Occult Classes

[What's in the box?]

Been out for a little while... what do people think?

From what I have seen people talk ALOT about the kineticist, but I just wasn't as interested in that class as: THE MESMERIST! Which I find EXTREMELY cool... I like the flavor and the idea and wish is paired better with the Witch because some sorta witchmerist or mesmeritch would likely be my favorite class EVER!

I am incredibly confused by Mindscapes and Psychic duels despite that fact that those seem REALLY cool!

Anyone had a chance to mess around with this stuff yet? Any thoughts?

[Violetlantern658]

I played a Mesmerist for a short while... they are my new favorite class... ever. Period.

[What's in the box?]

YAY! I thought I might like them too... Kinda wish the iconic wasn't a gnome though... blek!

[RedDingo777]

I'm playing an elven Mindblade magus. I like the psychic spells I can use but I'm not too sure about how well the thought component rules mesh with spell combat. When casting thought component spell defensively, you take a minus -10 penalty on concentration checks unless you expend a move action to center yourself. Now maybe if there were an Magus Arcana that allows you to use a pool point in place of a move action...hmmm.

[Manly Man]

I'm not exactly a fan of psychic magic, if only because I'd gotten into psionics long before this (including Dreamscarred Press' reworking, which is honestly better than anything Wizards of the Coast or Paizo has done), and the psychic duels make me think of the attack and defense modes from earlier editions that were just terrible.

[Luphey]

Was never a fan on psionics, didnt like the feel that much, though there were a few classes that had some interesting abliites. Soulknife was pretty neat.

[What's in the box?]

I like Dreamscarred psionics, but I always come back to that idea of: How is psionic DIFFERENT from spell? I can understand the mind over arcane in a logical sense but in the pragmatic "this is MY approach to enacting change" I am not fully understanding the difference between-

I move my hands in a method that draws the attention of cosmic forces and I speak words of mystical power to form my intent and with the right material components to evoke sympathetic magic BAM!- Bolt of Acid!
-AND-
I think REALLY hard... like... like REALLY SUPER HARD! Like... Ok, you know how after you take the SATs and your mind is exhausted and I you wanna do is got to Bennigans and eat cheese sticks but the waited asks for your drink order and you can't figure out what he is talking about because in your fatigued mind all you can think of is cheese sticks and taking a nap but he stands there looking at you with that faux grin and THIS MOMENT NEVER ENDS!... I think REALLY hard like that and BAM!- Bolt of Acid... except you know... it isn't a bolt so much as mind goo with an acid flavoring...

So I appreciate that the new occult classes have specified precisely what is happening in Psychic spells. Because I would wonder why- if "I do it with my mind" exists, why are their still people going: "You know... I see where you are coming from Professor X, but... idk... I think having all of my powers dependent on this ONE specific book that I own makes more sense."

And... ok... this is a side note: When it comes to witches what is the life span of a familiar? Like I haven't really heard anyone talk about it but you can have a spider familiar... but most spiders have a lifespan of a year with the upper end being something around 3 years... And if you have a cat then there would be something between 10 and 20 (personally I have had a cat live to be 19, but grandmother had one live to 26... which is just SO old for a cat)... but there isn't much discussion about familiar dying of old age. Is that a non-issue? Do they share a life-span with you? Do they sponsor their replacement? Like when it starts to hear the calling of the afterworld does it send out a signal for a younger cat to take its place?

I think I got sidetracked. YAY! Occult classes

[Manly Man]

Goliath birdeaters can break twenty-five years if they're female and taken care of.

[Shield Wolf]

I only recently even bothered looking at the Occult classes, as I was never a fan of psionics in my game of swords and sorcery. That said, I like what I have seen so far, the Kineticist looks interesting, I can get a real Jedi vibe out of the telekineticist, throwing objects or people with the force. The Spiritualist gives me a sort of Shaman King vibe, and I like that they include an archetype that is technically a Divine caster if you don't want to include psionics in your particular game. I haven't looked too deeply into the other classes, but I will give them a look over.

As far as Witch's familiars, I would imagine, as the Witch's conduit to her Patron the familiar is not subject to aging, or death from old age. Just as a Wizard's familiar is seen to be an extension of his soul, I imagine a Witch's familiar to be an extension of the Patron's will.

[Hiei]

I played a Kineticist that used Earth(flavored as sand) and boom rocked it with Gaara