[PF] Words of Power

[Person_Man]

So while updating the Pounce and free movement thread, I stumbled across Pathfider Words of Power (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/ultimateMagicWordsOfPower.html) from Ultimate Magic. It's an optional magic subsystem that replaces your normal spells with convaluted words of power, which are more limited then spells, but can be combined in a lot of seemingly broken ways.

In particular, there are several time words (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/wordsOfPower/effectWords/timeWords.html#_accelerate-%28time%29) that completely destroy action economy. For example:


Accelerate (Time)

School transmutation; Level alchemist 2, bard 2, magus 2, sorcerer/wizard 2, summoner 2

Duration 1 round/level

Saving Throw Will negates (harmless); Spell Resistance yes (harmless)

Target Restrictions selected

The target of a wordspell with this effect word can take one additional move action each turn. This move action can come before, after, or between other actions, but not during a full-round action.

Boost: If the target takes a full-attack action, it can, instead of taking an extra move action, make one additional attack at its highest attack bonus.

That's a 2nd level spell that basically every arcane caster has access to.

Pathfinder went out of their way to try and remove or at least delay pounce and free movement in their system, and to remove the more broken pieces of magic. They specifically identified action advantage as a problem, and tried to take it out. And then they apparently put it back in.

I assume I'm missing something crippling about Words of Power, otherwise people would be using them a lot more. What am I missing?

[Khosan]

I assume I'm missing something crippling about Words of Power, otherwise people would be using them a lot more. What am I missing?

Mostly lack of versatility in comparison to normal spell lists as I understand it.

Taking the Experimental Spellcaster feat is probably a better option. You can get the good effect words while hanging on to a better spell list.

[Reverent-One]

The spell you mention is basically Haste, with the extra speed coming in as a seperate move action rather than an increase to base speed and less minor bonuses. Unless you have some special thing to do with your move action, I'd say it's worse.

[chaos_redefined]

Not quite. What OP is trying to do with it is move and then full attack, which you can do with Accelerate, but not with Haste. Additionally, you can spring attack with Accelerate, but not Haste.

[Reverent-One]

*Re-reads*

You're right, my bad. I misread the restriction on combining it with Full-round actions, I thought it was incompatible, but you only can't do it during.

[Eldonauran]

Words of Power have their benefits and their downfalls. I highly encourage only dipping with Experimental Caster, and only for certain words, for a blaster character.

Example:
Half-orc
Favored Class (Sorcerer), +1/2 level damage to fire spells
Magical Lineage (Burning Flash*)
Crossblooded Sorcerer (Draconic/Orc), Choose Fire*
Take Tattoo-ed Sorcerer to get Evocations at +1 caster level (Magic Tattoo)

Take Experimental Caster at first level, get Burning Flash*
At level three, take extra word (or wait till level 5 so you can get two first level spells) to pick up another first level damaging spell
At level 7, get Intensified spell.

Start slinging around '8d4+19 fire damage and 8d4+8 elec damage' spells from your 3rd level spell slots.

*-replace with Shock Arc/Electricity as desired.

[IronFist]

Accelerate doesn't do anything Hustle can't.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Are they at will or something?

[The Random NPC]

If you find a way to combine it with Lock Ward, you can make potions of Accelerate.

[TuggyNE]

Accelerate doesn't do anything Hustle can't.

The power? That's only for one round, instead of one round per level, and consumes your swift action. (It's also a third-level power for all but the slow-manifesting-progression psychic warrior.) So accelerate seems strictly superior if you're using it for two rounds or more, and arguably superior even if you're using it for only one round, especially if you combine it with the additional flexibility Words of Power allows for e.g. targeting.

[IronFist]

The power? That's only for one round, instead of one round per level, and consumes your swift action. (It's also a third-level power for all but the slow-manifesting-progression psychic warrior.) So accelerate seems strictly superior if you're using it for two rounds or more, and arguably superior even if you're using it for only one round, especially if you combine it with the additional flexibility Words of Power allows for e.g. targeting.

Accelerate takes a standard action to use.

[TuggyNE]

Accelerate takes a standard action to use.

Duly noted and already factored in, although I didn't bother to include that; the note on hustle's swift action activation is that it consumes your swift action every round you use it.

[Person_Man]

So I'm not arguing that Accelerate is somehow broken. I'd peg it to be slightly better then Travel Devotion - before combat starts you spend a standard action to activate it, and then you get free movement every round, and can use your full round action to make a full attack or cast full round spells without being bogged down, or just move twice and stay far away from enemies while still using standard action spells. It's in the same ballpark of most of the other forms of free movement, though it's noteworthy that you can get it so early in your progression, and pretty much every arcane spellcaster can get it.

What I'm saying is that it's really odd that Pathfinder would go out of it's way to remove action economy abuses from the game, try and steer all classes towards making Standard Actions more often (Vital Strike and similar Feats and class abilities), and then pretty much say screw it lets go back to the 3.5 mentality.

[Ninjaxenomorph]

Hmm. To cast that on more an one person, you would need to use the Boosted meta word, which makes it a 5th level Wordspell, it looks like.