| Tunu40 |
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
First Off:
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I'd like to congratulate Paizo on releasing Player Core 1 and GM Core remaster books! It was a lot of work in a short time and we have seen your sweat and tears delivering a protected TTRPG! Thank you for your dedication!
At the same time, we do understand that the time crunch meant not everything got to go exactly as planned. There just wasn't time and maybe somethings were good enough. One, in my opinion, the Wilding Steward.
Issue?
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Many of the patrons really nail the intent of the Witch in the remaster. (Applause!) It really emphasizes the familiar as a central part of the class, giving a fun niche compared to other casters. They have strong hex cantrips to make up for their reduction in spell slots. There is a LOT of internal cohesiveness in the patrons. Also, the patrons' flavors fricking drip! Kudos! However, the Wilding Steward is one that struggles the most to meet these things.
Compared to the other Primal patron, Silence in Snow makes sense with the level 1 kit. Clinging Ice reduces enemy speed, Familiar of Freezing Rime adds difficult terrain, and Gust of Wind knocks down enemies while making it difficult to approach you. In short, the Silence in Snow Witch's kit allows the Witch to continue doing their casting from afar and making it difficult for enemies to get to them and take them down. It's defensive, but in a tactical/utility way of "demobilization".
The Wilding Steward doesn't have the same internal cohesion. Wilding Word makes it more difficult for an enemy to harm you, while also makes it more susceptible to attacks/saves if it does. And I think Wilding Word is so much better now that it can affect everything! Familiar of Keen Senses doesn't really work with Wilding Word (or most of the time), even though it IS a fantastic detector (Overseer aberration specific familiar?) And Summon Animal/Veggies would normally draw fire anyway with or without Wilding Word being active. It's a bit hodge-podge of some interesting ideas, but not united by any core mechanical role or identity (though I love the flavor).
I think I have a nice direction to go!
Proposal:
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Wilding Word
Success: Change "harms you" -> "harms you *or your minions.*"
Critical/Failure: Change "damages you" -> "damages you *or your minions.*"
And that's it! I think it lands a fun little role for the Wilding Steward - that of the "Packmaster". It would work well with the granted Summon Animal/Veggies spell.
Some Reasons:
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-Lesson of Wild Speech Mechanical/Narrative Cohesion: Wilding Word + Summon Animal/Veggies has some serious narrative flair. The power of the patron over nature is ever present as you summon creatures of the wild, your own primal voice intimidating enemies, and punishing those who fight against the patron's pawns (you, your familiar, and your summons).
-Iconic Control: The witch that has minions to do her bidding is iconic. The Wicked Witch of the West sends creatures after Dorothy. The White Witch and her army of creatures. Maleficent being aided by nature. I don't think it's odd that when the hero enters the domain of a witch that the creatures around spy for her. Though not a Witch, Kira from The Dark Crystal, calling on critters to take down the Skeksis Scientist.
-Unique Patron Niche - Primal: Silence in Snow is definitely lined up for the blaster primal patron. However, Primal is more than just blasting. It has environmental manipulation, healing, summoning, and battle forms. If a Common "Spirit Guide-like" specific familiar was available, the Wilding Steward would fit perfectly as that more physically-oriented witch that uses those other Primal spells for support.
-Great Use for Certain Feats: Certain feats are sort of "extra" or "trap" feats that don't truly serve a good purpose when compared to other things at their level, but would fit this witch. Rites of Convocation to ensure the Wilding Steward has their main gimmick spell slot available and Witch's Charge (if it was tweaked to always include your minions).
-Give Familiar Purpose: As Mark Seifter highlighted, put that familiar to work! Having it take hits to trigger the hex can be something! (Especially if you select the defensive familiar route...which Spirit Guide specific familiar fits perfectly...)
Inspiration:
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I always liked the Wild Patron, but it didn't really offer anything that the Winter Patron already did. It barely had a usable hex and Summon Animal/Veggies was already accessible, but Gust of Wind is a great spell. However, that changed when the Spirit Guide [Rare] specific familiar was released early this year (2023).
I don't think this was on any of the developers minds, but it fit perfectly with the Wild Patron. With no hex to use, the Wild Patron could focus on commanding the familiar. The Primal spell list had the perfect things for the Spirit Guide - Magic Fang and Moon Frenzy. On top of that, Enlarge/Elemental Gift/Barkskin/Haste/etc.. At level 11, you could have your familiar cast Magic Fang on itself as you cast either Enlarge/Moon Frenzy. However, the Spirit Guide needs the Witch to have a high STR (for attack) and a high DEX (for AC).
But it worked out. Primal spells accesses heal spells (and some useful buff spells). The granted spell is a summon spell which you could summon a Guard Dog. With the Spirit Guide, my Witch could easily use itself and the specific familiar to qualify for the Guard Dog's pack attack. Later on, grab Beastmaster and enjoy being the Packmaster.
Did it overshadow other witch builds? No! It wasn't broken, but it was creatively fun!
It overall showed that a more physical Primal Witch can be fun, doable, and fitting!
<<Warning>>: Playtesting though, I do want to share something that was "tension" with the summoning Witch. Summoning guzzles up the whole turn. This made it difficult to get the hex off and have the summon appear and immediately be a threat. It requires some planning and setup to do (such as getting a hex on the enemy you want to target and possibly buffing your familiar with Rousing Splash, then having your familiar Independent Stride to the enemy. Then, on the second turn - you need to have Cackle to sustain Wilding Word as you summon on the enemy. This is why I don't think the simple errata would be gamebreaking. It's arguable, it may hardly change anything at all. However, I still think it is a fitting functionality.
The Primal spell tradition is pretty diverse. And honestly, the Wilding Steward fits perfectly for that battle form witch, which is also very iconic! The Green Witch (Narnia), Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty), Madam Mim (Sword in the Stone), Kuzunoha (Japanese folklore/history), and various antagonists in Chinese films.
Conclusion:
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I feel like this simple change of adding **9 words**, could have incredible and fun ramifications that are far from being overpowered! I do have other thoughts (such as the familiar flanking fits better on Wilding Steward), but that's for another time.
Thanks again and regardless of what happens, still pretty stoked for what 2024 has in store!
(Side note: And if it isn't too much trouble, I do feel that the Spirit Guide familiar could become a core option in Core 2. They are far from powerful, but they are pretty neat and fun.)