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View Full Version : Pathfinder I did some refluffing of magic for my setting.



Roxxy
2015-07-17, 08:39 PM
I don't want to use the Arcane-Divine magic divide in my current worldbuilding project, because it doesn't really fit how I envision magic. So I wrote up a couple magic systems that fit the themes I wanted, and placed the magic using classes under the themes where I wanted them. If a class isn't on the list, it doesn't exist in my setting. My setting is industrialized magitech, not medieval.

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Witchcraft – There are many spirits in this world, and powerful forces beside that can grant someone the ability to manipulate the mystical forces of the world. Some people know how to deal with these forces to gain power for themselves, while others have some other form of connection to the mystical creatures of the world. By communing or looking deep into the power of their ancestry, these people can wield powers far beyond what others can dream of. All practitioners of witchcraft are referred to as witches. Any Occult Adventures classes I choose to include after acquiring the book will likely fall under Witchcraft.

-Classes

Cabalist

A person who gains power by negotiating with a mysterious extraplanar patron. Uses the Witch class features.

Shaman

A person who gains power from the spirits of the world.

Summoner

A person who is skilled at calling and binding creatures.

Sorcerer

A person of extraplanar, fae, or other mystical blood who can use this blood to effect the world around them. Some use it in a more martial oriented fashion, becoming Bloodragers. Others researche techniques to better control their inborn powers, becoming Arcanists.

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Speechcraft – Words have power, because they represent the cultural and psychological concepts people share with each other and how people view their relationship with the world. Some people can unlock that power by understanding the basics of the way these concepts fit into the mystical forces behind everything in the world. Nobody comes close to fully understanding these forces, but those who can understand a bit can use that understanding to change things about how the world works. This process involves carefully either written incantations, called runes, which are used by prepared casters and written down in the morning for casting later in the day, or complex verbal incantations, which are used by spontaneous casters. Users of speechcraft are referred to as speakers.

-Classes

Cleric

An individual who has entered into the study of how a couple of chosen concepts can affect the mystical forces of the world. These concepts are called Domains.

Warpriest

An individual who uses the concepts contained in a holy scripture to affect the world in the name of their god.

Lawbringer

An individual who affects the world using the concepts behind a code of law, whether that law be secular or religious, and whether it be a written code of law or a set of personal morals. Uses the Inquisitor class features.

Warden

An individual who affects the world using the concepts around the way people interact with their natural environment. Uses the Druid class features. Pioneers are Wardens who use Ranger class features. Spell less rangers are called Skirmishers, after the archetype they all use.

Magus

An individual who affects the world using the concepts regarding combat.

Bard

An individual who affects the world using the concepts regarding artistic expression. Skalds are a variant of Bard.

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Alchemy – The understanding of how the mystical forces of the world intertwine with the laws of science, usually chemistry. This is as mysterious a discipline as any other discipline, but it shows promise, and is by far the most common method of utilizing mystical forces. Alchemists outnumber both witches and speakers put together. The classes that use Alchemy are the Alchemist and the Investigator (which is an alternate class of the Alchemist, and a member would be called an Alchemist), though other classes like Cabalists can learn to dabble by using the Brew Potion feat.

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What do you guys think of the flavor here?

nonsi
2015-07-18, 12:28 AM
As far as fluff goes, this seems ok.


A few questions...

Cabalist - as far as power source goes, in what way is this different from Warpriest?
Is there an arcane bookworm in your settings?
Do you define Domains as per the official PF materials, or are they redefined? How many does a cleric get?
If there's Witchcraft and Speechcraft... why not Mindcraft?

Roxxy
2015-07-18, 12:53 AM
As far as fluff goes, this seems ok.


A few questions...

Cabalist - as far as power source goes, in what way is this different from Warpriest?The Warpriest gets their power by drawing from the deep cultural importance of the religion itself. Anything so important to a culture has a connection to the mystical forces that power the world, though even a Warpriest only barely understands how or why this connection actually works or what those mystical forces are. Whether or not the religion is true is beside the point, it just has to mean something to the Warpriest. There is no diety directly providing the Warpriest with power.

A Cabalist, meanwhile, consorts with extraplanar creatures, who teach the Cabalist magic and provide access to fonts of mystical energy. A Cabalist does not consort with gods, though. Nobody ever gets to talk to gods anymore, and they aren't nice people anyway.

Is there an arcane bookworm in your settings?The closest is the Arcanist, which I completely forgot to include in the list. An Arcanist is a Sorcerer who researches techniques to better control their inborn powers. They are the closest thing to an arcane bookworm available, since my setting lacks Wizards. Clerics are pretty bookwormish themselves, though, since I shifted them from being explicitely religious and into being the closest thing to magical generalists around. This is both because the Domain system is perfect for representing the idea of a mage who researches specific concepts to cast spells about, and because Cleric means Clerical, which goes into the general bookishness and research basis I switched the class over to.

Do you define Domains as per the official PF materials, or are they redefined? How many does a cleric get?The Cleric uses PF domains or subdomains, and will get three instead of two. I will be replacing Channel Energy with arcane bond. Clerics will be recieving a modified spell list, which will remove or refluff the explicitely religious spells. They will cast with Int instead of Wis.

If there's Witchcraft and Speechcraft... why not Mindcraft?Just didn't appeal to me.

I just realized I forgot an important detail where the Lawbringer is concerned, which is that I don't actually use the alignment system, and Lawbringers do not necessarily follow or support whatever the local laws are. They can be bloodthirsty vigilantes (perhaps paying more attention to outrage than to proof of guilt), or even serial killers who view their victims as somehow deserving it. Ranger got removed as a class name because it belongs to a major organization within the setting.