Lost Spheres Publishing FAQ

[Kris Moonhand]

Do note that the 1 enigma per attack action limitation still applies; that 4-hit combo could be two Chilling Blow attacks and two Channeled Shadowstrikes, but it couldn't be a Channeled Shadowstrike, a Chilling Blow, a Disrupting Attack, and a Draining Blow, because each pair of Dark Intensity attacks only counts as a single attack action.

Gotcha. Thanks for the clarification!

A89: Yeah, enigmas don't actually require you to deal damage first, so as long as all the other conditions are met, you can add enigma riders to combat maneuvers. If you wanted to e.g. send your occultation out and have it bull rush your barbarian ally towards an enemy and "buff" the barbarian with the escalation enigma, you could totally do that (and it actually happened in a game we played the other week).

I was wondering if that one was supposed to be some kind of buff, but wasn't quite sure how to apply it without harming your allies in some way. Good to know!

[Ssalarn]

I was wondering if that one was supposed to be some kind of buff, but wasn't quite sure how to apply it without harming your allies in some way. Good to know!

Sometimes it's worth turning the enemy cleric into a fighter, as well. I highly suggest avoiding using escalation on anything that looks like a druid though

[Andor13]

I just picked up the City of Seven Seraphs PDF, and I haven't had a chance to really dig into it yet, but when skimming some of my items of interest, a few things popped out, and hopefully this is a good thread to mention them in.

For the Eternal Dawning Cavalier Archetype, presumably there are meant to be 7 (or 8) Dominions, but only 2 are given. Topaz in particular stands out for missing, as one of the ED big wigs is a Topaz Cavalier. Are the rest going into an online supplement or something?

The New Deavic archetype (pages 457-458) gains his Eidetic Cache ability at 3rd level, and then improves it at 2nd which seems like a typo. It's also unclear how the 18th level functions when used sequentially. Does the world recall the first target when the Deavic erases memory of the second?

The Trinity Angel PrC on page 230 is (obviously) intended to work with the Aegis class, but the Aegis doesn't actually qualify as one of the two sourced base classes without locking down customization points into Ectoplessence or some similar customization, which by extension shuts down the entire PRC when the Astral Suit isn't formed, or has the wrong customizations chosen. Is that intentional? If you are doing that, does that mean Aegis is locking out the Akashic source slot for the mandatory classes?

[Kris Moonhand]

This is more of a suggestion than a question, but going forward, if you're going to release new psionic powers, could you remember to put some of them on the non-Ultimate Psionics power lists? Out of the psionic classes and archetypes with their own lists released by DSP after Ultimate Psionics, only Highlord has an automatic update to its list when new powers come out, since it uses the combined Tactician and Psychic Warrior list (like how Hunter uses the Druid and Ranger lists). Voyager and Gambler (and technically Empath, but it's a Medium archetype so its powers are linked to that), however, have their own lists. And out of the 8 powers in C7S, Voyager should probably have all but 2 (being infuse akasha and psychic vibrations), and especially should have planar habituation, the mass version thereof, and starmind. Gambler is a bit tougher to nail down, being a Kineticist archetype, but they do get planar travel.

As an aside, why is mass planar habituation a separate power and not just an augment for regular planar habituation? Psionics doesn't really do "mass" or "communal" powers. In fact, there's only 1, mass missive, and I'm pretty sure that's a legacy holdover from 3.5. An augment of "If you spend 2 additional power points, this power's range becomes Close and its target becomes 'one creature/level, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart'." would probably have been more appropriate.

Actually, now that I really look at this, both of these powers are kind of janky...

1. They're listed as being on the Aegis list, which isn't a thing unless the Ascendant archetype which gets Spheres casting can use powers as well?
2. Planar habituation has a PP cost of 9, but it's only 9 for the classes that get it as a level 5 power. It should be 11 for the classes who get it as a level 6 power. For example, the power false future has its power level listed as "seer 2, sighted seeker 4, tactician 2", and its PP cost listed as "seer 3, sighted seeker 7, tactician 3".
3. Mass plan habituation has a PP cost of 10, which isn't a thing and should be 11 (well, 11 for the classes that get it as a level 6 power, as above). Also, it's listed as being a 7th level power on the Psychic Warrior list, when Psychic Warrior only gets up to 6th level powers.

Thanks for remembering the Sighted Seeker, though! People always seem to forget it has its own list.

[Bahumut]

Q90-ish, as I have no idea what we're up to now: Now that Pathfinder 2E has been released into the wilds, what are Lost Spheres' preliminary plans for 2E support? Any projects on the horizon, especially in regards to SoP/SoM and Akashic stuff?

Q91-ish: Follow up on a previous question, has all of the Co7S shipping stuff been wrapped up?

[calyst]

Q92 When an Eclipse has Darkholds shaped, and its Occulation out can items be put in at the Occulation and pulled out at the Eclipse? Or are the spaces separate?

[Lost_Spheres]

Q90-ish, as I have no idea what we're up to now: Now that Pathfinder 2E has been released into the wilds, what are Lost Spheres' preliminary plans for 2E support? Any projects on the horizon, especially in regards to SoP/SoM and Akashic stuff?



Q91-ish: Follow up on a previous question, has all of the Co7S shipping stuff been wrapped up?

A90: Exit questionnaires have strongly indicated a desire from project backers for more PF1 content. But we are investigating options for support for both 5e and PF2 for interested players.

A90: A small number of backers have yet to update or respond to shipping surveys but books are 99% fulfilled. Non-backers can currently purchase HC copies of the book here.

[Lost_Spheres]

Q92 When an Eclipse has Darkholds shaped, and its Occulation out can items be put in at the Occulation and pulled out at the Eclipse? Or are the spaces separate?

A92: As that they are copies of the eclipse's own veils, they interact interchangeably and go to the same space. So yes, this allows for item swaps. Similarly, Pooling Black allows teleportation within either area of darkness.

[Lost_Spheres]

I just picked up the City of Seven Seraphs PDF, and I haven't had a chance to really dig into it yet, but when skimming some of my items of interest, a few things popped out, and hopefully this is a good thread to mention them in.

For the Eternal Dawning Cavalier Archetype, presumably there are meant to be 7 (or 8) Dominions, but only 2 are given. Topaz in particular stands out for missing, as one of the ED big wigs is a Topaz Cavalier. Are the rest going into an online supplement or something?

The Trinity Angel PrC on page 230 is (obviously) intended to work with the Aegis class, but the Aegis doesn't actually qualify as one of the two sourced base classes without locking down customization points into Ectoplessence or some similar customization, which by extension shuts down the entire PRC when the Astral Suit isn't formed, or has the wrong customizations chosen. Is that intentional? If you are doing that, does that mean Aegis is locking out the Akashic source slot for the mandatory classes?

There are indeed 8 Dominions. The Eternal Dawning section of the book in drafting was nearly 3 times the size of its allotted page count and we will definitely be releasing more of it in another form.

The Trinity Angel PrC draws on the Source Origin mechanics described in an earlier project Book of Beyond and by those rules aegis is considered a psionic source. The PrC is meant to advance 3 classes in rotation to represent the Dawning's focus of mind, body, and spirit. Generally speaking aegii are considered body by most of the Jeweled Orders but some consider them mind.

[Bahumut]

A90: Exit questionnaires have strongly indicated a desire from project backers for more PF1 content. But we are investigating options for support for both 5e and PF2 for interested players.

A90: A small number of backers have yet to update or respond to shipping surveys but books are 99% fulfilled. Non-backers can currently purchase HC copies of the book here.

I'm glad to hear that the shipping logistics nightmare is mostly over, hopefully Christen's sanity is mostly intact. I am *definitely* more excited about your PF1 content, but was curious about PF2 support/wanted to give you guys an opportunity to promote any upcoming products you might have had in the pipe for PF2. On that note:

Q93: Speaking of PF1 content, now that Co7S is out/shipped and GenCon come and gone, are there any updates on the progress/release date of Akashic Realms: Emperors and Einherjar?

[EdinoiZ]

Q94: Can the Armor manifestation of the Zodiac's Crab Constellation be made of special materials? The ability mentions the following: "You gain the ability to manifest the Crab as a suit of masterwork armor that instantly forms around you or a touched willing creature. You may choose at the time of manifesting what type of armor the Crab appears as, though you must choose a type of armor with which the wearer is proficient."

I'm simply wondering if "any masterwork armor" extends to Mwk Armor made with Special Materials like Mithral, Adamantine, or Darkleaf Cloth?

[Ssalarn]

Q93: Speaking of PF1 content, now that Co7S is out/shipped and GenCon come and gone, are there any updates on the progress/release date of Akashic Realms: Emperors and Einherjar?

A93: You could say that.

[Ssalarn]

Q94: Can the Armor manifestation of the Zodiac's Crab Constellation be made of special materials? The ability mentions the following: "You gain the ability to manifest the Crab as a suit of masterwork armor that instantly forms around you or a touched willing creature. You may choose at the time of manifesting what type of armor the Crab appears as, though you must choose a type of armor with which the wearer is proficient."

I'm simply wondering if "any masterwork armor" extends to Mwk Armor made with Special Materials like Mithral, Adamantine, or Darkleaf Cloth?

A94: It does not cover special materials. The main reason for this was keeping the cost of the Crab affordable; since it can be any armor and gains armor spikes, it's possible to really load up on the benefits of it, and if it had easy access to things like overcoming material based DR outside of the normal enhancement progression, the cost to conjure it would need to be higher, which isn't something I wanted to do when we were still in the "lets see how this new system goes" phase. As we introduce new zodiac cosmologies and other options, we'll expand this with feats, more expensive armor options, and or equally affordable but more narrow options.

[calyst]

Q95 For the Dark Shogunate Izanami’s Nodachi and Seppuku it seems counter productive to shape both as they both do bleed damage which doesn't stack with each other is this intentional or something I missed that makes using them together viable, besides the Seppuku letting you duel wield with the Nocachi? As it stands it is better to use Seppuku with any other 2 handed weapon besides the Nodachi.

[Bahumut]

A93: You could say that.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS *Dashes off to purchase*

[AlienFromBeyond]

Q96: How does the Undine FCB for Radiant work when used with a veil that deals multiple damage types (such as Storm Gauntlets)? Does it add the damage for each type of damage dealt, only cold, your choice, or evenly split among all the damage types? If I use it with the new Seppuku veil (which does have the Cold descriptor but deals no cold damage), could I increase the bleed damage dealt? I'm iffy on that last part, as technically bleed works by inflicting the Bleed condition with a certain value, "bleed damage" is kind of a misnomer but I'd like to know what author intent was as opposed to RAW in this instance.

[Ssalarn]

Q95 For the Dark Shogunate Izanami’s Nodachi and Seppuku it seems counter productive to shape both as they both do bleed damage which doesn't stack with each other is this intentional or something I missed that makes using them together viable, besides the Seppuku letting you duel wield with the Nocachi? As it stands it is better to use Seppuku with any other 2 handed weapon besides the Nodachi.

A95 Eclipse's are a control-oriented class and Seppuku includes a potent ranged option for inflicting bleed damage, so the set is focused on allowing an eclipse (who has their occultation and other reach-extending options like Shadowed Reach) to spread the bleed damage around to multiple targets as quickly possible (since bleed is most effective the earlier you can apply it to a target).

Q96: How does the Undine FCB for Radiant work when used with a veil that deals multiple damage types (such as Storm Gauntlets)? Does it add the damage for each type of damage dealt, only cold, your choice, or evenly split among all the damage types? If I use it with the new Seppuku veil (which does have the Cold descriptor but deals no cold damage), could I increase the bleed damage dealt? I'm iffy on that last part, as technically bleed works by inflicting the Bleed condition with a certain value, "bleed damage" is kind of a misnomer but I'd like to know what author intent was as opposed to RAW in this instance.

A96
When an effect allows you to deal extra damage with a veil or constellation based on a damage type or descriptor and the veil or constellation has multiple damage types or descriptors, the extra damage is of the same type as the damage type or descriptor that triggered the bonus damage, unless specifically stated otherwise. For example, an undine radiant who takes the FCB that grants bonus damage to veils with the cold descriptor who shapes Storm Gauntlets (which have the cold, electricity, and sonic descriptors) would gain the bonus damage as cold damage.

If an ability grants bonus damage to a veil or constellation based on a descriptor that does not match a damage type dealt by the veil, the bonus damage is of the same type as that dealt by the veil ability or effect.

(Note that this means you can really mess yourself up with Seppuku if you've assigned damage from the undine's radiant FCB to that veil.)

[AlienFromBeyond]

(Note that this means you can really mess yourself up with Seppuku if you've assigned damage from the undine's radiant FCB to that veil.)

Sure, but that means you can really mess up your enemy too.

[StSword]

Q94: Can the Armor manifestation of the Zodiac's Crab Constellation be made of special materials? The ability mentions the following: "You gain the ability to manifest the Crab as a suit of masterwork armor that instantly forms around you or a touched willing creature. You may choose at the time of manifesting what type of armor the Crab appears as, though you must choose a type of armor with which the wearer is proficient."

I'm simply wondering if "any masterwork armor" extends to Mwk Armor made with Special Materials like Mithral, Adamantine, or Darkleaf Cloth?

You already got the official answer, but I wanted to mention the Stormbound, from Cobalt Sages Creations, weapon and armor like veils rules which covers enhancing veils with magic and armor special qualities and special materials, which I could certainly see someone extending to the Zodiac as a house rule.

[calyst]

The same upgradeable rule was published in April Augmented 2018 by Dreamscarred Press along with the Chef's Armory Veil.

[StSword]

The same upgradeable rule was published in April Augmented 2018 by Dreamscarred Press along with the Chef's Armory Veil.

Huh, I even bought that book and I didn't remember that, weird. I guess the doggo race just stuck in my mind more...

[AlienFromBeyond]

You already got the official answer, but I wanted to mention the Stormbound, from Cobalt Sages Creations, weapon and armor like veils rules which covers enhancing veils with magic and armor special qualities and special materials, which I could certainly see someone extending to the Zodiac as a house rule.

They operate with a specific veil descriptor and are essentially a completely different way of approaching item-like veils from a different author. Hell, one of the defining features of constellation weapons/armor is that they scale with level instead of with essence like most veils, so there are really three different ways akashic equipment can scale out there now.

[calyst]

Q97 When using Mistmask Mutation can you just not use evolutions for 1 round to reset or is there supposed to be some other text in the feat that gives the timelimit more meaning?

[TC X0 Lt 0X]

Q98
For Trinity Angel and Trinity Knight, one of the Prereq options is having a non-prestige class with an Essence Pool of 3.
Two parts to this Question:
A) If you have a Martial Adept with the Radiant Dawn discipline (excluding the Rajah, who explicitly has an Essence Pool regardless of how many Radiant Dawn Maneuvers they pick up), and as a result has an Essence Pool because of the Radiant Dawns Mechanics, is this Essence Pool considered apart of the class providing the maneuvers known for meeting this Prereq?
B) No Veilweaver has access to an Essence Pool of 3 at Level 1 (as far as I am aware), but as all the other options can be met with a 1 level dip, if a 1st Level Veilweaver with an Essence Pool of 1 picks up the Extra Essence feat, granting them 2 extra Essence for a Essence Pool total of 3, do they meet prereqs?

[Bahumut]

Ssalarn, I'm sure you're working feverishly on official Paizo stuff right now, but can you tease us with some upcoming Akashic goodness? Emperors & Einherjar was absolutely fantastic, and I'm wondering what's up next in the pipeline.

[Ssalarn]

Ssalarn, I'm sure you're working feverishly on official Paizo stuff right now, but can you tease us with some upcoming Akashic goodness? Emperors & Einherjar was absolutely fantastic, and I'm wondering what's up next in the pipeline.

Based on my last conversation with Christen, it should be a matter of days at most before we see Akashic Realms Volume 2: The Quiet Lands go up for sale. If you follow Lost Spheres on Facebook, Christen actually just posted up the cover art, which shows one of the new constellations from the Quiet Lands zodiac cosmology (specifically Thunderbird). This release has the third set of constellations, and the champion forms of these ones are very different from the previous two, using a new type of [dismiss] effect that means they stay on the field for a shorter period of time but offer powerful "special moves" that include things like big party buffs or massive AoEs.

There's new akashic feats as well, many of them focused on the bestial races from the original Akashic Mysteries, as well as the new races introduced in this book (which are all super weird and wonderful). As has become the custom with these books, it will also include the monster stat blocks and animal companion stat blocks for all the champions (some of them brand new, some of them reprints or modifications of existing monsters).

As I mentioned above, this will also have three new akashic races plus two variant races. I'm really excited about all the new stuff that's going to be included in this release, but the wolger and wyrmkin are of particular note as they are true quadrupeds, receiving multiple Feet binds but completely lacking hands and associated binds/chakra (with the appropriate rules contextualizing what that means for classes that grant Hands binds and veils).

[Bahumut]

Based on my last conversation with Christen, it should be a matter of days at most before we see Akashic Realms Volume 2: The Quiet Lands go up for sale. If you follow Lost Spheres on Facebook, Christen actually just posted up the cover art, which shows one of the new constellations from the Quiet Lands zodiac cosmology (specifically Thunderbird). This release has the third set of constellations, and the champion forms of these ones are very different from the previous two, using a new type of [dismiss] effect that means they stay on the field for a shorter period of time but offer powerful "special moves" that include things like big party buffs or massive AoEs.

There's new akashic feats as well, many of them focused on the bestial races from the original Akashic Mysteries, as well as the new races introduced in this book (which are all super weird and wonderful). As has become the custom with these books, it will also include the monster stat blocks and animal companion stat blocks for all the champions (some of them brand new, some of them reprints or modifications of existing monsters).

As I mentioned above, this will also have three new akashic races plus two variant races. I'm really excited about all the new stuff that's going to be included in this release, but the wolger and wyrmkin are of particular note as they are true quadrupeds, receiving multiple Feet binds but completely lacking hands and associated binds/chakra (with the appropriate rules contextualizing what that means for classes that grant Hands binds and veils).

Fantastic! Thank you for the preview, kind sir!

EDIT: Oh, just remembered, I did have an actual question for you/LSP:

Q99: With Valhalla/KotFE/Dark Shogunate giving us Veils/Constellations/Convergences for CG/TN/NE, will we ever see Akashic content for the more 'standard' Pathfinder planes for those alignments?

[Ssalarn]

Fantastic! Thank you for the preview, kind sir!

EDIT: Oh, just remembered, I did have an actual question for you/LSP:

Q99: With Valhalla/KotFE/Dark Shogunate giving us Veils/Constellations/Convergences for CG/TN/NE, will we ever see Akashic content for the more 'standard' Pathfinder planes for those alignments?

A99: There are a lot of factors that play into that, but the baseline so far is that we've either looked at major planes where akashic magic would be at least as common as it is on the Material Plane, or planes that we wanted to give a uniquely akashic twist to. There's also always the question of whether the plane is something that exists as part of the OGL or if the plane is tied into the broader Paizo IP and thus either not available at all, or tricky to use because the plane itself is not proprietary IP but most of the information about it in core is. We also use that Yggdrasil planar model rather than the spheres model of core, so some things make more or less sense thematically. So, maybe, dependent upon many factors including availability, ease of use, and whether or not we think there's a design niche that could be adequately served by using that plane and creating mechanics tied to it. A lot of the current focus is on fleshing out the planes and locations touched on in City of 7 Seraphs and looking for opportunities to expand into unexplored territory; for example, the upcoming Quiet Lands release includes information on a planar border territory right at the edge of existence that is frequently invaded by Great Old Ones and creatures from beyond, with lots of weird local species who've adapted to living in a place even the gods avoid.

Is there a particular plane or planes you're curious about? There are a couple core plane options (or fantasy-generic equivalents to core planes, as appropriate) that we've got in the hopper for upcoming releases.

[Bahumut]

A99:Is there a particular plane or planes you're curious about? There are a couple core plane options (or fantasy-generic equivalents to core planes, as appropriate) that we've got in the hopper for upcoming releases.

Indeed! While the Valhalla-related Veils will be a lot of fun to play with, the plane/demiplane is kinda halfway between CG and CN...I am holding out hope that we'll see a few more veils/Veil Set/Convergence based around Elysium and the Azatas; We already have the Bralani's Brooch and Stare of the Ghaele veils, a few more could make a 5-piece set, and a Convergence representing the Azatas would be super cool. I feel like the other three extreme alignment veils/convergences are fantastic, and having that fourth one would really help round it out.

EDIT: I am *very* excited about the Quiet Lands release, as unspeakable eldritch evil from beyond the stars/planes is one of my recurring character associations/themes. I'm also looking forward to seeing how the veil slot oddness you mentioned with the quadruped races plays out in actual play...most of the hand slot veils are weapons, and the rest mainly benefit things that aren't really possible without hands. It will certainly be interesting!

[Ssalarn]

Oh, completing the azata set is absolutely something we've already got written for an upcoming product. I'm just not actually sure which one right now.