#dark archive

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Bell Implement (Pathfinder Second Edition Thaumaturge Implement)

(art by cobaltplasma on DeviantArt)

A marvelous property of pure metals is their ability to generate such clear notes of sound when struck or vibrated. So beloved is this aspect of them that we’ve devised all manner of ways to shape metal for that exact purpose, be it complex instruments, wind chimes, or indeed bells.

A bell can be a simple instrument, or it can be a powerful tool of communication, often both at once. Bells can inspire fear and alertness when used as an alarm, or comfort when used to signal times of day or even times of worship.

Indeed, bells are strongly associated with various religions for their ability to signal when certain religiously significant times were approaching over a large area.

Its no small wonder that bells are often considered sacred instruments, and that there is a lot of folklore that paints the sound of bells as able to drive away evil spirits.

It is that significance that thaumaturges capitalize on with their occult arts, and many of them do adopt bells as one of their implements. These are often handbells, though handchimes, windchimes, and even larger bells such as those used by guards in some cultures. Anything that is notable for it’s ability to signal with sound might be appropriate. Such chiming instruments are associated with the cosmic caravan astrological signs of the daughter and the blossom.

Such implements, empowered by the belief and knowledge of a thaumaturge, become especially useful in driving away and disrupting the actions of monsters.

When their chosen foe casts magic or attacks, these thaumaturges can ring their bell to disrupt their concentration. Why they can’t lose the spell because of this, it can still reduce the intensity of the effect or throw off aim enough to help allies avoid the attack or magic.

Later on, their bell continues to resonate afterwards, causing the effects of the chiming to last longer.

They also learn to link their own strikes to the resonance of their bell, causing foes they exploit the weakness of to be more vulnerable to the bell’s disrupting chime.

Finally, those who master the bell learn to intensify it’s effects, as well as use it against all foes, not just the one they are currently targeting with their expertise.

Beyond that, a decent handful of feats are useful and/or thematic for those specializing in using the bell implement, such as Divine Disharmony, Haunt Ingenuity, Root to Life, Esoteric Warden, Turn Away Misfortune, Shared Warding, Thaumaturge’s Demesne, Esoteric Reflexes, Sever Magic, Unlimited Demesne, or Wonder Worker, though obviously your build will differ.

The bell implement is there to give you a way to help protect your allies by debuffing your foe as they attack, potentially protecting allies as they make saves and avoid attacks. That alone makes your thaumaturge a bit more of a support character, so you might consider building in that direction or diversifying to provide a more even approach of attack and defense.

Though thaumaturges aren’t quite the same as their predecessor class, the occultist, they share some of the same bones, so thinking about what sort of significance the instruments that thaumaturges might use as bells is interesting. One might be the bell of a town crier whose alert saved a village, or perhaps a bell from the parade raiment of a priest meant to frighten evil away, and so on.

A child of a magically-assisted union, Vokuss the Horn is a dromaar, or half-orc, but his other half is one of the stout kashrishi, those crystal-horned psychic beings. Though his appearance is unusual, he has a special knack for psychic resonance, particularly with his set of crystal chimes. As such, he has long worked a monster hunter, able to understand their weaknesses by listening to the notes of the chime.

Acclaimed monster hunter and thaumaturge Poculus has gone missing, and whats more, his signature brass bell has turned up, half-melted in the a forge downtown. The owner claims no knowledge, but his fire mephit assistant, Scorchfingers, is being evasive, as if he witnessed something, but it too afraid to reveal it.

The Nomoon community is a collection of various “monstrous” creatures living in the undercity far from the street level of Moonsilver. Though distrustful of outsiders, they are a surprisingly good-hearted band of misfits. They are a bit superstitious though, and refuse to move the bell left behind by a would-be monster hunter they drove out some years ago.

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Pathfinder Dark Archive Cover Art by Wayne Reynolds

[threetalesofterror]

What I'm currently reading ✨

Mug by @dai.sy.hell

[bearvanhelsing]

This is my character Aria Serizawa for our Pathfinder game so that Tumblr knows what I'm talking about when I bring her up!! Neutral (verging on a little chaotic)/Evil She's the 22-year-old heiress of a wealthy trading family from Tian-Xia but she has ummm violent and impulsive tendencies! Her fiery temper, abrasive personality and love of alcohol don't change the fact that she's a great shot with her pistols though!

She also has a knack for triggering traps and getting severely wounded which some may call karma, but I think karma is sexist and hates to see a girl boss winning!

First image is by @mformultiverse the second and third are by @xerkanlol-il and the fourth is by DiceDoll on Twitter! Thank you all so much for bringing what I envisioned in my head to life so perfectly with your beautiful art <3 Follow them and support their art if you can!!

Milly:

https://twitter.com/mformultiverse?s=21&t=_3Yebe-7wvH9io4fa_mEgA

Xerkan:

https://twitter.com/xerkanlol_il?s=21&t=_3Yebe-7wvH9io4fa_mEgA

DiceDoll:

https://twitter.com/dic3doll?s=21&t=_3Yebe-7wvH9io4fa_mEgA

[jinmeal]

birth chart

[vape-goblin]

yea this is my babyboy keenan

[davidmetrauxart]

I made a few edits to KHW's first and second forms for my adventure, I like how they turned out. I mostly did edits

[fantastictalesofadventure]

The finalized cover for Pathfinder 2e's 'Dark Archive' has been revealed! Who's looking forward to playing a Thaumaturge and/or Psychic?

[dailycharacteroption]

Class Feature Friday: Emotional Acceptance Subconscious Mind (Pathfinder Second Edition Psychic Subconscious Mind)

(art by NaouriRedouane1998 on DeviantArt)

And now we end off the week with our first look at Second Edition’s version of the psychic class, which first appeared back in First Edition!

While the first “true” casters of the occult spell list was the bard, the psychic has found a way to truly hold it’s own and be it’s own thing despite that overshadowing it. In particular the psychic is very much about comboing into special focus spells and cantrips as well as the ability to temporarily enter a boosted state when they unleash their psyche, the exact effects and special actions in this state being determined by their subconscious source of power.

Which brings us to today’s subject. For the Second Edition version of the psychic class takes the disciplines of it’s former version and splits them into two base ideas, the subconcious mind, representing the source of their focus and power, and the conscious mind, representing how they shape said power and what sorts of spells they prefer (the latter of which feels a wee bit like the old 3.5 psion “schools” which existed as parallel to wizard schools, but that’s fine.)

The subconscious minds may not grant as many abilities as the disciplines, but they do offer flavor for exactly how and why they are able to do what they do.

The emotional acceptance subconscious in particular is all about processing emotions, accepting that it is alright to feel certain ways about certain things and about learning to ride those emotions in a healthy way rather than letting them consume you or trying to suppress them.

As such, these psychics call upon those emotions and memories to focus their spells, a happy feeling may grant flight, while an attack spell might call upon a feeling of anger.

However, it’s not just about the psychic’s emotions. Accepting and embracing their emotional state gives them insight into the emotions of others, allowing them to support others in their time of need, or coax enemies into behaving a certain way.

Being defined by their emotions, these psychics use their force of personality to fuel their abilities.

What’s more, when they unleash their psyche, they can project feelings of reassurance and positivity to their allies, healing them or bolstering their minds against outside influence.

Additionally, There is one feat associated with this choice: Emotional Surge, which lets the psychic gain a rush of positive emotions while their psyche is unleased to bolster their attacks and actions for a few brief moments.

Other feats that they may find useful include Counter Thought, Mental Buffer, Psi Burst, Psychic Rapport, Mental Balm, Astral Tether, Violent Unleash, Dark Persona’s Presence, Mental Static, No!!, Psi Catastrophe, Target of Psychic Ire, Deepest Wellspring, and Unlimited Potential, though other feats may also appeal to you.

This subconscious mind is naturally supportive and pairs well with builds that buff themselves and others. However, remember that this will also pair with a conscious mind, further developing your build. You might choose to pair it with a more defensive or supportive conscious mind to double down on that role, or maybe you want to wield both positive and negative emotions to aid with one thought and tear apart a foe with the next with the help of a more offensive choice?

Like I said before, this form of a psychic’s power is based on accepting one’s emotions, but that doesn’t have to mean that they have already succeeded in doing so at the start of their journey. While it can be fun to play a character who’s already got it all figured out, it can also be interesting to play a character that is still figuring things out, perhaps dealing with emotional trauma or the demons of their past. In such a case, leveling up can represent how they’ve grown to accept themselves.

Old Master Jokk has long guarded the sacred meeting grounds of the Barasha orc tribes, and he is a genial sort, a tremendously patient bear beastkin who will happily share a drink with respectful visitors. However, like the ursine beast he sometimes resembles, his fury is terrible when roused, foes being torn and shredded by his mind before he even lays hands upon them.

When her family was slain by a flame drake, Bira’s psychic power first manifested, but ever since that time she has struggled to direct and control it, still haunted by the memory of that tragedy. Whenever she attempts to channel heat, she sees visions of the drake’s fiery breath. She desperately wants to be rid of these visions and the guilt, but only by accepting them can she move forward.

Broken by too many tragedies in his long life, the old man of Whitemoor manor surrounds himself with illusions of better times, and those who visit him are often caught up in his whims and fancies. Most avoid the place if they can, but many cannot, for his power and skill is unparalleled if his mind can be focused.

[pisscentral]

haven’t posted any art in a bit sooo

FEAR WHEEL

(btw yes the dice is purposefully all snake eyes, just clarifying)

[nyctodromist]

my favorite thing about tma has always been the avatars who love the fears they serve, who show that love so vibrantly that, for just a moment, they sway you into feeling like you could learn to love that fear the way they do. when jane prentiss said "not loved as you would understand it, a deeper, more primal love, a need as much as a feeling" and when jude perry said "as the heat warped my bones and bubbled my flesh, all i heard was the loving exaltation of my god" and when mike crew said "falling had always held a special place in my heart, that wonderful border between terror and delight" and when manuela dominguez said "and at his words i felt afraid, and my heart soared in terror and elation as my eyes brimmed with tears, for i knew he spoke the truth" and when hezekiah wakely said "i had never felt such safety as within the crushing weight of earth all around me, the pressing embrace of the buried." do you get me

[bearvanhelsing]

@camelliagwerm said I should put this character development sheet together for Aria and it was very fun!!! Not sure how fruity Aria comes off though. If anyone in our game wants to let me know if I over or undersold Aria's fruitiness, let me know lmao

[jinmeal]

Trapping forms ☆

[2001hz]

吸血鬼ハンターD ブラッドラスト (2000)

[toto-taboret]

Jonathan Sims