To be fair, the Anti-Paladin (which is the term you're looking for) reaction is actually potentially worse for you than better, since the damage both targets take (you and the enemy) vary.
You might take 6, they might take 1. You might take 1, they might take 6. It's such a volatile ability that screws you even more over time due to the randomness of dice that they should have just made it to where the character rolls once and both targets take equal damage. But per RAW, it doesn't work that way. So you could take like 13 damage at 9th level, but the enemy may only take 6. It's such a bad reaction that it needs to be rebalanced.
Compared to an actual Paladin reaction, which comes with a free attack plus damage reduction to an ally on any given attack, with a range limitation. Even if the attack misses (or can't be made due to reach reasons), the damage reduction still applies. It's just so bad that you're better off running your reaction off of something else. Even Attack of Opportunity is better, for crying out loud.
It's not so much that it's disruptive, but that it can outright screw you over, such as in the above case. In other examples, it has been volatile that it was unmanageable. And honestly, in a lot of the Curse cases, they still can be, which is why I find Oracles to be such a major turn-off in this edition, since their debilitations can outright make you useless if you play into them as you're supposed to.
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I think the biggest drawback is that it actively prevents you from playing the game. In the case of the playtest oracle, I belive it knocked your character unconscious for 24 hours with no recourse for revival.
Depending on the adventure in question that could mean sitting on a couch watching your friends have fun for the rest of the game session, or possibly even multiple game sessions.
It also meant your companions were forced to deal with the dead weight of your character's body.
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Yeah, the problem with the playtest Oracle wasn't that it knocked you out, it was that it knocked you out for 24 hours with no way to wake up.
An Antipaladin's self-damage can be healed just like any damage, and then they can keep going, and Kineticists had restrictions such that they couldn't usually knock themselves out with Burn alone (there needed to be some damage as well, which could, again, be healed)...the same wasn't true of the Oracle thing.
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Kineticists had a limit on burn, so they just got squishier. They were designed to aim to be extra tanky with con as a main stat, so you had plenty of leeway. And you could heal them about as well as the wizard tht got knocked out by damage.
After burning out, you just had to be more caution by staying in the back line and using efficient attacks (which you likely did anyway inbetween spending burn).
Oracles? The playtest designed them to become paperweights. You fear using your abilities at all. I STILL kind of fear using their abilities. When I see flame oracle, i just think "why am I not playing an elemental sorcerer and not go blind when I want to cast non-fire spells?"
As a note, in the APG, you also have the lvl 8 cleric feat Martyr which damages the caster to improve a cast of Help on an ally.
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The playtest Oracle burnout - 24 hour unconscious - was way too much. Like was mentioned, it takes the player out of the game for quite a while.
I am considering if the current official Oracle burnout - no casting of focus spells until the next day - is a bit too light. It effectively lets you cast a focus spell once more during a fight. However, it is still limited by the number of focus points you have.
Thinking out loud here...
Oracle starts with 2 focus points - which is more than most classes. Some classes can get a second focus point fairly quickly though. Human Witch can get cackle at level 1, which would put them at 2 focus points too.
Level 1 Oracle starting fresh in the morning can cast two focus spells during the first encounter and progress to moderate curse level. They can then refocus to get 1 focus point and drop the curse to minor. Then they have one point for any further encounters and will never exceed moderate curse level.
If instead they use only one focus spell in the first encounter, they can refocus to get the point back, but the curse is still at minor level. Using two focus spells in any subsequent encounters will cause burnout.
Compare that to the Witch that can choose any encounter of the day to use two focus spells on without any penalties. All focus spells being equal, that is a huge drawback for Oracle. But good luck convincing anyone that Phase Familiar is the equal of any focus spell of an Oracle.
At level 2 Oracle can get Domain Acumen and get a 3rd focus point. But will almost never be able to use it. On the first encounter of the day, they can burn through all three focus points and cause burnout immediately. If they stick with two points on the first encounter, then they can use two points on a different encounter after refocusing and cause burnout then. But they haven't used that third focus point in doing so. If they only use one focus point in the first encounter, then they can only use two points in a later encounter before causing burnout.
At level 11 an Oracle can progress to major curse level. So now they can use 3 points on the first encounter without burnout, and 2 points on any further encounters without burnout. Using a 3rd point on later encounters of the day still causes burnout.
Again compared to a Witch or a Cleric with 3 focus points, Oracle seems a bit limited. The Oracle may have 3 points, but can typically only use 2 of them in any one encounter without being prevented from using focus points for the rest of the day.
So yeah, I think I have changed my own mind. The current Oracle burnout mechanic seems to be a trade between getting more focus points at lower levels than is normal but with the cost of losing them entirely if you use them too much or too quickly.
Kineticists couldn't take so much burn that you couldn't wake them up. Slap some healing on an unconscious kineticist with maxed out burn and they'd be able to participate in stuff again (especially non-combat stuff).
Having the game tell a player, "All right, get your phone out; we'll let you know if you can participate in the next session based on how far we get," is not a good experience.
Even PF1's Medium maxing out on influence or getting dominated for the day at least still has your character doing things, even if you don't control them. That allows for stuff like the GM passing you notes on what your current goals are.
Even PF1's Medium maxing out on influence or getting dominated for the day at least still has your character doing things, even if you don't control them. That allows for stuff like the GM passing you notes on what your current goals are.
Mediums also got a large number of passive bonuses and other reusable features (proficiencies, extra spells) as their primary bread and butter. You could easily treat influence as "trade costly resource in order to get a better roll" mechanic, and still get a lot from the various spirits.
In the current edition, focus spells often act as defining class features for a class. It distinguishes one mystery from another, and helps to remind people that you aren't just a cleric that didn't take a domain feat. Being afraid to use them due to anything other than focus regain can be a problem.
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Consider the ability to "overclock", at the risk of taking damage or passing out.
2E oracle in playtest had it, 1E kineticists has it.
People keep telling me it's a really bad idea, and obviously Paizo agrees since the Oracle lost that. But the CE Champion (the Paladidnt?) has it so it's not like their totally against the idea of self-harm powers.
What exactly was the problem with it? I'm guessing it was a community social thing which some thought was in some way disruptive to the game?
I have to say that I was a bit... jarred... to be scrolling through the forums here and see a post title that started with such a common trigger phrase. I'm sure you had no intent to hurt anyone, and it is an accurate term for what you are describing; but I personally would not have opened the title with that so that the topic of the post is clear before the phrase comes up, and honestly I probably would have chosen a different phrase.
But of course, my experience is not universal, so that's only my 2 cp.
As for your post itself, I think the main issue was that it was just TOO punishing of an effect on the Oracle. You'll notice that there is still a cost for them to overclock their powers, but not nearly as severe. The knock-out effect sidelined a player for the rest of the encounter, and if the player is extenuating themselves to that point, it's probably an important fight and not a fight the player wants to sit out. This was definitely a cinematic type effect and I can see why some people liked it, but it def wasn't for me personally. Hopefully, as PF2E continues, Paizo will put out more classes that have risk-reward mechanics that'll also please people who want this kind of effect!