I am just starting to use Occult Adventures classes into my campaign as NPCs and I am seeking clarity on the Occult Class Implements. If an Implement has enough Mental Focus in it there is an effect that works for whoever has the implement at the time. For example:
"Warding Talisman (Su): The implement wards against adverse effects. Whoever wears (or holds, for bells) the implement gains a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws for every 2 points of mental focus invested in the implement, to a maximum bonus of 1 + 1 for every 4 occultist levels you possess."
As I read it, should an Occultist have such an item, is killed in conflict, and that implement is stolen by what killed the Occultist, that power should remain until the next time the Occultist would have had to assign Mental Focus to the Implement. I cannot find anything that says the power wains upon the Occultist's death.
Nor can I find anything that says another Occultist who takes an Implement from another Occultist cannot use the Mental Focus stored into the Implement.
Am I missing something here?
Does a Dead Occultists Implements work after they died?
Can a different Occultist use the Mental Power stored in another Occultist's Implement?
I'd say anyone who steals a dead Occultist's implements gets to use its powers until it's lost all of its Mental Focus. Similar to how magical effects don't end until they've run out, I'd say Implements keep their charge until the charge has been redistributed. My reasoning for this is that if prepared casters don't reprepare their spell slots in the morning, they'll just run around with last day's spells until they find time to prepare.
As a GM, you might houserule that implements lose their focus after 24 hours, that seems reasonable if you're worried about your party running off with it. Power "degrading" over time, as it were.
As for other Occultists, that's tricky. I'd say that an Occultist charges his implement with certain properties, and anyone in possession of that implement can use those properties. Say your NPC of level 17 has a Transmutation implement with all of its powers stored in there. Your third-level Occultist party member steals the implement, and can use all the powers stored in it, even things he's not high enough level for, such as Mind over Gravity. But once he's depleted it, or if he decides to recharge it, he wipes away all the data stored into it. Think of it like a USB stick. But except that you don't keep the stored data on it, you wipe everything and store new data on it. If you haven't "unlocked" Mind over Gravity yet, it's gone, forever.
At least, that's how I see it.
So, we agree there is no reason an Implement would lose its powers when an occultist dies until the time has passed when new mental focus was supposed to be added to it (effectively a maximum of 24 hours). And the idea that one occultist's Implement's stored Mental Focus could be used by a second occultist to power their own abilities is also not precluded. In effect, using it as a capacitor.
That works for me. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something in the RAW on this.
Er, two clarifications:
- I said you could houserule the power "leaking" out of the implement. Rules as written, it stays charged until it's recharged.
- You can't use a borrowed Implement to fuel your own power. If you know powers A and B, and the Implement knows powers C and D, you can use its points to use powers C and D only, if you want to use power A, you use your own implement. You can't use a copy machine to make coffee, for example, because it's not made to do that.
Do note that you could use generic focus (Focus Points not put into an implement) or Shift Focus to add power to a different implement. That's usually at a loss, but there's a feat that mitigates that loss. I'd still rule that once it runs out, it's lost its powers and "forgets" everything it could do, but up until that point, you could in theory keep fuelling it with your own powers. And again, you might houserule that you can't fuel a power you don't know how to use (Mind Over Gravity comes online at level 5, but your Occultist is only level 4, for instance), but that's not how it's described in the book.
Typically, it's assumed that after you die, your class features fade after time. This is brought up often with Animal Companions. You are in a place where the rules don't say what to do. Generally I have the powers fade over a week of time, though spells still last their duration.
In the case of the implements, I'd start off around the half way point to say the magical seams seem to be unraveling and eventually fall apart.
Of course, as you are the GM, you are wholly able to ignore this above section and run as you wish.
As for your second question, the rules specifically state The Occultist and not an occultist. Examples of rules that differ from this are Alchemists with Mutagen, which specifically states they can: "an alchemist can gain the effects of another alchemist’s mutagen if he drinks it." So I would say no, they can't steal another Occultist's implement and use the mental focus within.
"An occultist can invest a portion of his mental focus into his chosen implements for the day"
"He can divide this mental focus between his implements in any way he desires. If an implement is lost or destroyed, the focus invested in it is lost as well, though the occultist still refreshes those points of focus normally."
"Once mental focus is invested inside an implement, the implement gains the resonant power of its implement school, and the occultist can expend the mental focus stored in the implement to activate the associated focus powers he knows. If a resonant power grants a bonus that varies based on the amount of mental focus invested in the implement, the bonus is determined when the focus is invested, and is not reduced or altered by expending the mental focus invested in the item. Once all of the mental focus in an implement has been expended, it loses its resonant power until mental focus is once again invested in the implement."
"The implement’s bearer gains the benefits of this power until the occultist refreshes his focus."
So based on that I'd rule that the object continues to have the mental focus in it until 1 of 3 conditions are met:
#1. The mental focus points in the item are expended.
Or
#2. 1 day passes since the mental focus was placed in the implement.
or
#3. The item is destroyed.
The one argument against this would be the wording "If an implement is lost or destroyed, the focus invested in it is lost as well" which I would say leaves room for a GM to rule that when you die you've technically "lost" your implements.