Can someone(s) please expalin the Pathfinder Medium to me :)?

[ngilop]

Hey guys, so I read over my new acquired copy of Occult Adventures and I realy like the lore behind the medium, though its not as awesome looking at it was in playtest (there was like 18 or 20 different spirits and supposed tobe one for each harrow card)

I guess PF just got brain block at like 35-40 and so was like "derp lets do mythic path stuff, lulz"


Anyways.. I really do no get the mechanics exactly.. I tried to look up a guide or something, but nobody has one for the Medium, that I could find at least.

So I come to the playground and hope that people can give me a basic layout on how exactly the class works

[Firest Kathon]

First thing: Here's a guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?454839-CTP-s-Medium-Guide) for the Medium (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/medium).

The basic mechanic is simple: Each morning you decide which legend the spirit you want to channel should have, becoming either a wizard (archmage), cleric (hierophant), offensive fighter (champion), defensive fighter (guardian), bard (marshal), or rogue (trickster). Of course, you're not getting the full features of each class, only some things which make you lean in that direction (better casting as archmage/hierophant, combat ability as champion/guardian, buffing the team as marshal and skillmonkey as rogue).

The channeling has to take place in a location appropriate to the spirit/legend. This is not supposed to be a problem (i.e. you should always be able to find an appropriate location, no matter where you are), but if you think your GM may not be cooperative there is the Relic Channeler (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/medium/archetypes/paizo-llc---medium-archetypes/relic-channeler-medium-archetype) archetype.

Each spirit/legend gives you some benefits, including a spirit surge, which is a small bonus you get on some dice rolls applied retroactively on failed rolls. Which rolls are affected depends on the spirit, each spirit corresponds to one attribute. Using the spirit surge gives the spirit one point of influence (starting at 1). If you ever reach 3 points of influence, you get a penalty (depending on the spirit), and at 5 points of infuence the spirit takes control over your character until the next day. You can get free uses of spirit surge, either by forgoing spirit powers or by accepting a taboo (some action that you cannot or must take while having that spirit).

I think the medium is quite well suited for play in diverse (e.g. Pathfinder Society) because you can fill any role in the party. In a continuous group I would rather focus on one spirit (there are some feats to improve single legends).

[digiman619]

First thing: Here's a guide (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?454839-CTP-s-Medium-Guide) for the Medium (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/medium).

The basic mechanic is simple: Each morning you decide which legend the spirit you want to channel should have, becoming either a wizard (archmage), cleric (hierophant), offensive fighter (champion), defensive fighter (guardian), bard (marshal), or rogue (trickster). Of course, you're not getting the full features of each class, only some things which make you lean in that direction (better casting as archmage/hierophant, combat ability as champion/guardian, buffing the team as marshal and skillmonkey as rogue).

The channeling has to take place in a location appropriate to the spirit/legend. This is not supposed to be a problem (i.e. you should always be able to find an appropriate location, no matter where you are), but if you think your GM may not be cooperative there is the Relic Channeler (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/medium/archetypes/paizo-llc---medium-archetypes/relic-channeler-medium-archetype) archetype.

Each spirit/legend gives you some benefits, including a spirit surge, which is a small bonus you get on some dice rolls applied retroactively on failed rolls. Which rolls are affected depends on the spirit, each spirit corresponds to one attribute. Using the spirit surge gives the spirit one point of influence (starting at 1). If you ever reach 3 points of influence, you get a penalty (depending on the spirit), and at 5 points of infuence the spirit takes control over your character until the next day. You can get free uses of spirit surge, either by forgoing spirit powers or by accepting a taboo (some action that you cannot or must take while having that spirit).

I think the medium is quite well suited for play in diverse (e.g. Pathfinder Society) because you can fill any role in the party. In a continuous group I would rather focus on one spirit (there are some feats to improve single legends).

So it's like the Binder but only one vestige per day and 4th level casting?

[Serafina]

Basically, the Medium is interesting in two situations: If you change group composition very often, or if your campaign includes lots of downtime.
In the first case - well, it's a character that can fit into any group. You can be a competent Fighter, but you can also act as a decent Rogue or arcane or divine caster if that is a better fit for the group.
In the latter case, you can be a Fighter when needed, and be good at skills or spellcasting as needed during downtime or for non-combat encounters. You need the time to switch between spirits though (you can only channel one per day), so that's not an option in your typical dungeoncrawl.

What hurst the Medium the most is that they get no flexible feats - but the spirits are designed to be that flexible. You can't actually fluidly switch between Champion "Fighter" or Archmage Caster or Trickster Skillmonkey, because you just get your normal feat every two levels and no way to quickly switch.
That can be bypassed with the right builds, taking feats that are universally useful and not specializing too much on any one thing. But it's certainly a limitation.


The main noteworthy archetype is the Spirit Dancer. Basically, you change your day-to-day versatility (which for fighting and so most adventuring ends up going with Champion anyway) to a minute-to-minute versatility, but at the cost of only having your spirit boosts for rounds per day, instead of all day long. It works about as well if you're changing groups often, works better if you're sticking with the same group, but gives up the downtime-flexibility (you can't cast long-casting-time spells with it, or engage in crafting or other downtime activities as well).


The Uda Wendo in the Haunted Heroes Handbook is also noteworthy: They gain access to a first-level domain power while channeling a spirit, choosing from the choices available to druids and a good number of cleric domains, and of course changeable each day.
Not only does this actually give more active powers to the Medium - much more like Binders had - but it also enhances your spellcasting (you add the domain spells to your list and spells known).
The cost of that is having to accept a point of burn (so 1 point of unhealable nonlethal damage per HD) or sacrificing some wealth (50 gp/level for each seance, way too expensive to do regularly), and two points of influence.
You also trade out the ability for a shared seance for +Charisma Bonus to all knowledge checks in addition to Intelligence, and in fact if anyone sees you during your seance it fails and you're both hit with bestow curse.
And you replace haunt/location/connection channel with minutes/day of speak with dead/plants and tongues. Which is less unique, but more useful.
Oh, and finally you don't need to be in the right location to channel a spirit, so you're far more flexible in that regard than a normal medium.

[Milo v3]

The channeling has to take place in a location appropriate to the spirit/legend. This is not supposed to be a problem (i.e. you should always be able to find an appropriate location, no matter where you are), but if you think your GM may not be cooperative there is the Relic Channeler (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/occult-adventures/occult-classes/medium/archetypes/paizo-llc---medium-archetypes/relic-channeler-medium-archetype) archetype.

Also there is this FAQ (http://paizo.com/paizo/faq/v5748nruor1h5#v5748eaic9tpq), which makes it RAW that you should be able to have access to basically any legend without much difficulty.

[Extra Anchovies]

It's also worth noting that a Medium can pick up Spirit Focus (Champion), forget about the other five options, and be a decently strong martial class. The hefty bonuses to hit and damage, extra attack at highest BAB, and ability to move and make multiple attacks in the same round are all very nice, and the free EWP lets you try some fun oddball weapons. They don't quite have the resilience to be a primary front-liner, but they make for solid strikers alongside a more resilient melee buddy like a Paladin or Barbarian. Their secondary class features, spellcasting, and strong skill list give them a nice array of noncombat abilities, especially if they take the Relic Channeler archetype to pick up Object Reading.

[ngilop]

Thanks, I could not find a single guide and I searched for a couple hours.


I'm thinking of joining a Carrion Crown adventure. What tips would you give me on building my medium and what focus should I lean towards. As well as anything that jumps out as 'awesome' or 'stay away'?

[Arutema]

Hey guys, so I read over my new acquired copy of Occult Adventures and I realy like the lore behind the medium, though its not as awesome looking at it was in playtest (there was like 18 or 20 different spirits and supposed tobe one for each harrow card)

I guess PF just got brain block at like 35-40 and so was like "derp lets do mythic path stuff, lulz"

I spoke to the class's designer at a con, and basically, they ran out of layout space in the book and had to cut back.

By the way, there is now a feat for the Medium (Legendary Influence) in Ultimate Intrigue that gives you a floating feat for each spirit.

I've found that among the spirits, the Champion, Hierophant, and Trickster are the ones that stand out. Champion can fight similarly to a full BAB class, and gets a form of pounce at 11th level. Heirophant can heal, if the party for whatever reason is short on a healer. Trickster just gets major bonuses to all skills if you anticipate a day heavy on skill checks.

Halflings get a favored class bonus what works well with Champion, since it boosts seance boon, which is damage.

Because the champion's bonuses aren't reduced for off-hand attacks, it works well with TWF. I've done well with a quarterstaff on my medium, thanks to it being a simple double weapon, I don't have to change weapons when I change spirits.

Good luck.