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| Sigfried |
 Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:11 am Post subject: Advanced Feats: Visions of the Oracle - Collected reviews |
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Hi folks,
This is simply a collection of reviews for Advanced Feats: Visions of the Oracle
These are posted by yours truly and collected from various locations. These reviews are not edited other than formatting so they are readable in this forum.
If you wish to post your own review, you are by all means welcome and encouraged to do so. |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:13 am Post subject: Tzimiscedracul from Tower of the Lonely GM |
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Reviewer: Tzimiscedracul
Website: Tower of the Lonely GM
Rating: Definitely worth a look.
Finally an Advanced Feat product dedicated to the oracle, one of the new base classes of the Advanced Player’s Guide – and without any doubt my favorite one. The excellent flavor, the cool mix of benefits and drawbacks of the curses... all these elements made me fall in love with these spontaneous divine casters (which, in my opinion, are a perfect fit for Sword & Sorcery games).
After dissecting and briefly commenting on each of the class abilities, Visions of the Oracle brings 30 new feats. These new options are not necessarily exclusive to the oracle, most being a fair choice for other classes as well.
The Advanced Feats line is known for creating feats that are mechanically innovative and thought provoking. For an example, let’s take the Battlecaster feat:
Benefit: As a full attack action, after making your first attack, you may cast a spell with a casting time of a standard action or less instead of taking any additional attacks.
It’s easy to see that this feat steps dangerously into the niche of the new magus class (from the yet-to-be-published Ultimate Magic). While a great feat by itself, this kind of design philosophy doesn’t fit well (no pun intended) with some DMs and players.
Another potentially problematic feat is Penetrating Spell that allows the spellcaster to ignore any energy resistance – increasing the spell slot just by 1 level. However, there are also very cool feats – like Charmed and Extra Use – and some great ideas – like Concentration Spell and Preserve Scroll.
The Conditional Curse feat is unusual in that it removes the drawbacks of an oracle’s curse in specific situations
Magic Sense is thematically fitting for the class and an interesting tactical option, but my favorite feat is Prophetic Dreamer. It literally forces the GM, once per session, to give some revelation to the character (through a dream) about dangers ahead. Called by the author a “Roleplaying Feat”, it’s based on a narrative approach very dissimilar to Pathfinder’s nature, although I can see a lot of good uses for it in the hands of GMs that appreciate the challenge.
It’s curious that there is almost no feat actually made for the oracle class in Visions of the Oracle. There are a fair number of feats dealing with scrolls and upgrading minor mechanics (like metamagic use by spontaneous spellcasters and the Heal skill). Of the former type, there are some pretty powerful like Spell Retention and Savage Critical (this one should be fighter-only).
Visions of the Oracle ends with three complete character builds. While still possessing excellent ideas and mechanics, the lack of consistency with the oracle’s theme and the number of potentially powerful feats may discourage some buyers. If strict game balance is not an issue for you, then Visions of the Oracle is definitely worth a look.[url][/url] |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:16 am Post subject: Megan Robertson of RPG Resource |
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Reviewer: Megan Robertson
Website: RPG Resource
Rating: 5 of 5 stars (as indicated on paizo.com)
What is more mysterious than an Oracle? It is the turn of the Oracle character class to come under the microscope: no mere list of feats but a detailed look at the potentials and options available to players who fancy being an Oracle.
We begin with an overview of the class as a whole, discussing the salient points of an Oracle. It's an interesting class, a spontaneous caster but divine rather than arcane (the answer to those of us who mutter that surely our deities would never let us choose the wrong spells for the day...), with many opportunities for the role-player as they tend to be good socially as well as with that air of mystery! Speaking of mysteries, your choice here sets the flavour of the whole character, affecting him in terms of game mechanics as well as laying the seeds for role-playing and characterisation. As they are so important, there's a thumb-nail sketch of each one, to aid your choice based on just what kind of oracle you would like to play. Oracles are well set up for defence, if offensive capability is desired crafty choices of mystery (Battle is good, or an elemental one) can prove an advantage. Oracles will tend to specialise in something, but that thing they can generally do very well indeed.
On to the feats, a full 30 of them. Many can, of course, be taken by any character although they are aimed at oracles. Some present novel variations to combat - for example Armed Touch Casting allows you to extend the range of a 'touch' spell by using a melee weapon to deliver it, with the added bonus of doing the normal weapon damage as well as whatever effect the spell has! (Shades of a wizard I knew back in AD&D days, who delivered shocking grasp down a staff carefully prepared with bands of copper along its length.) A grumpy Oracle might enjoy the Mystic Retribution feat, which allows you to lash out with residual magical energy at anyone who disturbs your concentration whilst you are spellcasting. And for those who want to take the title 'oracle' literally (and whose GM agrees) there's a Prophetic Dreamer feat, as well as the ability to make ordinary divination spells more effective. Overall, the feats are combat-oriented, and careful choices can enhance your Oracle's capability considerably. There are interesting notes about the inclusion and design of several which make fascinating reading especially if you enjoy devising your own feats, giving you points to ponder.
Finally, the suggested 'builds' taking your Oracle in a path from 1st level depending on what you intend him to become as he gains more power. The options presented are a Visionary Healer, the Phoenix and the Savage Seer. The Visionary Healer is better than most clerics at healing, and adds the divinatory powers and other abilities of the class, definitely a good build for a strong role-player who cares about the people encountered in his travels, or seeks to champion the people of a township in which he settles. The Phoenix utilises the elemental power of fire, and can do damage any pyromanic would be proud of, while having considerable social skills - well beyond the "It was on fire when I got here" that most use to evade responsibility for the blazes that they have caused. The Savage Seer is a battle-monster, dealing tremendous amounts of damage with both weapons and spells. Great potential for a memorable character in any of these, or inspiration in planning your own career as an Oracle.
Well up to the standard of earlier books, and invaluable if you want to play a well-developed Oracle in a lasting campaign. |
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| Dark Mistress |
| Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 11:50 pm Post subject: |
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Visions of the Oracle by Open Design
This product is 17 pages long. It starts with a cover, ToC and credits. (2 pages)
Next we get into a introduction and examining the new Oracle Class. (2 page)
This is followed by new feats for the Summoner. (7 pages)
Armed Touch Casting – use a weapon to deliver touch spells.
Battlecaster – cast spells as part of a full attack.
Charmed – 1/day bonus to any one roll
Concentration Spell – extend duration
Conditional Curse – oracle curse not always in effect
Divine Resistance
Dormant Spell
Elemental Boost – spells of choose element infused with extra power.
Extra use – gain extra class ability use per day.
Magic Sense – can sense magic around you.
Meta Spell – learn a spell with a meta magic feat already applied.
Mystic Retribution – zap enemies that interrupt your casting
Penetrating Spell
Potent Ability – add bonus to spell like abilities.
Potent Divination – bonus to divination spells.
Preserve Scroll – cast a spell form a scroll with out using up scroll.
Prophetic Dreamer – hard to explain but neat.
Quick Healing
Savage Critical
Scroll Mastery
Scroll Metamagic – add meta magic to spells used from scrolls
Somatic Weapon
Spell Retention – don't lose the spell if interrupted in casting.
Spiritual Armaments Spell – gives equipment to summoned or animated creatures.
Strange Revelation – learn a revelation from a mystery other than your own.
Tactical Spellcasting – move before and after casting spell.
Touch Spell Control – makes touch spells more flexible in use.
Transfer Spell – makes personal spells castable on others with touch.
Two Wand Technique – use a wand in each hand.
Wand Casting – gain bonus to spells cast while holding a wand of the same spell school.
The final section is advice for building Oracles with three example builds. (4 pages)
Visionary Healer – a healing focused oracle.
Phoenix – A blaster build using fire for the Oracle.
Savage Seer – A melee focused combative Oracle.
It closes with a ad and OGL. (2 pages)
Closing Thoughts. Like the others in the series while the feats are all useful to a Oracle many of them would be useful to other classes as well. Most classes could find a few useful feats. They seem fairly well done and I didn't notice any obvious spelling errors or area's where they was hard to understand.
There is virtually no art, just the cover image used again and then some symbols. The borders are pretty and the book is pretty print friendly. Like the Summoner book I felt the builds was the weakest part of this book. The healer build makes sense as does the other two, but with two combative builds I am not sure was needed. What was missed I feel and really should have been a build is a divination build. One based on knowledge as it makes sense for the class. Other than that one disappointment it is a good book and useful for Oracles or any one looking to add some more interesting feats to their game.
I only noticed one error and that is there is no 9th level spells for the Visionary Healer listed. Not sure what happened there. I am giving this one a 4.5 star review. The lack of the divination Oracle build knocked off half a star for me. |
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| Endzeitgeist |
| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 6:48 am Post subject: |
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This pdf is 17 pages long, 1 page front cover, 1 page editorial, 1 page SRD, 1 page advertisements.
As all pdfs from the advanced feats series, this book beginns with a hort discussion/introduction to the class in question.
After that, we get the meat of the book, the 30 new feats:
Armed Touch Casting: Deliver touch spells using a melee weapon
Battlecaster: Cast spells as part of a full attack
Charmed: Add +5 bonus to a single dice roll
Concentration Spell: Extend the duration of your spells through concentration
Conditional Curse: Curse class feature Your curse hinders you only about half of the time
Divine Resistance: Gain resistance to divine magic
Dormant Spell: Cast helpful spells that remain dormant until activated
Elemental Boost: Spells of your chosen element are infused with extra power
Extra use: Use any class ability an extra 1/day
Magic Sense: Sense magic energies and identify spells you save against
Meta Spell: Learn metamagic versions of spells
Mystic Retribution: Zap enemies who interrupt your spellcasting using residual magic
Penetrating Spell: Your spells overcome energy resistance
Potent Ability: Add +1 bonus to the DC of your supernatural and spell-like abilities
Potent Divination: Your detection spells are faster and stronger than normal
Preserve Scroll: Cast a spell from a scroll without destroying it
Prophetic Dreamer: Your dreams sometimes echo the future
Quick Healing: Provide first aid and treat wounds and poison as a move action
Savage Critical: Your critical hits strike harder on a natural 20
Scroll Mastery: Gain a +4 bonus to CL and Use Magic Device checks to activate scrolls
Scroll Metamagic: Add metamagic effects to spells read from scrolls
Somatic Weapon: Satisfy somatic components using a chosen weapon
Spell Retention: Never lose your spell when interrupted
Spiritual Armaments: Create spectral equipment when you summon or animate the dead
Strange Revelation: Learn a revelation from a mystery other than your own
Tactical Spellcasting: Move before and after spellcasting
Touch Spell Control: You are less restricted in how you hold a charge from touch spells
Transfer Spell: Change the range of a spell from personal to touch
Two Wand Technique: Activate one wand in each hand as a single action
Wand Casting: Cast spells with a wand in your hand, augmenting spells of the same school
Comments on the feats:
Armed Touch Casting/Battlecaster: Nice options to give the Oracle some Gish-like qualities.
Charmed: 1/day +5 to a single die roll after it is made. This ranks among the most simple, generic feats possible, but in contrast to e.g. +1 to all saves, I can see PCs clambering towards this feat. It's elegant, simple and useable in many a situation without unbalancing the game.
Concentration Spell: Feat that enables the caster to use the iconic Gandalf self-sacrifice à la "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!", among others. Iconic and cool.
Conditional Curse: Makes your curse condition-specific. I don't like this feat at all, as the curse is, at least in my opinion, what defines an Oracle just as much as all the abilities. Allowing a player to weasel out of it, at least under certain conditions, detracts from the feeling of the class. I guess it's a nice feat for power-gamers.
Dormant Spell: A minor version of a contingency, this is gold for tacticians and coercing PCs into the service of dubious oracles.
Extra Use: Use a class ability one additional time per day. While generic, I think this feat might be abused in e.g. level-10-PrC-abilities etc. It's ok, I guess, but COULD potentially detract from the appeal of some signature abilities. On the other hand, PCs could actually use these abilities more often, making their choices matter more. I guess it evens out and works.
Magic Sense: God, I hate this feat. 30 ft. range of sense to identify items that are magical and spells in effect, plus, if you succeed a save, it lets you know what happens if you had failed a save. While the range is not too large, it does not specify whether e.g. doors or walls block the magic sense and makes detect magic as well as some plot-driven usages of magic almost completely obsolete. And don't get me started on NPC-items/non-violent meetings with potential villains/magically disguised/polymorphed enemies. If this had been restricted to blind oracles, I could have lived with that, but as written, I'd ban this feat.
Meta Spell: lets a spontaneous caster learn metamagic spells at their modified level without enhancing the casting time. Unfortunately, e.g. the empowered spell counts as a regular learned spell, rendering this feat useless for spells your character already knows.
Mystic Retribution: If your spellcasting is interrupted, the enemy is zapped via a touch attack. Damage scales with the spell-level lost. Now we're talking! This is both iconic, cool and balanced. Plus: It scales with the level, being useful at all levels. An excellent feat.
Preserve Scroll: Sacrifice spell levels to preserve scrolls. Great idea, balanced mechanics, nothing to complain about.
Prophetic Dreamer: This is a roleplaying feat that is very rules-light and I love it. I've been using a similar feat in my homebrew campaign for years and it has opened whole new venues for me as a DM to tell stories, create pressure and/or give PCs a fighting chance against terrible ambushes etc. I'd love a book with just feats like that.
Quick healing: First aid, treat wound, treat poison as a move action. Another feat that is a boon for non-magical healers/low-magic campaigns that actually do care about non-magical healing. Two thumbs up!
Somatic Weapon: Use a weapon to satisfy somatic spellcasting needs. Why hasn't this been done before?
Tactical Spellcasting: "Shot on the run" for spells with casting time "Standard action" - iconic and cool, this feat enables you to run from cover to cover while casting. Another instance of "Why hasn't this been done before?"
Two Wand Technique: Use a wand in each hand. While the feat per se requires some actions to get the wands into your hands, I can already see the wandslinger builds springing up. Not my cup of tea, but if you're so inclined, go ahead. However: If you also have the Wandcasting feat, enabling you to use somatic components with your wands, this feat quickly becomes danderously powerful and I'd disallow the combination.
After that, we get 3 sample Oracle builds, the Visionary Healer, The Phoenix and the Savage Seer.
Conclusion:
Editing is once again top-notch, I didn't notice any typos. Formatting and Layout are at the peak of the series so far - especially the layout is a beauty to behold. The same goes for the extremely cool cover illustration that somewhat disturbed me - great work! With regards to the crunch presented herein, I have to say that I'm a bit skeptic towards some feats (Two Wand Technique...) and I utterly HATE Magic Sense. However, the plethora of the material presented herein is actually quality-wise at the top and more than once I thought "that's it!" while reading the feats. A gripe I had with e.g. the Summoner-book and the Alchemist-book, the fact that they didn't feel as geared to the class as they could have been is not present herein - while many of the feats may also be of use to other classes, most have a definite "Oracleish" feeling to them and/or are storytelling/style gold. Due to the minor problems I have with some feats, I'll settle for a very solid 4.5 stars for this installment of advanced feats. |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:42 pm Post subject: Sunglar of Stargazers World - Wonderful |
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Reviewer: Sunglar
Website: Stargazer's World
Rating: Wonderful
After reviewing the previous installments in the Advanced Feats series and having some of my players try out some of the classes in the Advanced Players Guide, this is the one I was looking forward with the greatest trepidation.
As I’ve mentioned in earlier posts players in my campaign had created replacement characters using the playtest version of the Summoner and an Inquisitor and an Oracle as soon as the book came out. Of the three, only the Oracle remains. Sara, the player who created the character, is a great role player and fashioned a story taking into account the character’s curse and in the short time she’s been playing with us has crafter a memorable character. But at the same time I felt that my grasp on the Oracle class and its role my campaign was unclear. I know this is a common situation when you introduce new classes into an ongoing campaign, but with the Oracle, despite reading the Advanced Players Guide, I felt like this so much more than the others.
I was afraid that Visions of the Oracle would be a set of wonderful feats (I couldn’t expect less after previous outings) for a class with no clear defined role in my game. Imagine my surprise then when, after reading a book of what many would call “crunch”, I felt I had a better idea of what the class could do in my campaign. Sometimes the mechanics can inspire all sorts of role-playing ideas.
Want to learn more? Read on…
I received a review copy from Open Game Design, and it follows the format of previous Advanced Feat books. A class overview, 30 new feats and 3 sample builds. The layout is simple but elegant, very fitting to the theme and mysteries of the Oracle, and the cover… Wow what a cover! I have grumbled about covers before, and they have improved, a lot, but this one takes the prize. Christophe Swal paints an evocative, eerie, Oracle infused with the mysticism of the oracle or mythology while remaining wholly unique. This has become my new favorite cover in the series (Sorry Cavaliers!).
The overview is very good, simple but illustrative for new and experienced players alike. Sigfried Trent’s experience as the editor of the Netbook of Feats is no empty boast; he proves his mantel in the quality and diversity of feats presented in this book. I have said it before; the feats in the Advanced Feats series are often useful to other classes beyond the emphasis of the book, Oracles in this case, but even more so with this outing. Most of the feats are useful for spellcasters and while they can make an Oracle a more versatile and focused character, many are useful to any spell slinger.
The first two feats Armed Touch Casting, which allows you to deliver touch spells as part of an attack, and Battlecaster, which allows you to make and attack and cast a spell as a full attack action, are two examples of feats that help create character that uses both melee weapons and spells. And there a lot more feats like that, some like Dormant Spell and Magic Sense can be a little trickier in the hands of certain players, but nothing judicious game mastering cannot deal with.
There are very few strictly Oracle centric feats and those few are very good. The idea of role-playing feats is explained in a sidebar, being feats that impact the role playing aspect of the game, not so much the mechanics. The author recognizes this might not be for everybody but I for one like the Prophetic Dreamer feat and the visions of the future it can bring.
The feats are accompanied with Mr. Trent’s observations and they are not only useful to clarify the feats but give some insight on the process of feat creation. The side notes on Oracles, fortune telling and other details are spot on and are a welcome change of pace as you read the book. There are a lot of feats with new options for spellcasters of all types in this book so consider it no matter what sort of caster you play.
The three builds, The Visionary Healer, the Phoenix and the Savage Seer are three very different versions of the Oracle. One a commoner touched by the extraordinary, an elemental charged powerful caster and the last an Oracle powerful in battle. These last few pages really inspired me and showed me three unique ways to look at the class and in turn gave me all sorts of ideas how to integrate different types of Oracles to my campaign.
Once we retake the Pathfinder campaign in a couple of months, not only will the Oracle’s player have new options for her character, but I will have a better idea where the class fits in the grand scheme of things. Not bad for a 17 page book of mostly “crunch”! If you are a GM go get this book it’s a great addition to your Pathfinder RPG collection. If you play an Oracle you can’t afford NOT to get this, it’s only $3.95. Thank you Mr. Trent for another wonderful product, now all that’s left is the Inquisitor… |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2011 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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Reviewer: Satyre
Website: Fame and Fortune
Rating: 5 of 5 Eyes
Metric: Cards. Eyes were used in Court of the Shadow Fey. Plus there's a fine tradition of using cards in an oracular context.
DISCLAIMER: Review is based on a PDF copy provided by Open Design.
Overall: 5 cards. The introduction gives you a good high-level introduction. The feats give options to oracles, spellcasters and other characters. The builds are examples of the versatility of the class from visionary healer through fiery phoenix to bloody-handed savage seer. My only caveat is there isn't much oracle-friendly advice for the GM outside of combat and post-combat activities. Given such advice probably deserves another book in itself, it may be for the best.
Layout: 5 cards. The cover fits beautifully as Christophe Swal shows a figure sat in mid-air with blood dripping from his hand. Inside is clean layout with calligraphy resembling a blend of Farsi and Sanskrit iconography. Page numbers in the eyes at the bottom of the page was a nice touch. PDF bookmarks and links all work fine.
Overview: 5 cards. The comparison of oracle and sorceror has merit. The overview is careful to note that an oracle should take advantage of their armour and weapon selection. Give the oracle a boar spear and they can serve behind a shieldwall, if they have the right mystery they can mix it up more directly The choice of curse and mystery makes an oracle very distinct (like a sorceror's bloodline). While more could be made of this, this is an overview after all.
Feats: 5 cards. A plethora of feats for spell users yet only three that are oracle-specific (conditional curse, strange revelation and the DM-optional prophetic dreamer) Non-spellcasters get some action with charmed, divine resistance, magic sense and the fierce savage critical. The wand feats are entertaining and well-done, giving mileage to an underappreciated range of magic items and providing a use for that wand of wonder you picked up three levels ago.
Builds: 4 cards. Each of these has plenty of attitude and characterisation. The visionary healer is a potent defensive ally that rivals a cleric in battle utility, the haunted past makes an apposite touch for the troubled healer with a heart of gold. The phoenix is a destructive force of nature laden with attitude that shows the offensive capacity of this class in spades, even their curse ties into the character's harsh nature. Finally the savage seer shows barbarian ethics at work, providing a potent battlefield ally capable of fearsome melee action given a twist by speaking in tongues on the battlefield. All of these builds are eminently playable yet seem to focus on combat rather than providing answers or lore to characters. Though this may be for the best, not everyone would want to play Mother Shipton or Margary Kemp but a gypsy-based build would have been nice to see. |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:46 am Post subject: Obsidian Crane From This is My Game |
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Reviewer: Obsidian Crane
Website: This is My Game
Rating: A good value
Advanced Feats: Visions of the Oracle has been on my hard drive for a little while now, and this review has been delayed by matters unrelated to the content of the product, but here it is at last.
Review in 100 Words or Less:
If you are playing an Oracle, or thinking of playing an Oracle in a Pathfinder game then this product is a solid buy if your DM will let you use it. There are a good selection of feats that will enhance your Oracle be it for power or flavor.
Long Review:
I’ll be up front, I don’t play Pathfinder (at least not at the time of this writing), but I have played and DM’d 3.X for the duration of its release until 4E came out, and I have taken the time to read the Pathfinder rules quite recently. Of all the options in those rules the Oracle was the thing I most enjoyed, so when the chance came to review this book I was certainly interested, and I’ve been pleased by what I found inside for the cover price.
I have also not read any of the other books in this series, so my comments are reflections on this product alone.
Artwork:
Basically the artwork in the book is only the cover picture. There are a few icons scattered through the book as well, but overall the artwork is not what I would consider a feature, so in this regard it was a little disappointing.
The Feats:
Firstly there are 30 feats and exactly 2 are for Oracles only, so despite the name of the book and its purpose, spell casters of all stripes will find feats of value in this book. There are some feats that I see more as things to be used as house rules than as feats (eg Meta Spell which is one “fix” for the issues with meta magic and spontaneous casting), and there are many feats that I believe a DM would be wise to consider permitting into their game, and not just the one with GM Permission as a prerequisite.
As the meat of the book the feats do uphold their value, and so the book earns its price with them, especially as they are so widely useful. There is literally something here for all the spell casting classes, and given their prevalence at most tables that makes it worth the $3.95.
The Comments:
For me this is the best part of the book. Each feat comes with a comment, some short, some long, about why the feat is in the book. Reasons range from “rule of cool” to the authors feeling that the feat was needed to resolve some existing problem or lack in the available options, or even just as alternatives to other feats that do similar things in different ways. These comments are useful to players because they contain tips about using the feats (like sort the numbers out before the game), they are useful to DMs because they help understand if the feat might end up being too strong for your game or give insight into the intent of the feat rather than the strict wording. (Actually the really complex feats come with examples to help players and DMs understand them as well.)
But these comments for me a more useful in understanding the thoughts of the designer, and what that means for those who have aspirations to get their own work published. The comments give a lot of insight into what makes a feat perceived as “ok” at a design level that aspiring authors can potentially take a lot away from in developing their own material. Even for those who never aspire to be published, but are just home brewing their own material these comments are a goldmine for making better home brew as well. Yes even if you don’t home brew there is value here in helping you understand what feat might mean for your game regardless of its source.
If you play Pathfinder (or 3.5E at all) then this aspect of the book is what I see as the best value. Sure the feats will get used in games, but that look behind the curtain of design is where the long term gold is in the book.
Other Content:
To be honest the summary and opinion about the Oracle, and the character builds seem superfluous to me. The book is labeled “Advanced” not “Beginner”, and that content I feel doesn’t have a place in an “Advanced” book, at least not at the level of complexity that these sections provide, they belong in a blog or web supplement in my mind. Fortunately, these are not what you are paying for and the Feats and their attendant commentary more than makes up for these pages.
(Note I do think advice on builds and the class has a place, but such content should be in tone with the “Advanced” label not introductory content.)
Overall:
As a person who isn’t playing Pathfinder, the comments included with the feats really impressed me, it is the first time I’ve seen such comments in a product and they certainly added value for me to such a slim volume. As a long time 3.XE player the feats are good (as a DM I’m sure I’d be carefully considering some before allowing them), so I’m confident that should your DM allow you to use them you would get value from many of the feats, especially if you are an Oracle due to their strong thematic ties to the class and the way they address a number of aspects of the class. If you are not playing an Oracle, but have a spell casting character there is plenty of good stuff in here, either for use as house rules flat, or if your group is more “by the book” to make things easier for a lot of builds.
At $3.95 (the same as the rest of the range) it is solid value, adding a lot of options for all spell casters.
And the Feats Are:
Armed Touch – Deliver touch spells using a melee weapon
Battlecaster – Cast spells as part of a full attack
Charmed – Add +5 bonus to a single dice roll
Concentration Spell (Metamagic) – Extend the duration of your spells through concentration
Conditional Curse – Your curse hinders you only about half of the time
Divine Resistance – Gain resistance to divine magic
Dormant Spell (Metamagic) – Cast helpful spells that remain dormant until activated
Elemental Boost - Spells of your chosen element are infused with extra power
Extra use – Use any class ability an extra 1/day
Magic Sense – Sense magic energies and identify spells you save against
Meta Spell – Learn metamagic versions of spells
Mystic Retribution – Zap enemies who interrupt your spellcasting using residual magic
Penetrating Spell (Metamagic) – Your spells overcome energy resistance
Potent Ability – Add +1 bonus to the DC of your supernatural and spell-like abilities
Potent Divination – Your detection spells are faster and stronger than normal
Preserve Scroll – Cast a spell from a scroll without destroying it
Prophetic Dreamer – Your dreams sometimes echo the future
Quick Healing – Provide first aid and treat wounds and poison as a move action
Savage Critical – Your critical hits strike harder on a natural 20
Scroll Mastery – Gain a +4 bonus to CL and Use Magic Device checks to activate scrolls
Scroll Metamagic – Add metamagic effects to spells read from scrolls
Somatic Weapon – Satisfy somatic components using a chosen weapon
Spell Retention – Never lose your spell when interrupted
Spiritual Armaments Spell (Metamagic) – Create spectral equipment when you summon or animate the dead
Strange Revelation – Learn a revelation from a mystery other than your own
Tactical Spellcasting – Move before and after spellcasting
Touch Spell Control – You are less restricted in how you hold a charge from touch spells
Transfer Spell (Metamagic) – Change the range of a spell from personal to touch
Two Wand Technique – Activate one wand in each hand as a single action
Wand Casting - Cast spells with a wand in your hand, augmenting spells of the same school |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2011 1:07 pm Post subject: Fitz of Game Knight Reviews |
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Patron
Joined: 08 Jan 2008
Posts: 94
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Reviewer: Fitz
Website: Game Knight Reviews
Rating: Favorable
What is an oracle? An oracle, whether discussing it in terms of religion or mythology, is a person or group who can tell the future. Sometimes this was through connection to a deity, the cosmos, or some other magical interpretation. The Oracle at Delphi is the one that most often comes to mind, otherwise known as Pythia a priestess of Apollo. It’s said she would be overcome by fumes from the earth and speak with the voice of Apollo to those who sought audience.
Obviously the concept of the oracle is ripe for fantasy roleplaying games. Whether an oracle inhales fumes, is possessed by spirits, or seeks patterns in the entrails of animal sacrifices to catch glimpses of the future, it’s a great way to keep PCs guessing as to what’s coming next!
That said, the next in the Advanced Feats series from Sigfried Trent and Open Design offers many great suggestions on how to work oracular magic into a campaign. Visions of the Oracle not only offers 30 new feats for Pathfinder, but provides three sample character builds as examples to see the Oracle class and feats in action.
I have to admit the cover raised my eyebrows a bit and had me wondering. Is it an old guy or gal? Is s/he blind or setting a fashion trend with grapes in their sunglasses? It appears that s/he is floating above an image on the floor and bleeding… Is it their blood? And don’t get me started on the jewelry, belt, and outfit choices… Ultimately I’m left with the impression that this oracle is a rock star and that sort of fits with my impression of ancient oracles as well!
The concept of an Oracle class as a spontaneous divine caster class makes a ton of sense. And pulling in the “curse” and “mystery” mechanics offers unique ways to really make each oracle a special person. The idea of tying each type of mystery (from Battle and Bones to Waves and Wind) to feat trees and spell lists really offers some cool ways to play on those ancient oracular stereotypes.
Many of the thirty feats included had me scratching my head as to how they would be Oracle-specific. Feats like Armored Touch Casting, Concentration Spell, Elemental Boost, and Savage Critical (along with many others) seem more suited to other caster types or even front-line fighters than to oracles. But others such as Potent Divination, Prophetic Dreamer, and Strange Revelation fit in perfectly to the oracular mystique.
As with the other Advanced Feats books, I looked forward to the sidebars in the book detailing rules decisions or offering glimpses of historical precedent. The “Oracles in History” box offered some insights into the oracle at Delphi. The trick of wording prophecies to make them seem true under any conditions through vague, symbolic, or emotional language is something I think all gamemasters should work on if they plan on including oracles or any sort of divination of future events in their games!
When I got to the “Character Builds” portion of the book, I hit pay dirt. The “Visionary Healer” for example provides a reason for an oracle to leave the safety of their temple or place of origin. The concept of a random innkeeper touched by the gods and given miraculous healing abilities but not granted the power to save everyone is very Biblical in scope. It’s trials like these that give missions to everyday folk and turn them from commoners to saints. Imagine joining forces with an NPC with a sacred vow to never “let another in his care fall to anything other than old age.” Wouldn’t you want that NPC in your party?
Even better, can you imagine granting an experienced roleplayer this role? In a critical scene, those people he or she cares for dying around them, a deity sees the opportunity to help a situation with a price. It’s that sort of role that can make a campaign memorable for years to come if done well.
Honestly I wasn’t sure what to expect in Sigfried Trent’s Visions of the Oracle, but I knew there would be some great nuggets hidden within its pages. At only 17 pages, it offers multiple tools to players and GMs alike, but I think the heart lies with the example characters at the end. Trent and Open Design continue to impress with this line of thoughtful tools for gamers. I wonder what’s next?
(See my reviews of The Summoner’s Circle and The Cavalier’s Creed – the other two books in the Advanced Feats series from Sigfried Trent and Open Design!) |
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| Sigfried |
| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:47 pm Post subject: Jerall from tenletter - reccomended |
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Patron
Joined: 08 Jan 2008
Posts: 94
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Reviewer: Jerall
Website: Tenletter
Rating: Reccomended
Visions of the Oracle, by Sigried Trent, is the fifth supplement from Open Design’s Advanced Feats series. As with the other entries in the series, Visions of the Oracle begins with an examination of the oracle class, then delves into a collection of new feats, and ends off with a discussion on three possible class builds.
The Class Examination: Trent’s examination of the oracle provides a solid explanation of the class and its many features. Due to the nature of the class, Trent could not look at each mystery in too much detail. Rather, he provides just enough of a summary to help inspire build ideas – or rather, a quick reference list to aid in character design. I like this, and will probably be referring back to this section often, when design my own oracles.
The Feats: The feats, as always, are well presented, including designer commentary, which aids in the understanding of the more unusual feats. Once again, Trent provides a great selection of feats, with a healthy mix of those tending on the safer side of feat design and those that push things to the limits of the design space. Though the feats were designed with the oracle in mind, most of them are usable by nearly all character classes. There were, of course, a few feats that stood out:
Spiritual Armaments Spell: Yes! Probably my favourite feat of the lot, Spiritual Armaments Spell allows you to augment spells that summon undead. As a metamagic feat, this feat allows you to modify a spell by using a higher spell slot than normal during the casting. Undead summoned using this feat, arrive equipped with weapons and armour (the quality and type determined by how much higher the spell slot used is above the normal level required).
Scroll Mastery, Scroll Metamagic and Preserve Scroll: This feat tree allows scroll-users to get a bit more out of their scrolls. Though I would recommend that a GM carefully consider the impact these feats may have on a game, I still like what Trent tries to achieve here. In my experience, scrolls tend to be undervalued and these feats provide that extra little bit of oomph, allowing for some interesting arcane, divine or UMD builds.
Armed Touch Casting and Battlecaster: These are two rather interesting feats that deal with blending weapon attacks with spellcasting. I really enjoy tinkering with gish builds and these two feats caught my attention almost immediately. I’m still not too sure what to make of them yet, since they seem to dance around the upcoming magus’ class abilities. If the magus wasn’t coming soon, I think I would have really have liked these feats. Right now, I would rather see a divine magus archetype or alternate class. That said, this makes me wonder what could Trent do with the magus – good things, I imagine.
The Builds: I have never enjoyed playing a healing-focused character, but Trent somehow manages to make me rethink my position on healers. Though all three builds provide players with a solid basis for character desgin, Trent’s Visionary Healer really sold the Life mystery. Well done, Sigfried – this is my favourite of all your build suggestions, even topping your Black Knight, so far!
Overall, I enjoyed reading through Advanced Feats: Visions of the Oracle. I would recommend this to any player or GM looking to add more to their oracle.
- Jerall |
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