MAGGI PICAYUNE

In conjunction with Paizo updating the look and navigation of their Web site came the announcement of Pathfinder Second Edition. There will be a preview/playtest copy available around August (I put my request in with Rogues Gallery) before the final version next Summer. This won’t put a damper on my reviews of all the current books I’m trying to write about, no, life will slow that down as I return to my normal ebb and flow.

I have no immediate opinion beyond how they may inject Pathfinder with some of the crap ideas I don’t like in Starfinder, namely the “action economy,” overcomplicating Armor Class and assigning weapons levels.

The key rules will always apply…

1. Are we having a good time?
2. You bought it, you do whatever the hell you want.

If both are applied, then we’re doing it “right!” I have a feeling there are going to be several ideas I will incorporate. Even now, I’m letting all casters get the Magus’ ability to “recall” spells. I tried to implement something in the past but Paizo came up with a better method.

On the surface this is Pathfinder‘s take on D&D’s 3.5 series called The Complete…and it is, to a limited point.

Similarities:

1. Introduction of a new base class, the Magus.
2. More Feats.
3. More Spells.

Not done by WOTC:

1. More variants and archetypes for all classes from Core and Advanced Player Guide (aka APG). Not solely Arcane or Divine users.
2. A chapter on mastering magic with subcategories regarding the what, how and why of mastering.
3. A whole chapter on “Words of Power.”
4. No new Prestige Classes.

Chapter 1 introduces the Magus base class. On the surface it appears to be a compromise those frustrated with multi-classing via the traditional Fighter/Wizard or Fighter/Sorcerer route. For starters, I wish the author(s) came up with a better name. The new class has some significant differences to make it more than two classes mashed up together; but they still have spellbooks (Wizard) with a slower progression (Sorcerer).

• Arcane Pool: this power is equal to the Magus’ INT modifier plus half their class level, minimum of one. Then the Magus can expend one point from the pool to give their weapon a +1 magic enhancement for a minute. As the Magus achieves higher levels, additional magical features can be imbued into the weapon such as flaming, keen, etc and at the cost of those powers; e.g. a +1 flaming sword is two points, one for the +1 and the other one for the flaming element.
• Spell Combat: they fare better than Wizards when casting spells while wearing armor, aka the whole somatic argument.
• Spellstrike: extending touch spells’ range through a Magus’ weapon.
• Magus Arcana: more options on using the Arcane Pool with a weapon.
• Spell Recall: something I allow in my campaign for the other casters. Their mechanic is simpler so I will seriously look into this for Wizards, Clerics, etc.
• The rest are improvements of the above resulting in expansion or extension of those powers.

The Magus’ spells are smaller than a Wizard’s but the focus is martial applications of magic which is what most players doing the Fighter/Wizard combo wanted.

Now comes variations for eight Core, five for APG and the Magus. I’ll just list what I liked and will probably use:

• Bards can learn Masterpieces, elaborate performances with certain outcomes.
• Their take on the Cloistered Cleric, Clerics who just staff a temple or the village priestess, aka, Clerics who never go on adventures.
• Druids receive new Domains pertaining to their Nature inclinations.
• For Elric fans, the Magus has an archetype which uses a semi-intelligent “black blade.” A variation with Hexes like a Witch, a ghost blade and a staff instead of a sword as the weapon of choice.
• Monks can take Vows. Following them leads to special ki powers.
• Paladins can take Oaths. Nice yet it makes them too similar to Cavaliers. What the Oath grants, substitutes for core Paladin powers.
• Rangers get a list of traps they excel at setting. More Archetypes too.
• More Bloodlines for Sorcerers.
• More Hexes for Witches.
• Wizards receive Discoveries in addition to the Metal and Wood Schools (these are considered elements in the Oriental world) and an Archetype called the Scrollmaster.

Chapter 2 is about mastering magic through these topics:

• Spellblights: more powerful curses affecting only spell casters.
• Spell Duels: arbitrating two spell casters exclusively utilizing magic to duke it out. 
• Binding Outsiders: not just the evil ones.
• Building/Modifying Constructs: they do get damaged and some clever wizards will find ways to make them tougher to destroy. Besides, the Bestiary series never did explain how various golems are made.
• New familiar choices.
• More details on spellbooks. Mainly example ones created by other Wizards.
• Designing spells and more importantly, how to prevent the players from re-inventing the wheel or making a more powerful fireball. We all know that player.

Chapter 3 has the Feats focused on enhancing magic usage and the Archetypes introduced in Chapter 1.

Chapter 4 covers Words of Power. Sounds interesting yet I fear it would bog down my game. The PCs are still in the lower, middling levels and none cast spells anyway.

Chapter 5 are more Spells for the casters to add to their magical arsenals.

There is a pocket version due this Spring but either way, I find UM pretty useful. The bulk of its contents will give the PCs and GMs plenty of new options without bogging down the overall game. Now to find a way to help a player convert his Rogue into a Magus in a credible manner.

Paizo’s second of six Bestiary reference books for GMs. The first one was pretty important to have because it contained the most common monsters in Fantasy, namely other humanoids (goblins, orcs, gnolls), dragons (mandatory), giants (again, mandatory) and demons. B2 is closer to be being part two since there are about 20 entries which usually resided in WOTC’s first Monster Manual; other lycanthropes (werebear, -tiger and -boar), beasts such as the hippogriff, magical allies the blink dog and hippocampus (a giant seahorse, not a part of the brain). Paizo’s creations from their earlier Adventure Paths are present too: Leukodaemon and the Rune Giant.

Is it worth getting, a resounding yes, especially when B2 now comes in the $20 pocket format. It also helps to have on hand due to Paizo modules saving space (rightfully so) by just referencing the source for a typical version of a monster. More room to write in important details: traps, tactics, motives, room descriptions, etc.

This is the closest equivalent to D&D’s Players Handbook II, which I really miss from the 3.5e days. Within APG‘s 336 pages are a slew of ideas to implement into any Pathfinder game. Originally, I bought this for the potential options the Witch and Cavalier classes offered. Additional Spells and Feats were a given but there’s much more.

I’m going to break it down as I did with GMG yet I hope to be succinct.

Chapter 1 shows new possible options to shake up the traditional Core races in the game via racial traits and favored classes. For example, Dwarves can exchange the greed trait (+2 on Appraise rolls with precious gems and metals) for lorekeeper (+2 on History rolls when it pertains to dwarves and their enemies). Dwarven Fighters receive an extra +1 to their CMD/CMB against trip and bull rush attacks instead of the extra hit point/level. The point is there are options to help certain combinations make more sense, or against stereotypes.

Chapter 2 was the major reason for buying this, six new Core Classes. I recently re-read them and my reasons on why I don’t allow four of them stands but with elaborate reasons. I’ll start with the two I like.

• Cavalier: A more martial class than the Fighter since these warriors would more likely be from the upper social classes. I miss the Knight from PHB II because it was the best counter to the Barbarian (d12 hit points, always Lawful). Paizo going with Cavalier might be for two reasons: avoid upsetting WOTC even though Knights are not part of 5e; mounted combat is required due to the Cavalier being granted a mount at first level (usually a horse). Paizo went into better details with Orders that Cavaliers are pledged to. The ones listed can have their names changed to match what fits best, e.g. Order of the Lion which is loyalty to a monarch/ruler can be used for evil knights who pledged their loyalty and swords to the Empress of Cheliax in my campaign are now called the Order of Abrogalia. In the end, I gave thumbs up to this class with a few tweaks:
  1. Hit points go from d10 to d12.
  2. Alignment must be some form of Lawful, not any, due to the Order(s) a Cavalier pledges to. The Order element is an obvious example of Lawful behavior too.
  3. Swift actions are Free actions for the classes special abilities.
• Witch: The Sorcerer has often been the best surrogate if you’re playing with only the Core Rulebook. APG made the Witch a better option and this class has more in common with Wizard too. Instead of a spell book, a Witch’s familiar “stores” the spells as per the deal with the Witch’s patron (usually a god); keeping one’s familiar alive is critical. Patrons do have specializations but it just means the familiar will carry a new spell every two levels according a focus (similar to the Sorceror’s Bloodline ability). The special ability is traded out for the Wizard’s extra Feats are Hexes. Hexes are powers Witches execute from daily to once/day per affected person. I plan to use this as the preferred class of hags and other races in the wilderness, away from civilization. There’s also wiggle room for Witches to be good through benign Hexes.

Now comes the four classes I don’t permit and believe me, I dug deeper to try to allow them as I re-read for the article. I couldn’t since none solve a problem, are impractical and/or they’d be better utilized as Prestige Classes.

• Alchemist: A Wizard whose magic is funneled through potions called extracts. An Alchemist is more martial than a Wizard, hence the BAB +3/4 and d8 hit points. They’re just an Arcane class whose magic materializes through extracts yet they only affect the Alchemist (their cure light wounds extracts don’t work on anybody else). The Alchemist can also make bombs with a damage progression matching the Rogues’ sneak attack. Lastly, there’s an extract called a mutagen that gives the Alchemist a boost on a physical attribute while penalizing a mental attribute for the duration. This class is of little-to-no-use with a group of players. Sure the Alchemist receives the Brew Potion Feat at first level but more energy will be funneled into the extracts. Maybe a Prestige Class, otherwise, pass, including Paizo’s usage of Alchemist with monster NPCs.
• Inquisitor: A Cleric with the Bard’s BAB and spell progression. This class’ primary duty is to find the unfaithful within the deity’s various temples, churches, shrines, etc. Firstly, if this the class’ primary duty, why would one be dungeon crawling? Secondly, concerns about the deity’s worshippers sticking to the orthodoxy would make an Inquisitor a Lawful class too. Long ago, this title used to belong to a Prestige Class, it’s where it should’ve stayed.
• Oracle: Cleric with the Rogues’ BAB and hit point progression but has more in common with Sorcerers on spells (progression, granted, known). The class’ biggest flaw, the name. Oracle implies someone who tries to divine the future as per the historical Oracle at Delphi. Here it’s a Divine caster tied to Mysteries (aka, Clerical Bloodline) to grant the spells. Mysteries work more like Bloodlines than Domains because Mysteries grant extra spells at certain levels along with powers called Revelations. The catch? An Oracle has to adapt a certain drawback like being deaf, having a withered limb or appears too skinny. Oracle should be a Prestige Class for divinations. This class would work better under a different name and some modifications.
• Summoner: For those who think having conjuration as their specialized school might want this. The tradeoff? Spell progression, BAB and hit points equal to the Bard while nothing more powerful than sixth level on the spell tables. Summoners pretty much only know how to conjure monsters with a special companion, a more powerful familiar called an eidolon (translation = phantom). The eidolon has its own progression for BAB, hit dice, etc. Again, this class would work better as a Prestige Class. Its way too specialized at the beginning to help a group and an excessive amount of paperwork for a beginner DM.

The other half of Chapter 2 presents options for the Core classes to fit different situations. Clerics, Wizards and Sorcerers don’t receive this treatment, instead they introduce Subdomains for Clerics, new focused Schools with Wizards and new bloodlines for Sorcerers. What’s a Subdomain? It’s a set of spells/powers a Cleric can trade a Domain for something more specific associated with the Cleric’s deity. The other nine Core classes have options to swap out powers/traits to get a closer resemblance to a goal the GM or Player is looking for. An example of a time I used it was converting a local constable to a Rogue who is an Investigator. She traded out the trap finding talent for something called follow up, so she received two Diplomacy rolls when gathering information and keeps both results to weigh the truthfulness of the answers. Fighters can take specialization in more specific weapons like bows, crossbows, etc. Monks have different fighting schools. I’ve found these ideas to be pretty useful. They help me make the argument to the players…not every Rogue you meet is a crook or a First Edition thief.

Sadly, a few pages are wasted on the Anti-Paladin option within Paladin. I don’t find it a credible option. The Prestige Class Blackguard from 3.5e is better. The talent pool can come from fallen Paladins and other warriors who’ve worked their way up to earn the opportunity to receive special powers from an evil god.

Chapter 3 covers new Feats. The lion’s share pertain to the six new core classes, some are new altogether and the remainder build upon the Core‘s Feats.

Chapter 4 is Equipment. Nice but all of these items get incorporated into the upcoming Ultimate Equipment Guide. Ditto with Chapter 7.

Chapter 5 brings in the new Spells the six new classes inspired yet most can be utilized by the Core‘s original 11.

Chapter 6 lists new Prestige Classes the six new classes can evolve towards. With the exception of Master Chymist, I think the other 11 can too.

Chapter 7, see Chapter 4.

Chapter 8 introduces three new rules.

1. Additional Combat Maneuvers: These tend to work better if your PC/NPC has certain feats to prevent an Attack of Opportunity and/or achieve the desired outcome.
2. Hero Points: I already integrated this from d20 Modern in my campaign. APG utilizes them differently though. Players always have at least one (most days) and no more than three. They gain them back through their actions or graduating to a new level. I wouldn’t give them out for actions the players do in the real world. There’s a quick listing of how the points can be deployed I may want to try. To make Hero Points more enticing, there a few Feats associated with them.
3. Traits: Extra little abilities meant to make your PCs more unique. Most NPCs are ineligible. Traits are weaker than Feats and are more on par with racial/class traits like stonecunning/trap finding. Players are allowed to have two. They are divided up into theses categories: Basic, Campaign, Race, Regional and Religious. Campaign is the trickiest because it usually explains why a first-to-third level PC is teaming up with the other PCs.

APG is a worthwhile book. Despite my reservations on the four new classes since the other chapters (not made obsolete by Ultimate Equipment Guide) expand the possibilities whenever you don’t want yet another Rogue boss or someone wants to make a killer archer that isn’t an elf and/or Ranger. This book also comes in the $20 pocket format.