Class Feature Friday: Liturgist Practice (Pathfinder Second Edition Animist Practice)
(art by yeinART on DeviantArt)
It’s finally time for us to take our first crack at the animist, so I suppose we need to start by talking about what the animist class is!
First seen in the War of Immortals book, the animist is a new class that basically combines the conceptual elements of both the old 1E Shaman and Medium classes into one package. The purpose behind this is twofold. Firstly, it takes two very similar concepts and merges them into one while allowing for builds that can reflect either old class or something new. Secondly, it allows Pathfinder to step away from using “shaman” as a term. While not loaded in and of itself, the term is originally from one specific culture, and applying it to other cultures with different names for their spiritual guide figures is a little generalizing for what should be a specific term.
In any case, the animist is a spellcaster that bind with various spirits, be they lingering mortal souls, immortal spirits of nature, and so on. No matter what form they take, animists learn to call upon them for aid, oftentimes having a favorite one they call on time and again, but otherwise being able to customize based on the needs of the day.
Of course, not every animist channels the power of the spirits in the same way, which is where we get the various practices that animists use.
Which brings us to today’s subject, the liturgist!
Liturgy is a word that can refer to the practices of a religious institution, and in the case of a liturgist, this takes the form of the songs, dances, and rituals that they and their people use to honor spirits and divinities. Their bodies move and their voices ring out, and the spirits are called to listen and dance alongside them.
This results in the panoply of spirits they call along them to be ever-present and ever-shifting, changing and flowing with the dance and the shifts in battle.
If this sounds a bit like the spirit dancer archetype for medium in 1E, yes I made that comparison too, and I do like this as a spiritual successor to that old archetype, pun intended.
So let’s see exactly what the practice nets us!
With their song and dance, Liturgists can do what other animists have to take minutes to do, switching their primary spirit as quickly as one might change a dancing partner, their spirits shifting and manifesting around them as they move.
The very act of dancing is magical for these mystics, allowing them to use their movements, be they simple steps or acrobatic maneuvers, as the focus for sustaining the spells granted by their apparitions.
Near the zenith of their power, these mystics find their apparitions leaping at the opportunity to join them in dance. This lets them shift their primary partner just as combat begins, and also requires them to put less effort into cast a cantrip granted by that apparition in those first few moments.
This practice does a lot to change how the animist plays, basically letting you have access to all of your apparition abilities at a time as long as you spend an action to switch to the appropriate set of magical abilities. It also encourages a close-combat build by rewarding you for stepping and dodging around foes. So if you enjoy getting into melee and also getting to make full use of your abilities without resting, this option might appeal to you.
Given the nature of their power coming so much from performance, I can imagine that the relationship that these mystics have with the spirits has to be felt just as much if not more than being acknowledged intellectually. Calling the spirits their dance partners is no exaggeration. Don’t forget though, that the name “liturgist” does imply that they often lead others in these ceremonies too. It is not a private dance.
Orcish spiritualism is a fascinating display, as their rituals are as much combat demonstration as they are dance. Spirits are impressed by the physical prowess and ceremonial dress, but the skill of these mystics does not end at the ceremony, far from it.
Those that seek out the Spirit of Spinning Iron often call the art of shifting between aspects “Capritellix Dance”, after the metal elementals with many shifting faces, as they themselves shift between individual spirits each day and often repeatedly when needed. Of course, their patron is often their default primary, and some argue that the other apparitions they call forth are not separate beings, but different faces of this primal multifaceted being.
Borrowing and twisting tripkee fiend-keeper techniques to his own designs, Baron Durvorg has trapped several fiends within is body, making their power his own and switching between them at will. However, despite the power he holds over them, his arrogance blinds him to the monstrous influence they have on his soul, and what they will use him to do.