Planar Harmonizer (Occultist Archetype)
(art by granfaloon on DeviantArt)
The vast cosmology of most rpg settings, with the various afterlifes and other planes that serve as the foundation for many mystical aspects is full of strange resonances and energies, which is why the plane shift spell uses focuses in the form of tuning forks to attune to these resonant energies and allow for such transport.
It should come as no surprise, then, that occultists, who also deal in a form of resonance of their own, sometimes choose to focus on these tuning forks to get the most out of them.
They might be scholars of the planes, or travellers that learn the art out of practicality. Either way, their skill set delves into the full depths of what conjuration is capable of as a result, though to the exclusion of other types of magic.
If you’re interested in a character that can travel to any plane they wish and be better equipped to handle them than most, this archetype might be for you, so let’s take a look!
These mystics only have access to the conjuration school, using tuning forks as their implements. However, they get several benefits for this, gaining access to conjuration spells that occultists do not have access to, the magic for plane shifting, and even improving the potency of their spells and focus powers to make them harder to resist.
Naturally, their knowledge of planar science is unparalleled, making them something of an authority on such things.
Travelling to other planes is dangerous, so these occultists learn to bring a bit of their home plane’s essence with them. At the base level this keeps their mind sharp on planes where an opposing morality would press on their minds. However, with a bit of energy, they can improve this to protect themselves from the physical hazards of the plane. At first this only lasts a few minutes, enough time to reach a safe area or retreat to a less hostile plane, but later it improves to be actually useful for exploration.
These mystics also learn to draw magic circles much sooner, though if they use them to call a small outsider, they gain limited informational benefits until they grow in mastery to the same point that other occultists would learn to do so.
If you’re interested in playing up the conjuration side of the occultist, summoning little minions to give answers and trap outsiders in circles to hinder or bargain with them, and so on, this archetype may be for you. Spell selection is key here, because if you want to be the party’s gateway to the planes you’re definitely going to need the mass version of planar adaptation. Luckily the conjuration school is rivaled only by transmutation in terms of versatility, with attack spells, battlefield and utility support from summons, utility in general by just creating what you need, and so on.
If any of you are familiar with Planescape, you can imagine the sort of character that might take this archetype. Either they’re old hat at using portals to travel around the vastness of the cosmos but want the power to be free of such limitations, or perhaps they are newcomers to the cosmos eager to explore the great beyond for themselves, though obviously they might find areas of disappointment or surprise deviating from their texts, which can be fun too.
Eager to explore the cosmos, Vilbra the scholar has packed all their things, including their collection of tuning forks as they ready to join the party on a planar expedition. However, they do not realize that they have a stowaway, a wayward soul possessing one of their trinkets which has attracted the attention of a shoki psychopomp who isn’t particularly concerned with explaining themselves.
Eager to test her theory that aquatic elves first became amphibious through a connection to the Plane of Water, Tsilene has been studying the resonance of planar energies for some time, not just to prove the connection, but also to travel their herself and study any elf civilizations to be found within.
In need of a planar guide to multiple locations, the party sets out for the Nexus Point in search of someone up to the task. Their most promising candidate, however, is a dubious character who seems more in it for themselves than anything else.