#pact wizard

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Pact Wizard (Wizard Archetype; Haunted Heroes)

Sharing the same themes as its namesake yesterday, today’s version of the pact wizard does indeed also draw upon otherworldly influence to gain great power, but instead of being focuses on conjuration and specific species of outsider, today we’re looking at a wizard that instead invites powerful patrons, many of which are similar to those bonded with witches, not only for knowledge but even letting them manifest partially through them.

Such a drastically different pact takes a toll on their minds and bodies, but whether such power is worth it depends on the wizard.

With a powerful spirit manifesting through them, these wizards are truly never alone, calling upon them for aid, but also enjoying (or perhaps putting up with) their company, though how talkative their patron is may vary quite a lot.

Most, however, consider this path to power to be even more risky than others. After all, the caster must not only find a spirit willing to bond with them, but also trust (or be desperate enough) to let them in. When it is successful, however, it is a terrifyingly powerful combination.

 Thanks to the mental ally in their head, these mages can memorize their spells in record time.

Additionally, their patron grants them additional spell knowledge for their book similar to those granted to witches, and they can even spontaneously convert other prepared spells into these patron spells, with the exception of the spell slots granted by their school.

Over time, however, the presence of the patron spirit within and around their bodies begins to take its toll, but not without added benefits. They develop a harmful affliction that slowly begins to manifest natural or supernatural workarounds, similar to an oracle, though developing much slower. They also gain the ability to call upon their patron to bolster their spells and their bodies and minds, later blending their own intellect into the exchange. They also can add metamagical power to spells more efficiently, reducing the required power increase. The most powerful, however, are able to bolster themselves so much with their patron that particularly impressive demonstrations of guile automatically succeed.

A wizard archetype that prepares spells faster, can reroll various casting-related rolls, and even get more use out of metamagic by reducint spell slot level increase, all in exchange for taking an oracle curse that progresses much more slowly, never gaining the full benefits? This archetype is the very picture of dangerous pacts and rewards. You’ll be great at various wizarding things, but have difficulties due to the curse, which can range from limited mobility to difficulty speaking and any other oracle curse out there. Carefully consider how the choice of curse and patron will affect your build, and try to have fun with it!

 Given how the art for this archetype looks, and the nature of their abilities, the patron of these wizards seems more “present” than most witches, almost like the spirits of shamans. With that in mind, one could flavor the patron as being an invisible presence that often acts as the guiding hand and conduit for the wizard’s spells, such as manifesting a floating eye for a divination spell, aiding their gestures when gathering and casting a fireball, or perhaps reaching out and grabbing things as a conduit for a telekinetic spell, and so on. Such wizards might almost resemble spiritualists. That being said, others might be flavored as the patron merely being a voice in their head, whispering the secrets of magic.

As one might expect, knowledgeable folk often have mixed feelings about these practitioners, as those biased against witchcraft might view such magic as wicked, while others might merely be unnerved by the intimate relationship they have with a voice no one else can hear.

  Sacrificing most of her vision, Ekri Valenhorp sought sight of a different sort, making a pact with The Unlidded Eye, a cosmic being that promises power over prophecy and divination. Even when performing more mundane forms of divination, she proves to be an uncanny master of prognostication, but many religious groups suspect the truth behind her oracular power.

 As an Ajibachana dhampir, many suspect Gempern of being able to steal bodies like their vetala ancestors. While still cautious of zealous vampire hunters, they revel in that misconception, and claim that, with the help of their “soul” which they claim is too big to fit in their own body, they can bend even magically resistant targets to their will with their enchantments and possession. They don’t bother mentioning that this oversized soul is actually their patron.

 Sellin the farm boy was perfectly ordinary, though his intelligence was wasted on farm work. However, one day, the ovinnik house spirit that guarded the barn came before him, claiming that someone wanted to speak with him in the woods. Endlessly curious, the lad followed, and discovered something he will not speak of, returning with a book of magic and the skill to cast from it.

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Pact Wizard (Wizard Archetype; Familiar Folio)

A classic recurring theme with magic is the idea of bargaining with a greater power for the knowledge to wield it. While that mostly is covered by the likes of the witch class in pathfinder, some wizards barter specifically with the outsiders of the great beyond for their power, receiving tutelage of book magic from the servants of the gods themselves, or other such beings.

These pact wizards, not to be confused with those we will be covering tomorrow, can gain the aid of the sort of beings that show them patronage, but the nature of their pact means that they are subject to certain restrictions as the outsiders that guide them try to guide them into becoming a wizard who is a worthy ally to their cosmic forces.

If nothing else, this archetype is another that practically screams magical girl tropes, though there is also plenty of other inspiration to draw upon here.

 Since they derive their power from the blessings of more powerful entities, it only makes sense that said entities send a retainer to act as a go-between, ally, and overseer for the mage, in other words, requiring them to take a familiar, though in this case, the familiar’s loyalties lie with their cosmic patron.

Due to how their mystical studies are colored by the influence of their patron, they tend to focus a bit more, leaving out studies on an additional school, even if the wizard is a universalist. Given the otherworldly nature of their patrons, however, this lapse in studies is never in conjuration.

The exact nature of their patron grants another restriction, however, and while the nature of this patron can be of any alignment, even one diametrically opposed to the casters actual alignment, they must abide by the wishes of their patron, shifts in morality away from that of the patron (not counting initial alignment), abuses their familiar or creatures of that type, or perform egregious acts against the patrons alignment, are often stripped of the benefits of the pact, leaving nothing but spells and base wizarding ability, until they atone. As you can imagine, most bond with outsiders that match their morality for the most part, but on occasion, an outsider attempts to redeem or corrupt someone through offering the pact.

Such a bond does mark their aura with that of their patron, similar to a divine caster.

The real benefits of such a pact, however, include being able to summon allies of that outsider type much more quickly than any other summon, and the eventual revelation that their familiar is in fact a lesser outsider of that type, adding its abilities to their arsenal.

Adding alignment restrictions to any class adds a whole new slew of challenges to the game, particularly in the case of something as unique as this archetype, given its unique relationship with character vs patron alignments. Whether I would recommend this archetype really depends on how draconian your GM is about what consists of breaking the pact, but we’ll get to that in a second. Really a conjuration build is best for this archetype, packing as many feats and abilities to improve their summons, but another specialist could make it work if they mix between conjuration and their primary school, or a universalist, whom is minimally affected by such things, gaining only the one bonus opposition school.

 In the end, exactly how much fun you get out of this archetype really depends on how well your GM runs the important bits. A wizard whose pact is with outsiders whose beliefs align with their own is fairly well off as it is. However, it is the case of those who have morally opposite pacts that things get a little dicey. A draconian GM could really break this archetype for the player, weakening them for every infraction. However, its important to remember that the pact patron, and by extension the familiar, are specifically trying to redeem or tempt the caster in such cases, and therefore must be willing to be more forgiving with lesser infractions. Every little good deed or self-defensive attack against devils should not have a wizard’s imp demanding atonement, nor should the opposite occur. Such breaches of contract should be for when the mage really does something that harms the cause of the patrons alignment and the like. In this way, the edicts of this pact are a bit looser, but still firm.

On a bit of a side note, how divine casters react to these mages could be interesting indeed. Those of the same moral alignment may either see them as allies in a tangential way, showing their devotion in a unique way or they might see them as petty, selfish children, begging for magical might without any true dedication to a cause.

  Though typically associated with outer planes, some pact wizards form bonds with elementals. Such is the case for Erbor Goldglimmer, who eschews the magics of fire and air for powerful earth magic. However, as mighty as he is, his familiar has gone missing, the crystalline earth elemental having been snatched up by a rare elemental ambush predator, a glimmerhollow. If not recovered quickly, the poor creature will be digested, and it will reflect poorly upon Erbor.

 Beaten and mistreated her whole life by her clan for her “cursed birth”, Engaka was all too eager to turn on her lizardfolk upbringing and learn the book magic she needed to make them suffer. However, the being that answered her call was a silvanshee agathion, and while he still grants her magic, he works tirelessly to turn her from such a dark path.

 In a place like Veir Anhar, where arcane magic is forbidden, pact wizards are the most common type after witches and sorcerers, with imps, quasits, cacodaemons, and more, all promising forbidden power to the desperate, the idle rich, the foolhardy, and the deviant.