What in the Naraka is an Astradhari!
DISCLAIMER: This is not a review, but a preview, since I am one of the writers of this book. I will write it in the style of my reviews but refrain from giving a score.
Introduction
Under Azoth Games, James Ray AND Vladimir Rodriguez (that would be me) released a new book in the Akashic Tales line of products, Astradhari’s Panoply, returning to Akashic Mysteries southeast Asia influences. What is an astradhari, you say? What else is in this book? Read on!
What’s inside?
81 pages of content (not counting covers, ads etc.) for 13.50 bucks (nice), which include:
-The astradhari akashic base class: One of my contributions to the book, the astradhari’s base concept is almost 20 years old! It started as a soulknife ability that grew to a full, akashic base class. I wanted to go for the rare-in-RPGs intelligent warrior archetype and made a warrior sage. I also leaned heavily on the post-Akashic Mysteries role of the Akashic Records as the plane of memory. As I mentioned, astradhari come directly from Hinu mythology, but if you want to play a hunter of legends and wield, say, Mjolnir, Excalibur and the Gold Fleece, you can! Just call the warsages or something like that.
So, astradhari are unique among the current akashic classes in the sense that they are neither veilweavers nor starcallers, but it can partially do a bit of both in a new way. Astradhari are warriors first, having a full warrior chassis (d10 HD, Fort and Will good saves, full martial weapons, all armors and shields but not tower proficiencies). Unlike fighters, they are more skilled (4 skill points for 14 skills, of which 8 are Intelligence-based), and in fact benefit from a high intelligence score. As an akashic class, they get essence equal to a daevic (half class level minimum 1).
Astradhari make use of their connection to the plane of memory to empower their Akashic Knowledge ability, a versatile bonus to their Intelligence-based skills (and later all skills) that with time can even “unlock” them, marking them as intelligence-skill monkeys.
The rest of an astradhari’s 1st level abilities relate to astras, which are special versions of weapons, armors and shields that are originally veils with the enhanced descriptor or constellations in those forms. Both can be invested with the astradhari’s essence as normal, but for weapons and armors signs, they do have to pay their essence cost on top of any essence they want to invest in them. An astradhari learns especial ceremonies to conjure these armaments, in a manner very similar to how wizards learn their spells; they can even learn how to summon an astra in the middle of combat! Like wizards, they don’t have a limit on the number of astras they can learn. Astradhari designate a “chosen astra” each day, which they can summon at will, but beyond that, the astradhari can summon one astra from their repertoire twice per day, more with leveling. Finally, astradhari get a “minor astras” ability, getting access to minor veils.
At 2nd level, astradhari treat all of their astras as having an enhancement of 1 for evey even level they have (just like constellations), but once chosen the enhancements are set and can’t be changed until the astradhari gets another level, evading the common complaint of “bane against all” weapons that the OG weapon-like veils got. Also, at this level, the astradhari uses his connection to the plane of memory to fight like the OG wielder of the astra, represented by the “akashic style” temporary feats. These are similar to the ranger combat styles but include new armor ones. The astradhari gets bonus feat from their chosen astra only, and even when they get a second chosen astra later, they only benefit from this ability once. Also at 2nd level, astradhari can treat any veil astra as bound to the lesser chakras (hands, feet or head), marking them as master of weapons.
At 3rd level, and every 4th levels thereafter, astradhari get a bonus akashic feat. This serves two purposes, making the astradhari feel more akashic, and improving their meager essence pool since most feats also give a point of essence.
At 4th level, they get to improve all astras with one ability from a short list with things like alignment, special materials, ease of wielding.
The rest of the astradhari’s career they get improvements to these abilities. As a capstone, they get a special ability to their main chosen astra, depending on its nature (weapon or armor), and they can’t be dismissed or destroyed. Finally, the astradhari section ends with favored class bonuses, with a general entry (bonus essence), another general entry for races with weapon familiarity, and entries for all the not-half (which already can pick human and elf or orc anyway) core races plus orcs.
-12 Archetypes and Class features: The meatier part of the book and one with toys for many classes. Chakravatin are lawful good or lawful neutral Fisherkings that eschew non-voice veils in favor of starcalling, and getting many priest-y and lawful abilities, and with 6 pages it feels more like a variant class! Conduits are daevics that are not plain mortals (this archetype is made with planetouched like aasimar, tieflings and the like in mind, or descendants of undead, fey or aberrations too), developing their blood connection to the planes instead of having a symbiotic relationship with a daeva, having a unique “birthright passion”, complete with plane-specific veil-lists. They become more like their ancestors. Dhar Masters are guerrilla wisdom-based investigators that eschew alchemy in favor of modest veilweaving, drawing their veils from the eclipse veil list, and getting more fitting abilities like the ninja’s No Trace or the ranger’s traps.
Fakir is a new philosophy for gurus, drawing from those mystics that sleep in beds of nails, walk over coals and basically get enlightenment from pain; like other gurus, they get abilities that give them bonus essence and let them expend it, and can become living voodoo dolls to harm their opponents. Jijnasu are lawful veilweaving inquisitors that get access to the volur list and can also access a unique “brand inquisition”. Kesin is a servant path that focuses on the new “akashic vows” and get many flavorful abilities, including minor guru-veilweaving and other ascetic-themed choose-able talents. Rishi is another servant path which uses the bard-performance engine to represent reciting holy texts, and also get access to voice veils.
Sangyarishi are wisdom-based initiator astradhari that eschewe the more mundane fighting styles of traditional astradhari in favor of using martial disciplines in a different way. Shakta is a guru archetype that instead of following a philosophy and sundering veils, get power from special kundalini essence to power the traditional chakras; a very high-risk high-reward archetype! Soul channelers are charisma-based astradhari that not only channel legendary weaponry, but the souls of heroes too! Instead of ranger fighting styles and akashic feats, soul channelers use the souls of the soulforge, able to weave and bind a couple of related veils .
Vajrin is a special electricity-master stormbound archetype that focuses on the new Vajra veil and the new Vajra’s Aspect storm veil; perfect for those players that want to hyperfocus and don’t mind the loss of versatility. The “new” Jyotisa cosmology can be seen as an updated version of the OG cosmology, since India has its own version of the Zodiac (or the other way around). Most of the signs have a direct equivalent, but ALL the Jyotisa versions give completely new abilities, and get away from the controversially powerful classed champions; it even has its own lost constellation!
-30 new veils: Yeah, that’s a lot, so I will mention them by name with a very short description. They are divided into 3 sets and some miscellaneous ones. The Divine Astrani set encompasses many weapons, most of them directed to be wielded by astradhari but not all, and some of them include powerful binds apart from the classical hands/wrists combo binds for weapons. Agneyastra is a splash fire (and later flame-strike like divine fire) weapon, Almighty Gandiva is a composite longbow that transforms arrows shot into minute meteors, with later binds giving you quivers, and later basically increases your HP total. Brahmastra is a powerful storm veil that deals fire, force and even a disease when bound to those in the area. Divine Arrow Indrastra is a powerful projectile that deals increasing sacred damage and is especially powerful against fire beings, and with its more powerful bind, creates a cylinder AoE of damaging arrows.
Heavenly Sharanga is another bow, this one particularly potent against fiends and conjured weapons. Mohiniastra is a very peculiar voice veil that is an enhanced unarmed/natural attack veil too! And the bind lets you transform spells into shadowy versions of themselves, having less effect on you and potentially your allies; like other voice veils it also has a kingdom effect. Sudarshana Chakra is a ring veil that transforms into a powerful chakram, with the bind having two effects, lessen or increasing resistance to effects! (my favorite of my co-author’s veils in this section). Trishula of the Sun can be a trident or a sai, and is a powerful fire and light weapon that can be thrown, exploding in a mini-fireball, and culminating in the body bind with a kind of sun-elemental transformation. Vajra is a very powerful electrical heavy mace that can be shot into a kind of mini-lightning bolt, and later binds making it hard like adamantine! Varunapasha is a restraining veil that later can constrict and even prevent supernatural attempts to escape. Varunastra is a shape-shifting weapon that can later shoot jets of water and quench fires. We end this section with Vasavi Shakti, a crystalized lightning spear that culminates with the power to kill your opponents with a confirmed critical!
Semblance of the Auspicious One is a veil set that deals with the more esoteric aspects of Hindu myth, having a total of 7 new veils plus 2 from a previous project. Ajna of the Ascetic is a special veil that can only be accessed via the new Ascetic Vows (akashic) feat; it gives bonus to will saves, but becomes more potent for each akashic vow you take, and with a later bind it lets you know when opponents want to mess with your head, and it lets you mini-rage against them! Ajna of the Destroyer gives you a third eye that fires bolts of sacred fire, and when bound lets you dispel darkness and later disintegrate your targets, be them creatures or objects! Ajna of the Guru increases your sensory abilities and lets you help others in the same way, increasing your supernatural perception when bound. The three veils work better together, and in fact the new race can have them all “on” without taking any feats.
Cosmic Syllable is a voice veil that gives you insight on the nature of the universe, increasing Knowledge checks; the bind, however, lets you utter a powerful syllable that affects everyone in the area, including yourself, confusing those who fail at a will save and buffing those who succeed! Enfleshed Omnipotence gives you an extra pair of arms, and later another extra pair! This one makes you especially adept at multi-attacking, and when bound you can attack or affect everyone in range, or open portals and attack at range! Manyfold aspect gives you an extra face and later an extra head, making you difficult to flank or surprise, and later giving you the benefits of the schism psionic power. We finish this section with another voice veil, Mystic Syllable, which gives you a powerful sonic/force attack, that can be modulated when bound making others like you or dispelling magic; like other voice veils it includes a kingdom effect.
Supernal Raksa is the last veil set and it includes mostly armors. Brahmadanda is a cool enhanced walking stick that works as a shield, giving you both offense and defense, and it protects you against energy effects. Brahma-Kavacha is a medium armor that also protects you from energy damage (any kind), but unlike other types of energy resistance, this one works against all kinds. Karna-Kavacha is a heavy armor that gives you renewable temporary hit points (don’t worry about balance, remember that unlike damage reduction or energy resistance, temporary hit points don’t work against all attacks, and it can be beaten easily by focusing attacks on the wearer). Kesariya Robe is a robe that can be enhanced as light armor but counts as wearing no armor. It also irradiates light and gives you bonuses on interaction skills but only at a very close range, and when bound it can give a penalty to attacks, skills and saves against you and your powers. Shatachandra Shield is meant to be used for bashing, and lets you cleave and great cleave with it. The last veil in this section is the Urumi of the Forgotten Villian, which can also take the form of banded armor; it is a very powerful veil that has many abilities, and when bound gives you access to abilities similar to those of a zalakyavat rakshasa.
The rest of the assorted veils are as follows: Axiomatic Visage protects you from disease and chaotic effects, and gives your attack the powers of cosmic order, letting you become incorporeal in a similar way as an axiomite. Avatar of Order is another lawful veil that gives you a maxim companion (new creature presented in this book). Danava’s Angarkha is an armor veil for non-warriors, giving you some interaction bonuses and later help you deflect dangerous attacks. Danava’s Gada is a powerful lawful tetsubo which can make the floor shake and is especially effective against chaotic outsiders, objects and constructs. The last veil in the book is the Staff of the Hanumapti, a “balance” (that is, true-neutral) bo staff that can summon opposing forces to each of its tips and can even attack on its own when bound.
-4 “new” races: I use the quotation marks because two of these races are akashic variants of the half-giant and vanara, but both have different origins.
Alakit are yaksha-descended native outsiders, not unlike tieflings and aasimar. What are yaksha? Well, they are a very cool race of chaotic outsiders from Porphyra, which you can find in the Porphyra wiki. They are exuberant, sensual individuals and their iconic ability is gaining one of the new feats as a bonus. This race is the only one in the book not-akashic by default.
Ancient Vanara are more than just akashic version of the monkey-folk. They get a racial history tying them to the first hanumapti daeva, making them champions of balance and adept at resisting emotion magic. They also have their patron akashic god later in this book. Vanara veilweavers also get access to two veils regardless of class.
Deva-asura are the brain-child of my co-author, and are basically akashic demigods destined for greatness. Another native outsider but not from an outsider race, but from divine beings, deva-asura have many flavorful quirks and abilities that marks them as unique. They also get extra arms by default via the Enfleshed Omnipotence veil as a “natural” ability. They can also exchange this veil for the third eye or the extra face veils, making them the most mythic of the races in this book, or perhaps even the game!
Daitya are the akashic half-giants, and as a race they have a very small population. They come from the mountains instead of the desert. Unlike their psionic counterparts, Daitya started as humans but devolved into a forgotten giant race because of their backstory. They have ties to law and water, and like vanaras, they get access to two veils regardless of class.
-5 new Feats: Lord of the Bling gives you special abilities by wearing mundane, but expensive jewelry and clothing. Ascetic Vows are similar to Monk Vows, but these increase essence and have a couple of differences; it also includes rules for characters having both, or if the spheres system is used; it also gives access to a unique feat that gets more powerful for every vow taken. There are 7 vows that can be taken.
The Trimurti feat chain consists of three akashic teamwork feats available to starcallers. They let you choose one of three roles (destroyer, preserver and creator), and let you connect your essence with 2 characters that take the other two roles. The chain gives you the ability to work better as a team, and later you can even summon a member of the Trimurti to your side! The last feat in the chain also gives you powerful magical abilities depending on your role.
-Extra Content: Pitcher of Amrita is AFAIK the first akashic artifact ever! It is very flavorful without being campaign-breaking, and it is ripe for making adventures around it! There is also a new akashic recipe for the legendary Soma, which will be coveted by senior adventurers. Alakan Gold is a new material flavored after the yaksha that counts as silver for bypassing damage reduction, and benefiting those with the Lord of the Bling feat.
Kapeeshwar is my first attempt at designing a god for Pathfinder, part of the akashic pantheon. The lord of monkeys and the creator of ancient vanara, this god is the first hanumapti and use that creature as the base for mastering emotions and being completely neutral, and is inspired by both Hanuman and the Sun Wukong. He has 3 heralds, inspired by the famous 3 wise monkeys from Japanese mythology. The book ends with the monster entry for the Maxim.
Of Note: There is not a single aspect of this book that seems filler to me. There are a lot of character-defining options, and I’m dying to make new characters with these toys!
Anything wrong?: There were many ideas that couldn’t make it into the book. It might get a sequel for that ;)
What I want: For readers to check it and buy it, of course! If the readers get at least half the joy reading as we the authors had writing and going back and forth with the ideas, mission accomplished.
What cool things did this inspire?: It would be weird to talk about the material I designed here, but I want to expand on many of the concepts in this book. More astras, more akashic artifacts, variant astradhari that summon magical instruments or even the heroes of legend themselves.
Do I recommend it?: I can fully recommend this book based on my co-author’s work alone. His character options are unique and flavorful, and readers will have a hard time deciding on what to use for their characters. As I was part of the design duo, I will refrain from giving the book a score. So just buy it please!
Here is the link for anyone interested!