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View Full Version : Pathfinder Magic of Japan: "Oriental Adventures"-themed Caster Archetypes



Giegue
2017-04-02, 03:08 PM
So Pathfinder has a lot of "Japanese" themed options for martial characters such as samurai, ninja etc.. but is quite lacking when it comes to caster options with an oriental theme. So to rectify this I decided to create several archetypes with an "Japanese" feel to them to represent the various "spellcasters" of Japanese mythology, and this is what I came up with. Note that these are meant more as fantasy versions of these character archetypes and thus draw from sources such as Japanese anime and RPGs for some of their abilities, these are not meant to be historically accurate representations. With that being said, I have no idea how balanced these are, so if anybody has any pointers on balance I'd be grateful!

So without further hesitation...I give you the archetypes!



Cleric Archetype: Shrine Maiden

http://i.imgur.com/2hyylNe.png

Ofuda Caster

Your divine magic comes not from being able to interpret the signs of a deity but instead your ability to interact with the Kami. You use your Charisma score in place of your wisdom score for determining what spell levels you can cast and how many bonus spells per-day you recieve for having a high wisdom. Additionally, you use your Charisma modifier in place of your Wisdom modifier when calculating the saving throw DCs for all cleric spells you cast. If a cleric spell specifically uses your wisdom modifier or wisdom score, it instead uses your charisma modifier or charisma score. Your spells also require complex hand signs as their somatic components; you suffer spell failure as an arcane spellcaster while wearing armor or carrying a shield.

Additionally, you cast all your spells through special paper talismans known as Ofuda. Each of your spells gains an ofuda as it's inexpensive material component(s) in place of any inexpensive material components it would have normally. (inexpensive material components are those that cost 1 gp or less.) Additionally, you use oufda in place of divine foci for any spells that would require a divine focus, and in place of a holy symbol for your channel energy feature and any feats tied to it.

This ability alters the cleric’s spellcasting.

Shinto Training

Unlike more traditional clerics you are more learned and receive martial training only with a select few weapons as appose to a wide variety of weapons and armor. You lose proficiency with light armor, medium armor, shields and all simple weapons. However, you gain proficiency with daggers, fighting fans, quarterstaffs, wakizashis, shurikins, blowguns and longbows. Additionally, you add Knowledge (Nature) to your list of cleric class skills, and receive 2 additional skill points at each cleric level.

This alters the proficiencies and skills of the cleric class.

Yurei Hunter (Ex)

As a Shrine Maiden you are trained to deal with malignant spirits and haunts. You can always act in the suprise round against a haunt and gain a competence bonus to all Knowledge checks made in relation to haunts, spirits and kami equal 1/2 your cleric level (minimum 1).

Spiritual Authority

As a Shrine Maiden you possess divine authority over spirits as well as the undead. You reduce the amount of times you can channel energy per-day to 1 + your charisma modifier. However, you can also effect spirits with your channeled energy. If you channel positive energy, you can harm spirits in the same way you can harm undead and heal good and neutral aligned non-living spirits in the same way you heal living creatures. If you channel negative energy, you can harm non-living spirits in the same way you can harm living creatures and can heal evil-aligned spirits in the same way you can heal undead. For this feature's effects "spirits" includes all elementals, fey, haunts, incorporeal undead and kami.

This feature alters the Channel Energy feature of the cleric class.

Servant of the Kami

Shrine Maidens, due to their patrons being the Kami rather than a deity, recieve less domains than other clerics. You gain 1 domain instead of 2 at 1st level. However, all domain features of your chosen domain that use your wisdom score or wisdom modifier instead use your charisma score or charisma modifier.

Additionally, since you don't worship one deity but many, your Aura corresponds to your own alignment instead of that of your deity.

This alters the Cleric's domain and Aura features.

Kami's Ward (Su)

Starting at 1st level, you learn how to call forth the protective blessings of the Kami. As an action, you call upon the Kami to grant you their protective blessing. When you do this, you conjure invisible armor of divine energy that grants you a +4 armor bonus to AC. In addition, this armor functions as if it had the ghost touch special ability. At 7th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the armor bonus increases by 2. You can use this armor for 1 hour per day per cleric level. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-hour increments. This conjured armor counts as real armor for the effects of cleric spells you cast (such as Magic Vestment.) but not for any other purposes.

Kamigakari (Su)

At 1st level, you gain the ability to let a kami temporarily possess you and grant you some of it's otherworldly knowledge. When you prepare your cleric spells each day, you can also allow the Kami that you are communing with for your spells to possess you for the duration of your spell preparation period. When you do this, you choose one spell of each level to which you have access from the list of any cleric domain(s) or sub-domain(s); when preparing your cleric spells for that day, you may select your prepared spells from both the cleric spell list and the spells you selected. You can only do this once each day.

Exorcism (Su)

Starting at 8th level you can, as a full-round action, force a possessing creature or spirit out of the body it inhabits. To exorcise a possessing creature, you make a caster level check (also adding your Charisma modifier, if any), against a DC of 10 + the possessing creature's HD + its Charisma modifier (if any). If your result equals or exceeds the DC, you succeed in forcing the possessor from the body, with the normal results based on its method of possession. A spirit so exorcised cannot attempt to possess the same victim for 24 hours. To perform an exorcism on a creature it must be within 60ft and in your line of sight. You can use this feature a number of times per-day equal to 1 + Your Charisma modifier.

Seal (Su)

Starting at 10th level, you can cast a special version of the Magic Circle spells. To cast a Magic Circle in this way you must prepare it with a +2 spell level adjustment. (This does not count as a metamagic effect.) When cast you throw 5 talismans in a circle around a target location (treat this as one attack against AC 10 targeting the ground). Once the talismans land, they create a Magic Circle against Evil (or whichever version of the spell the You chose to cast), focused both inward and outward, and the spell duration is set to 1 round per cleric level.

Any enemies within the radius may make a reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 Cleric level + Cha modifier), if they succeed, they may expend an immediate action to move to a square just outside the seals radius, and they skip their move action on their next turn. For the duration of the spell, any creatures of the appropriate alignment within the radius cannot exit, or if outside the area cannot enter, unless their spell resistance can overcome the spell. No attacks can enter or leave the spell radius, and anyone who passes through the barrier reduces the remaining duration by one round (the remaining duration will only be reduced in this way up to twice per round).

Note: Male Shrine Maidens

While shrine maidens are always female, this archetype can be taken by male characters. However, if a male character takes this archetype it instead represents a shinto priest or exorcist, and should be re-named and re-flavored accordingly.



Witch Archetype: Kitsune-Tsukai

http://i.imgur.com/OkztFaR.png

Ofuda Caster

Your arcane magic comes not from knowledge granted by a mysterious patron but instead your ability to bargain with your Kitsune familiar. You use your Charisma score in place of your Intelligence score for determining what spell levels you can cast and how many bonus spells per-day you receive for having a high Intelligence. Additionally, you use your Charisma modifier in place of your Intelligence modifier when calculating the saving throw DCs for all Witch spells you cast and all Witch Hexes you use. If a Witch spell or Hex specifically uses your Intelligence modifier or Intelligence score, it instead uses your Charisma modifier or Charisma score.

Also, you cast all your spells through special paper talismans known as Ofuda. Each of your spells gains an ofuda as it's inexpensive material component(s) in place of any inexpensive material components it would have normally, (inexpensive material components are those that cost 1 gp or less.) and when using a Hex you must also present an Ofuda as a part of that hex's casting.

This feature alters the Witch’s spellcasting and Hexes.

Fox-Witch Training

Due to your cultural background and unique breed of witchcraft you train with different weapons and have a wider range of skills than other witches. You lose proficiency with all simple weapons, but gain proficiency with daggers, fighting fans, quarterstaves, shurikins, blowguns, wakizashis and shortbows. Additionally, you add Bluff and Handle Animal to your list of witch class skills, and gain 2 additional skill points at witch each level.

This feature alters the Witch's proficiency, class skills and skill points.

Nogitsune Familiar (Su)

As a Kitsune-Tsukai your patron is not an unknowable force that gives you knowledge but rather a creature you know well; your loyal, but young, Nogitsune familiar. When you gain your familiar it must be a fox. However, unlike a standard fox familiar, It has a few key differences that separate it from its mortal peers. It's type is oursider (Kami) instead of it's normal type and it's alignment is your choice of chaotic neutral or any evil alignment. It automatically gains the Sage and Infiltrator archetypes, and can speak one language of your choice. It also can cast the Dancing Lights and Ghost Sound cantrips as spell-like abilities at-will.

Additionally, as a kami, your Nogitsune possesses supernatural powers it can use via it's bond with you. At each level you would would gain a patron spell, your Nogitsune familiar instead gains the spell-like ability for that level listed below and, starting at 4th level, grows 1 additional tail for each spell-like ability it gains.(So at 18th level, it would have a total of nine tails.).

Your Nogitsune familiar can use these spell-like abilities by expending one of your spell slots with a level that equals the level of that spell, and can do this regardless of its distance from you. It can also modify these spell-like abilities with metamagic feats you know by adding that feat's spell level adjustment to the spell-like ability's effective level for determining which level slot it must expend. (So, for example, if you wanted your Nogitsune Familiar to cast an extended Silent Image it would need to expend one of your 2nd level slots to do so.) These spell like abilities use your own Charisma modifier in place of your familiar's Charisma modifier to determine their save DCs.

Nogitsune Familiar spell-like abilities

2nd: Silent Image
4th: Suggestion
6th: Major Image
8th: Adjustable Polymorph
10th: Possession
12th: Suggestion, Mass
14th: Teleport, Greater
16th: Create Demiplane
18th: Wish

This ability alters the Witch's Familiar feature and replaces their Patron feature.

Vulpine Hexes (Su)

Starting at 6th level, you can have your Nogitsune Familiar use hexes you know. As an action, you can imbue a Hex you know within your Nogitsune Familiar and for 24 hours it may use that Hex as if you cast it, regardless of its distance from you. Your Nogitsune Familiar can only have one such Hex imbue within it at any given time. As long as a Hex is imbued in your familiar you cannot use that Hex yourself. You can have your Nogitsune familiar lose any imbue hex it has (restoring your ability to use that hex) during your turn (or any time outside of combat) as a free action.

This feature replaces the Witch's 6th level Hex.



Wizard Archetype: Onmyoji

http://i.imgur.com/8cwjxVW.png

Ofuda

As an Onmyoji, you cast all your spells through special paper talismans known as Ofuda. Each of your spells gains an ofuda as it's inexpensive material component(s) in place of any inexpensive material components it would have normally. (inexpensive material components are those that cost 1 gp or less.). Additionally, your spellbook takes the form of a large scroll or collection of scrolls as appose to the leather-bound books western mages use.

This feature alters the Wizard's spellcasting.

Onmyoji Training

Due to your cultural background and unique brand of spellcasting you have proficiency with a different set of weapons than other wizards. You lose proficiency with the dart, sling and light crossbow, but gain proficiency with the blowgun, shuriken, wakizashi and shortbow.

This feature alters the Wizard's weapon proficiencies.

Court Magician

As an imperial bureaucrat you learn to apply your understanding of courtly etiquette to the daily social and political maneuvering that comes with your position. You can use Knowledge (Nobility) in place of Bluff and Diplomacy whenever you would make a Bluff or Diplomacy check.

This feature replaces the Wizard's Scribe Scroll Bonus Feat.

Shikigami Familiar (Su)

At 1st level, You learn to fold an origami animal to serve as a temporary ward for a minor shikigami. Initially, the merged minor shikigami can’t leave the paper body and acts in all ways as an ordinary animal familiar of the origami animal’s type, although it still appears to be made of paper. At 5th level, it gains the abilities of a shikigami improved familiar (Bestiary 3 163), even if you don’t meet the prerequisites for having a shikigami as a familiar. The shikigami treats you as its ward. Additionally, it gains the ability to use change shape to change between its full shikigami form and its origami form at will (as beast shape II).

This replaces the Wizard's Arcane Bond and 5th level bonus feat.

khadgar567
2017-04-02, 11:56 PM
No summoner or sorcerer mate they are what i look for

Morphic tide
2017-04-04, 02:41 PM
Well, I have a few gripes here. Number one is that the Witch archetype represents exactly one possible arrangement. Where's the Oni contractor? What about people who sign on to the more obscure stuff, like the 100 year old items that spontaneously animate? Why only the Kitsune? You could have much more interesting stuff than a fox spirit for a Witch archetype, and the 100 year timeframe for the spontaneously animated object is much more reasonable than the 1000 year timeframe of a fox becoming a full (nine-tailed) Kitsune.

And the Ofuda focus is a bit excessive. Like, it's fine for the Cleric and Wizard archetypes, but it doesn't really fit the Witch at all. They are contracted with a creature known to be able to do many, highly varied, magical things without any sort of outside focus.

As for Sorcerer and Summoner, Sorcerer can get either a Wisdom or Intelligence casting archetype, or keep it's Charisma casting. Or you can have several archetypes, each with it's own set of Bloodlines locked to having your casting dependent on a stat. Like having Wisdom based casting be Kami, with the individual Bloodlines being based on the general category of Kami rather that specific ones, the Intelligence based casting can be Oni or otherwise non-Kami ancestry(like having a Witch ancestor who got "involved" with their familiar) and the non-archetype bloodlines can be Oni or other sorts of non-Kami ancestry, whichever isn't taken by Intelligence.

Summoner, meanwhile, is clearly going to be about the half-obscure things of Japanese myth. I don't know what to do with it beyond make one archetype and a bundle of Eidolons that work better with the archetype, but don't require it.

Giegue
2017-04-06, 07:38 PM
Thanks for all the feedback! It's very solid. As for why summoner and sorcerer are not represented is, well, I had few ideas for them initially, but you gave me some good ones to work with. I particularly like the 1/2 Kami idea, sorta like a spirit folk, though I think that would work better as a bloodline than an archetype. An Oni sorcerer is not needed sonic there is already an Oni bloodline, though an Oni witch would be interesting and fitting. However, instead of lumping all the "youkai" patrons into one archetype I was thinking of making them separate archetypes since each patron has its own "feel" so to speak. The Oni Witch in particular I feel could lose its familiar entirely to instead gain blood-magic type abilities, since Oni are not traditionally companions to spellcasters but instead their masters. I'm thinking it could be a "Maho-Tsukai" tupe archetype, and may not shift to Cha like the Kitsune Tsukai does...

As for sunmoner, thinking the Animate Object stuff could be stuck there, Witt the summoner getting one as their Eidolon.

Morphic tide
2017-04-06, 07:52 PM
Well, the idea for the archetypes I have is that they are the general groundwork for a different category of class choices, like the Sorcerer archetype having several bloodline options.

For instance, the basic archetype change could alter the casting stat, then give you options requiring the archetype. Like the Sorcerer archetype being a general Kami-blooded archetype, but getting several bloodlines that play into what the archetype gives.

It'd be like if the Arcane bloodline was an archetype which made Sorcerer intelligence-based and gave them choices of bloodlines based on schools of magic, with Bloodline powers running on Intelligence or stuff that the archetype makes easier to get, if not makes possible in the first place.

Edit: To understand what I'm getting at, I'll stick with a hypothetical Arcane Bloodline archetype. The biggest point would be to keep the Bloodlines complete, but have stuff that doesn't work for the default Sorcerer.

For instance, the archetype might trade away the first level Bloodline Power for a Familiar/proper Arcane Bond, but the bloodlines associated would still have a first level Bloodline Power, for regular Sorcerers using them, instead having the difficulty being from having one or two Bloodline Powers rely on the Familiar to function or scale with Intelligence, making them not be fully functional for a regular Sorcerer, but useful for a Sorcerer that got a Familiar in some other way and has good Charisma and good Intelligence.

Translating to a Kami-blooded archetype, the archetype might give the Sorcerer a single Cleric Domain, with bloodlines connected to Domains, but nothing stopping you from grabbing a Domain and a non-related Bloodline. Because the Kami of Japanese myth are far more odd-job than anything else short of Hinduism, which is a culture rather than a coherent religion. The tradeoff being either reduced spells per day to account for domain slots, or losing out on certain Bloodline features that a standard Sorcerer with the bloodline would get. Probably nixing most of the Bloodline Spells, replacing them with Domain Spells.

I'm not saying you need to make a Bloodline for every Domain, but the stuff that Sorcerer doesn't have clear choices for like a Gish-focused bloodline or one that gives them healing would be a thing to focus on. So the Healing, War and Artifice domains would be ones to look at, for Healing, Martial/Gish Combat and Crafting focused Sorcerers getting stuff needed to really work well at those things. But having the stuff scale with Wisdom instead, and having the not-strictly-needed functions occupy Bloodline Features that the archetype removes to "pay for" the Domain.

khadgar567
2017-04-06, 11:49 PM
What sorcerer needs is more dakka for their daily adventures and maybe a way to duke it out in melee so imho archtype may give them more spells per day and ability to slightly mimic magus spell combat

Morphic tide
2017-04-06, 11:58 PM
What sorcerer needs is more dakka for their daily adventures and maybe a way to duke it out in melee so imho archtype may give them more spells per day and ability to slightly mimic magus spell combat

My thought there is to stick it in a Bloodline that's built to pair with an archetype, but can go with other archetypes. Including default Sorcerer.

Basically, literal-demigod Sorcerer with War domain and a War bloodline for a gish core. Makes it somewhat relevant to the thread.

Like, your suggestion works well as part of what a semi-Divine Sorcerer archetype themed on Japanese myth can choose to do.

Sorcerers have more than enough spell slots, what they need is types of spells not found on their list. Like healing.

khadgar567
2017-04-07, 12:33 AM
My thought there is to stick it in a Bloodline that's built to pair with an archetype, but can go with other archetypes. Including default Sorcerer.

Basically, literal-demigod Sorcerer with War domain and a War bloodline for a gish core. Makes it somewhat relevant to the thread.

Like, your suggestion works well as part of what a semi-Divine Sorcerer archetype themed on Japanese myth can choose to do.

Sorcerers have more than enough spell slots, what they need is types of spells not found on their list. Like healing.
I dont know morphic . But they need some low level spell slots(I am playing one in society game and i need new spell slots and known badly at second level by the way). but as demi gods i think we can bump the skill points per level to something respectable like d8 per level.

Morphic tide
2017-04-07, 01:29 AM
I dont know morphic . But they need some low level spell slots(I am playing one in society game and i need new spell slots and known badly at second level by the way). but as demi gods i think we can bump the skill points per level to something respectable like d8 per level.

...What? First off, you can cast spells in higher level spell slots. Second off, 2nd level is not heavy spell use territory. Third, skill points are not measured with dice.

Like, you seem not to really be thinking about any of the points I'm making. In a social game, you don't rely on spells for anything that you can't at least try to do with a skill check. In which case, having high Charisma, a default assumption of Sorcerers, is more important than having a lot of skill points at 2nd level. If you need a lot of skill points in a social game, go for Bard or Rogue, who both have above 6 skill points per level. Sorcerers largely do combat, not social stuff. They are intentionally not given the skill points because they have a lot of spells once your character gets going, which can bypass encounters quite easily. Charm Person derails social encounters shockingly easy, for one.

This is not the thread for that. This thread is for archetypes for casters based on Japanese mythology, with a possible side note for Chinese and Polynesian stuff that fits the weird Oriental Adventures composite "eastern" setting. Archetypes of this sort ought to be very general purpose, with more specific stuff being relegated to character choices more detailed than archetypes. Which means bloodlines for Sorcerers. A skillmonkey or party face bloodline or archetype for Sorcerers would be interesting, I admit, but it's not in the scope of this thread.

khadgar567
2017-04-07, 02:58 AM
...What? First off, you can cast spells in higher level spell slots. Second off, 2nd level is not heavy spell use territory. Third, skill points are not measured with dice.

Like, you seem not to really be thinking about any of the points I'm making. In a social game, you don't rely on spells for anything that you can't at least try to do with a skill check. In which case, having high Charisma, a default assumption of Sorcerers, is more important than having a lot of skill points at 2nd level. If you need a lot of skill points in a social game, go for Bard or Rogue, who both have above 6 skill points per level. Sorcerers largely do combat, not social stuff. They are intentionally not given the skill points because they have a lot of spells once your character gets going, which can bypass encounters quite easily. Charm Person derails social encounters shockingly easy, for one.

This is not the thread for that. This thread is for archetypes for casters based on Japanese mythology, with a possible side note for Chinese and Polynesian stuff that fits the weird Oriental Adventures composite "eastern" setting. Archetypes of this sort ought to be very general purpose, with more specific stuff being relegated to character choices more detailed than archetypes. Which means bloodlines for Sorcerers. A skillmonkey or party face bloodline or archetype for Sorcerers would be interesting, I admit, but it's not in the scope of this thread.
funny side note in Arabian nights they occasional visit good old japan and if i am remembering correctly one of the Arabian characters has Japanese servant.

Hanuman
2017-04-07, 07:03 AM
I actually really like this, solid flavor, inspired themes.

Great job :smallsmile: