Akashic Might: Expanded Combat Archetypes 1 (Patreon)

Convergent Blade (Nexus Archetype)

Proficiencies: Convergent blades are proficient with simple weapons and light armor. In addition, if this is this character’s first level in any class, they may select a martial tradition of their choice.

This modifies the nexus's normal proficiencies.

Combat Training: Convergent blades may combine combat spheres and talents to create powerful martial techniques. Convergent blades are considered Proficient combatants and use Charisma as their practitioner modifier.

Planar Blades (Su): At 1st level, the convergent blade learns to channel the destructive potential of the outer planes into energy which they can use as a weapon, or to wrap their weapons in destructive potential. The convergent blade can either wield this energy as a weapon, replacing any melee attacks they could normally make (including any off-hand attacks) with a melee touch attack, or they can deal additional damage using this ability whenever they succeed on an melee attack with a manufactured or natural weapon attack.

In either case, this ability deals 1d6 points of piercing damage, plus an additional 1d6 at 5th level, and every 4 levels thereafter. Whenever the convergent blade would deal damage using this ability, they can take a point of essence burn to increase that instance of damage to 1d6, plus 1d6 per odd class level instead.

This replaces the nexus’s planar detonation class feature.

Convergence: Whenever one of the convergent blade’s convergences would affect their planar detonation, it affects their planar blades instead. If one of these abilities would have a non-damaging effect, the convergent blade can only affect a creature with that ability once per round, even if they attack them multiple times or if that creature succeeds on a saving throw (such as the underworld convergences ability to stagger a creature on a successful hit). This does not affect the other abilities of the convergence, such as the ability to change their damage type.

If an ability of a convergence would allow them to replace the ray attack of their planar detonation with another effect, this effect instead triggers after the attack they modify is resolved (whether it hits or misses) or in place of the attack when using their planar blades as a melee touch attack. The target of the attack must be within the area of the effect produced by the convergence to use it. Additionally, the convergent blade gains immunity to the damaging abilities of their planar blades modified by their convergences.

This modifies the nexus’s convergence class feature.

Convergent Focus (Su): At 6th level, the convergent blade may focus their mind and soul as a move action to restore harmony to the convergent planar energies within their mind, restoring their martial focus and 1 point of essence burn. Only essence that was burning as part of using their planar blades or convergences can be restored using this ability.

Martial Shade (Eclipse Archetype)

Proficiencies: Martial shades are proficient with simple weapons and light armor. In addition, if this is this character’s first level in any class, they may select a martial tradition of their choice.

This modifies the eclipse's normal proficiencies.

Combat Training: Martial shades may combine combat spheres and talents to create powerful martial techniques. Martial shades are considered Adept combatants and use Intelligence as their practitioner modifier.

This replaces the eclipse’s enigma class feature.

Shade of Self (Su): At 1st level, as a standard action the martial shade can create a shade of themselves made of pure darkness, known hereafter as an occultation. This shadowy copy of the martial shade appears in a space adjacent to them and acts immediately on the martial shade’s turn. The occultation shares all of the martial shade’s statistics (including size and weight), movement speeds, and abilities, including equipped items and veils (but not consumable or limited use items such as potions, wands, and scrolls), but is instantly destroyed if it takes any damage or fails a saving throw against any spell or effect. The martial shade can switch their perceptions freely between themself and the occultation on their turn, determining their line of sight and other senses from the occultation’s location, speaking through the occultation, and using the occultation as the point of origin for any attack, veil ability, skill check, or other effect the eclipse is capable of using or creating. The occultation has only a single move action each turn (though the eclipse can use their own standard action for channeling attacks and effects through the occultation) and can threaten enemies for flanking or even making attacks of opportunity, though any attacks of opportunity it makes count against the eclipse’s total number of attacks of opportunity for the round. The occultation can be dismissed as a free action. If the occultation is ever more than 50 ft. + 50 ft. per class level away from the martial shade, it immediately dissipates and must be conjured again (a standard action).

This replaces the eclipse’s occlusion class feature.

Shadows of Self (Su): At 1st level, whenever the martial shade has no active occultation they are shrouded by the raw powers of darkness, granting them the effects of the Lurker talent (even if they don’t possess the Scout sphere) and a bonus to their Stealth checks equal to 1/2 their class level (rounded up). If they already have the Lurker talent, while they are in areas of dim light or darkness, the martial shade gains concealment (in dim light) or total concealment (in darkness) against creatures with darkvision or the see in darkness ability.

Shadow Assault (Su): At 2nd level, the martial shade’s shadow begins to mimic their actions. Whenever the martial shade makes an attack roll as part of an attack action, the martial shade can spend a swift action to allow their shadow to mimic it. This ability cannot be used when performing an attack action through one of their occultations.

If the martial shade has an active occultation, their occultation performs all of the attacks made as part of that action as well with a -5 penalty on each attack. When determining the damage of these attacks, all dice of damage are treated as if they had rolled a 1, and all flat damage bonuses to the attack are halved. These attacks also don’t apply any non-damage special abilities applied to this attack by the martial shade (a brutal strike delivered by the occultation wouldn’t cause the target to become battered, for example), and don’t count as a successful attack for abilities that trigger off of one.

If the martial shade doesn’t have an active occultation, their shadow follows up their attacks. Whenever the martial shade misses an attack by 5 or less while using this ability, the target still suffers damage. When determining this damage, all damage rolls are treated as if they had rolled a 1, and all flat damage bonuses to the attack are halved. This ability does not apply any non-damage special abilities applied to this attack by the martial shade.

Walk in Shadows: At 7th level, while the martial shade doesn’t have an active occultation, they gain the effects of the Walk Unseen talent. If they already have this talent, they instead no longer need martial focus to use the talent while they have no active occulations.

At 10th level, they gain the effects of the Vanish talent while they don’t have an occultation as well. If they already have the talent, they don’t need martial focus to use it while they have no active occultations.

This replaces the eclipse’s shadow armor ability gained at 7th level.

Shadow Intensity: At 10th level, the martial shade can further amplify their veilweaving with the power of shadow, allowing them to shape an additional veil in either their Hands or Feet slot, chosen when they shape their veils for the day. This ability does not stack with similar effects that allow them to shape multiple veils in a single slot.

Martial shades who shape an additional veil in their Hands slot further improve the potency of their shades. Whenever one of the martial shade’s occultations makes an attack, they gain the ability to roll damage dice instead of treating all of their damage dice as if they rolled a 1. If they have no active occulations, they instead roll damage dice when they miss by 5 or less, rather than treating each die of damage as if they rolled a 1.

Martial shades who shape an additional veil in their Feet slot gain the ability to teleport through shadows. While the martial shade has an active occultation within 10 feet per class level of them, they can swap places with that occlusion as a move action (this is a teleportation effect). If they have no active occulations, they can instead teleport up to 5 feet per class level as a move action. This teleportation must begin and end within an area of dim light or darkness.

Martial shades who don’t shape an additional veil in either their Hands or Feet slot using this ability are instead infused by the raw power of shadows. The martial shade chooses two of their essence receptacles and treats them as though they are invested with 1 additional point of essence. This effect bypasses the martial shade’s normal essence capacity. Whenever the martial shade reinvests their essence, they can change which essence receptacles are affected by this ability.

This replaces the eclipse’s dark intensity class feature.

Master of Shades: At 11th level, whenever the martial shade creates an occultation, they may make two copies of themselves instead of one. Each of these copies has their own move action. Whenever the martial shade uses their shadow assault ability, they can divide the attacks made by their occultations between their two occultations however they wish.

Whenever the martial shade chooses to only create one occultation, the second shadow stays within their space, granting them all of the benefits of their class features that require them to have no active occulations.

This replaces the eclipse’s advanced occultation gained at 11th level.

Crushing Shadows: At 17th level, whenever one of the martial shade’s occultations are destroyed, they can choose to have the shade explode into a field of darkness that draws in and crushes creatures in its area as a free action (even if it isn’t their turn). All creatures within 20 ft. of the destroyed occultation must succeed on a Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the martial shade’s class level + their Intelligence modifier) or be pulled to the closest space to the occultation’s last location they are capable of occupying and take 10d6 bludgeoning damage and 10d6 cold damage; on a successful saving throw creatures are unmoved and take only 5d6 cold damage.

This replaces the eclipse’s advanced occultation gained at 17th level.

Praetorian (Kheshig Archetype)

Proficiencies: Praetorians are proficient with simple weapons and light armor. In addition, if this is this character’s first level in any class, they gain two bonus combat talents of their choice.

This modifies the kheshig's normal proficiencies.

Combat Training: Praetorians may combine combat spheres and talents to create powerful martial techniques. Praetorians are considered Expert combatants and use Wisdom as their practitioner modifier.

This replaces the kheshig’s essence bound duty, fighting style, reinforced, improved fighting style, and karmic justice class features.

Guardian of the Weak: At 1st level, the praetorian gains the Guardian sphere as a bonus talent. If they already have this sphere, they gain a bonus combat talent of their choice instead.

Additionally, the praetorian can invest essence in the Guardian sphere, which affects the abilities of the sphere:

Challenge: For each point of essence invested in the sphere, the praetorian may challenge an additional creature. This stacks with the Mass Challenge talent.

Patrol: For each point of essence invested in the sphere, the praetorian gains an additional attack of opportunity each round that can only be used to make attacks of opportunity provoked by movement within their patrol, or for (zone) abilities. They also gain a +5-foot bonus to their movement speed while using their patrol ability per point of essence invested.

Delay Damage: For each point of essence invested in the sphere, the amount of damage that can be stored in their delayed damage pool increases by 2. If they remove essence from this sphere and it would cause their delayed damage pool to have more damage stored in it than its maximum, the praetorian immediately suffers that excess damage.

Challenging Patrol: At 5th level, the praetorian gains Expanded Guardian as a bonus talent. If they already have this talent, they gain a bonus combat talent of their choice instead.

Soulchemist (Radiant Archetype)

Proficiencies: Soulchemists are proficient with simple weapons and light armor. In addition, if this is this character’s first level in any class, they gain two bonus combat talents of their choice.

This modifies the radiant's normal proficiencies.

Combat Training: Soulchemists may combine combat spheres and talents to create powerful martial techniques. Soulchemists are considered Proficient combatants and use Wisdom as their practitioner modifier.

This replaces the radiant’s vivification class feature.

Soulchemy (Su): At 1st level, the soulchemist gains the Alchemy sphere with the formulae package as a bonus talent. If they already have this sphere, they gain a bonus combat talent of their choice. If they have the sphere but don’t have the formulae package, they instead gain the Master Chemist talent.

Whenever the soulchemist crafts a formulae that can be consumed by a creature for a beneficial effect (such as Salve formulae), they can instead create it using soulchemy, infusing the essence of the alchemical item within the radiance of their soul rather than creating it as a physical object. These otherwise function as normal for alchemical creations of the Alchemy sphere.

The soulchemist can use any formulae they have crafted using soulchemy as a purely mental action that doesn’t provoke attacks of opportunity at its normal action cost.

Whenever the soulchemist invests essence in one of their allies using their akashic bond, they can transfer any of their formulae they created using soulchemy to that creature, allowing that creature to consume it instead of them. That creature gains an intuitive understanding of how to use the formulae. The soulchemist can also spend their own actions to activate a soulchemical formulae stored in one of their allies, which affects that ally instead of the soulchemist.

When the soulchemist removes the essence from their ally all of the soulchemical formulae return to the soulchemist’s soul. The soulchemist can also choose to remove or add any soulchemical formulae to an ally as part of reinvesting their essence.

Soulchemical Toxin (Su): At 4th level, if the soulchemist doesn’t have the poison package they gain it. If they do, they instead gain a bonus combat talent of their choice.

Whenever the soulchemist crafts a toxin they can make it a soulchemical toxin instead. They may then apply this toxin to creatures in the following ways:

• The soulchemist can apply the toxin to themselves as part of the action used to create it.
• While the soulchemist has a creature affected by their akashic bond, they can apply the toxin to one of those creatures as part of the action used to create it. This consumes the soulchemical toxin and allows the creature to make a saving throw against it, as normal.

Additionally, whenever a creature fails its saving throw against the soulchemist’s unwilling bond ability, they can create and apply a soulchemical toxin to that creature as a free action.

Stormclast (Stormbound Archetype)

Proficiencies: Stormclasts are proficient with simple weapons and light armor. Wearing metal armor or using a metal shield impairs the stormclast’s ability to properly channel the devastating powers of the storms that brew inside of them. If they do so, the essence capacity of their veils is treated as 2 less (minimum 0). It takes half as much damage to sunder the stormclast’s veils and those veils have half their normal hardness while the stormclast wears metal armor or uses a metal shield. None of these penalties apply when wearing armor or wielding a shield created by a veil, even if the armor or shield they create is normally made from metal.

In addition, if this is this character’s first level in any class, they may select a martial tradition of their choice.

This modifies the stormbound's normal proficiencies.

Combat Training: Stormclasts may combine combat spheres and talents to create powerful martial techniques. Stormclasts are considered Proficient combatants and use Wisdom as their practitioner modifier.

This replaces the stormbound’s storm powers gained at 1st, 5th, 9th, 13th, and 17th level.

Empowered Might, Weakened Veilweaving: Some stormclast learn to further improve their martial prowess at a cost to their veilweaving. The stormclast must choose whether they wish to gain this ability at 1st level, and after doing so this choice cannot be changed. These stormclasts are treated as Adept combatants instead of Proficient combatants, but they only gain the ability to shape veils at the following levels instead of using the stormbound’s normal progression: 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th, 15th, and 18th level. This does not affect their Storm veil granted at 1st level.

If the stormclast chooses this ability, it modifies the stormbound’s veilweaving class feature.

Elements of the Storm: At 1st level, the stormclast gains Elemental Might as a bonus feat. While the stormclast has a Storm veil shaped with an elemental descriptor (Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire), when making an attack action they may use their Elemental Might to deal damage of that element without expending their martial focus.

If the stormclast uses their Elemental Might ability to alter the bonus damage of one of their combat sphere abilities to an element matching the descriptor of one of their storms, it deals an additional 1d6 points of damage of that same type. This damage increases by an additional 1d6 and 9th and 17th level.

Stormclast’s Fury: At 3rd level, the stormclast gains the Berserker sphere as a bonus sphere. If they already have this sphere, they may gain a bonus combat talent of their choice instead. Whenever the stormclast uses the berserking or brutal strike abilities of the Berserker sphere they treat their base attack bonus from their stormbound levels as equal to their class level when determining the temporary hit points grants and the damage dealt. This increase does not apply to any other abilities of the sphere.

This replaces the stormbound’s improved essence capacity class feature.

Might of the Storm: At 5th level, the stormclast gains the Genie’s Wrath talents as a bonus talent. If they already have this talent, they may gain a bonus combat talent of their choice instead.

Improved Essence Capacity: The fury of the storm growing within the stormclast empowers their veils with furious power. At 8th level and 14th level, the maximum essence capacity of the stormclast’s essence receptacles increases by 1.

Unrelenting Fury: At 13th level, once per turn when a creature fails a saving throw against the stormclast’s Genie’s Wrath that matches the elemental descriptor of their Storm veil, the stormclast may regain their martial focus as a free action.

Appendix

Feats

Elemental Might (Combat)

You channel the elements through decisive strikes and furtive determination.

Prerequisites: Ability to maintain martial focus, base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: Whenever you make an attack action or attack of opportunity, you may expend your martial focus and choose acid, cold, electricity, or fire. If you do, your attack deals additional energy damage of the chosen type equal to 1d6 + your base attack bonus.

Whenever you perform an attack action and expend martial focus to deal additional damage with a combat sphere ability (such as with Berserker sphere’s brutal strike or Fencing sphere’s fatal thrust precision damage modified with the Skewer talent), you may choose to have the additional damage be dealt as acid, cold, electricity, or fire damage, chosen when performing the attack action.

Note: Fencing sphere fatal thrust damage is still precision damage, even if it would be dealt as energy damage rather than physical damage. Other attack action additional damage is likewise subject to any targeting restrictions or immunities a target might possess.

Special: Elemental Might is treated as the Elemental Fist feat (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player’s Guide) for the purposes of prerequisites. You treat maintaining martial focus as having 1 or more uses of the Elemental Fist feat; if an ability or effect would allow you to expend 1 or more uses of the Elemental Fist feat, you may expend your martial focus instead. Whenever you expend martial focus to deal energy damage with this feat (either with this feat or by converting an attack action’s additional damage), this damage is treated as damage dealt by the Elemental Fist feat for the purposes of other abilities and effects.

Legendary Talents

Berserker Sphere

Genie’s Wrath (exertion)

Prerequisites: Berserker sphere, Elemental Might, base attack bonus +5.

You gain the following (exertion) options which may only be used when you use the Elemental Might feat to change your brutal strike’s additional damage to energy damage. Each (exertion) may only be chosen with the matching chosen energy type:

• Djinn’s Crackling Blow (electricity): Your brutal strike violently channels electricity through the target’s body, jolting their body. A creature damaged by your brutal strike must succeed at a Fortitude save or drop all held items (as though stunned). If the target of your brutal strike was battered before being damaged by your brutal strike, the target also provokes an attack of opportunity from you and your allies.
• Efreeti’s Arcing Flame (fire): Your brutal strike is a destructive whirl of brilliant flames and smoldering ash. After successfully damaging a creature with your brutal strike, you may choose any number of creatures within your threatened area other than the initial target to also suffer your brutal strike’s additional damage (Reflex half). If the target of your brutal strike was battered before being damaged by your brutal strike, the target must succeed at a Reflex save or be blinded for 1 round.
• Marid’s Whirlpool Strike (cold): Your brutal strike envelops the target in swirling, frigid water. A creature damaged by your brutal strike treats other creatures as though they had partial concealment (20% miss chance) for as long as the creature is battered. If the target of your brutal strike was battered before being damaged by your brutal strike, you may move the target into any unoccupied square inside your threatened area (Reflex negates). This movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity and is treated as a reposition combat maneuver performed as a free action. This movement may place the target into a dangerous space (including into the air).
• Shaitan’s Eroding Assault (acid): Your brutal strike is a resolute blow which shakes the target’s foundation. A creature damaged by your brutal strike treats any enemy’s threatened area as difficult terrain for as long as the creature is battered. Damage dealt by a brutal strike augmented with this (exertion) ignores an amount of hardness equal to your base attack bonus. If the target of your brutal strike was battered before being damaged by your brutal strike, your brutal strike also ignores an amount of damage reduction equal to your base attack bonus.

This talent and the (exertion) options are supernatural abilities.