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Since Gencon came out with the information that tehre are two new classes coming out, and that each of them are NOT going to be classes we've seen before, we started talking and trying to think like Paizo. We basically asked ourselves 'What design space needs a new class? What hasn't been covered yet?"
We came to the conclusion that there were a few things that hadn't been covered. There's not a wisdom-based spontaneous caster, and only two wisdom casters in general (druid and cleric) whereas there are a bunch of charisma casters, and four intelligence casters (Wizard, Witch, Magus, and some psychics.) We also came to the conclusion that there isn't a wisdom-based warrior (There are int-based warriors, like Inventor and Investigator, and a charisma warrior in the Thaumaturge). So Wisdom seems like a good stat to key in on. We also like the idea of the partial caster like the magus/summoner, and thought more could be done with that design space.
So this all basically comes together, in my opinion at least, to make a sort of sage-like character, or a mental monk. This class would have some of the old abilities of the monk that they abandoned, like wisdom to AC, but be less MAD than a pathfinder 1e monk, and also focus in on 'ki' spells that used wisdom. This would also allow us to tie in to the psychic more, which kinda seems like an odd duck at the moment, so another class that is kinda-sorta psychic would be great.
How would this class work?
Well, I' haven't built it out, but I think it could borrow elements of the Kineticist, magus, and old 1e monk to do its job. Maybe they could add their wisdom INSTEAD of Dex to AC. Additionally, they could get some special ability (like Elemental Blast) that let them hit with their wisdom. This wouldn't be a Strike, but would be attack (call it something like Insightful Palm or something). They could have a zen-archery like feat that let them attack at range with their wisdom (again, not a strike, a special action). In addition, instead of gaining kineticist impulses, they would gain spellcasting like a summoner.
I think maybe they would have four subclasses, each one giving them access to a different spell list and a few special abilities, based on what they are a sage of. A sage contemplating the mysteries of the universe? Arcane. A sage contemplating the gods? Divine. A sage contemplating nature? Primal. A sage contemplating sense of self? Occult.
It's just a thought, but basically it would kinda fit a bunch of niches where Paizo doens't have a class in that design space yet, and it would also kinda work as a next generation inquisitor, which I know a lot of people like.
Anyway, just a thought. Let me know what you think.
While the thought is interesting I think that with a class named 'Sage' people would have immediately an extremely wide array of different ideas what that would be
caster, warrior, supporter - theres needs to be a lot of potential design space or the class will fall short off many people expectations
That said, another wisdom caster and a wisdom martial would both be welcome additions to the game
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Well, we know the name is 3 syllables with one vowel per syllable. So it's not literally going to be called "the sage" since that's two syllables.
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It's possible, and sounds neat, but so far "fill in the blank of what's missing" has basically been the worst way to predict new classes.
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It's possible, and sounds neat, but so far "fill in the blank of what's missing" has basically been the worst way to predict new classes.
Yeah, the devs have explicitly said this kind of box-checking is now how they make new classes.
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Plus, stat substitution is very un-PF2, at least for anything more than skills. Taking something as big as AC and adding it to a stat as important as Wisdom? I don't see it happening.
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Yeah, I think all of the "brand new" classes are going to be about "something a developer is personally excited about" rather than "we need to fill this niche."
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Yeah, I think all of the "brand new" classes are going to be about "something a developer is personally excited about" rather than "we need to fill this niche."
Well, personally, I'd be happy and excited to see a more mystical monk class. A 'Mr. Miyagi' style class that uses knowledge, not power, to hit people and has weird esoteric powers like the ability to heal with pressure-points or applying mystical healing hands.
I was actually thinking about how I could make an unarmored melee class and not just give them the monk's expertise in unarmored defense at level 1 and I came up with this idea as a class ability at level 1:
Sage's Token:
Every Sage has a personal token that helps them enter a sort of battle meditation that allows them to avoid attacks with surprising skill. They start play with an item of light bulk. This item could take many forms, but often is a prayer book, beaded necklace, toy drum, or other meditation aid. As long as the Sage has the token on them, it gives them a +2 item bonus to AC and with a maximum dexterity bonus of +3. The token can be enchanted with armor runes as if it was armor. A sage can create a new token with a day's worth of work, and if a new one is created, any old token falls apart and is destroyed. A token only works for the Sage who created it and a Token has no monetary value. A sage with a token has access to the Battle Insight ability.Battle Insight (one action)
Prerequisite: A Sage has their Sage's Token on them.
You concentrate on your meditative techniques even harder to increase your ability to avoid attacks. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to AC until the start of your next turn.
There could then be a feat you could take at level 1 that basically turns the battle token into +4/max dex 1 but also reduced your speed by 5 feet, for people who didn't want to have 18 wis and 16 dex.