“A god has been slain and nothing will ever be the same again! As war and destruction spread across the world, new heroes must rise to the occasion and take up arms to protect its mortal inhabitants. Lay claim to your own spark of divinity and charge into battle as a mighty exemplar, or call upon the power of spiritual allies as a wise animist. Alongside these new classes are rules for running mythic games, archetypes for playing legendary characters, and a wide array of new items, spells, and monsters to tell stories straight out of myth!”¹

That art is breathtaking and terrifying. The War of Immortals is upon us. Next Wednesday you can feast your eyes upon this beauty, and maybe like me also catch the last two episodes of Agatha All Along… I got my PDF ahead due to my subscription, which is totally worth it if you want the book, though also I’ve been enjoying the hype online and from my friends. Also the Curtain’s Call adventure path has been leading up to the event as well. Some truly epic (wait, mythic!) events are unfolding. I’ll go deep into the book next time, heavily into the lore and possibly a separate one around Mythic itself, but I had to start calling out my excitement for new options here!

The Animist

I’ve been eagerly awaiting the Animist. The cleric I play in my brother’s game is very spirit focused. When I created him, there wasn’t anything quite right for Pathfinder2E to be used. He’s certainly developed into more of a priestly figure (and his deity is the city he’s in) but he still often calls on spirits and I’ve used spirits in the nature of his spellcasting, literally calling on the help and power of the spirits of those who’ve passed but were dedicated to the city somehow. My fun gnome is the voice of the city! Yes, I definitely considered an ancestors approach with the Oracle. Anyway, the Animist is all about being the go between between the living world, the mortal, and the spiritual. They speak to the dead, to the fey, to the spirits of nature… They’re a Wisdom-based divine caster and they’ve some depth of versatility whether you want to play close to a particular kind of spirits or tap into the metaphysical in a broader sense. The feature set really enables this.

When building an Animist you choose between one of our practices: Liturgist, Medium, Seer, and Shaman. I do love that we continue to see inspiration from Pathfinder1E now in somehow more unified, but also broader (for building characters) options. The Liturgist uses song and dance to connect with spirits. The Medium channels spirits but bonds with one in particular. The Seer focus on undead and haunts, the lingering spirits of the deceased. And the Shaman has learned how to focus power into giving the ephemeral a bit of the physical world, allowing them to affect our mundane existence to some degree. Of course there’s the Apparitions you’ll bind or channel, drawn from the following:

• the Crafter in the Vault found in lost forges and dark dungeons who like to create but get easily jealous too
• the Custodian of Groves and Gardens who steward the gentle green places
• the Echo of Lost Moments representing old magic and lost memories
• the Impostor in Hidden Places that are secret keepers from the farthest depths where mortals rarely go
• the Lurker in Devouring Dark tied to the drowned depths
• the Monarch of Fey Courts of natural and lively fey spirits tied to the First World
• the Reveler in Lost Gelee that are tricksters and pranksters who will not like it if you don’t laugh at their oft-times dangerous antics
• the Stalker in Darkened Boughs that are spirits of ancient woods
• the Steward of Stone and Fire drawn from hot springs, volcanoes, and canyons
• the Vanguard of Roaring Waters flitting through the rivers between mountains and breaking where they meet the sea
• And finally the Witness to Ancient Battles, soldier never returned home or who never found satisfaction from their fight

That’s quite a few to choose from and normally you choose 2 as you prepare for the day with one being primary, but you can change them when you Refocus. Your primary spirit grants you a vessel focus spell but you get the bonus lore skills and spellcasting from both. The Medium does get to make 2 of them primary however. You’ll have to review all your options to see if what the others get compares quite with getting 2 primary, and thus 2 focus spells. I’m glad they call out you get a number of focus points equal to the number of focus spells you have due to your binding (max 3). While lore skills are always tied to intelligence, which I sometimes take into consideration with players, I do love that you get 2 for each spirit. You can call on spirits of the areas you plan to explore (dungeons, old magic lab, battlefield) or individuals you might meet (fey, undead) to really help you that day. And again, you can change them when you refocus. I love the ramifications for roleplaying.

The Exemplar

Meanwhile, an Exemplar has felt the spark of divine energy as the rains of the dying Corum came down. Maybe ya got hit by it, maybe you found a pool of enchanted water, who knows. Heck, you can say it’s a power that has developed within you outside of the Godsrain if you wish. That’s up to you! Either way, that power now thrums within you and that which you wield. Maybe you’re going to choose Strength or maybe you’ll choose Dexterity, but either way you’re likely to be a hero or an immortal foe… They’ve noted this class is Rare and powerful, with impacts to any game they are in. I’m quite excited to see how it shakes out in a game, but that’s true for nearly everything in this glorious book.

The key feature is investing your divine spark into an ikon, which is usually an item but can be something upon your body. You start with 3 and you’re bound to have a hard time deciding. There’s 21 examples offered from armbands that sparkle and gleam that captivates those who see it to a dark, shadowed sheath that allows you to pull any one-handed thrown weapon from it, born of shadowstuff. There’s an 8th level Additional Ikon that lets you acquire a fourth. You can shift what you’re investing as well as you acquire more through a 1 action Shift Immanence ability, or for free when rolling initiative. Each has their Immanence ability, i.e. while invested with that divine power, but you can leverage that spark to do a Spark Transcendance ability. That power then goes to a different ikon you have, and you can only do the Transcendance ability once a round. It’s limited sort of like doing witch hex cantrips once a round, and thus it’s good to have a collection of ikons you know you want to cycle through. For example, the Fetching Bangles allow you to choose an enemy within 20’ to make a Will save against your class DC or it’s pulled into a square adjacent to you. The Shadow Sheath on the other hand let’s you attack a creature you just missed with a Strike with another shadowy blade and the target is automatically off guard to you.

It’s not just the power you’re investing in your form or those items, however. It’s also the legend that develops around you, granted through Epithets, like extension titles. “The Brave” or “The Radiant” for example. Your first one is granted at 3rd level, noted as your story starting unfold as you literally make a name for yourself. The Brave are trained in Athletics and you get to Stride half your Speed any time you Spark Transcendance. It has to be in a straight line, but it’s a free action, also can’t do it to the same enemy more than once in 10 minutes. Meanwhile the Radiant is trained in Diplomacy and your Spark Transcendance inspires an ally of your choice within 30’, restoring hit points equal to 2 + double your level. They too are immune for 10 minutes, so it’s really once per encounter. At 7th and 15th levels you choose additional lines to add to your Epithet, always gaining more Spark Transcendance additional abilities.

Mutliclass Archetypes

We get the multiclass archetype details for both and I appreciate the perspective given to each, which grants insight into what is felt about these classes and how to utilize them to further develop your characters. I think many are doing the Free Archetype rule – my groups do – and so the new multiclass options and archetypes (oh we’ll get to those in a moment) always draw attention. The developers/writers mention the animist is a good way to find a spiritual connection for any character, like having your ancestor help you such as I’m imagining is the case of the cool dwarf fighter art above. It’s an easy way to pick up some cool Lore (skills) and some interesting divine abilities.

The multiclass exemplar on the other hand has a fairly sizable list of considerations for various classes as this archetype gives a chance for anyone to get a touch of divine power, a spark. I imagine a whole campaign of heroes who get this archetype as part of the Free Archetype rule. You do only gain one ikon, but it’s useful for anyone looking for a particularly powerful weapon. At level 12, you can take a feat to gain another. It’s noted Bards might want to go down this path with fancy show-combat. Rogue’s might like Shadow Sheath and become epic, deadly tricksters. And of course any spellcaster might like to partner an icon’s attack with a powerful spell. Truly dangerous Magus unlocked? Let me know what you end up designing!

The New Nephilim

It’s been covered elsewhere, but we get 4 new Nephilim heritages. Reminder Nephilim is the term for all our planar scions like tieflings and aasimars and now the Aeonbound too. They are tied to the City of Axis and that expectation of system and even body perfection. They’re great at healing and can Treat Wounds without a healer’s toolkit. The Battleblooded (see above) are descended from einherjars, those chosen by valkyries and other mighty warriors. They gain Intimidation training and gain Intimidating Glare for free. The Faultspawn are born of the asura and gain a reaction to use when rolling a saving throw against a spell or other magic that gives a +1 circumstance bonus or +2 if it’s divine and from a worshiper of a deity you have a grudge with. Finally there’s the Proteankin, the Ganzi, born of the chaos of the bubbling Maelstrom. You get resistance equal to half your level tied to a damage type that randomly shifts each day. There’s also a small +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against anything that would give you the controlled condition.

Class Archetypes

Now as for the archetypes, and by archetypes I mean Class Archetypes, we get 5. There’s the Avenger (rogue), the Bloodrager (barbarian), the Seneschal (witch), the Vindicator (ranger), and the Warrior of Legend (fighter). I’ve been eager to see the Avenger, as our classic Slayer of 1E returns. How nice to see you Zadim! I did adore that class, even if the character I had for it died far too early. What did I follow it up with? Oh an inquisitor and voila, here’s the Vindicator. Welcome back Imrijka! The Bloodrager is also a return from 1E, but the iconic is new. I’ve been prepping some various character concepts and the Avengers and Vindicator give great options for religious groups. These class archetypes start with varied changes at first level, but at 2nd level have to take a specific dedication. The Avenger has a deity they follow and are trained in intimidation, religion, stealth, and the deity’s divine skill as well as 3 plus your intelligence modifier skills. So effectively, you lose 2 as normal rogue has stealth, the racket skill, plus 7 + int more. However you get to use the deity’s favored weapon to deal sneak attack and get the weapon’s critical specialization when you critical with it! There’s also medium armor proficiency, but imagine the rogues we’ll see sneak attacking now with scythes and other weapons. The 10th level Shadow of Death feat allows you to instantly kill a target that has the doomed condition once they hit 0 hit points. The 6th level Zealous Inevitability lets you place that upon a target. That target when so killed can’t be returned to life or turned undead.

Vindicator on the other hand is a modified ranger as I noted earlier. They are trained in Religion, not nature, and they gain their deity’s sanctification as well as training in the favored weapon. Well if its damage die is less than a d6, you get the Deadly Simplicity feat. You also learn warden spells as divine spells! These vindicators are hunting down hidden dangers like undead and supernatural evils. Of note, the developers call out that evil religions typically refer to their vindicators as inquisitors, typically seeking out heretics. The edge they get – Vindication Edge – gives you a status bonus of +1 to your spell attack rolls against your hunted prey and they get a -1 status penalty to their saving throws against your divine spells. The Vindicator’s Mark you get, a focus power, targets AC and deals spirit damage and also outlines the target. Also makes them take more damage from your weapon attacks. It’s a perfect set up for a divine hunter!

I’m so excited to continue Investing In the War of Immortals. There’s so much more to get to, so you hold on tight. Like I said, more on Mythic and then also lore, probably two separate articles as there’s so much good stuff here. Then we’ll look ahead to PAX Unplugged with a feature on the 5th Conspiracy game I played and you should definitely check out there. Hope you enjoy your Halloween. I’m so excited for Agatha All Along and loving this witchy season! And of course, let me know what you’re building as you get your hands on the goodness of this book! 

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 – War of Immortals cover, Paizo, art by Wayne Reynolds

1. back cover text, War of Immortals, Paizo
2. Legendary Heroes opening chapter full page, War of Immortals, Paizo
3. Embodiment of the Balance feat banner, War of Immortals, Paizo, art by Oleksii Chernik
4. Seer, Animist, War of Immortals, Paizo
5. Celestial Archer, Exemplar, War of Immortals, Paizo
6. Fighter Animist, War of Immortals, Paizo
7. Battleblooded, War of Immortals, Paizo
8. Avenger, War of Immortals, Paizo
9. Vindicator, War of Immortals, Paizo