Horrifically Overpowered Class Features for Pathfinder 1e - The Arcanist (Paid Patron Excusive!) (Patreon)

This is the first in my new series of paying-member-exclusive Thursday posts, Horrifically Overpowered Class Features for the Hybrid and Occult character classes of Pathfinder 1st edition. This goes along with the paying-member-exclusive Index of Horrifically Overpowered Content, which I will update every time a new Horrifically Overpowered products or article goes up. The index also has the Horrifically Overpowered Feat I suggest using to allow characters to access these HO class features.

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Well, I mean I actually don't recommend using HO content at all... but lots of people seem to love it, and I absolutely don't believe in telling people they shouldn't use rules that add fun to their table, even if I wrote them and don't use them myself.

While I'll continue to go through the core classes as standard blog entries, my current plan with those is to do all the core classes, and all the base classes, and all the alternate and unchained versions of those classes (if they need separate entries -- my Horrifically Overpowered Barbarian entry actually covered both the standard and unchained barbarian classes). But there are at least 16 core and bases classes to go (not counting the Omdura and Vampire Hunter, which were done by the official publisher, but were for tie-in products and many people aren't aware of them, much less using them), and 2 alternate classes (antipaladin and ninja) I suspect will need their own entries. That's 18 articles before I'd get to any hybrid or occult classes, which I project taking between 2 and 5 months.

There are ten hybrid classes (arcanist, bloodrager, brawler, hunter, investigator, shaman, skald, slayer, swashbuckler, and warpriest) and six occult classes (kineticist, medium, mesmerist, occultist, psychic, spiritualist). That means if I did them as standard entries after the core, bae, and alternate classes, I wouldn't be done with these for 4 to 10 months... maybe not until the end of the year! But if I make them my exclusive Awesome Patron and up post each week, it'll be no more than 4 more months, or at about the time I'm done with all the rest.

That said, if you miss Tavern Thursday badly or want to see more content for other things I do (supers interviews, starfinder gear, monsters, or spells, game designer advance, whatever), let me know! I only changed from taverns to HO hybrid and occult classes after putting it to a vote, and this content won out. But I can switch back, or add some non-exclusive content to scratch any itches y'all have.

Okay, enough about all that. Let's talk hybrid classes, then get to some HO class features.

HYBRID CLASSES

Officially there are only ten hybrid classes, and they're all in the Advanced Class Guide. Conceptually the magus should could as a hybrid class, but it has already been declared a 'base class' (which basically means it's neither a core class from the Core Rulebook, NPC class, or prestige class), and it genuinely would cause confusion to recategorize it years after it was published.

The idea behind the hybrid classes is that they mash the roles and abilities of two different base classes together to make a new class. Interestingly, the new classes generally have very few it any abilities of the original core classes. That makes sense from a interesting-game-design point of view, but it can lead to some weird dissonance when a hybrid class has an ability that seems perfect for a member of one of the two base classes who have no access to it. (Skald spell kenning, I'm looking at you!

The potential trap for me is that if a do a hybrid class's Horrifically Overpowered class feature before I do one or both f the base classes (as with today's Arcanist, coming out before I have any Sorcerer or Wizards HO class features), I risk making the original classes feel like their HO class features are weaker, less focused, or just less original than those of their parent classes. I definitely ran into some of that with the Arcanist, as I suspect the sorcerer and wizard are going to have very similar HO features when I get to them in a few weeks.

Some similarity for similar features makes sense, but I'll be looking at these hybrid classes later when I do their parent classes to see if I can avoid making the original classes feel les HO and dynamic than their later hybrid cousins.

Okay, enough of all that. Let's get into the fun stuff!

Horrifically Overpowered Arcanist Class Features 

You access these class features with the Horrifically Overpowered Class Feature feat (see Index, hyperlinked above).

(art by warmtail)

Horrifically Overpowered Arcanist Class Skills (Horrifically Overpowered):  Whenever you make a check for one of the arcanist class skills, you may expend 1 point from your arcane reservoir to gain a bonus to that check equal to your arcanist class level minus your ranks in the skill. That bonus then lasts until you regain points in your arcane reservoir.

Horrifically Overpowered Arcanist Weapon and Armor Proficiency (Horrifically Overpowered): If a foe provokes an attack of opportunity from you, and you hit them with a weapon you gained proficiency with through this class (normally a simple weapon), and your attack hits, you may choose to not do any weapon damage and instead cast an arcanist spell that targets only the subject of your attack of opportunity or yourself.

Horrifically Overpowered Arcane Reservoir Proficiency (Horrifically Overpowered): When you cast an arcanist spell, you can cast an additional arcanist spell by expend 1 point from your arcane reservoir. The second spell must target only yourself (or you and your familiar with share spell), does not provoke attacks of opportunity, and does not require an arcane spell failure check. This ability does not work if the arcanist spell you cast to trigger this ability is lost due to a failed concentration or arcane spell failure check.

Horrifically Overpowered Arcanist Exploit (Horrifically Overpowered): As a swift action, you can choose to learn a new arcanist exploit in place of the most recent arcanist exploit you already learned. In effect, you lose the arcanist exploit in exchange for the new one. You can change only the most recent arcanist exploit gained, and must meet the prerequisites for the newly selected arcanist exploit. You can change your most recent arcanist exploit a number of times per day equal to your Intelligence modifier plus your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). Whenever you gain a new arcanist exploit, your previous arcanist exploits become permanent.

Horrifically Overpowered Consume Spells (Horrifically Overpowered): This ability is now a free action you can take once per round. You add your Intelligence modifier to the number of times per day you can use this ability (minimum +1). Points gained in excess of your arcane reservoir's pool are not lost unless you still exceed the maximum pool size 1 round later.

Horrifically Overpowered Greater Arcanist Exploit (Horrifically Overpowered): You can choose to learn a new greater exploit, as the Horrifically Overpowered Arcanist Exploit ability, above. This is separate from that ability (so if you have both, you can swap out your most recent exploit and greater exploit). In place of a single greater exploit, you may select two normal exploits (and you may similarly give up two normal exploits to learn a single new greater exploit).

Horrifically Overpowered Magical Supremacy (Horrifically Overpowered): This is now a free action. The cost is reduced by 1 arcane reservoir point, to a minimum of 1 point. You can spend more reservoir points to boost the spell as normal.

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