Investing In: Kingmaker Kineticists UPDATED

What’s to come from our kineticist friends? I’m eager to see. May they all flourish, and may they find one another. Those of us who study the elements can help them, but we must understand… they have much more to teach us than what we can teach them.” – Aziza Amani al-Fasih1

Oh, I could tell you a lot about it…” – Kalikke2

Wise words. If only there were more in this world who think as you do…” – Kanerah3

Aziza raises a good question as she shares well-wishes. I am rather curious what will come next, what we’re bound to learn at Gen Con. I’m not going this year – I’ll miss you all – but I’ve heard [REDACTED] will get announced and [REDACTED] will be amazing. Thanks Luis. But we at least know Rage of Elements is being released! Perhaps we will learn more character options for kineticists coming in the next year? They’re tied to an elemental gate, sure, but what about those tied to a different planar gate? Shadowdancers do draw on the Netherworld after all… Could we get divine, occult, and other source shapers of other planar energies? Hellfire binder? Heaven’s light wielder?

I could conjecture all day but I thought in part as I work endlessly for the amazing Kingmaker game I’m running and also because I promised back last fall, it’s time to update the kineticists for Kingmaker’s Pathfinder2E Anniversary edition! I couldn’t help but think of some of their clever witticisms with your protagonist in the Owlcat Kingmaker video game as I worked, hence the references above.

Kineticists NPCs for Kingmaker

 

 

SPOILERS WITHIN for story details, here be the warning! SPOILERS WITHIN

We know Kalikke should have water and Kanerah should have fire. All the NPCs in the Companion Guide are built with PC rules so I’ll be doing the same. The influence rules provided for them (like all the influence guidance) note alignment, gender, ancestry and heritage and include perception and will modifiers, so I’ll be targeting the same.

 

 

Kalikke Creature 1
FEMALE TIEFLING HUMAN KINETICIST
Female tiefling human kineticist (Criminal (Subtle Theft) background)
Perception +5 (trained); low-light vision
Languages Common, Undercommon, another relevant to a PC in the party
Skills Acrobatics +5 (trained), Medicine +5 (trained), Nature +5 (trained), Society +4 (trained), Stealth +5 (trained), Thievery +5 (trained), Underworld Lore +4 (trained)
Str +0, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +2, Cha +0
Items backpack, leather armor, explorer’s clothing, flint and steel, minor healing potion, 3 torches, waterskin
AC 16; Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +7
HP 20;
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] fist +5, Damage 1d4 bludgeoning; [one or two-action] elemental blast +5 Damage 1d8 bludgeoning or cold, +4 status if two-action
Ranged [one or two-action] elemental blast +5 (range 30 feet), Damage 1d8 bludgeoning or cold, +4 status if two-action


Ancestry Feats General Training
Class Feats Extended Kinesis
Impulse Feats Deflecting Wave, Elemental Blast, Base Kinesis, Ocean’s Balm
General Feats Canny Acumen (Will)
Skill Feats Subtle Theft
Class Abilities Kinetic Gate (water), Kinetic Aura, Impulses, Gate Junctions (Single Gate impulse junction (water))

Channel Elements [one-action] You tap into your kinetic gate to make elements flow around you. Your kinetic aura activates, and as a part of this action, you can use a 1-action Elemental Blast or a 1-action stance impulse. Your kinetic aura is a 10-foot emanation where pieces of your kinetic element (or all your kinetic elements, if you can channel more than one) flow around you. The kinetic aura can’t damage anything or affect the environment around you unless another ability allows it to. Channel Elements has the traits of all your kinetic elements. Your kinetic aura automatically deactivates if you’re knocked out, you use an impulse with the overflow trait, or you Dismiss the aura. Though you can’t use new impulses while your kinetic aura is deactivated, ones you already used remain, and you can still Sustain any that can be sustained. Stance impulses are linked to your kinetic aura and end when the aura deactivates.
Deflecting Wave [reaction] Trigger: You would take acid, bludgeoning, fire, or slashing damage from an enemy’s attack, spell, or other hostile effect. Requirements: You’re aware of the hostile effect, and you aren’t off-guard against it. A cascade of water blunts or disperses the incoming attack. You gain resistance to damage from the triggering effect equal to your level if it’s bludgeoning or slashing, or double your level if it’s acid or fire damage. If the effect deals more than one applicable type of damage, apply the highest resistance, but apply it only once.
Gate Junctions: Single Gate impulse junction (water) after the impulse’s other effects, you can move one creature targeted by the impulse or in its area 5 feet in any direction, or 10 feet if it’s in a body of water. This can’t move the creature into the air. You can choose only a creature that’s willing to be moved, that failed its save against the impulse, or that you succeeded at an impulse attack roll against.
Ocean’s Balm [one-action] A blessing of the living sea salves wounds and douses flames. Touch a willing living creature. It regains 1d8 Hit Points and gains resistance 2 to fire for 1 minute. If it has persistent fire damage, it can attempt a flat check to remove it with especially appropriate help. The target is temporarily immune to healing from Ocean’s Balm for 10 minutes. Level (+2) The healing increases by 1d8, and the resistance increases by 1.

Kanerah Creature 1
FEMALE TIEFLING HUMAN KINETICIST
Female tiefling human kineticist (Criminal background)
Perception +4 (trained); low-light vision
Languages Common, Undercommon
Skills Deception +5 (trained), Intimidation +5 (trained), Nature +4 (trained), Stealth +5 (trained), Thievery +5 (trained), Underworld Lore +4 (trained)
Str +0, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +2
Items backpack, leather armor, explorer’s clothing, flint and steel, minor healing potion, 3 torches, waterskin
AC 16; Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +6
HP 20;
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] fist +5, Damage 1d4 bludgeoning; [one or two-action] elemental blast +5 Damage 1d6* fire, +4 status if two-action
Ranged [one or two-action] elemental blast +5 (range 60 feet), Damage 1d6* fire, +4 status if two-action
*damage die can increase one size to 1d8 with the Gate Junction below


Ancestry Feats General Training
Class Feats Extended Kinesis
Impulse Feats Elemental Blast, Base Kinesis, Flying Flame, Scorching Column
General Feats Canny Acumen (Will)
Skill Feats Experienced Smuggler
Class Abilities Kinetic Gate (fire), Kinetic Aura, Impulses, Gate Junctions (Single Gate impulse junction (fire))

Channel Elements [one-action] You tap into your kinetic gate to make elements flow around you. Your kinetic aura activates, and as a part of this action, you can use a 1-action Elemental Blast or a 1-action stance impulse. Your kinetic aura is a 10-foot emanation where pieces of your kinetic element (or all your kinetic elements, if you can channel more than one) flow around you. The kinetic aura can’t damage anything or affect the environment around you unless another ability allows it to. Channel Elements has the traits of all your kinetic elements. Your kinetic aura automatically deactivates if you’re knocked out, you use an impulse with the overflow trait, or you Dismiss the aura. Though you can’t use new impulses while your kinetic aura is deactivated, ones you already used remain, and you can still Sustain any that can be sustained. Stance impulses are linked to your kinetic aura and end when the aura deactivates.
Flying Flame [two-action] A Tiny shape of flame appears, taking a form of your choice – such as a bird, an arrow, or a simple sphere. It Flies from you up to 30 feet in a path you choose. Each creature it passes through takes 1d6 fire damage with a basic Reflex save against your class DC. A creature attempts only one save, even if the flame passes through it multiple times. Level (+2) The damage increases by 1d6.
Gate Junctions: Single Gate impulse junction (fire) Increase the damage die size of fire damage dealt by the impulse by one step.
Scorching Column [three-actions] With an upward gesture, you shape a vertical column of extreme heat. The cylinder is 10 feet in diameter and 30 feet high, and the bottom must be within 60 feet of you. Each creature in the area takes 1d6 fire damage with a basic Reflex save against your class DC. The flame remains briefly, making all squares in the column hazardous terrain until the end of your next turn, and you can Sustain the impulse up to 1 minute. A creature takes 1 fire damage each time it moves into one of these squares. Level (+3) The initial damage increases by 1d6, and the hazardous terrain damage increases by 2.

It was good to come back to these and see the difference from the playtest. I’m not sure what details might get explicitly listed as class abilities or separate line items like the Gate Junctions, but I felt it important to note them. Gate Junctions are something you only start with if you only have a single Kinetic Gate. Otherwise, the changes make it feel like you get a bit less at level 1. However, it’s streamlined and the Base Kinesis can do quite a bit for roleplaying or clever combat uses. Extended Kinesis quite adds to that! The class feat at 1st level helps due to the ability to choose an impulse feat. 

Let’s get to the choices for the twins. Now that you can make an elemental blast as a melee attack, I could change Kanerah up and make her a wee bit more charismatic. She has high intelligence and dexterity in the video game but as the Dark Elementalist archetype doesn’t yet exist – maybe in time – it seemed right to have her be more charming instead. I increased her dexterity to match her sister’s effectively. As for the class feat, I had both take an impulse feat for their element. I had Kalikke lean into her healing role. She had Kinetic Healer in the video game and thus I had her take Ocean’s Balm. Deflecting Wave gives her a nice defensive move Kanerah on the other hand is all offense. She had a few abilities that I couldn’t find a 1st-level equivalent for. Fan of Flames and Foxfire were more befitting the 4th-level feats of Blazing Wave and Thermal Nimbus. So considering her darker nature, I gave Kanerah the Scorching Column feat. I thought it evoked the tiefling, hellish fires rising up and that could easily give that Dark Elementalist feel. Flying Flame gives her another supplementary fire attack and builds on her  – well, obviously – fiery nature.

 

 

I hope these updates give you a taste of what’s possible for a 1st level Kineticist. Of course if you’re investing in Kingmaker this will help even more! Considering various feat options and combinations, especially with ancestry choices, no two Kineticists will be the same even if they are twins. I’m sure we’ll be learning a lot more over the course of Gen Con, so be sure to check out their schedule. The keynote is on Thursday at 10 a.m. EST at twitch.tv/officialpaizo so be sure not to miss the amazing announcements for [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]!

Whether you’re playing at home this weekend (Baldur’s Gate 3 maybe) or celebrating Rage of Elements at Gen Con (I’m jealous), have a great 3 days of gaming!

Investing In:

I wasn’t quite sure what to name my article series when I first started but the idea of showcasing or discussing things that make me excited, that I find new and interesting, or maybe I’m otherwise passionate about seemed to fit with the idea of Investing In something like the Pathfinder 2E mechanic. To use some magic items you have to give that little bit of yourself, which helps make these things even better. I like the metaphor of the community growing and being strengthened in the same way!

I also want to hear what you’re Investing In! Leave me a comment below about what games, modules, systems, products, people, live streams, etc you enjoy! You can also hit me up on social media as silentinfinity. I want to hear what excites you and what you’re passionate about. There’s so much wonderful content, people, groups (I could go on) in this community of ours that the more we invest in and share, the better it becomes!

Sources

Banner – Cover from Rage of Elements and Kalikke, Kanerah from Kingmaker Adventure Path Companion Guide, Paizo

  1. Elemental Characters excerpt, Rage of Elements, Paizo
  2. Kalikke dialogue, Pathfinder: Kingmaker game by Owlcat Games, Paizo
  3. Kanerah dialogue, Pathfinder: Kingmaker game by Owlcat Games, Paizo
  4. Ifrit Court, Fire, Rage of Elements, Paizo
  5. Kalikke, Kingmaker Adventure Path Companion Guide, Paizo
  6. Kanerah, Kingmaker Adventure Path Companion Guide, Paizo

Rob Pontious

You may know Rob Pontious from Order of the Amber Die or Gehenna Gaming's first series of Monster Hearts 2. He currently writes Know Direction's Investing In blog as well as a player for the Valiant podcast and Roll for Combat's Three Ring Adventure. He's been a lover of TTRPGs for over three decades, as a gamer, and a GAYMER. You can find him on social media as @silentinfinity.