[PF] Occultist: Elemental Wizard Vestige

[Psyren]

I'm still working on my handbook for the Occultist (PF Binder) and I came across a vestige that lets you access any elemental wizard school spell (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools) of 5th-level or lower from the 7 elemental schools. These are:

1) Air (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/air)
2) Earth (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/earth)
3) Fire (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/fire)
4) Water (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/water)
5) Wood (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/wood)
6) Metal (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/metal)
7) Void (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/arcane-schools/paizo---arcane-schools/elemental-arcane-schools/void-elemental-school)

I'm digging through these lists looking for goodies, but I was wondering if anyone in the Playground had experience playing with the elemental schools and knew of any tricks. I figured it couldn't hurt to ask :smallsmile:

Note that all these spells would be supernatural abilities - thus, they would ignore SR, be castable in melee without provoking, and have a save DC that scales with your level; so even the low-level ones would be tough to save against.

[IronFist]

Wow, good find.

[stack]

Wandering star motes is pretty hilarious, but making it supernatural doesn't add THAT much to it.

[Psyren]

The vestige in question is Jayna Warlock. Though she doesn't scale quite as well, I think she could potentially be the Zceryll of this system.

I also pulled out all the supernatural spells she gives you below.

1st-4th:
Air: 0th—Message; 1st—alter winds, feather fall, shocking grasp; 2nd—elemental speech, elemental touch, glide, gust of wind, levitate, resist energy, summon monster II, whispering wind; 3rd—cloak of winds, draconic reservoir, elemental aura, fly, gaseous form, lightning bolt, protection from energy, wind wall; 4th—ball lightning, detonate, dragon's breath, elemental body I, river of wind, shout, summon monster IV.

Earth: 0th—acid splash; 1st—expeditious excavation, grease, stone fist; 2nd—acid arrow, create pit, elemental speech, elemental touch, glitterdust, resist energy, shatter, stone call, summon monster II; 3rd—draconic reservoir, elemental aura, protection from energy, shifting sand, spiked pit, stinking cloud; 4th—acid pit, calcific touch, detonate, dragon's breath, elemental body I, stone shape, stoneskin, summon monster IV.

Fire: 0th—spark; 1st—burning hands, dancing lantern; 2nd—burning gaze, elemental speech, elemental touch, fire breath, flaming sphere, pyrotechnics, resist energy, scorching ray, summon monster II; 3rd—campfire wall, draconic reservoir, elemental aura, fireball, flame arrow, protection from energy; 4th—detonate, dragon's breath, elemental body I, fire shield, fire trap, firefall, summon monster IV, wall of fire.

Water: 0th—ray of frost; 1st—hydraulic push, obscuring mist, touch of the sea; 2nd—accelerate poison, elemental speech, elemental touch, fog cloud, resist energy, slipstream, summon monster II; 3rd—aqueous orb, draconic reservoir, elemental aura, hydraulic torrent, protection from energy, sleet storm, water breathing; 4th—detonate, dragon's breath, elemental body I, ice storm, solid fog, summon monster IV, wall of ice.

Wood: 0—light; 1st—alter winds, animate rope, charm person; 2nd—cat’s grace, entangle, protection from arrows, web, whispering wind; 3rd—cloak of winds, tongues, tree shape, wind wall; 4th—charm monster, hallucinatory terrain, minor creation, plant growth, river of wind, secure shelter, sirocco;

Metal: 0th—mending; 1st—gravity bow, magic weapon, shocking grasp; 2nd—defensive shock, glitterdust, make whole, shatter, silk to steel; 3rd—chill metal, heat metal, lightning bolt, keen edge, greater magic weapon, versatile weapon; 4th—malfunction, shout, stoneskin.

Void: 0th—guidance; 1st—gravity bow, keen senses, shield, true strike; 2nd—continual flame, haunting mists, invisibility, masterwork transformation, see invisibility, share memory; 3rd—arcane sight, clairaudience/clairvoyance, dispel magic, nondetection, seek thoughts, call the void, twilight knife; 4th—minor creation, moonstruck, wandering star motes


5th (Capstone Empowerment - happens when you ace your binding check):
Air: 5th—elemental body III, overland flight, planar adaptation, planar binding, lesser, suffocation, summon monster V
Earth: 5th—elemental body III, hungry pit, passwall, planar adaptation, planar binding, lesser, summon monster V, transmute mud to rock, transmute rock to mud, wall of stone
Fire: 5th—elemental body III, fire snake, geyser, planar adaptation, planar binding, lesser, summon monster V
Water: 5th—cloudkill, cone of cold, elemental body III, geyser, planar adaptation, planar binding, lesser, summon monster V
Wood: 5th—command plants, fabricate, fickle winds, mirage arcana, sending, telepathic bond;
Metal: 5th—lightning arc, major creation, rapid repair, rusting grasp, soothe construct, unbreakable construct
Void: 5th—fabricate, major creation, mind fog, telepathic bond, teleport;


Like I said, I'm going through all these so I can make a determination on which is the best element to choose overall, but I'm open to suggestions.


Wandering star motes is pretty hilarious, but making it supernatural doesn't add THAT much to it.

Ha! See, I never read that spell before today :smallbiggrin:

Hmm... I would say bypassing SR and having a scaling DC is a pretty big deal for a spell with that many saves and targets. Plus the mind-affecting tag isn't as painful in PF. But lots of saves is bad too.

[Saidoro]

Here's the spirit in question (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/variant-magic-rules/binding-spirits/spirits/jayna-warlock). It's important to note that she can only be used to access on school at a time and that any non-instantaneous effect she creates has its duration reduced to 4 rounds.

Void is going to be the clear winner for general use. It has the best wall, the best elemental fury and its spells just have far more versatility than any of the others. Most problems can be solved with sufficiently imaginative use of at will fabricate and teleport, and its direct combat spells are pretty good to with gems like wandering star motes and Dispel Magic. Air can be bit better than void if your goal is just to ruin some single living thing's day, suffocation is pretty deadly. Earth and Water both have significantly more versatile(read:better) battlefield control than void with their clouds and walls and pits, if no one else in the party is covering that they become the obvious choice. Fire is useless, never pick it. Wood and Metal don't do much the others don't given the reduced durations, most of their best spells are long term buffs or things that other schools already get. All of the classical elements also have access to summon monster V, which does a lot for their versatility out of combat but isn't that great as a combat ability by the time you get it.

In terms of what you can do in down time there are three main things to know: Void gives teleport, fabricate, masterwork transformation and continual flame all of which are powerful workhorse effects which get even better if your GM rules that as supernatural abilities they don't require expensive spell components. Wood also has fabricate and backs it up with plant growth, sending and whispering wind. It's less useful in general, but amazing for those times when you really need to talk to someone far away(or those times when you want to increase the agricultural output of an entire continent by a third inside of one day). And all of the classical elements have access to Lesser Planar Binding, which can do amazing things when combined with magic circles off of scrolls or friendly spellcasters(Or maybe some convenient spirit, I've never gone through them in detail). Occultists have good charisma, access to magical means of control, and fluff which practically begs you to spend your downtime calling up outsiders and binding them into service.

Hope this helps.

[Snowbluff]

Her last name is Warlock. She is officially the coolest PF vestige.

I like void's spells. It has must-have spells like Dispel Magic and Arcane Sight. Minor/Major Creation are also good spells to have.

[Psyren]

Hope this helps.

It does, quite a lot - thank you.

Yes, I was already leaning towards Void due to the wall, but teleport is a very major draw as well.


Her last name is Warlock. She is officially the coolest PF vestige.

She's up there - but it's hard for me not to give that award to "Muse Istago, Painter of Paradox." I just love saying his name :smallbiggrin:

He gets pretty damn powerful too.



I like void's spells. It has must-have spells like Dispel Magic and Arcane Sight. Minor/Major Creation are also good spells to have.

Indeed, especially if supernatural abilities don't need material components in PF. (I really wish that were clearer...)

Of course, no components means Masterwork Transformation becomes an infinite money engine. Occultist is almost certainly T2.

[Saidoro]

Of course, no components means Masterwork Transformation becomes an infinite money engine. Occultist is almost certainly T2.
Fabricate is already an infinite money engine. So are wall of iron and hedge magician. Building an infinite money engine isn't hard, the tricky part is convincing the GM not to throw a handful of gravel into the works.

[stack]

Between Jayna Warlock, Muse Istago, and Fey Barahsomething you get incredible versatility (wildshape, casting, illusions). If you can't solve it with those three...

[Psyren]

Fabricate is already an infinite money engine. So are wall of iron and hedge magician. Building an infinite money engine isn't hard, the tricky part is convincing the GM not to throw a handful of gravel into the works.

Not sure what hedge magician is, but in PF, Fabricate costs as much as crafting the item normally while Wall of Iron can't be sold.

[Saidoro]

Not sure what hedge magician is, but in PF, Fabricate costs as much as crafting the item normally while Wall of Iron can't be sold.
Yes, but what an item costs to craft is less than what it sells for, and fabricate lets you craft even ludicrously expensive items in fixed time. Hedge magician is that trait which reduces crafting costs. I may be misremembering the name.

[Psyren]

Yes, but what an item costs to craft is less than what it sells for, and fabricate lets you craft even ludicrously expensive items in fixed time. Hedge magician is that trait which reduces crafting costs. I may be misremembering the name.

You explicitly can't create magic items with Fabricate, so Hedge Magician won't apply to it.

EDIT: Also, items cost half price to craft (generally) and sell for the same amount (also generally.) HM will allow you to make a tiny profit, but that's not unique to the Occultist.

[Saidoro]

I'm sorry, I wasn't quite clear. I wasn't talking about the Occultist specifically with those later examples, and I wasn't talking about fabricating magic items. Mundane items (adamantine full plate, let's say) can be crafted for a third of its market price. My point was ways of gaining disproportionate wealth are sufficiently ingrained in the system that infinite wealth engines are better dealt with by the standard gentleman's agreement than by mechanics.

[Vortenger]

Jayna Warlock was the first spirit I connected with in PF and I haven't changed my mind that she's my favorite new 'vestige'. Glad to see I'm not the only one that thought highly of her.

[Snowbluff]

Infinite money? Yikes.


She's up there - but it's hard for me not to give that award to "Muse Istago, Painter of Paradox." I just love saying his name :smallbiggrin:

He gets pretty damn powerful too.
That is a really cool name, but I like warlocks. :smalltongue:

[avr]

Wood gives you sirocco as a 4th level spell, which is nice - it's usually 6th and it's a decent debuff. Getting charm person/monster without noticeable components and with a scaling DC makes for a handy ability in social situations too.

[Corlindale]

I like Earth mainly because of Wall of Stone. It's borderline broken to be able to create permanent stone "walls" at will - there's absolutely nothing stopping you from creating huge stone fortresses each and every day, minecraft-style. You could solve housing problems in an entire city within hours, and generally reshape the world on a grand scale.

All because Wall of Stone is instantaneous in duration, thus bypassing the whole "4 round limit" clause.

[Saidoro]

I like Earth mainly because of Wall of Stone. It's borderline broken to be able to create permanent stone "walls" at will - there's absolutely nothing stopping you from creating huge stone fortresses each and every day, minecraft-style. You could solve housing problems in an entire city within hours, and generally reshape the world on a grand scale.

All because Wall of Stone is instantaneous in duration, thus bypassing the whole "4 round limit" clause.

Oh, I forgot about that one. I thought Wall of Stone had a duration.

[Psyren]

Jeez. They really should make it so that all of the spell effects end after the pact does.

Actually there are a number of vestige powers that last permanently, i.e. after your pact ends, and I don't think they really should. Serapith can blind everyone within 60' permanently, your allies included. Mare Loviatha can turn people into ice statues permanently. Hexus lets you hand out curses like candy. I wouldn't mind if Alex took another pass at this book; there's good stuff in here though.

[Saidoro]

Access to a few permanent effects is probably a good thing, they make the game more interesting. The main problem is that some of them are a bit too good for how often they can be used(looking at you, fabricate). And the offensive ones in particular are fine, they can be worse than just killing something, but not all that much so.