Fun Pathfinds

[Power]

Yaddithian race (aberrations) gets two interesting abilities:

Cosmic Mind (Ex) A Yaddithian gets a +2 racial bonus on Knowledge and Spellcraft checks. A yaddithian spellcaster who would store spells in a spellbook or familiar instead stores those spells in its mind (but must expend the normal resources to learn new spells).

Yep, it's a PF race where your Wizard doesn't need a spellbook and your Witch doesn't need to jealously protect her familiar.

And the other ability is this:

No Breath (Ex) A Yaddithian does not breathe and is immune to effects that require breathing (such as inhaled poison). This does not give it immunity to cloud or gas attacks that do not require breathing.

This one's not that special in the scheme of things but should have some potential.

[zook1shoe]

downside? can't benefit from being venerable as a caster

[Power]

Gathlain Bards get extra Druid spells as their favored class bonus. Gathlain Witches too, but that Witch will need to be Seducer archetype (which is some cringe-worthy shit, honestly) to be Cha-based.

Shamans get it too, but Shamans are Wis-based (but they can use Charisma for their hexes, like extra Wizard spells known, at least) and they already have a ton of Druid spells as is and the Grippli race offers the same favored class bonus but with a Wis bonus. Also the Shaman can also get Cleric, Wizard (either Enchantment or Shadow, but why bother when you have Arcane Enlightenment hex to cast the whole list anyway), and even Psychic spells on his class list through favored class bonuses, and those ones are available through Racial Heritage or Outsider Heritage.

[Theaitetos]

Oracles have similar options to add spells as FCB:

Ganzi (Outsider): wizard enchantment spell
Gathlain (Fey): same as Ganzi, but spell level is increased by +1
Grippli (Humanoid): druid spell with poison or water descriptor, spell level +1
Shabti (Outsider): psychic spell
Vine Leshy (Plant): druid spell [requires Wood or Nature mystery]
Wayang (Humanoid): wizard illusion spell, spell level +1
Wyrwood (Construct): wizard evocation spell, spell level +1

Racial Heritage / Outsider Heritage feat access

[Power]

Actually the Ganzi favored class bonus for Oracles allows for both Cleric and Wizard enchantment spells (although Oracles cast using the Cleric list anyway), but the Grippli FCB only allows Wizard enchantment spells (at a +1 spell level penalty), so it's not quite the same.

It's also worth noting that FCBs that give +1 spell level penalty can be exploited by using even levels to swap a spell known for another spell known of the same spell level, thereby letting you get a stupid spell at a +1 level only to instantly swap it for an Oracle spell known at your highest spell level. In effect, that means that every time Oracles gain access to a new spell level, they instantly have 2 spells known of their highest spell level instead of 1, which is pretty good.

Otherwise the Shabti favored class bonus may be best, considering an Oracle has multiple methods to nab Wizard spells anyway and there may be some unusual pickups in the Psychic list. If the Oracle also chooses to get Improved Eldritch Heritage (Psychic) (This costs 3 feats, however.), it is also possible to get all the Psychic bloodline spells that can be undercast to auto-level to their highest spell level whenever the Oracle obtains a new spell level, which gives a neat synergy, especially with the above stunt of immediately swapping a spell known for the highest level Oracle spell known.

[Theaitetos]

It's also worth noting that FCBs that give +1 spell level penalty can be exploited by using even levels to swap a spell known for another spell known of the same spell level, thereby letting you get a stupid spell at a +1 level only to instantly swap it for an Oracle spell known at your highest spell level.

It can also be exploited by using the FCB on a spell, that is on the oracle spell list but at a higher level than the wizard/druid spell. The "spell level +1"-effect doesn't trigger on such spells, which means you can cast the spell at the lower (wizard/druid) level than the higher (oracle) level. However, there are extremely few spells that qualify for that (the only qualifying wizard spells afaik: Bestow Insight, Continual Flame).
Yet, it may be possible to use that exploit on spells, that are only temporarily added to the oracle's spell list through another feature (e.g. the Spirit Guide Oracle's current spirit spells), thereby avoiding the trigger when taking the FCB.

[TiaC]

I don't think Bone Flense has been mentioned. As I read the spell, if the target fails the initial save, then they take 1d6/CL whenever they are hit by "a weapon wielded by a member of the Crimson Assassins, a sawtooth sabre, or by the claw of a giant mantis". A sawtooth sabre can just be wielded as a longsword, so that's not a  hard condition to meet. It also deals some bleed damage and sickens them, so that's nice.

Since it's only 3rd level, you can put it in a spell-storing weapon, and it's uncapped, so it remains relevant forever.

You can also combine it with telekinesis to throw up to 15 sawtooth sabres at the target.

[Theaitetos]

That's true, it's pretty powerful. However, the victim gets a Fortitude save each time it is hit in order to negate that damage, not just the initial Fort save against the spell itself.

[Nanashi]

Oh hey! Finally a use for Storm of Blades!

[Nanashi]

Tongues Oracle Curse

EFFECT

Pick one of the following languages: Abyssal, Aklo, Aquan, Auran, Celestial, Ignan, Infernal, or Terran.

Whenever you are in combat, you can only speak and understand the selected language. This does not interfere with spellcasting, but it does apply to spells that are language dependent. You gain the selected language as a bonus language.

At 5th level, pick an additional language to speak in combat and add it to your list of known languages.

Do you see the part where it says you have to pick from the list of languages you could pick upon acquiring the curse? Neither do I!

[zook1shoe]

but remember, outside of combat, you cannot speak it :-p

derp

[TiaC]

Is there anything in Pathfinder that requires the ability to speak Druidic?

[Theaitetos]

Apart from Druidic, which language could you pick that way, that you can't learn anyway?


Because you can always learn Druidic with the Druidic Decoder feat. And since Druidic doesn't have any prerequisites (aside from being otherwise unpickable), you don't need that feat permanently, only until you put a skill point into Linguistics. Once you've learned Druidic, get rid of the feat, for example get it only temporarily via Paragon Surge as a Half-Elf.

[Nanashi]

It's more that you can pick something relatively common in your setting, potentially even Common, rather than have to speak in an outsider language during combat.

[zook1shoe]

be a beatboxer

"Canto is a primitive language found in the Darklands. Communication is achieved though percussive hits on body parts, weapons, or cavern walls, and is designed to travel long distances through echoing tunnels."

....

Want to find out the exact birthday of that lich you just killed?

Just use the Phrenoligy psychic skill unlock.

"You examine the skulls of intelligent creatures to analyze the subjects’ psychological attributes, since the shape of the brain influences the shape of the skull."

[zook1shoe]

Transmute Golem + Archfamiliar capstone + cheap ass golem (sentient wax golem created for $5k) = army of awesome golems

Quantico Golems cannot made.... normally

[Nytemare3701]

be a beatboxer

"Canto is a primitive language found in the Darklands. Communication is achieved though percussive hits on body parts, weapons, or cavern walls, and is designed to travel long distances through echoing tunnels."

....

Want to find out the exact birthday of that lich you just killed?

Just use the Phrenoligy psychic skill unlock.

"You examine the skulls of intelligent creatures to analyze the subjects’ psychological attributes, since the shape of the brain influences the shape of the skull."

Shitty pseudoscience being treated like fact just to create yet another shitty skill is SO annoying to me, ESPECIALLY when it's shitty pseudoscience that is regularly used as part of the overall justifications for eugenics.

[Power]

Phrenology is a bit silly but when you're dealing with occult investigative skills I'm not really surprised you'll end up with pseudoscience and even more dubious disciplines when measured by real-world standards. Pretty much the entire list of occult skill unlocks tend to be highly dubious disciplines. I don't think anyone is seriously sanctioning phrenology as a real thing just by having it as part of a fantasy game. This is just a make-believe world where this sort of silliness magically works and there's no need to associate eugenics with it in whatever campaign you play. That said, I don't think anyone ever really uses that occult unlock considering you need to physically manipulate your target's skull for a full minute and there tend to be other means of discerning most if not all of that information anyway.

[zook1shoe]

Could a Poleiheira Adherent wizard archetype get access to levels they can't cast?

(click to show/hide)

Bonded Book (Sp): A Poleiheira adherent forms a bond with a spellbook. This bonded book becomes intrinsically tied to a Poleiheira adherent’s conscious and subconscious mind. The book always opens to the right page, and she can record any number of spells and other information in her bonded book—when she turns pages, more blank pages appear. Other wizards find it difficult to read the book, which displays information in a seemingly random order: the DC of all Spellcraft checks to copy or prepare spells from the book increases by 10.

Each time a Poleiheira adherent attains a new wizard level, she gains four spells (rather than two) to add to the bonded book. The cost and time requirement for writing a new spell into the book are halved. The time to prepare spells is reduced to one third (20 minutes to prepare all spells, and 5 minutes to prepare up to one quarter of her spells). Once per day while holding the book in one hand, she can use it to cast any one spell she has written in the bonded book, even if the spell is not prepared.

A Poleiheira adherent can replace a lost or destroyed bonded book in the same manner as a bonded item. The new bonded book retains a number of spells per spell level equal to the Poleiheira adherent’s Intelligence modifier from the previous bonded book, as well as all the mundane information that was recorded in the previous bonded book. If a Poleiheira adherent replaces her bonded book or dies, the previous book reverts to an ordinary blank spellbook.

This replaces arcane bond.

[Power]

Technically yes but a GM will rule no.