Class Feature Friday: Faith’s Flamekeeper/Fervor Patron (Pathfinder Second Edition Witch Patron Theme)
(art by Actual-Ghost-802 on DeviantArt)
When it comes to faith, perhaps the strongest bonds of devotion are to those who reached out to help you when you needed them most. People speak of finding religion in their darkest moments, and of course there are plenty of stories of mortal saviors earning the eternal gratitude of another when they came to their aid.
Which is how fervor patrons (or as they’re known in the remaster: Faith’s Flamekeepers) come to their prospective witches. A divinity great or small, or more likely one of their servants, came to a prospective witch in need and offered them the power to save themselves and take their fates into their own hands, and that more often than not inspires a great deal of gratitude towards the patron.
Most patrons of this time are firmly on the celestial side of things, but occasionally an evil divinity will offer such power if it means having someone they can cash in favors with later in the mortal realm.
The real interesting question of course comes from the fact that such divine beings are offering their powers in the form of a witch contract rather than as a cleric of the faith or a morally-aligned oracle. This could be because they have need of a servant that does not follow their doctrine directly, or the power set offered by witchcraft better suits the destiny they have in mind for the witch. Or maybe as a lesser servant of a true divinity they lack the power to grant spells via true divine bond of faith, and so on.
Either way, these patrons implore and encourage their bonded witches to inspire others to greatness and instill fear and discord in the enemies of the faith. Of course, the specifics often vary by the deity in question.
Many of these witches might be alternative priests or join crusades as support spellcasters, while others that do not know the true nature of their patron might vary between fervently serving the goals of the deity and introspecting on their nature and what it means to be faithful.
Naturally, these witches tap into the divine tradition of magic as well as study up on religion as well.
They also learn a hex that stokes the inner fire of the heart of an ally, bolstering their capability to deal damage to their foes. Meanwhile, they also learn a spell for making commands that foes struggle to resist.
Additionally, in the Remaster version, their familiars are always pleasantly soft and warm, their very presence soothing the hearts of nearby allies, causing said allies to gain an extra reserve of vigor briefly when the witch utilizes their hex magic.
Of course, there are feats that suit this patron nicely. These include the likes of Cackle, Cauldron, Counterspell, Rites of Convocation, Witch’s Charge, Spirit Familiar, Witch’s Bottle, Witch’s Communion, and Hex Master, among others that suit your build, including the Lesson Feats for getting more spells and hexes.
This patron is very much about supporting your allies and punishing your foes, so I would build accordingly to lean into that, loading up on buffing, healing, debuffing, and the occasional utility and offensive choices to round things out.
There is a bit of an elephant in the room with this option here. The default assumption is that the witch follows this patron because they were there for them when they needed them most, and that’s all fine and dandy, but given that most patrons have plans for their beneficiaries, one has to wonder if it is truly altruism, even among the goodly deities that might sponsor such things. Certainly it isn’t the case when it comes to evil patrons, but in the supposedly goodly cases it does raise questions which could make for some fun character drama. Of course, the witch can choose to reject the patron at any time. Sure, they lose out on a lot of power they might have come to rely on before the retrain, either into a conveniently GM-provided alternate patron or out of the class entirely, but the option does exist. And the fact that those witches whose Faith’s Flamekeeper patrons are expressly good may choose to stay with them despite these questions shows that they believe the potential for disingenuous motives or manipulation, and the patron themselves, are worth it.
The Night of Raining Stars was a wondrous and beautiful event for those who were awake to witness it, but for most it was nothing more than a curiosity. For Gilba Fizzlespark, it changed her life. Previously a destitute gnome changeling, her fate was changed when she encountered the entity within one of the fallen stars, one that gifted her with a flickering shape of starlight that vaguely resembled a songbird, as well as newfound purpose and magic.
Occasionally the demigod rulers of the fey will offer no-strings-attached deals to mortals for a bit of power to better serve their ends in the future, calling in favors later on. However, when high-stakes politics in the fey realms lead to a list of such beneficiaries being leaked, such mortal witches suddenly find a jabberwock sent by their patron’s rival, at their door. Or more accurately, ripping the roof off of their homes to get at them.
Despite their religion’s vilification of the Old Ways, the faith of the Blazing Daystar has a number of witches in their employ, though perhaps the better way to describe them is weapons, standing behind the rank and file of the crusaders blessing them with might with their handlers nearby.
