Unintentional Incompatibility? Or did Paizo foresee only 1 future where they won?

[nick1wasd]

So, since Psychics only get 1 spell slot at level 1, and only have 1 slot of a given spell level the first time they unlock said level..... That sorta hard gates them out of being able to take the (it is rare) Wellspring Mage archetype, and any other future spellcasting archetype or feature that negs 1 spell slot per level.
Is the Psychic THAT good if it got the die roll of MAYBE getting a used slot back once or twice a day?
Was this intended to wall them out or was this an oversight?
Could you still take Wellspring Mage and just say you can't reduce slot amounts below 1 per level?
Could you just suffer through only having cantrips at level 1 and be 1 level behind the curve on when you get higher slot levels?
I'm really curious incase we get another "single 1st level slot at level 1; first time you get a new spell level, you only have 1 for that first level" class and how that style works with things like Wellspring Mage.

[rayous brightblade]

I think they could go wellspring, but for level 1 all your casting is cantrips and wellspring really wouldnt kick in until level 2. It does make the surges weird since you could not benefit but you would still roll for that 25% chance of wild surge.

[singingzombies]

Summoner has the same problem for taking the Wellspring Archetype and is an existing class. RAW they seem to have a very rough Level 1 with no spell slots and just cantrips when taking the Wellspring Archetype.

[SuperBidi]

I have the feeling that Wellspring Mage on 2 slot casters is just a bad idea. You have to use all your spell slots if you want to get any of them back. So, from a caster with few spell slots available for the tough fights, you become a caster with at most one random spell slot available per combat. And when you trigger a surge, you're out of spell on top of it, which is a perfect recipe for a TPK if it happens in a tough fight.
I personally would be reluctant to play with such a character in my party. In my opinion, it plays against the party, not with it.

[Golurkcanfly]

SuperBidi wrote:

I have the feeling that Wellspring Mage on 2 slot casters is just a bad idea. You have to use all your spell slots if you want to get any of them back. So, from a caster with few spell slots available for the tough fights, you become a caster with at most one random spell slot available per combat. And when you trigger a surge, you're out of spell on top of it, which is a perfect recipe for a TPK if it happens in a tough fight.

I personally would be reluctant to play with such a character in my party. In my opinion, it plays against the party, not with it.

A Wellspring Mage makes a ton of thematic sense with a Charisma Psychic. It even harkens back to the Wilder of 3.x in a neat way. I'd allow it simply because it's neat and it's better to be permissive at the system level. Like Evil Champions can be problematic for some parties, but they're still an option.