. It's a nice ability, but most spirits' majors scale. This one doesn't, and the -2 will only me a minor issue at the higher levels. If this scaled, it would be better.
Lore of Languages: Comprehend languages at will. A nice bonus.
Lore of Words: Bonus on Linguistic checks and know two languages. As written this allows you secret languages, which fits with the spirit.
Repulse by Name: You get magic circle against evil at will--it only functions against one target within 30 ft., but it's not limited by alignment. No focusing inward and no dimensional anchor, but this is a great ability.
Word Casting: You gain some wordcasting words and can use them. Similar to Iona Ophid's ability and like that ability, this one is also great.
Vestigial Bond: You lose your word casting to gain a dog that speaks every language you know. I honestly wouldn't trade word casting for the dog.
Influence: You shut yourself off from everyone so that you can read and research. If you have some Knowledge Tasks you need to do, here's a great excuse to do so.
Ethanial Midnight, the Inquisitive Torturer
Ethanial the sadistic torturer is back with some changes and is stronger for them.
Wrecking Pain: Renamed from Touch of Pain and so much better. You get to reduce a creature's Strength AND Dexterity by half your binder level for 1 minute per level. Even on a save they suffer -2 to each score. This is mind-affecting and pain, so it won't work on everything. As written, this ability stacks. The capstone also scars the target and lets you work your mojo up to 1 mile away that don't require attack rolls. A much nicer major overall.
Crystallize Pain: This is now a feat, and so this minor grants you that feat. Currently I'm not sure what the effects of the item "crystallized pain," but since is ability is so evil it's sure to be good. Probably worth it, but a good campaign won't see much use out of it (unless you can get away from your party).
False Alignment: Similar to before, you can now select an alignment as you're detected. Your opponent has a chance to detect that the reading is falsified, but this is much more useful than before.
Instant Manacles: The "no saving throw" has been mentioned before and will be fixed, so don't count on that. Limit of 3+Cha/Day, but you can target anyone within 30 ft. and bind them up. This is a buff.
Master of Torture: No more Speak with Dead, and Discern Lies gets rolled into here--you get a bonus to Sense Motive and you can cast discern lies and confess each 3+Cha/day. Another buff.
Vestigial Bond: You replace your manacles with the create pact poltergeist binder secret, which requires Occultist 11. This is a very strong ability as it has no limitations on what type of object you animate. Much stronger than before.
Influence: Same as before.
Fey Baraddu, The Beast in the Woods
Hands down one of my favorite spirits, he hasn't received many changes from his previous form. Honestly, these changes were necessary to balance him out.
Beast Shape: Similar to before, but with some changes that honestly needed to be done. You no longer require the capstone to gain beast shape III or IV, but you no longer have vermin shape II (no big loss) nor can you switch forms as a move action. Beast shape III is now at 10 instead of 9 and IV is at 15 instead of 11. You also have to use the major ability to switch back to your true form before changing into another beast shape without the capstone. Still a great ability, as it has no duration, and grants a lot of utility and combat options.
Awesome Blow: Same as before. You won't use this all the time, but it can be useful.
Baraddu's Fangs: Modified from before, while your attacks still count as cold iron, your enhancement bonus increases at 9/11/13/15 instead of 7/10/13/16. While this is worse at the lower levels, you are a tiger with pounce with three attacks, so I can't be too disappointed.
Wild Empathy: Slight buff as it now also works with magical beasts.
Woodland Stride: Same as before and is situational.
Vestigial Bond: Lose Baraddu's Fangs, gain a brownies. Normally not worth it.
Influence: Currently has Catha of Codex's listed, but hopefully you can control your sexual urges more now.
Gulguthriana, The Glutton
The glutton is still alliterative and is a little better than before.
Gulguthriana's Greedy Grasp: The basic ability is the same, but the capstone has changed from an extra 5 feet of reach (total of 10) for an extra 3 rounds of 5 ft. reach. A definite buff.
Gallowing Gag: The same as before, only the name is more alliterative.
Gargantuan Gulguthriana: Same as before, and still as good.
Gulguthriana's Grapple: Same as before, and still good.
Gluttonous Gullet: Same as before and situational.
Vestigial Bond: You're no longer great at grappling, but you instead gain a filth fiend which has stench and disease. A decent exchange.
Influence: Same as before.
Hexus, The Living Curse
Hexus comes through fairly unscathed.
Possess Animal: Same as before, only cleaned up.
Agitate Animals: This ability is explicity an aura and is limited to once per creature per day. Great if you're in melee with enemy animals.
Bestow Curse: Made slightly worse, as the range is limited to 30 ft. and it's once per creature per day. Also, a failed save no longer bestows a weaker penalty.
Rebuike Undead: Slightly buffed--although you are limited to 3+Cha/day, you can target the same undead multiple times now.
Undying: Same as before, but cleaned up.
Vestigial Bond: Same as before.
Influence: Same as before.
Jehotek, The Throne of Heaven
Jehotek truly is godly now.
Fire from the Heavens: This is less fiery but more destructive. It's no longer half-fire/half-untyped but fully untyped. 1d6/level of untyped goodness in a 20ft cylinder. Reflex for half, but who cares when you're dealing untyped damage? The capstone is better as well--you count as having the selective major ability secret and you can choose to heal those excluded targets for half the damage dealth by the ability, not only your binder level. An amazing buff for this ability.
Blessings of Jehotek: A minor buff with the bless effect lasting 1 minute/level instead of only 1 minute.
Flock of Jehotek: Same as before. For some strange reason the LG Angel doesn't want to harm good creatures as much.
Prayer to Jehotek: Cleaned up and functions as the prayer spell 3+Cha/day.
Rebuke Heresy: Buffed--it takes a standard action to try to shake off the fear and can target mindless living creatures and undead.
Vestigial Bond: Same as before.
Influence: You no longer evangelize the angel, but exercise love and compassion. A much nicer influence, as evangelizing Jehotek didn't seem to fit.
Kandisha, The Desert's Revenge
Kandisha is better than before with some nice buffs to her abilities.
Curse of Kandisha: A slight rename, and a few buffs. The capstone empowerment causes men to suffer a -4 to the save, as it was buffed to be able to stack the number of curses on a target. In addition, Personal Mirage is more fun as it replaces the natural terrain with whatever the target desires. I can honestly seeing it being more destructive than before.
Avian Speech: Same as before, and situational. But if you have Kaiya's Abjure Missiles you can talk to the projectiles as they turn into birds and fly away. Actually, with a starting attitude of friendly there's a good chance you can convince them to stay and attack your enemies. A novel way of reflecting projectiles.
Protection of Kandisha: A large buff, it protects against male humanoids, monstrous humanoids, and outsiders, regardless of alignment. A constant effect as well.
Sand Cloud: A buff, it no longer impedes your vision nor movement and you can use it 3+Cha/day; with the changes to how durations work with abilities that replicate spells this means you can use it more often and longer.
Scimitar of the Desert: Same as before, but cleaned up. Still great for Dex-based Occultists.
Vestigial Bond: Same as before.
Influence: Better than before, as you only enact vengeance against those who cross you, not those who might cross you.
Loh'moi, The Mad Geometer
Loh'moi has lost some nice abilities, but has also gained some buffs.
Transdimensional Ray: While this ability's damage progession is only slight worse than before, it now functions as magic missile in the regard that it doesn't require an attack roll and cannot be reduced/negated, and only total cover or total concealment can prevent the damage. The capstone still applies dimensional anchor as a nice bonus. A very good buff that makes up for what Loh'moi loses elsewhere.
Bend to Freedom: Same as before.
Extra Space: Same as before, but explicitly states that it applies to a single piece of rope on your person.
Geometric Agility: A slight rename but an even bigger mechanical change. Limited to 3+Cha/day and only usable when taking a full-attack. As a swift action you can teleport upt to your speed but you can divide it between your various attacks. At 15th you provide flanking in these squares. More powerful but less powerful at the same time, I think this is a slight buff.
Geometric Step: Another rename and another large revision. No more free dimension door, this is a teleport equal to your speed as a move action, or twice your speed as a double move action. Limited to 3+Cha/day. Hurts not to be able to do it at-will, but it was too good as it was before.
Vestigial Bond: Same as before and even better since losing geometric agility isn't as big of a deal.
Influence: A little worse than before, you refuse help from others for everything, not just puzzles. This change was also needed.
Night Fang, The Hag's Son
A new spirit that grants several animal-like abilities but comes off as being "blah."
Hypnotic Vibrations: You can cast hypnotism on a single target within 30 ft. that can affect any target with HD less than or equal to your binder level. The capstone increases the duration of hypnotism to 1 minute. This can be a useful ability and more often than not you'll be able to keep casting it and getting more requests out of your new "friend."
Bat Heritage: Bonus to Fly, Perception, and Stealth. Decent bonuses.
Crocodile Heritage: You can hold your breath longer and 1/minute increase your land speed by 30 ft. Meh.
Spider Heritage: Constant spider climb effect and you can spray web, as the web spell, as a standard action. Very nice due to no limitations.
Wolf Heritage: You gain scent and don't provoke when making trip attempts. Also meh. You don't even get a bite attack. Honestly, I would be happier with scent and a bite attack (1d8) that has the trip special ability--it'd be more useful then and encourage people to bind Night Fang.
Vestigial Bond: You get a crocodile, dire bat, giant spider, or wolf. Depending upon which you choose you give up that related ability (choose a dire bat, you give up Bat Heritage).
Influence: You must disguise yourself at all times and you stay out of bright light. This one can be very detrimental.
Prime Ravager, Leader of the Storm
Prime Ravager seems like he could be better but is overall lackluster as a new spirit.
Stem the Supernatural: You can nullify an activated supernatural ability as an immediate action, and the ability is suppressed for 1d4 rounds (4 if the capstone is met). However, to use this ability you must have identified the target's strengths and weaknesses using a Knowledge Skill. This Knowledge requirement takes this ability from "awesome" to "average." Only those with high Knowledge skills need apply, and Prime Ravager doesn't give you any skill bonuses to Knowledge skills.
Duck for Cover: When you succeed on a Reflex save you can move 5 ft. as an immediate action that doesn't count against your movement and doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. Situational and okay.
Mental Acuity: Add your Chrisma bonus on Will saves as an insight bonus. Nice ability for Cha-focused binders.
Nevermore: You can deal damage as disrupt undead + binder level. If you touch a the corpse of a slain creature it disintegrates. I'm assuming that "corpse of a slain creature" is not the same as "human zombie." Another okay ability.
Occult Eyes: You gain occult sight at will. Great if you're in a pact magic campaign, nigh-useless if you're the only one in the campaign.
Vestigial Bond: You eject Prime Ravager into a corpse as magic jar. He follows your orders but has the personality influence. You can end this effect by breaking a salt growth on the creature. Not sure how good this is--it depends on if it can be done multiple times or if once Prime Ravager is expelled from a body you lose him for 24 hours.
Influence: You are a gigantic jerk.
Son of Dobb, The Twice-Blessed Man
Son of Dobb appears to be less than twice blessed.
Stone Step: Meld into stone, with more gear carried with you if you get the capstone. Situationally useful.
Twice-Blessed: When you roll a d20 you add +1d6 to the roll as an immediate action. You can only do this with a 1 if you hit the capstone.
Detect Insectoid Creatures: Detect undead, but insectoid creatures instead. By definition this means anything that looks like an insect or an arachnid. Situationally useful.
Interpretation: Bonus on Sense Motive checks and Knowledge checks made to interpret dreams and prophecies. The Knowledge bonus is way too specific so I don't see this being very useful.
Knack for Artifacts: Bonus on Disable Device and Use Magic Device, and you can disarm magical traps like a rogue. This is a good and useful ability.
Vestigial Bond:Once a day when you see a creature die you can use breath of life--if it's healed from death in this way you can teleport to anywhere within 1 mile. This is so situational that I can't reccommend it.
Influence: You destroy anything insectoid and attack any drow or psychic characters you encounter before others. In a psionics or under the earth campaign this influence can be devastating.
Swan Elashni, Dancer of Spurred Love
This new spirit has some abilities that could prove useful.
Heartfelt Haze: You daze a target within 30 ft. for 4 rounds and its attitude increases by one step. It can only affect targets you can make a Diplomancy check with, but the capstone lets you use it on anything if the target is your parent, child, lover, or sibiling or have a high-enough relationship score. The capstone for this ability is pretty useless, but the base ability is nice enough due to no saving throw.
Aura of Love's Embrace: 1 round/binder level/day you can project an aura of calm emotion. Situationally useful.
Dance of the Swan: You can walk across water 3+Cha/day for 1 minute/binder level. Meh.
Dancer's Grace: Bonus to Perform(dance) and can use that for Acrobatics and Fly checks.
Step of the Silver Dragon: Pretty much Inspire Courage for Cha+2*Binder Level rounds/day.
Vestigial Bond: Bird of prey that replaces Step of the Silver Dragon.
Influence: Speak as if in love, try to spread live.
Vaukner, Champion of Valor
Vaukner has some abilities that could be useful for a tank but also has some abilities that are outshined by other spirit abilities.
Righteous Strike: Used as part of an attack action, all allies within 10 feet gain 2d4+2 temporary HP. With the capstone increase the temp HP by 1/2 binder levels. An alright ability.
Aura of Courage: Just like the paladin ability of the same name. Good at low level, less important as you level.
Intense Intimidation: When you demoralize the shaken condition is extended for one round. Not the best ability.
Valorous Presence: You heal 1 damage when striking someone whose alignment opposes your own on one or more axises. Useless for TN characters and the benefit seems a little low for this spirit level.
Vaulkner's Axe: All weapons you wield have the transformative special weapon ability, but you can only turn them into a weapon from the fighter's axe weapon group.
Vestigial Bond: A goblin warrior at your level -2. Locked into warrior he's not as strong as he could be, especially since he cannot speak.
Influence: You are stoic and don't expect rewards for being good.
P151: Anajira, Legend: "After his forty-seconded daughter was born..."; "...the child's mother hurled herself against Anajira and the other mothers of her village soon after." - This sentence makes it sound like she hurled herself against him and the other mothers around.; "...tore the Lord of Panthers apart until only bones remained of him." - Not really an error, but I think it sounds better without "of him."
P153, Catha of Codex, Legend: Should be "wordcasters'" instead of "wordcaster's."
P154, Ethanial Midnight, Totems: "...in a basement hear a flight of stairs."
P156, Fey Baraddu, Woodland Stride: Named "Woodland Strike."
P156, Fey Baraddu, Signs and Influence: Has Catha of Codex's listed.
P156, Fey Baraddu, Vestigial Bond: Refers to "spider."
P158, Hexus, Totems: "You place a bond from one of your family..."
P158, Hexus, Capstone Empowerment: "...leave the zombie, it is destroys as if its..."
P160, Kandisha, Legend: "...Bouya Oman disappeared forever, lost forever in the shifting sands."
P161, Loh'moi, Physical Sign: "...these lines pivot across your body as like the hands..."
P163, Night Fang, Manifestation: "...you are a caged beast...as laughing had tormets you..."
P163, Night Fang, Legend: "...the third a crocodile, and final a spider..."
P167, Vaukner, Legend: "...and when he heard the tales valor and heroism..."; "...he was changed forever. Shortly after, Vaukner left his family forever..."
Q: Anajira, Flurry: I'm assuming this needs to be decided at the time of binding?
Q: Anajira, General: This is more fluff rather than mechanics, but why would Anajira grant the form of a pantheress instead of panther? The pantheresses were the ones who killed him, and you're not binding to the mother that killed him.
Q: Anajira, Form of the Pantheress: The synergy with Flurry is lessened due to the form not having a bite attack, so Multiattack would only ever apply to one claw. Still useful, of course, and still a good synergy, but I didn't know if this may have been an oversight.
Q: Anajira, Vesitigal Bond: Which Bestiary entry do you use for the stats for a panther?
Q: Catha of Codex, Call by Name: This states you get a +2 bonus to your binder level--I'm assuming it means "for abilities used against this target," but the way it's worded is that you use the ability once and you just buffed your binder level until the end of the pact.
Q: Catha of Codes, Lore of Words: Does this allow you to also select secret languages?
Q: Ethanial Midnight, Wrecking Pain: Do multiple uses of this ability stack? As written it does. Also, the capstone states "...target it...that do not require melee or ranged touch attacks.." Should this be "...target it with granted abilities that do not require an attack roll?" Otherwise it can be interpreted to allow ranged non-touch attacks.
Q: Jehotek, Rebuke Heresy: Most abilities have been changed to be "Whether or not the save is successful, a creature cannot be the target of this granted ability again for 1 day." Rebuke Heresy still states "A creature that succeeds on its saving throw cannot be the target of this ability again for 1 day."
Q: Kandisha, Protection of Kandisha: I know this ability is supposed to protect against males only, but the wording can be misconstrued. Can it be reworded as something similar to "...except the benefits apply again males of the types humanoid, monstrous humanoid, and outsider, regardless of alignment."
Q: Prime Ravager, Duck for Cover: Should this be "Duck and Cover?"
Q: Prime Ravager, Nevermore: Does an undead count as the corpse of a slain creature?
Q: Prime Ravager, Vestigial Bond: Can you eject Prime Ravager into a corpse more than once? If you destroy the salt growth does Prime Ravager rebind with your body or is he expelled as the Expel Spirits feat?
Q: Vaulkner, Vaulkner's Axe: I know this was brought up before with General Hessant, but when a spirit grants abilities with certain classes of weapons do you act as if you had proficiency with said weapons? If not, it reduces the usefulness of the abilities in question.
Forty-Two's vestigial companion is controlled "verbally", but his influence prevents the player speaking unless spoken to. The same issue applies to his advanced computing ability. Is this intentional?
Also, sorry to repeat myself, but my concerns about how powerful the archetypes are when you're only taking 1-2 levels of a class seem to have been skipped over. Your spirit binding still scales with character level/2, and you only give up a few low level abilities. As it is, if you want to make, say, a soul binding paladin, it's far better to make a paladin x/occultist 1, or paladin x/occult bruiser 1, than to play a pactsworn champion. The same issue appears if you're playing any other class which doesn't rely solely on its class abilities (in practice, a class which doesn't have full casting).
Forty-Two's vestigial companion is controlled "verbally", but his influence prevents the player speaking unless spoken to. The same issue applies to his advanced computing ability. Is this intentional?
Also, sorry to repeat myself, but my concerns about how powerful the archetypes are when you're only taking 1-2 levels of a class seem to have been skipped over. Your spirit binding still scales with character level/2, and you only give up a few low level abilities. As it is, if you want to make, say, a soul binding paladin, it's far better to make a paladin x/occultist 1, or paladin x/occult bruiser 1, than to play a pactsworn champion. The same issue appears if you're playing any other class which doesn't rely solely on its class abilities (in practice, a class which doesn't have full casting).
The only problem here is that you're stuck with Level 1 spirits and cannot get any of higher levels.
Your effective binder level increases with non-pact magic classes, but your maximum spirit level is capped by the highest spirit level of any of your pact magic classes.
So in your example, a Paladin/Occultist 1 and a Paladin/Occult Bruiser 1 may have a binder level of 10 at level 20, but you still only have 1 Level 1 spirit.
A Pactsworn Champion loses his casting ability but by level 20 can bind any one Level 6 or lower spirit of LG, LN, or NG alignments. His effective binder level is 20 and his ability DCs are 20 + Cha.
While a one or two-level dip is advantageous if there's only one Level 1 spirit you want, your ability DCs and effects are going to be lessened (15 + Cha), making attacks less useful. Without binder secrets or concentrating your feats/skills on binding as ericthecleric pointed out, you'll not reach the requirements for capstone binding easily and may even not be able to get a good pact at all. And with a poor pact you'll be suffering the influence which in most cases is a hindrance.
I have a post on page 3 that goes into more detail of a Cha-based class with pact magic dipping and non-Cha-based class with pact magic dipping.
Ah, yes, I see. My apologies: I misread that section somehow, and thought maximum spirit level increased with your binder level. That's much more reasonable; thanks for explaining what I'd missed.
Ah, yes, I see. My apologies: I misread that section somehow, and thought maximum spirit level increased with your binder level. That's much more reasonable; thanks for explaining what I'd missed.
My pleasure--with so much new and revised material it's easy to miss something. :)
Y'all are making my head spin - I can't keep up. It's a beautiful thing, however, this collaboration.
Q: Anajira, General: This is more fluff rather than mechanics, but why would Anajira grant the form of a pantheress instead of panther? The pantheresses were the ones who killed him, and you're not binding to the mother that killed him.
Anajira is a misogynistic womanizer; he views women as being lesser to him and asserts his dominance over the binder by turning him/her into a female catfolk. Furthermore, he figures that if he is going to lend his powers to someone, he might as well make that mortal more pleasing for him to look at. Sort of like how some gamers who play World of Warcraft state that they play female characters because the game follows a behind-the-camera perspective, and if they're going to stare at someone's butt they'd want to "enjoy the view." Saying that Anajira ogles whomever seals a pact with him isn't far from the truth.
Coincidentally, the whole "female catfolk rising up to strike Anajira down" is likely used as a pour quoi story in a Pact Magic World to explain why female lionesses dominate male ones. (Watch some lion pride videos; the lionesses do ALL of the work and they don't let the male lions forget it!)
Forty-Two's vestigial companion is controlled "verbally", but his influence prevents the player speaking unless spoken to. The same issue applies to his advanced computing ability. Is this intentional?
Yup. He's not a good spirit to make a poor pact with. ;-)
Also, you CAN disobey a spirit's influence, but if you do you have to make a Will save or take penalties to most types of d20 rules. That's in Chapter 3: Pactmaking.
Anajira is a misogynistic womanizer; he views women as being lesser to him and asserts his dominance over the binder by turning him/her into a female catfolk. Furthermore, he figures that if he is going to lend his powers to someone, he might as well make that mortal more pleasing for him to look at. Sort of like how some gamers who play World of Warcraft state that they play female characters because the game follows a behind-the-camera perspective, and if they're going to stare at someone's butt they'd want to "enjoy the view." Saying that Anajira ogles whomever seals a pact with him isn't far from the truth.
Coincidentally, the whole "female catfolk rising up to strike Anajira down" is likely used as a pour quoi story in a Pact Magic World to explain why female lionesses dominate male ones. (Watch some lion pride videos; the lionesses do ALL of the work and they don't let the male lions forget it!)
Ah--that makes a lot more sense, and although I'm only up to Level 4 Spirits it's something unique that I haven't seen with other spirits. Just that minor thing gives even more flavor to the spirit. Well done!
Further question: Can you use the Sibyl's Occult Combat and Spiritstrike abilities with spirits gained from other classes, and in particular with the Occultist's additional spirits? If so, then it seems like the best way to make a "gish binder" would be to play a sibyl 2/occultist x, rather than a pure sibyl. You get access to the big abilities of the sibyl, binder level equal to character level, and from 5th level on your maximum spirit level catches up with and begins overtaking the pure sibyl's. You lose the ability to spend arcane pool points to recharge abilities and swap out spirits (and most of the other arcane pool abilities), but you get to have more spirits bound at the same time instead, as well as all the other occultist class abilities.
Whether or not you can do that, I still say a pure Sibyl is bad: it just doesn't get enough for losing 6 levels of spellcasting. Note that the paladin archetype only gives up 4 levels (plus one smite evil per day), and gets the same quality of spirit binding as the Sibyl! The Sibyl is also worse off in his other class features, as the "cast in armour" abilities become worthless but aren't replaced by anything. The Sibyl can only ever have one spirit bound at a time, so without spending [spirit level] arcane pool points, he'll never be able to use a major ability more than once per 5 rounds. A normal magus, meanwhile, if he holds back his highest level spells for the BBEG, can expect to get off perhaps two top level spells - which needn't be the same spell - in the first two rounds, and then reuse either of them with arcane pool points, if necessary, or cast any of his selection of lower level spells remaining.
Is there something I've missed which makes the Sibyl better than it appears?
Further question: Can you use the Sibyl's Occult Combat and Spiritstrike abilities with spirits gained from other classes, and in particular with the Occultist's additional spirits? If so, then it seems like the best way to make a "gish binder" would be to play a sibyl 2/occultist x, rather than a pure sibyl. You get access to the big abilities of the sibyl, binder level equal to character level, and from 5th level on your maximum spirit level catches up with and begins overtaking the pure sibyl's. You lose the ability to spend arcane pool points to recharge abilities and swap out spirits (and most of the other arcane pool abilities), but you get to have more spirits bound at the same time instead, as well as all the other occultist class abilities.
Whether or not you can do that, I still say a pure Sibyl is bad: it just doesn't get enough for losing 6 levels of spellcasting. Note that the paladin archetype only gives up 4 levels (plus one smite evil per day), and gets the same quality of spirit binding as the Sibyl! The Sibyl is also worse off in his other class features, as the "cast in armour" abilities become worthless but aren't replaced by anything. The Sibyl can only ever have one spirit bound at a time, so without spending [spirit level] arcane pool points, he'll never be able to use a major ability more than once per 5 rounds. A normal magus, meanwhile, if he holds back his highest level spells for the BBEG, can expect to get off perhaps two top level spells - which needn't be the same spell - in the first two rounds, and then reuse either of them with arcane pool points, if necessary, or cast any of his selection of lower level spells remaining.
Is there something I've missed which makes the Sibyl better than it appears?
That's a great point, actually. While the armor abilities still grant medium/heavy armor proficiency the "oomph" in them is gone and should probably be modified.
The Sibyl is still a good archetype and gains a lot of versatility with being able to recharge his major/minor abilities and switching spirits on the fly, but I haven't played a straight Sibyl to see how it performs vs. a normal Magus.
I think a lot of the archetypes give up enough to warrant earning a second spirit--I like the idea of Permanent Pact granting a second specific spirit and I think this option would alleviate a lot of the concerns surrounding what the archetypes give up. To balance it out a Permanent Pact would remain a good pact unless you want to gain access to the capstone or companion, in which case it becomes a poor pact for 24 hours.
Hello folks. I'm slowly making my way through the playtest document and I like what I see so far. However, I have one major concern. The current rules for "Researching the Spirit" are way too steep. DC 30 + the spirit's current level? Ouch. As it stands, a level 1 occultist would start play with one and would not likely be able to research another spirit successfully until he were level 4 or 5 (when he'd actually be able to make the check), especially if he were playing an AP. I don't believe that it is realistic to think that a character would have that much downtime (potentially 3-5 weeks per spirit) in order to expand his repetoire. Why not make them more like sorcerers or alchemists and allow them to learn 1-2 new spirits per level?
This brings up a good question: how much time each day must the occultist devote to research? Can it be done in the background while adventuring? Is a library required?
Hello folks. I'm slowly making my way through the playtest document and I like what I see so far. However, I have one major concern. The current rules for "Researching the Spirit" are way too steep. DC 30 + the spirit's current level? Ouch. As it stands, a level 1 occultist would start play with one and would not likely be able to research another spirit successfully until he were level 4 or 5 (when he'd actually be able to make the check), especially if he were playing an AP. I don't believe that it is realistic to think that a character would have that much downtime (potentially 3-5 weeks per spirit) in order to expand his repetoire. Why not make them more like sorcerers or alchemists and allow them to learn 1-2 new spirits per level?
If you keep researching the same aspect of the same spirit you get a +5 bonus for each week of research. So after 5 weeks you'd have a +25 bonus to the check. A level 1 character with an Int of 14 would complete the aspect of a 1st level spirit while taking a 10 after 3 weeks (15 + 16 = 31).
For the character above that means it will take 3 weeks * 4 aspects = 12 weeks to learn a Level 1 Spirit, or 3 months of game time. Assuming you keep your knowledge skills up-to-date you can learn a new of-level spirit every 3 months.
In my current campaign I'm playing in we haven't had that much of overall game time pass, not to mention downtime itself. The only way I've gained new spirits is by leveling. The other option is for the GM to place treasure specifically for me so that I can research new spirits.
While I like the lore aspect and the research aspect, I think a balance could be reached by still allowing you to learn a single spirit of up to your maximum spirit level as you level up--this will still allow you progression even if no significant amount of game time passes or you do not find any tomes as loot.
Hello folks. I'm slowly making my way through the playtest document and I like what I see so far. However, I have one major concern. The current rules for "Researching the Spirit" are way too steep. DC 30 + the spirit's current level? Ouch. As it stands, a level 1 occultist would start play with one and would not likely be able to research another spirit successfully until he were level 4 or 5 (when he'd actually be able to make the check), especially if he were playing an AP. I don't believe that it is realistic to think that a character would have that much downtime (potentially 3-5 weeks per spirit) in order to expand his repetoire. Why not make them more like sorcerers or alchemists and allow them to learn 1-2 new spirits per level?
The DM for my Occultist has brought up the same concern. We are playing Skull And Shackles, so this isn't as much of an issue, but in a lot of AP's 1 week per check could be an issue.
One thing to point out however, is that you can complete knowledge tasks by "adventuring", finding lore in old temples/libraries and such.
The DM for my Occultist has brought up the same concern. We are playing Skull And Shackles, so this isn't as much of an issue, but in a lot of AP's 1 week per check could be an issue.
One thing to point out however, is that you can complete knowledge tasks by "adventuring", finding lore in old temples/libraries and such.
Unfortunately this still relies on kindness of the GM. While I don't ever have a problem with my GMs and special circumstances with my characters I've also played in games with GMs who are much more restrictive with loot and other character-specific needs.
Hello folks. I'm slowly making my way through the playtest document and I like what I see so far. However, I have one major concern. The current rules for "Researching the Spirit" are way too steep. DC 30 + the spirit's current level? Ouch. As it stands, a level 1 occultist would start play with one and would not likely be able to research another spirit successfully until he were level 4 or 5 (when he'd actually be able to make the check), especially if he were playing an AP. I don't believe that it is realistic to think that a character would have that much downtime (potentially 3-5 weeks per spirit) in order to expand his repetoire. Why not make them more like sorcerers or alchemists and allow them to learn 1-2 new spirits per level?
I'm going to be playing a modern game personally where I'm an occultist that started in his freshman year in college. Since I'm playing him years after he graduated, I wrote down some of the spirits I liked and figured that it could be feasible that he had gained them over that time span [i.e. non-adventuring time]. If my DM thinks I chose too many, then I can easily drop ones off of my list. That is, of course, up to my DM's kindness and house ruling.
The thing for me though, is that I understand they're supposed to be rare and not easy to find / get, but at the same time, one can only let a few spirits in at a time anyways. So, not only are they hard to get, you probably won't get to use most of them all that often, unless you're switching between spirits daily for funzies (which is a legitimate possibility).
I will say, that due to the new rules, I found Inquiry to be quit useful and had my character take it. 1 week (or more) to learn the seal of the spirit. Then you call them up once a day and ask them questions about themselves, gaining you +5 to that task each time you do. So say you were able to make the seal task in one week (probably unlikely as you move up the spirit levels), then you switch over to using inquiry each day of the next week, to gain those +5 bonuses. It quickens the process by a bit at least.
The legend for Essek Avix contains this amusing typo:
"Essek was furious. He found Essek and the two immediately started brawling."
Vestigial Companions
For Vestigial Companions who have class levels, do they come with equipment when they are summoned? The rules specifically mention selecting a companion's feats but mentions nothing about equipment other than the fact that equipment given to the companion falls to the ground when it disappears.
Vestigial Bond: You lose your word casting to gain a dog that speaks every language you know. I honestly wouldn't trade word casting for the dog.
Its actually intended to be a poor trade, believe it or not. The reasoning is simple: it is an option who want to bind Catha of Codex, but don't want the hassle of learning an alternate magic system (wordcasting).
Lol That wasn't me! Haha
So am I reading it right that Muse Istago can no longer Scry on a location, only through a selected person's view?
Vestigial Companions
For Vestigial Companions who have class levels, do they come with equipment when they are summoned? The rules specifically mention selecting a companion's feats but mentions nothing about equipment other than the fact that equipment given to the companion falls to the ground when it disappears.
Nope. Maybe if your GM is nice, they'll have a suit of clothing or a towel or something.
Forty-Two's vestigial companion is controlled "verbally", but his influence prevents the player speaking unless spoken to. The same issue applies to his advanced computing ability. Is this intentional?Yup. He's not a good spirit to make a poor pact with. ;-)
Also, you CAN disobey a spirit's influence, but if you do you have to make a Will save or take penalties to most types of d20 rules. That's in Chapter 3: Pactmaking.
Update on this: Chapter 3 is now going to include language that indicates that a spirit never punishes its binder with its personality influence for using one of its granted abilities. This is what that new paragraph looks like:
"Some personality influences require that the binder refrain from a certain action. For example, Forty-Two forbids its binder from responding or speaking unless spoken to. Such restrictions don’t apply to any of the spirit’s granted abilities; for instance, a binder can verball present a question to Forty-Two using that spirit’s advanced computing granted ability without fear of suffering the spirit’s personality influence, even though she is technically breaking the conditions set by the spirit’s personality influence. However, this doesn’t apply to granted abilities bestowed upon the binder from other spirits. For example, of a binder that sealed a poor pact with with Forty-Two tries to speak to use a different spirit's granted ability that includes verbal components without meeting one of Forty-Two’s contingencies, that binder would take a –1 penalty for breaking Forty-Two’s personality influence unless she succeeded on a Will saving throw."
I think a lot of the archetypes give up enough to warrant earning a second spirit--I like the idea of Permanent Pact granting a second specific spirit and I think this option would alleviate a lot of the concerns surrounding what the archetypes give up. To balance it out a Permanent Pact would remain a good pact unless you want to gain access to the capstone or companion, in which case it becomes a poor pact for 24 hours.
You can get a second (abet limited) spirit in the Reserve Spirit feat.
So, I was flipping ahead to the higher spirits for fun (since I'll likely never reach them) and I came across Goliath. Sort of surprised that one of his minors isn't making you one step bigger. I know his flavor is that of torture and pain, but he's also a fire giant. Granted, you become a bit taller as a physical sign though... just an observation, nothing critical.
Hello folks. I'm slowly making my way through the playtest document and I like what I see so far. However, I have one major concern. The current rules for "Researching the Spirit" are way too steep. DC 30 + the spirit's current level? Ouch. As it stands, a level 1 occultist would start play with one and would not likely be able to research another spirit successfully until he were level 4 or 5 (when he'd actually be able to make the check), especially if he were playing an AP. I don't believe that it is realistic to think that a character would have that much downtime (potentially 3-5 weeks per spirit) in order to expand his repetoire. Why not make them more like sorcerers or alchemists and allow them to learn 1-2 new spirits per level?
The Pactmaking rules assure that you'll eventually succeed; every time you fail a check, you get a stacking +5 bonus on your next check to succeed until you finally DO succeed.
That said, the DC was a touch on the high side, so in the next version the DC to complete a Knowledge Task will be 25 + spirit level instead of 30 + spirit level. However, it will take one 8-hour day per level of the spirit to conduct this research (to a maximum of nine 8-hour days for ninth-level spirits). In the next build, you will be able to increase the DC by 5 to accelerate the process to 4 hours of work per level of the spirit.
That way, you'll be able to speed up the process at higher levels when your Knowledge checks get higher. Also, the flavorful "you complete this task for story reasons" still exists, and you'll be able to buy/find gnostic tomes that will instantly teach you how to bind a spirit after just 24 hours of study, which CAN be done continuously.
Hello folks. I'm slowly making my way through the playtest document and I like what I see so far. However, I have one major concern. The current rules for "Researching the Spirit" are way too steep. DC 30 + the spirit's current level? Ouch. As it stands, a level 1 occultist would start play with one and would not likely be able to research another spirit successfully until he were level 4 or 5 (when he'd actually be able to make the check), especially if he were playing an AP. I don't believe that it is realistic to think that a character would have that much downtime (potentially 3-5 weeks per spirit) in order to expand his repetoire. Why not make them more like sorcerers or alchemists and allow them to learn 1-2 new spirits per level?This brings up a good question: how much time each day must the occultist devote to research? Can it be done in the background while adventuring? Is a library required?
This is from the Researching rules:
"If he fails, the binder does not fulfill the Knowledge Task but he receives a +5 bonus on his next Knowledge check to attempt to fulfill that same Knowledge Task. This bonus stacks between multiple weeks so long as the binder continues to research the same aspect of the same spirit; if he begins researching a different spirit or a different aspect of the current spirit that he is researching, he loses all bonuses on Knowledge Tasks that he has accumulated for the aspect that he stopped researching."
In short, every time you fail that massive 30+ DC, you get a +5 bonus the next time that you try to complete it.
This is also from the Researching rules:
"In order to complete a Knowledge Task, the binder selects one spirit and spends 1 week researching an aspect of the spirit’s existence: either its constellation, its history, its personality, or its true name."
So, I was flipping ahead to the higher spirits for fun (since I'll likely never reach them) and I came across Goliath. Sort of surprised that one of his minors isn't making you one step bigger. I know his flavor is that of torture and pain, but he's also a fire giant. Granted, you become a bit taller as a physical sign though... just an observation, nothing critical.
Essex Avix (another 8th-level spirit) has the enlarge person-style granted ability.
They're half-dragon, half-elves.
This brings up a good question: how much time each day must the occultist devote to research? Can it be done in the background while adventuring? Is a library required?
The rules have been revised so yes, you do need a library or a shrine or something, but you can work without one in exchange for quarter-progress. I.E. you can work for up to 4 hours a day and that time nets you 2 hours of progress towards completing the aspect.
Permament Pact Discusstion
What do you see as the advantages of a permanent pact over a normal pact? I'm having trouble seeing where giving up a spirit choice that I can change day-to-day is worth it.
In my current campaign I'm playing in we haven't had that much of overall game time pass, not to mention downtime itself. The only way I've gained new spirits is by leveling. The other option is for the GM to place treasure specifically for me so that I can research new spirits.
It doesn't HAVE to be treasure. He could include a dungeon dressing that simply says, "Huh, you find a weird insignia on a wall. You don't know what it is, but you recognize that it belongs to some sort of spirit." That's in the rules too.
If your GM isn't willing to work with you to add Pact Magic to the world in strange, weird little places like that, then maybe Pact Magic isn't a good fit for that GM, I'm sad to say. That said, Dario and I both think that the mechanics of discovering new spirits are important to the flavor and feel of the class, which is why we got rid of the "you auto-learn spirits," stuff. It doesn't fit the vibe of a class that's all about exploration, discovery, and venturing into the dark unknown.
One thing to point out however, is that you can complete knowledge tasks by "adventuring", finding lore in old temples/libraries and such.
Exactly. We give you several options that don't rely on checks, but still play to the discovery aspect of the class.
In Skull and Shackles, I daresay that you'd find lots of information regarding spirits like Achelous, Vishgurv, and Shelassik if you looked in the right places. (Hint: The AP's dungeons.)
The legend for Essek Avix contains this amusing typo:
"Essek was furious. He found Essek and the two immediately started brawling."
Fixed.
I think a lot of the archetypes give up enough to warrant earning a second spirit--I like the idea of Permanent Pact granting a second specific spirit and I think this option would alleviate a lot of the concerns surrounding what the archetypes give up. To balance it out a Permanent Pact would remain a good pact unless you want to gain access to the capstone or companion, in which case it becomes a poor pact for 24 hours.You can get a second (abet limited) spirit in the Reserve Spirit feat.
That just gives you the ability to swap between spirits, and given it's a full round action, that'll normally be on a per-encounter basis. Handy, but hardly comparable to being able to use two - or more - major abilities every 5 rounds (or four with rapid recovery).
In exchange for the better chassis and gish related abilities, a normal magus's spellcasting is on par with a wizard of 2/3 their level, with caster level = class level. In exchange for the gish related abilities (only), a sibyl's pact binding is on a par with an occultist of 2/3 their level...except that they only get to bind a single spirit, rather than the 1-4 the occultist gets. Is pact binding considered so much better than spellcasting for gishes that preventing the sibyl from ever having more than one spirit active at a time is necessary?
Incidentally, all my comments here also apply to the pact protector archetype for the inquisitor, which is even less debatable as it doesn't even get extra abilities which synergise with spirit binding.
Permament Pact DiscusstionWhat do you see as the advantages of a permanent pact over a normal pact? I'm having trouble seeing where giving up a spirit choice that I can change day-to-day is worth it.
First, the spirit will auto-rebind to you. Don't have to make binding checks, and that pact's always a good pact so you can control whether you show the seal or not and never suffer the influence penalties. (Unless you try to go for the capstone empowerment, that is, which requires a check).
Second, and perhaps the most important, flavor reasons. Saying that you've made a permanent, unending pact with your favorite spirit is WICKED cool, which leads to the next point ...
Third, prestige classes. Several prestige classes (currently two) will require that you make a permanent pact with a specific spirit either as a requirement to enter that class (such is the case with the Greensprout Rapscallion, which requires a Permanent Pact with Tommy Greensprout) or that give the feat to you for free as part of taking your first level in the prestige class (which is the case with the ravage binder).
I'm going to try to get a third PrC in there (Child of N'aylia), maybe another if I have room (Darkstar Heir).
That just gives you the ability to swap between spirits, and given it's a full round action, that'll normally be on a per-encounter basis. Handy, but hardly comparable to being able to use two - or more - major abilities every 5 rounds (or four with rapid recovery).
In exchange for the better chassis and gish related abilities, a normal magus's spellcasting is on par with a wizard of 2/3 their level, with caster level = class level. In exchange for the gish related abilities (only), a sibyl's pact binding is on a par with an occultist of 2/3 their level...except that they only get to bind a single spirit, rather than the 1-4 the occultist gets. Is pact binding considered so much better than spellcasting for gishes that preventing the sibyl from ever having more than one spirit active at a time is necessary?
Incidentally, all my comments here also apply to the pact protector archetype for the inquisitor, which is even less debatable as it doesn't even get extra abilities which synergise with spirit binding.
This isn't entirely correct. All of the archetypes that you've mentioned have the bind spirits class feature, which means they use their full binding level. A sibyl's spirit access is 2/3 that of an occultist, his binding itself is not. And this is intentional; we want the occultist to be the absolute best at what it does, and not all archetypes are going to be a perfect trade. For one, perfect balance is impossible; just ask the devs creating World of Warcraft, League of Legends, and more (though that never stops us from trying to get as close as possible). Second, not every archetype is necessarily going to be a power increase for every character. Yes, one spirit is not as versatile as a legion of spell access at your command, but if you pick the right spirit, you could very easily have an at-will touch attack to use with the occult version of spellstrike. At will. Plus many granted abilities (especially major) often scale better than spells do.
So no, you aren't going to see the sibyl get buffed in versatility; spellcasting is plenty versatile. That said, through spirit binding the magus can gain access to abilities that are a far cry different from what a standard magus could; spell-like abilities from other spell lists, crazy supernatural powers that don't run out, and best of all, no granted ability provokes attacks of opportunity, so there's no casting defensively.
This brings up a good question: how much time each day must the occultist devote to research? Can it be done in the background while adventuring? Is a library required?The rules have been revised so yes, you do need a library or a shrine or something, but you can work without one in exchange for quarter-progress. I.E. you can work for up to 4 hours a day and that time nets you 2 hours of progress towards completing the aspect.
That is cool. I like that. Makes research on the go possible.
May I expand my questions here? How are we defining "one week of research"? Is it 5 days or 7 days? Is each day's worth of research equal to 8 hours? This would make a total of either 40 or 56 hours of research to equal one week (so if we're researching on the go, it'll take two weeks of work to get one chance at the knowledge check, or a month if we can only research while camping at the end of the day - aka 4 hours cut in half for 2 per day). And if it is only 5 days worth of work per week, that means I can shorten that "month" worth of research by 8 full days if I work through the weekends.
After some thinking, I liked the idea of giving Muse Istago the ability to "paint" illusory creatures, and with the new addition to the pactmaking rules that states a granted ability's effects end when the spirit's pact ends, this revision to Muse Istago's vestigial boon looks pretty good:
"While you are bound to Muse Istago, you can cast lesser simulacrumum as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. You must possess a set of masterwork artisan’s tools to use this ability."
May I expand my questions here? How are we defining "one week of research"? Is it 5 days or 7 days? Is each day's worth of research equal to 8 hours? This would make a total of either 40 or 56 hours of research to equal one week (so if we're researching on the go, it'll take two weeks of work to get one chance at the knowledge check, or a month if we can only research while camping at the end of the day - aka 4 hours cut in half for 2 per day). And if it is only 5 days worth of work per week, that means I can shorten that "month" worth of research by 8 full days if I work through the weekends.
"The binder needs a fairly quiet, comfortable, and well-lit place in which to research a Knowledge Aspect. Researching a spirit requires 8 hours per level of the spirit, with a minimum of at least 8 hours. This process can be accelerated to 4 hours of work per level of the spirit by increasing the DC to research the spirit by 5.
The binder can spend up to 8 hours each day researching a Knowledge Aspect. She cannot rush the process by working longer each day, but the days need not be consecutive, and the binder can use the rest of the time as she sees fit. If the binder is out adventuring, she can devote 4 hours each day to researching a Knowledge Task, although she nets only 2 hours’ worth of work. This time is not spent in one continuous period, but rather during lunch, preparation, and during watches at night. This research is typically done in a controlled environment, where distractions are at a minimum, such as a library or shrine. Work that is performed in a distracting or dangerous environment nets only half the amount of progress (just as with the adventuring binder."