Paths of Magic Development Blog #15 - Magic Items

In this week’s update for Paths of Magic, we’re looking at new and improved magic items! This post will be a bit shorter than the others, given the nature of magic items is pretty straight-forward and doesn’t need a lot of explanation.

Staves, by Bryon Oshiro

Staves, by Bryon Oshiro

Paths of Magic adds both metamagic rods and staves to the mix, neither of which were included in our previous books. There are five metamagic rods, one for each of the new feats in the book (those being Metallic, Volcanic, Reinforced, Beastlord, and Twilight Spell). We’ve also added in a dozen new staves for spellcasters, each of which has at least one new spell from Paths of Magic. The golemancer’s staff, for example, gives a large number of spells for controlling constructs, while the unnerving aberrant beacon gives spells centered around eldritch powers, including the ability to summon the spawn of Yog-Sothoth!

Like the previous books in the Path series, Paths of Magic includes weapon/armor properties, unique weapons and armor, rings, and wondrous items; all of the items from the previous books are returning and many have been updated for better balance or pricing (a lot of the early items, especially in Path of Shadows, were too expensive for most players to consider purchasing).

There’s also more unique weapon and armor properties which can help certain build ideas work a bit better. The brutal weapon property, for example, multiplies your weapon’s enhancement bonus to damage when using Vital Strike feats, which should help even the score a bit (Vital Strike users could use the help, believe me). Each new weapon and armor property in the book also has a unique piece of equipment that uses that property in some way, all of which have their own artwork to bring them to life. One of my favorite new weapons is the ocularius, a flail that’s covered in glass eyes. Not only does it work as a focus for divination spells like scrying, but when it scores a critical hit against a creature you can steal its extraordinary senses (like lifesense or tremorsense)!

The majority of the new wondrous items and rings are tailored to the new classes in Paths of Magic, with each class having a couple of unique items and/or weapon and armor properties for their use only. The shaper’s fold, for example, can boost the effect of the shaper’s ability to see magic and also lets them seem ethereal/incorporeal creature across planes. The armiger’s pauldron is a new variant of the cloak of resistance for the vanguard, which lets them grant their construct companion their own saving throw bonus a few times per day for when it really counts.

As a send off, here’s a couple of the new equipment properties you’ll find in Paths of Magic, which should open some interesting new options for players. See you all next week!

FETTERING (+2 Armor Property)

Armor with the fettering property is wrapped in numerous chains and shackles which latch onto nearby creatures. The wearer adds the armor’s enhancement bonus as a competence bonus to his CMB when attempting a grapple and as a bonus to his CMD against an opponent’s attempts to escape his grapples (be that by a combat maneuver check or Escape Artist check).

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Cost +2 bonus; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, animate objects, chain gang*

BLACKOUT (+2 Weapon Property)

Blackout weapons are used by assassins and scoundrels to strike down foes while remaining concealed. Attacks with a blackout weapon can deal sneak attack damage (if the wielder has it) to a creature with concealment or total concealment. Additionally, the first time each round a blackout weapon strikes a creature, it must make a DC 14 Will save or lose the benefits of its low-light vision, darkvision, and see in darkness abilities for 1d4 rounds, if they have them. The duration does not stack. A creature that succeeds on its save is immune to this effect from a particular blackout weapon for 1 minute.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Cost +2 bonus; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, sensory deprivation*

Paths of Magic Development Blog #14 - The Warden

In this week’s Paths of Magic update, we explore the creation and future of the Warden! Released originally in Path of the Wilds, the warden is a defense and support-focused martial character with a supernatural connection to nature itself.

The Warden, by Miguel Angel

The Warden, by Miguel Angel

When starting on Path of the Wilds, the warden as a concept did not exist. In its place, there was a class simply titled “Stance Switcher”. It was intended to have a three or four stances, themed around different aspects of nature. Considered themes included the four elements (air, earth, fire, water), animals, or broad symbolism (land, sea, sky, sun, etc.). Unsurprisingly, the elemental and symbolic stances were both discarded due to their similarity to the elementer and invoker classes in the same book. That left animals as the theme.

Originally, the stances only affected the character themself, and the character was focused almost solely on combat (i.e. damage and defense). However, Pathfinder is already chock-full of martial characters that can hit stuff and take a hit; this class needed to do something else. Thus, I decided to make the “stances” instead auras that would provided bonuses to nearby allies. I called these new auras “wards”, and the warden class name logically followed.

At this point, the customization of the class was inverted from its current design: the warden could learn multiple “ward powers” that would customize each ward (each ward type had its own list of powers). Along side this, the warden gained a number of “Wild Insights”, which gave them a fixed list of broad utility and supporting features outside of the wards’ capabilities. This included stuff like bonuses to skill checks, boosts to initiative, or the ability to cast commune with nature at-will.

As the ward design moved on, I found that the current implementation (that the ward was a self-centered aura that moved with you) to be more limiting than I’d like. Many nature-themed powers that I and my friends would come up with were ones that would cause a LOT of headaches if “mobile”. How do you adjudicate, for example, moving back and forth near an enemy when the edge of your ward is a wall of fire? Many ideas had to get struck down due to the wards moving with the character. Enough, in fact, that I decided to make the wards stationary, instead. Doing so gave us more creative freedom with what the wards could do, since we could more reasonably include area-denial as an effect without it getting out of hand with rules exceptions.

As part of making the wards stationary effects, I also moved to them being fixed ability sets, as well. I originally wanted it to be where you could combine a few effects together (much like with the old stance powers), but it makes a much bigger headache when it comes to balance. Instead of weighing a dozen or so options against each other, you have to consider every possible combination, some of which got out of hand (I remember one combo that forced three separate saving throws every round in a 30-foot radius, and that was just one ward). Moving to a fixed list with a handful of wards that each served a distinct purpose made each one feel more justified (as opposed to having lots of wards with similar-but-slightly-different results). At first these were called aspects, but then I found that the hunter class has an optional rule called “Aspect Wards”, so the name got changed to facets.

With the wards moving to fixed effects, I still wanted to keep some customization in the class. To do so, I created a simple talent system. They were called Verdant Powers at first, but given I didn’t want the class to only be about plants, they eventually got changed to the more broad term “secrets”. Secrets at first worked off a unified resource pool (think like a monk’s ki pool), but that was eventually scrapped in favor of more persistent or at-will effects. When you’re spending an entire class talent to get a niche effect like plant growth (ya know, a single spell for someone like a druid) limiting it to a few times per day felt unnecessary.

From there, the final step (as is the case for most classes) was to add in supporting mechanics. Many of the original “Wild Insights” stuck around as fixed features, such as the bonus to skill checks (now called Nature Lore) or the boost to initiative (which became Protector’s Sense). The addition of the Remedy feature was the most critical, for sure, giving the class actual healing support. This caused me to re-evaluate much of the already-made secrets and facets, solidifying the class as a defensive support specialist.

With the ever-nearing release of Paths of Magic, you’re no doubt reading this less to see me ramble out design choices and more to see the actual content for the book.

The core warden features are largely unchanged. There were updates (and nerfs) to a few abilities, which were recently incorporated into a 2nd printing of Path of the Wilds. The eye of the storm ward got changed from control winds to fickle winds; a much needed reduction in power. The reverence class feature got both nerfed and buffed; it now also effects vermin, but only automatically works if the creature’s Intelligence is 2 or lower. Intelligent creatures are now entitled to a saving throw to negate its effects, making the ability a bit less OP against some high-level threats.

The main additions are, unsurprisingly, more secrets and facets. The warden is going from 20 secrets to 35, giving new abilities for both defense and support, even gaining the ability to resurrect allies at high levels. It also gains a few key secrets for the more offense-inclined wardens, including boosts when using single strikes (including Vital Strike) and a way to enchant their weapon like a magus.

They are also getting two new facets: mist of the valley, and silence of midnight, which are shown below as a preview. Keep an eye out for our next update in the near future!

MIST OF THE VALLEY

The ward is filled with a haunting mist, concealing allies while foes are lost within the fog.

Lesser: A thin mist shrouds your allies in the ward, granting them a 5% miss chance per point of your verdant bonus. Treat this as concealment, and abilities that allow sight through fog or mist ignore this concealment. Allies in the ward gain an insight bonus on Stealth checks equal to your verdant bonus.
Greater: Allies within the ward when it is created are magically shrouded by the mist, turning them invisible (as an invisibility spell). The invisibility lasts on a given creature until it moves outside of the ward, until it attacks, or after 1 minute per warden level, whichever comes first. Once a creature’s invisibility is broken, it cannot turn invisible again in this way for 1 hour.
Grand: The mist assaults the minds of foes that dare cross the threshold. Any enemy that crosses the ward’s edge must make a Will save or be confused for 1d4 rounds. Once a creature succeeds on its saving throw, it cannot be affected again for 24 hours. This is a mind-affecting compulsion effect.

SILENCE OF MIDNIGHT

The ward takes on the aspects of darkness, enshrouding all within with the quiet of night.

Lesser: The light level within the ward drops one step (bright light becomes normal light, normal light becomes dim light, and dim light becomes darkness). Treat this as a 2nd-level darkness spell for the purpose of interaction with spells and effects that create light. Additionally, creatures attempting to enter the ward must make a Fortitude save or become fatigued. This cannot cause a fatigued creature to become exhausted.
Greater: The ward now acts as a 4th-level darkness spell for the purpose of interacting with light effects. Sound (and sonic effects) cannot cross the edge of the ward. Each creature inside the ward when it is created or enters into the ward must make a Will save or be silenced, as a silence spell but affecting only their space. This silence effect lasts as long as they remain within the ward and for 1d4 rounds thereafter. A creature that succeeds on their saving throw cannot be silenced by the ward for 1 hour.
Grand: The ward now acts as a 6th-level spell for the purpose of interacting with light effects. The light within the ward drops by two steps (bright light becomes dim light, while normal light or darker becomes darkness). The area within 20 feet of the ward’s edge has its light level lowered by 1 step, and any creature that move within 20 feet of the ward or starts their turn within 20 feet of it must make a Fortitude save or become fatigued; this cannot cause a fatigued creature to become exhausted. Any creature that tries to enter the ward is exhausted on a failed saving throw, instead of fatigued.

Paths of Magic Development Blog #13 - The Archivist

Today’s update covers the runic class, the Archivist! First featured in Path of Iron, the archivist was the primary user of its rune magic system, which we’ve discussed in the past few blog posts (see Rune Magic part 1, part 2, and part 3). The archivist obviously got some improvements just by the sheer option increase in runic scripts, feats, and magic items…but what about its base features?

Let’s go over how the archivist class was made, and where it’s going with Paths of Magic.

The Archivist, by Danielle Sands

The Archivist, by Danielle Sands

There was always going to be a primary “rune mage”, ever since the concept of rune magic was first created for Path of Iron. Initially, though, it wasn’t the archivist. If you read up a few weeks ago in Part 1 of rune magic, the runes were originally a passive/active ability pair. You would scribe a rune to gain a passive effect, then break the rune to use its active ability. At that time, the rune-based class was called the Sentinel, and was a full-BAB class. Runes were going to be a much smaller, class-specific option rather than an entire alternative system to spellcasting. Once rune magic expanded and evolved to be much larger in scope, a full-BAB martial character no longer made sense, so it was sidelined in favor of a more traditional mage; hence, the archivist.

The role of the archivist was to be rune magic’s “wizard”. However, I also find wizards pretty boring; I've always preferred using sorcerers for the same role. When it came time to create the core features, I wanted the class to sit somewhere between sorcerer and wizard in design (no, not an arcanist). The archivist logically should specialize in a design of runic scripts, like a wizard does for arcane schools, but I wanted the powers it granted to be more involved than a wizard’s and more akin to a sorcerer bloodline in function.

This is where the idea of the “study synergy” came from for each study: a way for to encourage the use of your specialized runic scripts. It served a similar role to a sorcerer’s bloodline arcana but was designed to promote the frequent use of rune magic’s charge/overload mechanic. The study abilities similarly play a more prominent role in the archivist’s abilities than a wizard’s school usually does, making the different study options feel a bit more distinct.

From there, a couple of supporting mechanics were needed (not just to make the class a bit stronger, but also to not have such large gaps where you got no new features). Bonus feats were an obvious choice as an easy-to-apply boost. The second addition was the Altered Script power, which was suggested during playtesting. The runic charge system was fun, but some script designs (such as alteration and creation) had a much bigger reliance on having a variety of charge types to get their full effect, while other designs (such as destruction) were more easily self-sustaining. The altered script ability granted archivists a way to utilize a broader spread of runic abilities without feeling behind the curve compared to more focused builds.

With all that said, the archivist is seeing some major updates in Paths of Magic. Even outside of the class itself, just the major changes to rune magic in general, as well as the addition of more scripts, feats, and magic items means the class will have a lot more to work with. The class now also has the “Enhanced Fundamentals” ability. This ability was previously part of some designs for archivist, such as destruction, that caused the fundamentals of your chosen study to always be overloaded with runic charges. This has been removed from the destruction study and made a baseline feature, so now every archivist gets more mileage out of their basic scripts.

Some designs have seen changes, as well. The spell resistance from Creation has instead been moved to Destruction study, since with the updates to runic scripts “anti-magic” is now part of the Destruction design (as you “destroy” the magical effects). In its place, the Creation design now has the Warding Sigil ability, which makes your created objects, barriers, and constructs more durable while increasing your own defenses, to boot. Invocation’s study synergy now grants a morale bonus to saving throws, instead of granting energy resistance; the energy resistance is now granted as the 2nd-level study ability, giving the archivist scaling energy resistance whose type can be changed when you overload a script.

There’s also additional archetypes and changes to the existing “focused studies”. The Inheritor archetype has your runic scripts appearing as magical tattoos on your body, which are fueled by your Charisma instead of Intelligence. This returns the archivist to its original mechanics (of always having your scripts prepared), making it effectively a “spontaneous” caster. The Myrmidon archetype goes the opposite direction, losing a significant amount of its daily magical castings to gain a 3/4 BAB, d8 Hit Dice, and better armor and weapon proficiency. Some focused studies were updated to reflect the changes to rune magic on the whole (the “Counterscript” study is now the “Unraveling” study, for example). Some focused studies have been replaced entirely, instead, since they…kind of weren’t good. The Plant study in particular was deemed weak enough to be scrapped and instead replaced with the new Blessing focused study for Invocation, which grants bonuses to aid another checks and the ability to sacrifice scripts to force enemies to re-roll attacks against your team.

We’re on the home stretch at this point! Only a few more development updates remain before we’re ready to announce the release date of Paths of Magic. Until next time!