The Dresden Files has a character called the Archive, a girl who has comprehensive, perfect knowledge of everything ever written down. I realized that there's an interesting synergy between the Lore Psychic's Mnemonic Cache ability and the Psychic Asylum spell that can give a Pathfinder character a lesser but related ability to instantly have perfect recall of anything they've read, heard, or witnessed in the past week/level, and instantly swap it out for new information as long as you have 5th level spell slots.
Here's how it works. Psychic Asylum as an immediate action lets you spend 15 minutes frozen in time with the ability to "recall any conversation, or remember any image that you have been exposed to with perfect clarity and recollection, as if you had an eidetic memory. You must have seen or heard the material within a time frame of 1 week per level." As a Lore Psychic you have access the Mnemonic Cache ability, which will let you memorize a chosen block of text, audio, or images to retain permanently when you exit the Psychic Asylum.
To maximize this ability the Psychic would want to create some folios on important knowledge (e.g. demonic weaknesses, detailed maps of important locations) that will fit in his cache limit so that he can make sure he reviews them once every level/weeks. As soon as you need perfect recall of the information, cast Psychic Asylum and transfer the information to your Mnemonic Cache, then have perfect, instant recall of the relevant briefing document, conversation from 2 months ago, or whatever you need to target a creature, out argue an opponent in court, find your way through a complex dungeon on the run, or whatever.
How can we enhance this? Ultimate Intrigue has a couple of relevant items.
The Magnificent Map, a 7,800 gp item, lets you record a holographic map of everything within 30' (max 500' radius from initial activation point). So you activate it, put it in a pouch, then wander/fly around a dungeon or city. Afterwards you review it, and for the next week/level you can instantly recall it with perfect clarity even if you erased it to map something new.
The Codex of Conversations is 10,000 gp, and record all conversations within 20' for up to 200 pages (3 min per page), or 10 hours of conversation. Not necessary if you're there to listen yourself, but allows you to record a distant conversation, read the book, and then have week/level ability to instantly memorize the relevant bits.
Are there any other items or abilities that would enhance this, or achieve something similar for another class?
I'd also be interested in other uses of Psychic Asylum. It explicitly allows prepared classes to prepare a spell in that 15 minutes (so you can do it in combat while everyone else is frozen), but I have to image you should also be able to cast an Augury or Divination to get advice in combat, too.
I like the idea.
May I call you Book?
Oh, could you bring in some of those nifty green crackers when you come in tomorrow?
There's a spell to turn someone into a book with the text as their memories, scribe's binding. Not on the psychic list though and it is max level.
I wonder how you'd prepare spells in the psychic asylum? It seems to refer to a divine spellcaster doing so though none such actually have the spell on their list. A wizard would presumably want to access their spellbook.
There's a spell to turn someone into a book with the text as their memories, scribe's binding. Not on the psychic list though and it is max level.
I wonder how you'd prepare spells in the psychic asylum? It seems to refer to a divine spellcaster doing so though none such actually have the spell on their list. A wizard would presumably want to access their spellbook.
Yeah, I caught that issue, too. I don't think a Wizard can remember their spellbook into functional existence in the personal mindscape.
Scribe's Binding could be used via Wish, I guess, since it's Occultist level 6. I don't see how you can put it on a scroll because of the unique nature of the focus, though.
Thematic assistants (via familiar or otherwise) would be a Nosoi or the new quill dragon thing in Legacy of Dragons.
The best, however is the Scrivenite from Hell's Rebels 1 bestiary. It's a CR4 LN outsider from Axis with this amazing ability:
Soul Tome (Su) Whenever a scrivenite deals Intelligence damage, the stolen knowledge manifests as a soul tome in its possession. A new soul tome is created for each different creature that a scrivenite damages in this way, and further Intelligence damage dealt to that creature causes the soul tome to swell and become more elaborate. This Intelligence damage can be restored naturally over time, by magic, or by a creature reading from its own soul tome in order to restore the stolen memories. Every 30 minutes spent in study heals 1 point of Intelligence damage.
A creature who takes an amount of Intelligence damage equal to its Intelligence score in this way falls comatose. Once comatose, the victim doesn’t heal ability damage naturally and must be revived using magic or by destroying the soul tome. A break enchantment or restoration spell cast on the soul tome restores the stolen memories imprisoned in the book and restores any Intelligence damage affecting the victim.
Any creature can spend 30 minutes reading a soul tome in order to learn the secrets and knowledge that the target once possessed. A soul tome is always written in the target’s native tongue. No check is necessary to read the book. The contents of a soul tome can vary wildly. Some may contain only minor trivia about the creature’s life, while others might contain important secrets. Soul tomes have hardness 0 and 5 hit points. They crumble to dust once the stolen knowledge within them has been reclaimed or restored. The soul of a creature whose memories are recorded in a soul tome is not prevented from going on to the afterlife.
So Lesser Planar Ally or Lesser Planar Bind one of these fellows and have him melee anyone you want to create a soul tome for, then you transcribe it and can (re)read it at leisure.
I wonder how you'd prepare spells in the psychic asylum? It seems to refer to a divine spellcaster doing so though none such actually have the spell on their list. A wizard would presumably want to access their spellbook.
On second thought, this is no problem at all. Psychic Asylum allows you to completely and accurately recall and consult any text you've viewed in the last level/weeks, so you do have your spellbook in the mindscape to prepare whatever you want.
Another item to help with this concept, from Magic Tactics Toolbox, is the Saccadic Focusing Prism, which lets you read non-magical texts in 1/10 the normal time. Makes it much easier to review a sizable library every weeks/level so that any part of it can be recalled via Psychic Asylum.
The Saccadic Focusing Prism also lets you get the benefit of reading magical texts in 1/2 the time. The Hypercognition spell lets you complete a knowledge check in 1/5 as much time. The Monster Almanac, Greater (from Horror Adventurers, not online yet), allows for the cost of 20,000 GP:
The countless pages of this heavy tome bear detailed illustrations and descriptions of creatures from the Material Plane and other planes, including numerous Material Plane planets and the vast black spaces between the stars. The book looks slim when closed, but when a user turns its pages, more and more pages appear.
The user must spend at least 10 minutes researching a particular type of monster to get any benefit from the almanac. If the user is trained in the appropriate Knowledge skill to identify the monster, she gets a +5 circumstance bonus on her skill check. She can attempt a Knowledge check to identify a creature despite being untrained in the appropriate skill (without the +5 bonus) regardless of the DC.
If the user spends 24 hours instead of 10 minutes, she can treat the check as though she got a result of 25. This functions much like using an extensive library and doesn’t require the user to be trained in the relevant Knowledge skill.
So combining Hypercognition and the Focusing Prism with this book lets you take 25 on a knowledge check (plus your skill ranks and Int modifier) on any given monster every 2.4 hours. That lets you research 6 monsters per day. By the time you can justify buying this that's a guaranteed 40+ result on your knowledge check. Write it all down, put in a book, and load it up in your Mnemonic Cache or load it later via Psychic Asylum when you need to know 4-5 things about a bunch of CR 15 creatures. Save on those rolls during combat, just let your GM tell you what you want to know in surprising detail.