#hybrid class

[nightmaresyrup]

A Blessed Bard ✝️

The only downside is his voice getting muffled by his helmet.

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Hybrid Class Review: Swashbuckler part 4

(art by MyriadSpectralSeason on DeviantArt)

Deeds of Renown

Two days ago I detailed the various abilities of the swashbuckler class, including it’s various deed abilities… but technically, that list was incomplete. I speak of course of the Deeds of Renown that were added in Chronicle of Legends. I was able to do the same for Gunslinger as a supplementary entry a while ago, but this time I get to focus on them alongside the rest of the swashbuckler.

Deeds of Renown are variant deeds that swashbucklers (and gunslingers) can access by trading in deeds that they would normally get, sometimes more than one.

So let’s have a look!

Some swashbucklers are fueled by vengeance, and gain a reserve of resolve similar to a samurai with which to endure and overcome anything in the way of their fury, though they tend to focus less on acrobatics and some other ability than other swashbucklers. Later on they can even learn to gain greater resolve, enduring even more.

Amorphous foes are vexing to the precision-based swashbuckler, but they can get around that with some special techniques, dealing at least half damage from precision to such foes, at the cost of another 3rd-level deed.

Some learn to attack in a deadly dance, dancing and avoiding attacks as they move and replying with attacks of their own in stride.

A simple and short entry, but one that provides nuance and choices as a swashbuckler. Tomorrow though, we’ll give our final thoughts.

[vagabond-sol]

Hybrid Class: MNKxSMN

Lore:

“A synthesis of Monk training and Summoner teachings, Mystic, sometimes referred to as The Primal Fist, is a job that seeks to make the already impressive capabilities of the standard monk a match for the gods themselves by not only manipulating their “chakras” but the essence of a Primal that has seeped into their being. This combination was born when the Scion of the Seventh Dawn, Cazhim Delrune, sought to improve his understanding of his Primal foe by pursuing the ways of the Summoner. Though he was a spell weaver of average capabilities his understanding of internal aether manipulation through his monk training resulted in an unexpected but just as formidable creation…the Way of the Primal Fist. While there are no other known Mystics, Cazhim and Y’mhitra have dutifully documented their progress.”

Mystic in Training

*Practitioners of the Primal Fist learn the ways of the Monk first and foremost. As a result those in training will likely come up short when it comes to manipulating the essence of a desired Primal resulting in weaker spells and most notably the inability to summon a Egi or “Shade”, a technique that will be discussed later.*

Fist of Stone

Feel the essence of the Lord of Crags, granting the Mystic greatly enhanced durability as their body becomes as resilient as stone…and as heavy as one too. In addition to the passive boost to their defenses the Mystic also gains the ability to create localized quakes and manipulate stone in a heavily scaled down but similar fashion to Titan himself.

Claws of Flame

Spark the essence of Ifrit and let your burning spirit turn all that would oppose you to ash. The aetheric techniques performed in this state will become fire aspected, a minor but potentially useful boon. This form is more taxing to maintain than its counterparts but it more than makes up for it with its overwhelming offensive capabilities.

Wings of Wind

Wake the essence of Garuda stir within, granting the majesty and fury of the gale. In this state a Mystic becomes highly attuned to the air around them, sensing the slightest shift and reacting in kind with unparalleled agility. However; learning to do battle with this new sense can be difficult to master and may lead the unprepared to paranoid behavior. As before, the Mystic will gain the ability to gather and violently release aspected aether, in this case wind, at will. For a resourceful warrior this will provide better mobility and ranged offense both.

Mystic Mastered

*The first mark of a true master of the Primal Fist is the ability to summon one’s focus as a powerful weapon to amplify one’s use of the essences. The second sign being the ability to summon a Shade of said Primal. A Shade is short lived summoned being heavily shaped by the caster’s heart. As a result they look different than their original Primal bodies but have similar personalities.*

Heart of the Inferno

You forge the essence of Ifrit into a weapon of righteous justice. Cazhim expressed this by gaining the ability to cast forth the burning chains and nails once used by the original Primal for greater offensive and mobility options. This combined with his Way of the Lance techniques make for an explosively devastating combination. The mastery of this form makes the Mystic feel at one with the flame, removing the fear of overheating.

Heart of the Vortex

You embody the essence of Garuda, becoming the calm within and the storm without. In this state the previously acquired control over wind and likewise aspected aether is enhanced to match the keen fury of Garuda. In Cazhim’s case this made a fitting partner for his Way of the Blade style. When working in tandem with his Shade, Garuda can release her feathers for Cazhim to slash creating powerful tornadoes in their wake. If the two are in perfect sync their winds could force the very heavens to part.

Heart of the Mountain

You seize the essence of the Lord of Crags, attaining mastery over the battlefield to an even greater measure. With the earth now at their command, the Mystic is no longer inherently weighed down by this form and may dismiss or activate this effect at will. As for the weapon Cazhim chose, a hulking slab of stone, just barely recognizable as a sword, torn from the earth and his vast defensive abilities were then used to protect not only himself but those close to him as well. A role readily accepted by his Shade…when not crushing his foes first. Together this earth shattering pair leaves no room for escape.

Heart of the Undying

You enkindle the essence of the Phoenix, waking a nigh endless well of searing power within that burns away your foes and wounds with equal ease. Due to the extreme circumstances under which Cazhim awakened this form it is a bit of an outlier when compared to its peers. There is no focus or weapon present when this form is taken, instead the Shade attacks in perfect synchronicity with the Mystic, only manifesting a limb, wings or other portions of itself for the moments it is needed. In the same vein the Shade does not manifest itself as the others do. Most other Shades stand separately from their Mystic, a short distance to be certain but, never do they overlay themselves with the Mystic like the Phoenix does. The Phoenix may be unique or it may be the first step towards a level of mastery yet unknown where the Mystic and their Shade truly become one.

Appearance of the Shades

“A Shade’s appearance, like Primals, is heavily influenced by the one summoning them. As a result Shades are vastly differ from Mystic to Mystic. What will be described are the Shades of the Founding Mystic: Cazhim Delrune.”

Titan:

The Shade of Titan resembles a muscular Roegadyn man of earthen brown complexion and long white hair tied into a braided pony tail. His attire is simple consisting of loose pants, a sash and large prayer beads that wrap around his waist and over his left shoulder, as well as a white mask. The mask is carved to resemble Titan’s original face in a simplified fashion. The eyes and mouth bear earth aspected crystals that obscure visibility of the features underneath. Despite his imposing figure there is an undeniable air of tranquility around him.

Ifrit:

The

Garuda:

The

Phoenix

The

Limit Breaks:

Initiate

Mastered Ifrit

Mastered Garuda

Mastered Titan

Phoenix

Note: Hey! You made it to the end. I hope you enjoyed my little project here and if it inspired you to write your own custom class or even use this “Mystic” hybrid class of mine let me know! As always everything I post is an endless WiP so I’ll be randomly tweaking things here and there and if something looks unfinished, it just might be. That picture the most so! I will work on proper gposes for Mystic once all else is done.

[thistle-make-you-smile]

Shot down with silence

Griffin: Start thinking about a new name for this hybrid class you’re playing that I can sort of offhandedly refer to.

Travis: I'm going to say "Bouncer."

Griffin:

Travis:

Griffin: We can work on it.

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Hybrid Class Review: Swashbuckler part 3

(art by Chelobek4 on DeviantArt)

Archetype

Like all other classes the swashbuckler has it’s share of archetypes, of which it had a fair few, so let’s have a look.

Despite being primarily a melee class, there are a few archetypes that specialize in ranged combat, namely bows with the Arrow Champion and throwing weapons with Flying Blade.

There are two that use firearms instead, being the musketeer and picaroon.

Of course, not every specialist is ranged, or focused on a particular weapon (though plenty are). Among the weapon-wielders are the likes of Guided Blades that defend others with their blades, Inspired Blades that specialize in rapiers, Okayo Corsairs who specialize in monk weapons, Rondelo Swashbucklers with their falcatas, Rostland Bravos with their dueling swords, and Whirling Dervishes with their scimitars.

Conversely, those that specialize elsewhere include the Azatariel who draw upon the power of Elysium, the acrobatic Coursers, the sneaky Daring Infiltrators and Veiled Blades, audacious Dashing Thieves, small but powerful Mousers, and Wildstriders who feel at home in nature.

Others have societal advantages and quirks that help define them, such as the incognito Mysterious Avengers, influential Noble Fencers, and the infamous Shackles Corsairs.

There’s a good selection here, enough to specialize a character in ways both big and small. I will say that the class has an overabundance of archetypes named in ways that don’t make it immediately clear what they’re about at first glance. I wouldn’t say that they’re reinventing the wheel here though.

That will do for today, but I’ll take a bit more about alternate deed options tomorrow!

[dailycharacteroption]

Hybrid Class Review: Warpriest part 5

(art by senpo0 on DeviantArt)

Conclusions

And so we’ve come to the end of this review special and of the hybrid class group of classes to review in Pathfinder 1e, and it’s been a bit of a trip. I find some classes more interesting than others, but none of them expressly bad at their job.

Indeed, despite the negative stuff I had to say about it yesterday, it’s still only my second least favorite of these classes, preceded only by the slayer, albeit purely because the slayer’s claim to fame is arguably a better, more versatile equivalent to favored enemy that can be applied to any foe as long as you set it up first. Useful, but not exactly inspiring.

But this week isn’t about the slayer or any other hybrid class, this week is about the warpriest. Ultimately, the warpriest’s claim to fame is their incredible action economy when it comes to buffing up in the middle of combat, potentially snowballing even as foes crowd around them. However, outside of having two-thirds of the entire cleric spell list, warpriests are not really strong in the ways of utility or social situations.

And that I think helps define the class and it’s struggles. The story of a warpriest can be as simple as finding purpose in a cause that they fight for as part of the militant arm of their faith, but depending on the story, they may struggle with their sense of value outside of a combat setting, particularly if they belong to a faith that is not especially warlike. You might be the readied hand of the faith that answers when diplomacy fails, but what about when it succeeds… or when you’re the one having to do it? And what does all that mean when you follow a faith that is not militant in nature?

I think that this will do for today’s entry and this week’s special, but look forward to more character options next week, and starting in on the occult classes sometime in the future!

[dailycharacteroption]

Hybrid Class Review: Warpriest part 3

(art by roadwarrior03 on DeviantArt)

Archetypes

The warpriest didn’t get many, but it did get it’s fair share of archetypes, so let’s have a look!

Some warpriests tailor the power they gain to smite the enemies of their faith, such as champions of the faith, that gain a paladin-like smite, or divine champions, that are blessed by the rewards of deific obedience in their pursuit of such foes.

Others have the power of authority, either in terms of zealous faith for cult leaders, or strategic authority as divine commanders, giving commands to troops.

For some, the implements of the divine are most important to them, such as shieldbearers that wield mighty bastions of defense to both attack and defend, or forgepriests that focus on creating wonders of defense and offence, guided by the hand of their deity.

Many others invoke their power in specific ways. Disenchanters specialize in deflecting and dispelling the magic of their enemies, while proclaimers charge into battle and invoke the power of their deity to smite all fiendish foes near them. Proselytizers opt for nonlethal options first to try and spread the word of their deity, while sacred fists would rather use monk-like might to smite foes with nothing but their divinely-empowered bare hands.

Some, however, tap specifically into primal magic in addition to the divine. Elven calamity callers create miniature natural disasters to smite their foes, while feral champions tap into druidic magic to shapeshift claws and alternate forms.

Plenty of these archetypes are associated with nations and groups within setting, such as Jistkan Magistrates that summon elementals and unleash the fury of the elements on foes, Liberty’s Blades of Andoran channel power geared towards punishing and resisting the tyranny of devils, and Molthuni Arsenal champions focus on bolstering the fighting prowess of their allies over their own ability to fight.

Of course, there are those tied to specific faiths as well. Fists of the Godclaw evoke the raw power of law to quash chaos in the service of their order, while Mantis Zealots become warrior-assassins in the name of the Mantis God. On the polar opposite morally are Sixth-Wing Zealots: followers of Ragathiel that empower their shields with the power of flight to defend others in addition to themselves.

As we can see, there’s a good handful here, but nothing that really changes the formula too much. It is nice to see this many options though.

That will do for today, but tomorrow I’d like to share my thoughts on the class.

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Hybrid Class Review: Warpriest Part 1

(art by gameoverlord23 on DeviantArt)

Overview

And so we’ve come to the last of the hybrid classes, and I’ve got to say that we’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of them. “Let’s mash two pre-existing classes together into something so that players don’t have to multiclass as much” sounds a lot more banal on paper, but it gave us ten classes that not only developed their own identity, but several made the jump to second edition, either as their own classes, or as archetypes (even if they had to name them something different, looking at you, arcanist-turned-flexible spellcaster).

Today’s subject, however, got regulated to being a subtype of the base cleric class. Whether that’s better or worse is up to interpretation, but some interpretation of the mechanics of today’s subject have been lost to time, it seems, and honestly I can’t blame them, but we’ll talk more about that in the conclusion.

In any case, the warpriest! This final hybrid class combines the cleric and the fighter classes together, meaning of all the base classes, fighter has the most hybrid classes associated with it. “But DCO, I thought the paladin was a hybrid of cleric and fighter!” True, it does possess divine power and that lovely full base attack progression that everyone adores, but aside from the full BAB and the ability to channel energy at an albeit more costly rate, paladin doesn’t actually share many bones with the fighter or cleric classes. It has plenty of toys of it’s own and doesn’t borrow that many from the other two. They don’t even naturally gain access to the lovely combat feats that have a “fighters only” sticker in the prerequisites.

Now the warpriest, that’s a true hybrid class, taking elements from both parent classes while adding something new to the mix, and the best part is, they can be of any alignment! That is until 2e reconfigured paladins into champions with multiple causes, and then later did away with alignment entirely.

Enough jokes though, the warpriest is exactly what you’d expect it to be, a divine caster with more martially-focused abilities and the concept that these are the warriors of the faith. Less martially-focused than paladin or champion, instead retaining more of the divine magic that clerics swing around. They are the sword of their faith against it’s enemies.

Now, this is interesting, and can cover a lot of concepts, from the classic warrior priest leading and supporting soldiers on the field of battler to the dark apostle that would rather don the armor of darkness than support another champion, to the holy medic of a more benign god that will fight to the last to protect those under their care. Unlike inquisitors that have a lot of baggage and mental gymnasitics required to justify their existence in some faiths, every belief system has those willing to fight for what they believe in, even if it’s pacifistically fighting off those that cannot defend themselves without killing such interlopers.

But from a more technical standpoint, it’s basically meant to be what magi are to the wizard/fighter eldtrich knight combo, but without the actual prestige class to be making a replacement for. (Unless perhaps we count the holy vindicator, but that’s a bit of a stretch)

Whether you view them as a separate sort of training to a cleric or someone with cleric training that neglected some of that training to instead focus on martial pursuits likely varies from individual congregation, faith, and/or individual, but they do bring with them a holy fervor that few can match on the battlefield.

And that will do for today. Tomorrow we’ll talk about what the warpriest can actually do.