A question on Supernaturalist Druids


Rules Questions

Silver Crusade

My brother, the DM, convinced me to look into the occult system at last. I bought the occult book and Occult Origins, and found a druid variation I love because I can pick up Shield, Spell Turning, and several other spells I've always wanted druids to have but that they never did.

But I find myself confused by the wording on the animal spirit. When I reach level four with my druid, does she gain my choice of one of those options, or all of them at once (which seems rather broken)?

Animal Spirit (Su): At 4th level, a supernaturalist can perform a seance to call an animal spirit of any animal with which she is familiar to serve as her companion and guide. The supernaturalist gains spirit, spirit bonus, spirit surge, and taboo abilities as a medium (Occult Adventures 30) 3 levels lower than her druid level. The supernaturalist’s allies cannot participate in this seance. This ability replaces wild shape. The spirit abilities of the animal spirit are as follows.

Spirit Bonus: Your spirit bonus applies on attack and damage rolls with natural weapons and on skill checks relating to animals and plants.

Seance Boon: Your natural armor bonus to AC increases by 1.

Favored Location: Native terrain of the animal type being invoked.

Influence Penalty: You become wild and savage, taking a penalty equal to your spirit bonus on caster level checks, Charisma- and Intelligencebased ability checks, and skill checks.

Taboos: Choose one: you must not speak (except with animals and plants); you must not wield manufactured weapons; you must not eat anything you did not kill or harvest yourself.

Totem Transformation (Lesser, Su): You gain any of the following abilities possessed by the animal you select as your animal spirit: bite (1d6 for a Medium druid), 2 claws (1d4 for a Medium druid), darkvision, improved land movement speed (up to a +20-foot enhancement bonus to the druid’s base land movement speed), low-light vision, scent, and swim (up to 30 feet).

Pack Leader (Intermediate, Su): When you summon animals that match your animal spirit, they gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws.

If anyone wants full context, below is a link to the Archives of Nethys page. https://www.aonprd.com/ArchetypeDisplay.aspx?FixedName=Druid%20Supernatural ist

Shadow Lodge

You get these features 'as a medium (Occult Adventures 30) 3 levels lower than her druid level' so you'll need to familiarize yourself with a whole set of class features and adjust them as specified by the archetype:

Medium wrote:

Source Occult Adventures pg. 30

...
Spirit (Su): A medium serves as a vessel to channel spirits—astral echoes of powerful souls from ages past that live on in myth and legend. Each day, a medium can channel a spirit through a ritual known as a seance. Seances take 1 hour to perform and require the medium’s concentration. At the end of a seance, the medium invites a local spirit to inhabit him and serve as his spirit for that day. Each spirit arises from one of six legends, which are described further beginning on page 33. Though the medium can choose the legend to which the spirit he channels belongs, he must channel that spirit from an appropriate location. Each spirit has a favored location it usually inhabits, though spirits may also be present at other locations appropriate to their legends; such locations are listed in each legend’s Favored Locations entry. The medium gains the spirit’s listed seance boon and lesser spirit power for 24 hours. The medium also gains the spirit’s intermediate spirit power at 6th level, its greater spirit power at 11th level, and its supreme spirit power at 17th level. After 24 hours, the medium loses contact with the channeled spirit and can perform another seance.

A medium can invite his allies to participate in his seance—shared seance (see page 31) and certain spirit powers affect other participants. A character counts as participating so long as she maintains physical contact with another participating character and willfully opens herself to the spirit; unlike the medium, other participating characters can take other actions during this time. Only creatures with an Intelligence score of at least 3 can participate in a seance.

In addition to granting power to the medium, a channeled spirit can influence the medium. By channeling a spirit, the medium allows the spirit to gain 1 point of influence over him. If the medium loses that 1 point of influence, he loses contact with the spirit, though he is still unable to perform a new seance until the normal 24 hour period has elapsed since his last seance. When the spirit leaves after the 24-hour duration and before the next seance, the spirit’s influence over the medium resets to 0. Certain abilities allow the medium to gain additional power in exchange for allowing the spirit more influence over him.

When a spirit gains at least 3 points of influence over the medium, the dual impulses housed within the same body cause the medium to meld with his spirit’s consciousness. The resulting muddled sense of self and struggle for control causes the medium to take a –2 penalty on initiative checks as well as a specific additional penalty listed in each spirit’s entry. However, the spirit’s mental presence grants the medium a +4 bonus against possession effects and a +2 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects that are not related to possession.

If a spirit ever attains 5 or more points of influence over the medium, the medium completely loses control to the spirit. He effectively becomes an NPC under the GM’s control until after he awakens the next day with the spirit gone.

During his seance, the medium can choose to channel a weaker spirit to gain its help without incurring as much of its influence. If he does so, he can forgo any number of spirit powers, starting with his most powerful spirit power. For each spirit power he forgoes, the medium can use his spirit surge ability twice without incurring influence.

Spirit Bonus (Su): When a medium channels a spirit, he gains a bonus on certain checks and to certain statistics, depending on the spirit. A 1st-level medium’s spirit bonus is +1; it increases by 1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.

Spirit Surge (Su): After failing a d20 roll that was modified by his spirit bonus, a medium can allow his spirit to gain 1 additional point of influence over him in order to add 1d6 to the check’s result without taking an action. This can cause the check to succeed instead of fail. The medium must be conscious and aware to use this ability, and he can use this ability at most once per round. At 10th level, the medium’s spirit surge die increases to 1d8, and at 20th level it increases to 1d10.

...

Taboo (Ex): At 2nd level, during his daily seance, a medium can accept a taboo in order to appease his spirit. Each spirit lists example taboos, and the GM may allow additional taboos as well. Accepting a taboo allows the medium to use his spirit surge ability twice without incurring influence. The medium can select only a single taboo. The medium is not magically prevented from breaking his taboo, but if he breaks the taboo for any reason, he takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws for 1 hour and his spirit gains 1 point of influence over him. If the medium continues violating the taboo while taking the penalty, the duration of the penalty extends, but the spirit doesn’t gain additional influence over the medium. If a spirit attains 5 points of influence because of a violated taboo, instead of possessing the medium, the spirit leaves the medium’s body entirely, and the medium loses access to his spirit powers, spirit bonus, and spirit surge abilities until the next time he can perform a seance. Banishing a spirit in this way damages the medium’s connection to that spirit’s legend; the medium cannot channel spirits of that legend for 1 week, and the next time the medium channels a spirit of that legend, it starts with 2 points of influence over him instead of 1.

Spirit Bonus: +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with natural weapons and on skill checks relating to animals and plants, it increases by 1 at 7th level and every 4 levels thereafter. A very specialized bonus.

Seance Boon: Gained at level 4 (remember that you are not actually proficient in any armor).

Favored Location: You only have access to the spirits of animals native to your current environment.

Influence Penalty: This is a potential penalty if your spirit becomes too powerful.

Taboos: Restriction that comes with the spirit.

Totem Transformation (Lesser, Su): Lesser powers are gained at level 4. Remember you are limited to animals native to your current environment (where you did your seance).

Pack Leader (Intermediate, Su): Intermediate powers are gained at level 9

Wildstrike (Greater, Su): Greater powers are gained at level 14

Wild Heart (Supreme, Ex): Supreme powers are gained at level 20

Liberty's Edge

Druid Supernaturalist

Linkified

The druid gains spirit, spirit bonus, spirit surge, and taboo abilities as a medium 3 levels lower than her druid level.

The spirit animal's spirit abilities are:
Spirit Bonus: Your spirit bonus applies on attack and damage rolls with natural weapons and on skill checks relating to animals and plants.

Seance Boon: Your natural armor bonus to AC increases by 1.

Favored Location: Native terrain of the animal type being invoked.

Influence Penalty: You become wild and savage, taking a penalty equal to your spirit bonus on caster level checks, Charisma- and Intelligencebased ability checks, and skill checks.

Taboos: Choose one: you must not speak (except with animals and plants); you must not wield manufactured weapons; you must not eat anything you did not kill or harvest yourself.

Totem Transformation (Lesser, Su): You gain any of the following abilities possessed by the animal you select as your animal spirit: bite (1d6 for a Medium druid), 2 claws (1d4 for a Medium druid), darkvision, improved land movement speed (up to a +20-foot enhancement bonus to the druid’s base land movement speed), low-light vision, scent, and swim (up to 30 feet).

Pack Leader (Intermediate, Su): When you summon animals that match your animal spirit, they gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and saving throws.

Wildstrike (Greater, Su): You can allow your animal spirit to gain 1 point of influence over you as a swift action to allow an animal or plant (including your companion) within 30 feet that can see or hear you to immediately take an additional standard action.

Wild Heart (Supreme, Ex): You gain a +4 bonus on saves against enchantment and mind-affecting effects, and immunity to effects that affect only humanoids. Once per day, you can cast any summon nature’s ally spell you can cast spontaneously as a standard action without expending a spell slot.

It is a lot of stuff to get at level 4, but it costs wildshape. Other abilities cost the Supernaturalist Druid nature bond.

So, you end up as a druid without an animal companion and without the ability to shape change in exchange for, at most, adding 6 medium spells and a spirit that makes you a better fighter and a worse spellcaster.

All things included, it doesn't seem broken.

Edit: Taja the Barbarian post is way better than mine.

Silver Crusade

So this is essentially a weakened form of multiclassing. Now I get it. Thank you. Both of you.

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