Occultist

Occultists are undisputed masters among pact magic users. While others flounder, struggling to house a single spirit within their souls, occultists excel at containing the energies of otherworldly beings and harnessing them for their own ends. Viewed as heretics and damned souls by the general public, occultists are both scholars and pioneers to those who seek to discern the secrets of the spirit realm. Other magic users may view pact-making as simplistic, but occultists prove otherwise. While simple at the start, the art takes a lifetime to truly understand. Occultists seek an apex: to bind multiple spirits at once and augment those pacts with sly bargains and insights into supernatural constellations.
Role: Occultists excel at meeting challenges head-on and confronting them with a wide array of supernatural abilities and powers. An occultist’s talents are beyond those of the material world, and as such, the fruits of the trade are particularly difficult to counter. Those who happen upon an occultist are often baffled by the raw display of power that the occultist commands. Despite the diversity of abilities available, occultists are drastically limited in the number of abilities they call upon each day. As a result, many occultists spend their time plotting and calculating every possible outcome to a situation to ensure they are never caught unprepared.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d8.
Starting Wealth: 2d6 × 10 gp (average 70 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less.
Starting Age: Trained.

Class Skills

The occultist’s class skills (and the key ability for each) are Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Linguistics (Int), Knowledge (arcana) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).
Skill Ranks per Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Table: Occultist

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Max. Spirit Level
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Bind spirits, constellation aspects	1st
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	1st pact augmentation	1st
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	-	2nd
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Bonus feat	2nd
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	-	3rd
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	2nd pact augmentation, bind additional spirit	3rd
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	-	4th
8th	+6/+1	+6	+2	+6	Bonus feat	4th
9th	+6/+1	+6	+3	+6	-	5th
10th	+7/+2	+7	+3	+7	3rd pact augmentation, bind additional spirit	5th
11th	+8/+3	+7	+3	+7	-	6th
12th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	Bonus feat	6th
13th	+9/+4	+8	+4	+8	-	7th
14th	+10/+5	+9	+4	+9	4th pact augmentation, bind additional spirit	7th
15th	+11/+6/+1	+9	+5	+9	-	8th
16th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	Bonus feat	8th
17th	+12/+7/+2	+10	+5	+10	-	9th
18th	+13/+8/+3	+11	+6	+11	5th pact augmentation, constellation mastery	9th
19th	+14/+9/+4	+11	+6	+11	Spirit mastery	9th
20th	+15/+10/+5	+12	+6	+12	Bonus feat, true augmentation	9th

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the occultist.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

An occultist is proficient with all simple weapons and with light armor.

Bind Spirits

An occultist may seal pacts with spirits. Each day, the occultist may bind one spirit of his or her choice whose level is equal to or less than the maximum spirit level indicated on Table: The Occultist. An occultist’s binder level equals his or her occultist class level and an occultist’s binding check is equal to 1d20 + the binder level + his or her Charisma modifier. The DC to resist the supernatural power of an occultist’s granted abilities equals 10 + ½ the binder level + the Charisma modifier.
See Binding Spirits for more details.

Constellation Aspects

In addition to regular spirits, occultist may draw power from the constellations with which spirits align themselves. While performing a spirit’s ceremony, an occultist may choose to increase the spirit’s binding DC by 5 in order to add a constellation aspect to the list of minor granted abilities the spirit grants. The spirit bestows this power to the occultist even if the binding check fails. After the ritual is complete, the occultist selects a constellation aspect from the list of aspects that are associated with that bound spirit’s constellation.
For example, occultists who bind with Aza’zati, the Green Wyrmling, can select a constellation aspect associated with the dragon constellation (which is Aza’zati’s constellation) if they increase the spirit’s binding DC by 5 during the ceremony.
The decision to add a constellation aspect must be made before the binder rolls the binding check to determine if the pact is a good pact or a poor pact. An occultist may only have one constellation aspect per bound spirit at a time, with a maximum of four constellation aspects at 14th level.
Constellation Aspects

Constellation Aspects

Below is the list of constellation aspects available to occultists. An occultist cannot possess aspects from opposing constellations. For example, although an occultist may bind to a dragon spirit and a hero spirit at once, he or she cannot have both a dragon aspect and a hero aspect at the same time. Constellation aspects act like spirits in all regards. Treat the aspects as granted abilities for all purposes. All abilities granted through constellation aspects are supernatural abilities, even if they act like spells, spell-like abilities, or extraordinary abilities. A constellation aspect that acts like a spell uses the occultist’s binder level as the caster level for the effect. A constellation aspect ends when the pact that allowed the binder to call upon it ends (such as when a binder uses the Expel Spirit feat). A character cannot select the same constellation aspect more than once, even if the aspect might apply to a different skill, statistic or so forth.
Angel Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• You gain DR 1/evil as an immediate action. This DR lasts for 1 round or until you take damage.
• You shed light as a torch as a standard action for 1 minute per binder level you possess.
• You shed tears on an adjacent dying creature as a standard action, immediately stabilizing it.
• You anoint 1 weapon or 1 round of ammunition that you touch with blood as a move action, causing the item to be treated as a good-aligned weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction until the end of your next turn or until you make an attack.

Cyclops Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• Select 1 specific type of animal (a lion, tiger, bear, or such). You can speak with animals of that type.
• You gain low-light vision. If you already have low-light vision, the range of your low-light vision is doubled, allowing you to see four times as far in dim or shadowy conditions.
• Your Constitution score is treated as being 4 points higher for the purpose of determining how long you can hold your breath.
• You gain a +3 insight bonus on Stealth checks.

Dragon Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• You gain a +3 insight bonus on Intimidate checks.
• You grow supernatural scales as an immediate action. The scales grant a +1 natural armor bonus to AC for the duration of the pact. This bonus applies on touch attacks and while flat-footed.
• Select acid, cold, electricity, or fire. As an immediate action, you gain resistance 5 against the selected energy. This resistance lasts for 1 round or until you are attacked.
• Select acid, cold, electricity, or fire. Your weapon attacks and supernatural abilities deal 1 additional point of damage of the chosen energy type.

Elder Sign Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• As an immediate action, you cause the next attack or spell made against you during the turn is activated to have a 10% chance to be negated.
• You can use dancing lights at will.
• You gain a +2 insight bonus on Will saves against mind-affecting abilities.
• You can use touch of fatigue at will.

Fiend Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• You gain DR 1/good as an immediate action. This DR lasts for 1 round or until you take damage.
• You channel malicious intent as a standard action, causing an adjacent stabilized creature with 0 or fewer hit points to resume dying.
• You cause a Fine sized object within 30 feet to catch ablaze as a standard action.
• You burn an enemy with a ray of fire; dealing 1d3 points of fire damage on a range touch attack and 1 point of splash damage to all creatures adjacent to the target on a successful hit. This ability has a range of 30 feet.

Hero Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• As a standard action, grant 1 ally within 30 feet a +1 insight bonus on its next attack roll, skill check, or saving throw. You cannot select yourself.
• At the start of your turn, if you have no temporary hit points you gain 1 temporary hit point.
• You gain +3 hit points for the duration of the pact.
• Your Constitution score is treated as being 4 points higher for the purpose of how many negative hit points you may accrue before dying.

Magician Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• Select acid, cold, electricity, or fire. You can make a ranged touch attack as a standard action that deals 1d3 points of damage of the chosen energy type. This ability has a range of 30 feet.
• You use read magic at will.
• You write with a touch. This functions as an arcane mark, except you can write entire words and sentences solely by touch. You can write as many words as you could send via a message spell as a standard action.
• The presence of a spirit distorts reality around you. This anomaly grants you a +2 insight bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities.

Noble Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• You gain DR 1/chaos as an immediate action. This DR lasts for 1 round or until you take damage.
• Select 1 creature within 30 feet. As a standard action, your splendor causes the target to take a -1 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, or saving throws for 1 round (your choice) unless it succeeds on a Will save.
• Select 1 creature within 30 feet. As a standard action, you imbue the target with gracelessness, causing it to become entangled for 1 round unless it succeeds on a Reflex save.
• You gain a +3 insight bonus on Diplomacy checks or Intimidate checks (your choice).

Seer Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• As an immediate action, you gain a +1 insight bonus to AC. This bonus lasts for 1 round or until you are attacked.
• You always know which direction is north. You act as if you were under the effects of know direction.
• Whenever you make an initiative check, you may reroll your result once but with a -2 penalty. Use the new result even if it is worse than the original.
• When making initiative checks, you can choose to substitute the result of your d20 roll with a result of 10. If you do so, do not add your Dexterity bonus to determine your initiative (but apply other bonuses as usual).

Scholar Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• Select 1 skill. The whispering of spirits allows you to use that skill untrained for the duration of the pact.
• Select 1 skill. The insight of spirits allows you to add the skill to your list of class skills for the duration of the pact.
• Select one language. The tongues of spirits grant you the ability to read, write, and understand that language for the duration of the pact.
• You can retrieve non-magical books, scrolls, and other writings as a move action instead of a full-round action.

Skull Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• Your touch causes fresh foods and clean water to immediately spoil, allowing you to putrefy 1 cubic pound of food or water per binder level you possess as a standard action.
• You can disrupt undead, as the spell, at will.
• Your hands become frigid with the chill of death, allowing you to deal 1d3 points of cold damage as a standard action and place a -2 penalty to Strength on the touched creature for 1 round. This penalty does not stack.
• You can evoke ghastly noise as if using ghost sound.

Thief Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• You gain DR 1/law as an immediate action. This DR lasts for 1 round or until you take damage.
• Once per turn as a swift action you can force 1 creature to make a Will save. On a failed save, that creature is treated as your ally and not your enemy’s ally when determining flanking for 1 round.
• You deal 1 extra point of damage when attacking a flat-footed foe or a foe that you flank.
• You gain a +4 insight bonus on Bluff checks.

Tree Aspects: Select from among the following options.

• As an immediate action, you gain DR 1/cold iron. This DR lasts for 1 round or until you take damage.
• As a standard action, you create a single goodberry to grow from nothing in your hand.
• As an immediate action you gain a +2 insight bonus to your CMD against trip and bull rush combat maneuvers. This lasts until the effect is ended with a move action, but while you gain this benefit your speed is reduced by half.
• Your touch causes rotted flesh and plants to return to purity, allowing you to refresh 1 cubic pound of food or water per binder level you possess as a standard action.

Pact Augmentation (Su)

At 2nd level, an occultist may squeeze additional power from spirits. If the occultist makes a good pact with at least one of his or her bound spirits, then select one of the benefits listed below. Additional good pacts made beyond the first one do not allow for additional pact augmentations.
However, at 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter, the binder selects one additional pact augmentation when making a good pact with at least one of his or her bound spirits, to a maximum of 5 pact augmentations at 18th level.
A pact augmentation lasts for 24 hours or until the occultist is no longer bound to any spirits. An occultist may select a single pact augmentation multiple times. Bonuses gained from pact augmentations stack with themselves but not with similar bonuses gained from other sources (such as spirits).

Defense Augment: +1 insight bonus to AC and CMD. This bonus applies to both touch and flat-footed AC

Fortitude Augment: 25% chance to ignore critical hits and sneak attack damage (max. 75%)

Insight Augment: +2 insight bonus on initiative checks

Luck Augment: +1 insight bonus on all saving throws

Offense Augment: +1 insight bonus on attack rolls and CMB checks

Speed Augment: +5 foot enhancement bonus to base speed

Toughness Augment: Damage Reduction 1/- (this benefit does not stack with other sources of damage reduction)

Vicious Augment: +2 insight bonus on damage rolls

Vitality Augment: +5 hit points.

Bonus Feat

At 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter, an occultist gains a bonus occult feat or a binder secret. The occultist must meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat or a binder secret including the minimum binder level indicated, if any. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The occultist is not limited to occult feats when choosing those feats.

Bind Additional Spirits (Su)

At 6th level and every 4 levels thereafter, an occultist gains the ability to bind one additional spirit to his or her soul, to a maximum of 4 spirits at 14th level.

Constellation Mastery (Su)

At 18th level, an occultist no longer suffers an increase to a spirit’s binding DC when adding a constellation aspect to the spirit.

Spirit Mastery (Su)

At 19th level, an occultist may select 4 spirits and he gains a +1 bonus to the saving throw DCs of those spirits’ granted abilities. This benefit stacks with other bonuses to the saving throw DCs of granted abilities. Alternatively, the occultist may forgo this bonus to instead ignore the spirit’s influence when experiencing a poor pact with one of these spirits.

True Augmentation (Su)

At 20th level, an occultist may extract the very essence of the spirit realm from his or her bound spirits, gaining abilities that transcend reality. Firstly, when an occultist makes a good pact with a spirit, that spirit’s granted abilities (but not other supernatural or magical effects) continue to function while in an antimagic zone unless the antimagic spell’s caster level (or the effect’s CR, if it is naturally caused) is equal to or greater than the occultist’s level.
Secondly, once daily for each bound spirit, an occultist may immediately end the exhaustion on that spirit’s major granted ability, as a free action.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pact Magic Unbound, Vol. 1. Copyright 2012, Radiance House. Author(s): Alexander Augunas, Dario Nardi.