Dreamscarred Press Introduces: Akashic Mysteries

[Ssalarn]

The Wasp: Suqur Vizier (Crafter) using an item of Reduce Person. Hand Cannons are main offense and kept bound (eventually doing the Storm Gauntlet Twin Veil trick), keeps wings fully invested.

Nice.

The more I look at the ACG the more I see that they really kicked up the power and accessibility of Teamwork feats. You know there's a Slayer archetype who gets a version of Tactician that's strictly better than the Cavalier's? Crazy...

And here I've been trying not to completely invalidate the Cavalier as one of the main leader-type characters, and then they go and do it all on their own. Ah well. I'm going to review how this makes me feel about some of the Daevic abilities and whether or not they should be opened up a bit more.

[Psyren]

A bit off-topic, but I was in a couple of Paizo's seminars on upcoming releases on Saturday afternoon at Gen Con, and Jason Bulmahn said, on the topic of psionics during the Q&A, that they thought they couldn't do better than Dreamscarred with Ultimate Psionics and told everyone to go and buy that if they want 3.5-style psionics in their games. So congratulations guys, you've apparently made such an impression that they're making your sales pitch for you.

That was pretty clear when they started using DSP psionics in their APs But it's still great to hear.

Vudra in my campaign has had psionics back for awhile now.

[Craft (Cheese)]

I'm glad to hear the Pharaoh is getting a redesign: Its current form is very underwhelming and doesn't feel like a real veilweaver class at all.

I wouldn't mind if the Pharaoh was Tier 2.

Actually that would be an interesting challenge, building a functional tier 2 who doesn't rely on traditional high end spellcasting gimmicks.

Eeeeeh that depends on how you define "Tier 2." Are you one of the people who say the Factotum and the Summoner are T2? Cause if not, I don't think you *can* get something T2 without at the very least making equivalences of spells like Planar Binding/Ally, Wish, Polymorph, etc.

[Slithery D]

That was pretty clear when they started using DSP psionics in their APs But it's still great to hear.

Vudra in my campaign has had psionics back for awhile now.

What APs use DSP Psionics?

[Ssalarn]

I'm glad to hear the Pharaoh is getting a redesign: Its current form is very underwhelming and doesn't feel like a real veilweaver class at all.

It's worth noting that the Pharaoh was never really intended to be a veilweaving class; he's an akashic initiator who happens to grab a few veils along the way. The next book is actually going to feature classes that utilize essence without the focus in veils; at least one class won't use veils at all (unless you decide to burn a couple feats so you have some extra uses for your essence).

Also worth mentioning that the Pharaoh as presented so far was more of a thesis, whereas what we roll out in the next update will actually be a finished class, complete with discipline.

[Psyren]

What APs use DSP Psionics?

Dragon's Demand is one of them IIRC - two of the monsters have PLAs from Psionics Unleashed, and DSP is in the credits.

[Ssalarn]

Dragon's Demand is one of them IIRC - two of the monsters have PLAs from Psionics Unleashed, and DSP is in the credits.

Yeah, Dragon's Demand, and I'm fairly certain there was another module they used DSP materials for, though I can't recall which.
It's kind of fun because psionics/psychic magic are explicitly part of Golarion, but Paizo hasn't done any development in that area so DSP is pretty much the place to go.

[malonkey1]

I wonder which of the other subsystem books from DSP might get included in an AP next?

Path of War? Pact Magic Unleashed? Et Cetera?

[Psyren]

Pact Magic is Radiance House actually

I doubt any of the others will make it. Psionics has been part of Golarion since pre-Pathfinder days, but the others are really up to individual tables to evaluate. I wouldn't complain if they did elevate more 3rd-party though.

[malonkey1]

Uh, whoops. My bad.

[Ssalarn]

Pact Magic is Radiance House actually

However, Alex Agunas from Radiance House and myself have been chatting about a cross-over release, so you never know what might happen.

Path of War is probably not going to happen because there are factions over at Paizo that hate it, so anything that crosses over to the Paizo side will probably be magical or monster related.

[squiggit]

I think the dream of Paizo making that more of a thing might be going by the wayside with Paizo's plan to start releasing psychic mages, since that'll cover psionics for them... and just be more vancian casting. Ech. Wish Paizo would take more risks with mechanics.

However, Alex Agunas from Radiance House and myself have been chatting about a cross-over release, so you never know what might happen.

You said the Pharaoh was an Akashic themed initiator who had mechanics like a psionic character once. Why not make him a binder too? Maybe that should be blue. I don't know. Was going to be a joke but now it sounds kinda cool in a silly way.

Path of War is probably not going to happen because there are factions over at Paizo that hate it

Hate, really? That seems a tad strong. They're such cool classes.

[Psyren]

However, Alex Agunas from Radiance House and myself have been chatting about a cross-over release, so you never know what might happen.

*salivates*

Path of War is probably not going to happen because there are factions over at Paizo that hate it, so anything that crosses over to the Paizo side will probably be magical or monster related.

While I don't "hate" it, personally, I am not a fan either so I can see the resistance.

I think the dream of Paizo making that more of a thing might be going by the wayside with Paizo's plan to start releasing psychic mages, since that'll cover psionics for them... and just be more vancian casting. Ech. Wish Paizo would take more risks with mechanics.

I would go for "psychic magic" if it were either an extension of Words of Power that works with the regular magic system, or if it were an attempt at skill-based magic like Truenaming was (with better math.) But otherwise I agree with you, if it were just reskinned vancian I would skip that release.

[Ssalarn]

I think the dream of Paizo making that more of a thing might be going by the wayside with Paizo's plan to start releasing psychic mages, since that'll cover psionics for them... and just be more vancian casting. Ech. Wish Paizo would take more risks with mechanics.


You said the Pharaoh was an Akashic themed initiator who had mechanics like a psionic character once. Why not make him a binder too?


Hate, really? That seems a tad strong. They're such cool classes.

I think hate is pretty close to the correct word for the way some (not all) of the Paizo peeps feel about the ToB type of characters. Erik Mona thought Path of War was cool though.

We ended up slicing the stuff that looked like psionics out of the Pharaoh, so I probably won't graft another complex subsystem onto him. That being said... That might be some cool design space to play around with. Like a Tomb Guardian archetype that binds vestiges.

[Craft (Cheese)]

However, Alex Agunas from Radiance House and myself have been chatting about a cross-over release, so you never know what might happen.

To create something similar to this, I hope...

[Psyren]

I want psionic vestiges to come back - the really cool thing about them was that they were a way to get Su Psionics that wasn't broken all to hell and back.

To create something similar to this, I hope...

Agreed, MO was a fantastic theurge.

[stack]

Ssalarn, would it be acceptable to post links to the ideas I've sent you for other people to review and criticize, or would you prefer not to clutter the thread with unsolicited material? I haven't seen anyone else doing it, so I will assume that you want to keep the focus on the core stuff unless you say otherwise.

[Ssalarn]

Ssalarn, would it be acceptable to post links to the ideas I've sent you for other people to review and criticize, or would you prefer not to clutter the thread with unsolicited material? I haven't seen anyone else doing it, so I will assume that you want to keep the focus on the core stuff unless you say otherwise.

Let me get back to you on that. I honestly haven't had as much time as I'd like to actually dig into them and really see if there's material I'd like to like to help you refine and incorporate, so let me do that before any decisions are made on whether to showcase some or all of the materials here or in another thread.

Thanks stack!

[stack]

Let me get back to you on that. I honestly haven't had as much time as I'd like to actually dig into them and really see if there's material I'd like to like to help you refine and incorporate, so let me do that before any decisions are made on whether to showcase some or all of the materials here or in another thread.

Thanks stack!

Cool, I hope some of it is useful. I really need to move to Dropbox to make it easier on you.

[PsyBomb]

So, semi-random, but might help creative juices somewhere...

I don't know how many of you read we comics other than OotS, but if you'd like a rec check out Grrl Power (that is not a typo). In particular, the character of Maxima is more or less what I imagine a high-level Pharaoh to be like.

Wide pool of strong powers, fueled by an internal and allocatable resource. Also kicks tons of tail.

[Ssalarn]

So, semi-random, but might help creative juices somewhere...

I don't know how many of you read we comics other than OotS, but if you'd like a rec check out Grrl Power (that is not a typo). In particular, the character of Maxima is more or less what I imagine a high-level Pharaoh to be like.

Wide pool of strong powers, fueled by an internal and allocatable resource. Also kicks tons of tail.

I'll have to take a peek!

So, just in case I go dark on you guys with the workloads I've got both for DSP and the day job, I wanted to let you know the basic schedule for things:

Vizier is in final editing and should be available in .pdf along with the subscription shortly. I've said that a couple times and it's always been true when I said it, DSP has just had a big workload and not enough hands.

Guru is being finalized for the next release.

Daevic update for final review will be put up as soon as the Guru is finalized.

I'll be reviewing Stack and other potential contributors submissions to see if there's materials we'll be adding to the Supplemental release with Archetypes and PrC's. Once those decisions are made and approved we'll get the supplemental doc out for playtest and review before moving it on for layout.

Completed releases for Pharaoh and Empty Pyramid will be opened up for playtest.

I'll be putting the second akashic book on hold for a bit while we work on getting the upcoming Psitech release out so it can be playtested alongside the new Iron Gods AP from Paizo.

Thanks all!

[Milo v3]

Don't really have much to comment on aside from the fact I like what I am seeing with this, and that the Daevics text is incorrect for it's binds (ignoring the binds they are meant to get at 2nd level).

[Ssalarn]

Don't really have much to comment on aside from the fact I like what I am seeing with this, and that the Daevics text is incorrect for it's binds (ignoring the binds they are meant to get at 2nd level).

For some reason my Daevic docs have been plagued with formatting errors and I've had a couple times when it reverted to outdated versions. I'm actually working on the final clean-up right now and sending the Guru off for editing and layout.

I'm glad you like the other things you're seeing! I've definitely been doing my best to really bring forward the elements people loved in MoI while carving out some of the ambiguity and issues and putting that special DSP twist on things and give it some unique flavor and elements we haven't seen before. Hopefully we got there :)

Now, I actually only jumped into the thread to double-check the notes from Psyren, Psybomb, and others, so back to work....

[Psyren]

Now, I actually only jumped into the thread to double-check the notes from Psyren, Psybomb, and others, so back to work....

Speaking of which... *gets off duff*

Ah, a number of my Guru notes were addressed! Let's see what's left.

Guru

Scintillant Form/Absorb Radiance: Can you treat your own aura as a light source to refuel your temporary essence pool? (e.g. while adventuring underground or at night.)

Scintillant Form/Travel the Paths of Light: Can you treat your own aura as a light source for teleportation purposes? (e.g. while adventuring underground or at night.)

Breath of the East Wind:
- If you begin your turn inside the river of wind, will you be subject to its effects? (i.e. fort save or take nonlethal damage and be knocked prone etc.)

Chakra Disruption:
- I think the DC might scale a bit too quickly on this one. A level 12 Guru will have an essence capacity of 5 (3 base + 2 IEC class feature) for a total DC of (10 + [2*5] + Wis), i.e. 20 + Wis before feats. For comparison, a Witch will not gain the same DC on her hexes, nor a monk on his stunning fist, until level 20.
- (Shoulders): Does this penalty affect shield AC that doesn't come from a player wielded/controlled shield? For example, the shield spell moves on its own, would it be penalized by this?

Aerial Nimbus: This should have the [Air] descriptor (especially since the bind gives you an air walk effect.)

Immaculate Touch: This should have the [Healing] descriptor rather than [Good.] (more evil healers!) But even if you leave [Good] there it should have [Healing].

Immovable Boots: This should have the [Earth] descriptor.

Martyr's Toga: This is the one that I feel is both [Good] and [Healing], since you are taking another's hurts onto yourself.


Other than these you addressed the rest, great job!

[stack]

So I was looking at the old mind's eye psionic soulmelds. There is some nice stuff there, but I wondered if that was how you wanted to go for psionic veils. They basically seem like veils with a psionic theme, but have nothing to do with actual manifesting or using focus. Would it be more interesting to have veils that grant access to a power and a small pool of PP, allowing you to stack multiple together for bigger pools and greater versatility? You could even steal a page from the flowshaper and have certain benefits based on maintaining or expending focus.

Just a thought that has been knocking around my head.

[Milo v3]

Ok, so the Vizier can get Crafting feats, but how does he actually use them without meeting any spell prerequisites?

[stack]

Ok, so the Vizier can get Crafting feats, but how does he actually use them without meeting any spell prerequisites?

Pathfinder crafting: +5 to the spellcraft dc for each prerequisite your don't meet. Plus you can use items to cast the spell or have others provide it as well. Still need the spell for spell completion/trigger items though.

[Psyren]

Still need the spell for spell completion/trigger items though.

Also potions.

[Milo v3]

I'm surprised there isn't an Archetype for Barbarian that replaces Rage Powers for Veils from a Daevic's Passion. Seems like it'd be fitting and rather simple.

Though, the gaining of veils would probably be 2nd + every three levels thereafter rather than every even level.

[Psyren]

I would say keep the rage powers and replace trap sense and/or uncanny dodge. Also, modify rage so they get temp essence while they use it, but it counts as rage for prereqs and other rules elements.