Exclusive OCCULT ADVENTURES Preview for PATHFINDER!

Paizo Publishing has very kindly sent over a super-secret super-exclusive two-page preview of the upcoming Occult Adventures hardcover book due for release later this year. Lead designer Jason Bulmahn also had a short message -- "We are really excited to unveil the secrets of our game with Occult Adventures. Releasing in time for Gen Con, this hardcover book includes our take on rules for psionic magic, including six new character classes ready to uncover the truth and unlock the powers of the mind! In addition, Occult Adventures includes a wide variety of archetypes for the new classes and many of the existing Pathfinder character classes as well. This spread shows off one of my favorites: the Cult Master. This vile character is just begging to be the villain in your next campaign. Finally, this meaty book also includes a huge list of new spells, magic items, and other rules to help players and GMs make the occult a part of their game!"

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Occult Adventures is due for release at Gen Con this year (end of July). The book underwent a public playtest last year. Click on the image for a larger PDF version of the preview.

Delve into the occult secrets of psychic magic, mystic rituals, and esoteric sciences with Occult Adventures, the latest hardcover rulebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game! Six new occult-themed character classes bring the vast treasures of occultism and mysticism to Pathfinder players like never before. Set out on new adventures as a kineticist, medium, mesmerist, psychic, occultist, or spiritualist, or choose from dozens of archetypes for these and most existing Pathfinder RPG classes. Explore forbidden secrets long kept from the world to discover magical forces that unlock vast powers of mind and body. Uncover lost relics and proscribed spells to give your hero new powers in the fight against evil, and pick up new psychic tricks with a library of new feats based on occult traditions.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures includes:

• Six new base classes—the reality-warping kineticist, the spirit-infused medium, the manipulative mesmerist, the relic-wielding occultist, the mind-master psychic, and the phantom-bonded spiritualist.
• Thematic archetypes for appropriate Pathfinder RPG base classes, such as the haunted totem barbarian, the phrenologist bard, the ghost rider cavalier, the psychic detective inquisitor, and more!
• Tons of new spells and magic items, including lots of options for existing classes as well as the perfect gear for the new classes and archetypes introduced in this book.
• In-depth overviews of key occult topics such as auras, ki, chakras, psychic combat, possession, occult rituals, and the esoteric planes.
• AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!

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[Obvious_Ninja]

And this is what brings me back around to Pathfinder...

 

[Hrothgar Rannúlfr]

Wow!

 

[Henry]

I hope they give advice on a psychic-only campaign - say a campaign with only fighters, rogues, monks, and the six new classes, or something similar. I think such would make a fascinating new campaign style.

This book, also, preps them into a REALLY good place for a Vudra campaign guide if the Inner Sea starts flagging in sales... i know their fan base has been wanting more about the rest of Golarion at large for a while now.

 

[Davies]

And the fan base is answered, via http://paizo.com/products/btpy9dyk?Pathfinder-Campaign-Setting-Distant-Shores-Gazetteer

 

[Azgulor]

Looking good! Can't wait.

 

[WayneLigon]

Looking forward to this; I would really like a psionic-only campaign.

 

[Grimstaff]

Ugh. For a company that hits the mark so awesomely with their adventures and campaign setting, why do they engage in such needless class bloat. This preview makes my eyes glaze over. If they must indulge the fetish for endless player options, why not do so in a clear and concise manner?

 

[turkeygiant]

Ugh. For a company that hits the mark so awesomely with their adventures and campaign setting, why do they engage in such needless class bloat. This preview makes my eyes glaze over. If they must indulge the fetish for endless player options, why not do so in a clear and concise manner?

Yeah there is definitely a spectrum of how much bloat different systems have, Pathfinder is up there for having some of the most bloat, and I think they sometimes lose what could be much more focused impactful themes in favour of fitting as many option into a book as possible. D&D 5e kinda sits at the other end of the spectrum with a very focused core of content that they are gradually and maybe even over cautiously adding to. D&D is closer to what I am looking for from a game, though I would like to see a few more options here and there. The elemental spells in Princes of the apocalypse were cool, but that book would have been perfect to me if it had a handful of class archetypes too.

 

[Evenglare]

The system is without a doubt bloated but like many others have said you clearly don't NEED to use or buy every book, they are simply options for the GM to use to flavor the campaign. Interestingly enough, if you look back pathfinder doesn't actually publish that many rule books per year. I think it's like.. what 4? maybe 5? compared to 3.5 D&D which had a new rule book coming out literally every month. Now with THAT being said, you could make the argument that despite Pathfinders rather conservative approach to putting out these books, they contain way way way more information than any single splat for 3.5

So I can see where people who say that pathfinder is bloated, come from. Infact it is my stance on the game as well, but I do realize that, again, you don't have to use EVERY SINGLE THING EVER PUBLISHED. Just add what you like, and maybe look at the other stuff for inspiration.