Occult Classes

Beyond the worship of the divine and the studies of arcane scholars lies the mysterious terrain of the mind, accessed through psychic magic. Classes that draw upon psychic magic do so via innate mental abilities, whether they directly cast spells, create elemental effects, or focus psychic energy through objects. Members of these occult classes find themselves drawn to the strange and the hidden; they have connections to the timeless Astral Plane, the haunted bleakness of the Ethereal Plane, and the history of the Material Plane chronicled as psychic impressions in places and objects.

Psychic magic is a third type of magic that functions differently from arcane and divine magic. The occult classes’ spell lists include many new spells allowing them to fully express their mental powers.

Occult classes all use psychic magic. In most cases, this means they cast psychic spells. The occult classes are as follows.

Kineticist: With a connection to the elements, a kineticist can bring forth energy in the form of kinetic blasts. Instead of casting psychic spells, the kineticist uses unique psychic spell-like abilities called wild talents to manipulate elemental energy and matter.

Masters of the elements, kineticists wield a strange and ill-controlled power as their bodies strain to act as vessels for the roaring might of the Elemental Planes. A kineticist can manipulate the elements both in combat to destroy her foes and out of combat to aid her team. By straining her body past the limits of safety, she can increase her ability beyond what she can ordinarily achieve. If you want to play a mystical non-spellcaster who can pay a great personal price to boost her abilities in emergencies, you should consider playing a kineticist.

Medium: By contacting spirits in places of power, the medium allows the personalities of legendary heroes to overcome his own, vastly changing his abilities and spells. He holds seances to benefit himself and his allies.

The Astral Plane is home to entities of thought that are shaped and empowered by tales of those who came before. The medium channels these legendary spirits, idealized versions of the original stories’ protagonists, and uses the spirits’ varied powers to change his own so he can fill any role a party might need. If you enjoy versatility and the ability to be exactly what the group needs in a given situation—as well as roleplaying interactions with spirits and the drawbacks of being influenced by them—you should consider playing a medium.

Mesmerist: A mesmerist’s piercing stare lets him insinuate himself into other people’s minds. A master of enchantment and illusion, the mesmerist controls and influences the behavior of others.

Master mentalists and consummate liars, mesmerists use their eerie stares to weaken their foes and contingent hypnotic tricks to prepare their allies in advance for bad situations. The mesmerist fills the support role of the bard, but instead of strengthening and protecting his allies, he weakens and disables his foes. If you enjoy playing a skillful character who can support the party but are interested in shaking it up by being more on the offensive, you should consider playing a mesmerist.

Occultist: To make use of his powers, an occultist channels psychic energy into a varied collection of antiques and mementos with storied pasts. Every type of implement allows him to use a different school of magic.

Steeped in esoteric lore but still strongly tied to the physical world and its trappings, occultists access magic through the power of their implements, which may be magic items or even ordinary objects with psychic significance, such as a saint’s finger bone, a dagger used in ritual sacrifices, or a necklace belonging to the occultist’s mother. With resonant and focus powers from his implements, plus psychic spells, a large set of skills, object-reading powers, and powerful binding circles, the occultist has something to add to almost any situation. If you enjoy playing a well-rounded character whose abilities revolve around a collection of unique items, you should consider playing an occultist.

Psychic: With her incredibly potent mind, the psychic can cast spells that are more powerful than those of members of any other occult class. She accesses these spells through a specific discipline, and can bend and amplify psychic spells as she casts them.

Powerful and enigmatic, psychics are the primary spellcasters of the occult world, and the sole practitioners of certain psychic spells of great power. Each psychic approaches her magic through a chosen discipline that grants her special abilities, and her mastery of the art of phrenic amplification allows her to alter and adjust her spells on the fly to suit her needs. If you like playing spellcasting characters such as sorcerers and also enjoy versatility and tinkering, you should consider playing a psychic.

Spiritualist: Attuned to the spirits of the dead, a spiritualist forms a bond with a phantom—a returned spirit that has unfinished business but did not become undead. This spectral ally can alternate between forms, emerging from the safety of the spiritualist’s mind to take on an incorporeal form or an ectoplasmic body.

When the dead are chained to the mortal world by strong emotions, they inevitably descend toward the Negative Energy Plane, warping and twisting into undead. A spiritualist bonds with one of these spirits before that transformation is complete, providing a safe haven for this phantom and gaining a powerful servant in exchange. If you want a companion with the ability to switch between a variety of forms and even meld into your character’s form to increase her options, you should consider playing a spiritualist.

Mythic Occult Classes

Source PPC:HoG

Because they specialize in things that are, generally speaking, outside the realm of common knowledge, practitioners of the occult who find a way to tap into mythic power often find that the occult path is more difficult to grasp than more conventional approaches.

Occult characters can take mythic options like any other character, but they may find that many of the available options are not well suited to their particular abilities, especially since their magic is neither arcane nor divine.

When a psychic spellcaster becomes mythic, she can treat her psychic spells as either arcane or divine for the purposes of any mythic abilities she gains. This does not change the actual nature of her spellcasting, but it allows her to make use of certain mythic abilities she would otherwise be unable to use. Once this choice between arcane and divine is made, it cannot be changed.

Kineticists: In much the same way that kineticists can channel elemental energy, a tiny number of them are eventually able to master the ability to channel the strange energy that empowers mythic creatures. Some believe that any kineticist can unlock this ability with enough dedicated work and skill, while others believe it is a trait one must be born with. In either case, mythic kineticists tend to gravitate toward either the path of the champion (generally known as the path of the channeler) or the guardian (sometimes referred to as the path of infinite stillness).

Mediums: In a way, every medium gets a small taste of mythic power through the spirits they channel, each of which is tied closely to one of the six mythic paths. In rare cases, the spirits become taken with a particular medium and bestow upon him a greater portion of their power. When a medium first gains mythic power, he can do so normally, or he can tie his mythic power to the spirits he channels. Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed. If he ties his mythic power to his spirits, then whenever he performs a seance, his mythic path changes to match the spirit he is channeling that day. This does not allow the medium to change which path abilities he has chosen for a given path. Instead, whenever he gains a new mythic path ability, he must select an ability for each mythic path, and he gains access to those abilities only when channeling the spirit associated with that path. Mediums who select this option cannot gain the Dual Path feat, and they cannot select universal path abilities. Mediums who do not take this option tend to prefer the trickster path (sometimes referred to by mediums as the many-faced path).

Mesmerists: Mythic mesmerists acquire their powers because their inherent mythic potential already gives them a knack for manipulating others. Many mythic mesmerists are believed to be godlings, although such claims are best taken with a grain of salt. Mesmerists frequently take the path of the trickster (and unlike with many mythic occult practitioners, there is no special name for mesmerists who do).

Occultists: Occultists, with their innate connection to the power of objects, are most often imbued with mythic power by handling powerful items that have potent connections to mythic people, places, and events. Mythic occultists often find themselves drawn to the path of the trickster (sometimes called the path of the dilettante when referring to mythic occultists), although those who focus more on their spellcasting abilities instead turn to the path of the archmage, and such individuals are often referred to as thaumaturges.

Psychics: Most psychics draw their powers from their disciplines, and mythic psychics are no exception. For most mythic psychics, their discipline provides the source of both their psychic and mythic powers: a mythic psychic with the abomination discipline might be tainted by a dark force of mythic proportion, while one with the faith discipline may have been imbued with divine power. Mythic psychics are often drawn toward the archmage path (generally referred to as the path of the third eye by mythic psychics) or the hierophant path (typically referred to as the path of enlightenment).

Spiritualists: Mythic spiritualists almost always travel in the company of the phantoms of legendary heroes and villains, although it is unclear whether it is the phantom that gives the spiritualist mythic power or the spiritualist’s mythic nature that attracts such a potent phantom. Most spiritualists are drawn to the hierophant path, and spiritualists who take this path are often referred to as shepherds of the underworld. A spiritualist treats any references to an eidolon within a mythic ability (such as the mythic companion guardian path ability) as though it also referred to phantoms.

Mythic Casters

Although psychic magic differs from arcane and divine magic in many ways, a psychic caster can still benefit from the eldritch secrets of the paths of the archmage and the hierophant. The following section provides new occult-themed path abilities for the archmage and hierophant paths.

Archmage Path Abilities

The following occult-themed abilities are available to characters of the archmage path.

Coupled Phenomena (Su)

Whenever you spend a standard action, move action, or swift action to implant a mesmerist trick (including masterful tricks), or use a discipline power, focus power, spirit power, touch treatment, or utility wild talent, as a free action you can also activate an ability that uses mythic power. The mythic ability you activate must require the same action type as the other ability you activated or a faster one (a swift action is faster than a move action, and a move action is faster than a standard action).

Expanded Implement Knowledge (Su)

Choose a single implement school you have access to. For each spell level that you can cast, you add one additional spell from that school of magic to your list of spells known.

Additionally, by expending one use of mythic power as a swift action, you can add 2 points of mental focus to a single implement associated with the chosen implement school. These points of mental focus are created from the expended mythic energy and do not come from your daily allotment of mental focus. You must be touching the implement in which the mental focus will be invested when you use this ability.

Mythic Amplification (Su)

Whenever you cast a psychic spell, you can expend one use of mythic power to apply a single phrenic amplification you know to the spell, without expending any points from your phrenic pool to do so. The phrenic amplification added in this way does not count against the normal limit of one phrenic amplification per spell. You must be at least 3rd tier to select this path ability.

Hierophant Path Abilities

The following occult-themed abilities are available to characters of the hierophant path.

Mythic Treatment (Su)

Whenever you use your touch treatment class feature, you can expend one use of mythic power to grant the touched creature a new saving throw to resist a single harmful effect that initially allowed a Fortitude or Will save to resist. The touched creature gains a bonus on this saving throw equal to half your mythic tier. If the saving throw is successful, the effect ends immediately. You must be at least 3rd tier to select this path ability.

Psychic Healing (Su)

You can transmit healing energy through psychic vibrations. Whenever you cast a spell of the healing subschool that targets a single creature, you can target any creature to which you are connected by a telepathic bond or similar effect, even if that creature is outside the spell’s normal range. You cannot use this ability to cast such a spell on a creature that is farther away from you than 1 mile per mythic tier. You must be at least 6th tier to select this path ability.

Shielding Phantom (Su)

Your phantom is especially adept at protecting you and your allies from harm. The shield and circumstance bonuses granted by your spiritual interference class feature are both increased by an amount equal to half your mythic tier.

Mythic Kineticists

Kineticists in particular have difficulty making full use of mythic power, as they are not spellcasters in their own right and many mythic abilities do not interact with their most potent class feature, the kinetic blast. The following section presents a number of new, specialized path abilities for champions and guardians that give kineticists a greater range of mythic options.

Champion Path Abilities

The following kineticist-focused abilities are available to characters of the champion path.

Kinetic Font (Su)

As a swift action, you can expend one use of mythic power to open up a wellspring of kinetic energy within yourself. Each round, beginning on the round in which you use this ability, you can reduce the total amount of burn you would take for a single blast or utility wild talent by 1, to a minimum of 0. This effect lasts a number of rounds equal to half your mythic tier. You must be at least 6th tier to select this path ability.

Overcharged Blast (Su)

Whenever you use one of your kinetic blasts, you can expend one use of mythic power as a free action to apply one additional infusion to the blast, beyond the normal limit of one form infusion and one substance infusion per blast. Additionally, whenever you use this ability, you reduce the total amount of burn you would accept from the blast by 2 (to a minimum of 0).

Unorthodox Infusion (Su)

You learn to master an infusion beyond those that normally apply to the elements in which you specialize. You learn a new infusion of your choice, regardless of that infusion’s associated blasts.

You can apply the chosen infusion to any blasts you are capable of using, even if they are not one of that infusion’s associated blasts. You must be at least 3rd tier to select this path ability.

Guardian Path Abilities

The following kineticist-focused abilities are available to characters of the guardian path.

Energy Conduit (Su)

As an immediate action, you can expend one use of mythic power to harness harmful energy within your body and use it to empower your kinetic abilities. For a number of rounds equal to your mythic tier, whenever you take acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage, you ignore the first 5 points of that damage. For every 5 points of damage ignored in this way, you gain an energy point, which you can expend to reduce the total burn cost of a blast or utility wild talent by 1 (to a minimum of 0). Unspent energy points dissipate after 10 minutes.

You must be at least 6th tier to select this path ability.

Guarded Gathering (Su)

Whenever you use your gather power class feature, the gathered energy swirls around you, forming a protective barrier. You gain a deflection bonus to AC equal to half your mythic tier (rounded down, minimum 1).

Opportunistic Blast (Su)

You can take advantage of momentary lapses in defense to assault your foes with your kinetic blast. Once per round, when an ally within 30 feet of you makes an attack of opportunity against an opponent you can see, you can expend one use of mythic power as an immediate action to make an attack of opportunity against that opponent using one of your kinetic blasts. You can apply infusion wild talents to the blast, and you accept burn for doing so. You must be at least 3rd tier to select this path ability.

Marshal Path Abilities

The following occult-themed abilities are available to characters of the marshal path.

Free Your Mind (Su)

You can reach into the mind of your allies and free them from unwanted influence. You can spend 1 point of mythic power as a full-round action to remove a mind-affecting effect currently affecting an ally within 30 feet. The effect immediately affects you instead, and you receive a saving throw to resist the effect as if you were the original target. If you succeed, the effect has no effect on you; otherwise, you are subject to it. You must be at least 6th tier to select this path ability.

Spirit Influence (Su)

When you complete a seance, you can choose a number of allies equal to half your mythic tier (minimum 1). The chosen allies also gain your spirit’s spirit bonus.

Unfettered Spirit (Su)

As an immediate action when an ally within 30 feet fails a d20 roll that could be modified by your spirit bonus, you can spend 1 point of mythic power and allow your spirit to gain 1 additional point of influence over you to add your spirit surge die to the check’s result. If the ally is receiving your spirit bonus from the spirit influence ability, you can choose to either spend your mythic power or allow your spirit to gain additional influence instead. You must be at least 3rd tier to select this path ability.

Trickster Path Abilities

The following occult-themed abilities are available to characters of the trickster path.

Bottled Talent (Su)

As a standard action, you can expend one use of mythic power and attempt a melee touch attack against a creature with class levels. If you succeed, choose one of that creature’s class features with limited uses, such as rage, smite evil, or a single spell with a casting time of 1 standard action. You replicate that ability and place it into an item you hold for 10 minutes per tier. Any creature holding the item can expend 1 point of mythic power as a standard action to activate the replicated feature, using the level of the creature touched as their level for any effects based on level.

You cannot replicate a specific feature from a creature more than once every 24 hours in this way. You must be at least 6th tier to select this path ability.

Quick Trick (Su)

As an immediate action when a triggering condition is met against you or an ally within reach for a trick you know, you can spend 1 point of mythic power to implant the trick in yourself or the ally and immediately activate the trick. You must be at least 3rd tier to select this path ability.

Rebounding Stare (Su)

You can cause your hypnotic stare to bounce between creatures. When you use your hypnotic stare, you can spend 1 point of mythic power to affect an additional creature within 30 feet of the original target with the stare for 1 round. You can affect additional creatures up to your mythic tier. You can maintain additional stares by spending 1 point of mythic power per additional stare each round.

Universal Path Abilities

The following universal path abilities are thematically linked to occult characters or improve upon the class features of occult classes.

Borrow Mythic Power (Su)

As a move action, you can call on a channeled spirit to grant you a fraction of its mythic power. Your channeled spirit gains 1 point of influence over you, and you gain two uses of mythic power. Uses of mythic power gained in this way are lost once the spirit leaves you, and they can be spent only on path abilities from the same mythic path with which the spirit is associated.

Mythic Burn (Su)

You are able to convert mythic energy into the energy used to fuel your kinetic powers, and vice versa. You can expend mythic power to reduce the total burn cost of a blast or utility wild talent on a one-for-one basis.

Alternatively, you can accept 1 point of burn in place of expending one use of mythic power. You must have the burn class feature to select this path ability.

Mythic Contact (Su)

You learn the true name of a particularly powerful and knowledgeable outsider with up to 20 Hit Dice. When using your outside contact class feature, you can expend one use of mythic power to conjure this particularly potent contact instead of one of your other contacts. If you do, the contact can provide much more detailed information, such as anything that can be learned with a legend lore spell, and the contact can provide the information immediately. However, the cost is much higher: typically 1,000 gp, although in some cases the contact may instead accept services or an exchange of information. As with outside contact, you can attempt to bargain with the contact, using Diplomacy or Intimidate to try to halve the payment cost. Failure causes the cost to be doubled, and failure by 5 or more causes the mythic contact to depart without providing information of any kind.

Typically, a mythic contact will not lower itself to delivering messages, but at the GM’s discretion, it may be willing to perform other services for you in exchange for appropriate compensation. You must be at least 3rd tier and have the outside contact class feature to select this path ability.

Occult Mastery (Su)

You are a master of occult skill unlocks.

You gain a bonus equal to your mythic tier on skill checks made as part of an occult skill unlock, and you can use each occult skill unlock you have access to a number of additional times per day equal to your mythic tier. Further, by expending one use of mythic power, you gain the ability to use an occult skill unlock you would not otherwise have access to (whether because you cannot cast psychic spells or because you are not trained in that skill). You can use this occult skill unlock until the next time you regain uses of mythic power. The extra uses of occult skill unlocks granted by this ability also apply to skill unlocks you gain access to in this way.

Phantom Possession (Su)

As a full-round action, by expending one use of mythic power, you can invite your phantom to control your body while you project your spirit incorporeally. While your spirit is outside of your body in this fashion, you become incorporeal and gain a fly speed of 60 feet (perfect), but your statistics remain otherwise unchanged. Your projected spirit has incorporeal versions of all of your equipment, although consumable equipment and equipment with limited numbers of charges or uses cannot be used while incorporeal. At the same time, your phantom takes control of your body, as the spell possession. You can end the effect at any time by returning to your body, and it ends automatically after 1 minute per mythic tier unless you expend an additional use of mythic power to extend the duration. If your spiritual form is slain, your spirit returns to your body automatically and the effect ends. You must be at least 6th tier and have the phantom class feature to select this path ability.

scroll to top