Mediums channel spirits into themselves, using their own bodies as vessels for astral entities spawned from myths and legends. A medium balances his need for the spirits’ power with the danger of allowing such beings influence over his mind.
Role: Mediums are very versatile, filling whatever role the party needs at the moment by channeling the right spirit.
| Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Special | Spells per Day | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| 1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +2 | knacks , spells , spirit , spirit dance (boon and lesser, spirit bonus +1, spirit surge 1d6) | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +3 | spirit aura | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | +2 | +1 | +1 | +3 | haunt channeler | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | +3 | +1 | +1 | +4 | spirit dance (spirit bonus +2) | 0 | — | — | — |
| 5 | +3 | +1 | +1 | +4 | location channel | 1 | — | — | — |
| 6 | +4 | +2 | +2 | +5 | spirit dance (intermediate) | 1 | — | — | — |
| 7 | +5 | +2 | +2 | +5 | connection channel | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| 8 | +6 | +2 | +2 | +6 | spirit dance (spirit bonus +3) | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| 9 | +6 | +3 | +3 | +6 | propitiation | 2 | 1 | — | — |
| 10 | +7 | +3 | +3 | +7 | spirit dance (spirit surge 1d8) | 2 | 1 | 0 | — |
| 11 | +8 | +3 | +3 | +7 | spirit dance (greater) | 2 | 1 | 1 | — |
| 12 | +9 | +4 | +4 | +8 | spirit dance (spirit bonus +4) | 2 | 2 | 1 | — |
| 13 | +9 | +4 | +4 | +8 | ask the spirits | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | +10 | +4 | +4 | +9 | astral journey | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | +11 | +5 | +5 | +9 | spirit troika | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | +12 | +5 | +5 | +10 | spirit dance (spirit bonus +5) | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 17 | +12 | +5 | +5 | +10 | spirit dance (supreme) | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | +13 | +6 | +6 | +11 | attacca | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 19 | +14 | +6 | +6 | +11 | spirit mastery | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 20 | +15 | +6 | +6 | +12 | dance of infinite forms , spirit dance (spirit bonus +6, spirit surge 1d10) | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Level | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — |
| 2 | 3 | — | — | — | — |
| 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | 4 | 2 | — | — | — |
| 5 | 5 | 3 | — | — | — |
| 6 | 5 | 4 | — | — | — |
| 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | — |
| 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | — | — |
| 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | — | — |
| 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | — |
| 11 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | — |
| 12 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | — |
| 13 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| 14 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| 15 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 16 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 17 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 18 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| 19 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| 20 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Mediums learn a number of knacks, or 0-level spells, as noted on Table: Medium Spells Known. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they don’t consume slots and can be used again.
A medium can cast a small number of psychic spells drawn from the medium spell list. To learn or cast a spell, a medium must have a Charisma score equal to at least 10 + the spell’s level. He can cast any spell he knows without preparing it ahead of time. The saving throw DC against a medium’s spell is equal to 10 + the spell level + the medium’s Charisma modifier.
A medium can cast only a certain number of spells of each level per day. His base daily spell allotment is given on Table: Medium. In addition, he receives bonus spells per day if he has a high Charisma score (see Table 1–3 on page 17 of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook).
The medium’s selection of spells is limited. At 1st level, a medium knows two 0-level spells of his choice. At each new level, the medium learns one or more new spells, as indicated on Table: Medium Spells Known. Unlike his spells per day, the number of spells a medium knows is not affected by his Charisma score; the numbers on Table: Medium Spells Known are fixed. At 5th level and every 3 levels thereafter, a medium can learn a single new spell in place of one he already knows. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged, and he must choose whether to swap the spell at the same time he gains new spells known for the level.
A medium serves as a vessel to channel spirits—astral echoes of powerful souls from ages past that live on in myth and legend. Each day, a medium can channel a spirit through a ritual known as a seance. Seances take 1 hour to perform and require the medium’s concentration. During his seance, a spirit dancer makes all his spirit power choices as if he were channeling one spirit of each of the six legends. He does not always possess the seance boon, spirit bonus, spirit powers, or spirit surge ability from any of these six spirits.
A medium can invite his allies to participate in his seance—certain spirit powers affect other participants. A character counts as participating so long as she maintains physical contact with another participating character and willfully opens herself to the spirit; unlike the medium, other participating characters can take other actions during this time. Only creatures with an Intelligence score of at least 3 can participate in a seance.
In addition to granting power to the medium, a channeled spirit can influence the medium. By channeling a spirit, the medium allows the spirit to gain 1 point of influence over him. If the medium loses that 1 point of influence, he loses contact with the spirit, though he is still unable to perform a new seance until the normal 24 hour period has elapsed since his last seance. When the spirit leaves after the 24-hour duration and before the next seance, the spirit’s influence over the medium resets to 0. Certain abilities allow the medium to gain additional power in exchange for allowing the spirit more influence over him.
When a spirit gains at least 3 points of influence over the medium, the dual impulses housed within the same body cause the medium to meld with his spirit’s consciousness. The resulting muddled sense of self and struggle for control causes the medium to take a –2 penalty on initiative checks as well as a specific additional penalty listed in each spirit’s entry. However, the spirit’s mental presence grants the medium a +4 bonus against possession effects and a +2 bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects that are not related to possession.
If a spirit ever attains 5 or more points of influence over the medium, the medium completely loses control to the spirit. He effectively becomes an NPC under the GM’s control until after he awakens the next day with the spirit gone.
Archmage: An archmage spirit is a font of knowledge and arcane power.
Spirit Bonus: When you channel an archmage, your spirit bonus applies on concentration checks, Intelligence checks, and Intelligence-based skill checks.
Seance Boon: Your damaging spells deal an additional 2 points of damage of the same type that they would normally deal to each target.
Influence Penalty: Your body begins to respond as if you were a frail, aged scholar. You take a penalty equal to your spirit bonus on Strength checks, Strength-based skill checks, Constitution checks, attack rolls, and non-spell damage rolls.
Archmage Arcana (Lesser, Su): Instead of your normal spells per day for your medium level, you use the spells per day from Table: The Mesmerist. For each level of spell you can now cast (including level 0), each time you channel an archmage spirit, select a single spell of that level from the sorcerer/wizard spell list to add to your medium spell list and spells known until you lose contact with the archmage. When you cast these spells, they count as arcane (though not for the purpose of fulfilling prerequisites), and thus you must provide verbal and somatic components instead of thought and emotion components.
Arcane Surge (Intermediate, Su): You can allow the archmage spirit to gain 1 point of influence over you in order to cast one of your medium spells known without expending a spell slot. When you do so, the caster level and DC of the spell increase by 1, and you can’t apply metamagic to the spell.
Wild Arcana (Greater, Su): You ca allow the archmage spirit to gain 1 point of influence over you in order to cast any sorcerer/wizard spell of a level you can cast. You must expend a spell slot of the appropriate level, and you can’t apply metamagic to the spell.
Legendary Archmage (Supreme, Su): Once per day, you can cast any spell on the sorcerer/wizard spell list as if using the wild arcana ability, except the archmage doesn’t gain 1 point of influence over you, the spell doesn’t require a spell slot, and you can select a spell of any level.
Champion: A champion spirit is a paragon of skill at arms.
Spirit Bonus: When you channel a champion, your spirit bonus applies on attack rolls, non-spell damage rolls, Strength checks, Strength-based skill checks, and Fortitude saves.
Seance Boon: You gain a +2 bonus on all non-spell damage rolls.
Influence Penalty: You are quick to violence and prefer a weapon to spells or contemplation. You take a penalty equal to your spirit bonus on Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skill checks, and to your caster level (to a minimum of caster level 0); as usual, a reduced caster level may render you unable to cast spells. You can’t benefit from effects that increase your caster level.
Champion’s Prowess (Lesser, Su): You gain proficiency in all martial weapons and in one exotic weapon of your choice, which you choose each time you channel a champion spirit.
Sudden Attack (Intermediate, Su): Whenever you take a full-attack action, you gain one additional attack at your highest base attack bonus. This ability stacks with the extra attack from haste, but it doesn’t stack with special actions that grant extra attacks, such as flurry of blows or spell combat. Sudden attack works as normal with full-attack options such as two-weapon fighting.
Fleet Charge (Greater, Su): You can take a swift action and a full-round action to move up to your speed and then make a full attack. This special action doesn’t combine with sudden attack, but works as normal with effects such as haste and two-weapon fighting. As soon as you begin moving, you are considered to have begun the full-round action, even if circumstances prevent you from attacking at the end of your movement.
Legendary Champion (Supreme, Su): You gain two combat feats of your choice, and you can choose different feats each time you channel a champion spirit. You can treat your base attack bonus from your medium levels as equal to your medium level for the purposes of qualifying for combat feats and determining their effects, and you can count your medium levels as levels of one other class whose base attack bonus equals its class level (such as fighter, barbarian, or slayer) for the purpose of qualifying for the two new combat feats.
Guardian: A guardian spirit is an exemplar of protection and defense.
Spirit Bonus: When you channel a guardian, your spirit bonus applies to AC and on Constitution checks, Fortitude saves, and Reflex saves.
Seance Boon: You gain a +1 bonus to CMD.
Influence Penalty: You are incredibly cautious and guarded in all things, and your caution sometimes gets in the way. When attacking, you always fight defensively, and when casting a spell, you always cast defensively. Because of your focus on defense, you take a penalty on damage rolls equal to your spirit bonus.
Guardian’s Shield (Lesser, Su): You gain proficiency in heavy armors and shields (including tower shields).
Absorb Blow (Intermediate, Su): You gain DR/— and resistance to acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic equal to 1/2 your medium level. Add paladin’s sacrifice to your medium spells known as a 2nd-level spell.
Sudden Block (Greater, Su): After an enemy’s attack would hit you or an adjacent creature, you can use spirit surge to increase the victim’s AC, possibly causing the attack to fail, by rolling your spirit surge die and adding it to the chosen character’s AC. You must not be flat-footed, and you must be aware of the attack. If use of this ability causes the enemy’s attack to miss, you can make an attack at your highest base attack bonus against that enemy as an immediate action.
Legendary Guardian (Supreme, Su): Once per day as an immediate action, you can ignore the effects of a single attack against you, including enemy spells targeting you or whose area or effect includes you. The attack affects other creatures as normal.
Hierophant: A hierophant spirit is a being of true and pure faith.
Spirit Bonus: When you channel a hierophant, your spirit bonus applies on Wisdom checks, Wisdom-based skill checks, and Will saves.
Seance Boon: Your healing spells and abilities heal an additional 2 points of damage to each target. This does not affect healing conferred by magic items, nor does it add to fast healing or similar effects.
Influence Penalty: Whether the spirit hopes to offer a chance for redemption or to sacrifice foes later on a dark altar, you must strike for nonlethal damage in combat whenever possible. You take a penalty equal to your spirit bonus on all Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks involving worshipers of faiths other than the spirit’s, except checks to convince others to convert to the spirit’s faith.
Divine Surge (Lesser, Su): This power functions as the archmage arcana spirit power, except that you add spells from the cleric/oracle list instead of the sorcerer/wizard list (these spells count as divine), and you need a divine focus if the spell requires one.
Energy Font (Intermediate, Su): You can channel energy a number of times per day equal to 1 + your Charisma modifier. Choose whether you channel positive or negative energy each time you contact a hierophant spirit; this choice must match the spirit’s faith. If you choose positive energy, add cure spells of each level you can cast from the cleric list to your medium spell list and spells known. Otherwise, add inflict spells in the same way. These spells count as divine, as in the divine surge spirit power.
Overflowing Grace (Greater, Su): When you heal a creature to full hit points or a creature already at full hit points with your positive or negative energy, that creature gains a +1 sacred bonus on attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 round. The bonus is sacred if you use positive energy and profane if you use negative energy. If you destroy or kill one or more creatures with positive or negative energy, you gain a +1 bonus of the same type on attack rolls, skill checks, ability checks, and saving throws for 1 round.
Legendary Hierophant (Supreme, Su): Once per day, you can request a minor miracle. This request must be in line with the options for miracle that don’t cost powdered diamond. As usual for a miracle, the deity or other being the spirit worships can choose whether or not to grant the request at its whim.
Marshal: A marshal spirit is a towering presence and an inspiration to others.
Spirit Bonus: When you channel a marshal, your spirit bonus applies on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks, as well as on spirit surge rolls. This allows the bonus to apply twice to the total result if you use a spirit surge on a Charisma check or on a Charisma-based skill check.
Seance Boon: Choose a seance boon from any of the other legends to benefit from. When using the spirit aura class feature, each participant can choose a different boon.
Influence Penalty: The time you spend concentrating on your allies prevents you from attending to other important matters. You take a penalty equal to your spirit bonus on Wisdom checks and Wisdom-based skill checks. Additionally, if you are not at least nominally in charge of your present allies, you lose the marshal’s spirit bonus and seance boon.
Marshal’s Order (Lesser, Su): You can use your spirit surge on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, concentration checks, and skill checks rolled by you or any allies who participated in your seance as long as you have line of sight and line of effect, and are within 30 feet of the chosen ally. You can still use spirit surge only once per round.
Inspiring Call (Intermediate, Su): As a standard action, you can grant all allies who can see and hear you a competence bonus equal to your spirit bonus on either saving throws or attack and damage rolls. You choose which bonus to grant each time you use inspiring call. This ability lasts for 1 round. If you have the decisive strike greater spirit power, you can use inspiring call as a move action. If you have the legendary marshal supreme spirit power, you can use inspiring call as a swift action.
Decisive Strike (Greater, Su): You can allow the marshal to gain 1 point of influence over you as a swift action to allow an ally within 30 feet who can see and hear you to make a single melee or ranged attack during your turn. You can use this ability as a standard action to instead allow the ally to perform any standard action.
Legendary Marshal (Supreme, Su): You can use a lesser spirit surge without incurring influence. This lesser surge adds a maximum of 1d6 to the roll and does not apply your spirit bonus, regardless of other effects or abilities you have that alter your spirit surge. A lesser surge still counts as a spirit surge for the purpose of the limit of one spirit surge per round, but it does not consume any free uses of spirit surge you may have from effects such as taboo.
Trickster: A trickster spirit is a savvy and manipulative master of skills.
Spirit Bonus: When you channel a trickster, your spirit bonus applies on Dexterity checks, skill checks, and Reflex saves.
Seance Boon: Choose one skill when you gain this seance boon. You gain a +1 bonus on skill checks using that skill, and that skill counts as a class skill for you.
Influence Penalty: The trickster within you is a protean manipulator, and you begin to see the possibility that everyone around you might have ulterior motives as well. You never count as an ally for the purpose of gaining benefits from another creature’s abilities, nor do you count as a willing target for spells. Anyone attempting to target you with a touch range spell, even a beneficial spell, must succeed at a melee touch attack, though you need not attempt saving throws against harmless spells. You gain no benefit from another creature’s aid another attempts, as you are too busy making sure they aren’t secretly tricking or sabotaging you.
Trickster’s Edge (Lesser, Su): Choose any two skills. These skills count as class skills for you, and you are treated as if you had an additional number of ranks in those skills equal to your medium level (to a maximum of your character level).
Surprise Strike (Intermediate, Su): When you attack an opponent that’s denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, you deal 1d6 points of extra precision damage for every 3 medium levels. Your target counts as f lat-footed against the first attack you make against that target in a day, regardless of abilities like uncanny dodge. After your first attack, that target is immune to being made flat-footed by your surprise strike for 24 hours.
Transfer Magic (Greater, Su): You can allow the trickster to gain 1 point of influence over you to make a melee touch attack against another creature as a standard action. If the attack succeeds, you randomly steal one of the harmless spells of the highest spell level active on that creature, ending the effect for the original creature and gaining all remaining duration for yourself. This ability does not work on personal-range or instantaneous- or permanent-duration spells.
Legendary Trickster (Supreme, Su): Once per day, instead of rolling for a skill check, you can choose your d20 result. Additionally, you gain the ability to change form at will as if using greater polymorph, except that you can mimic the form of a specific individual.
The medium can enter a spirit dance as a free action to gain the seance boon and lesser spirit power from one of the six spirits he prepared during his seance for the duration of his spirit dance, as well as the spirit bonus and spirit surge abilities listed below. The medium also gains the spirit’s intermediate spirit power at 6th level, its greater spirit power at 11th level, and its supreme spirit power at 17th level.
He can spirit dance for a total number of rounds per day equal to his Charisma modifier + double his medium level; these rounds don’t need to be consecutive. After his spirit dance ends, the spirit dancer takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks for 1 minute and can’t enter a spirit dance again during that time. He also can’t enter a spirit dance while shaken, frightened, or panicked. He combines all influence incurred during spirit dances into a single pool. At 3 points of influence or higher, he takes a –2 penalty on initiative checks even when he’s not in a spirit dance, and at 5 points of influence or higher, his current spirit takes control as it would for a normal medium (this control is not limited by rounds of spirit dance). A spirit dancer can accept 1 point of influence to recover 4 rounds of spirit dance, up to his normal daily maximum.
A spirit dancer continues to track daily uses of abilities from each of his spirits even while he is not in a spirit dance. A spirit dancer with the supreme spirit power ability can use only one once-per-day ability from the supreme spirit power each day; he can’t use any other spirit’s once-per-day supreme spirit power until after his next seance.
Spirit Bonus (Su): When a medium channels a spirit, he gains a bonus on certain checks and to certain statistics, depending on the spirit. A 1st-level medium’s spirit bonus is +1; it increases by 1 at 4th level and every 4 levels thereafter.
Spirit Surge (Su): After failing a d20 roll that was modified by his spirit bonus, a medium can allow his spirit to gain 1 additional point of influence over him in order to add 1d6 to the check’s result without taking an action. This can cause the check to succeed instead of fail. The medium must be conscious and aware to use this ability, and he can use this ability at most once per round. At 10th level, the medium’s spirit surge die increases to 1d8, and at 20th level it increases to 1d10.
At 2nd level, a spirit dancer’s weaving forms create an aura that grants his current seance boon to all allies within 30 feet. When he grants a seance boon that requires a decision, each ally makes the appropriate decision the first time that ally receives that spirit’s aura each day. That decision remains in effect if the ally is affected by that spirit’s aura again later that day.
At 3rd level, a medium can use his familiarity with spirits to assist him when dealing with haunts. He can always act on the surprise round against a haunt, and his touch funnels a portion of the haunt into himself, dealing 1d6 points of damage to the haunt per 2 medium levels he possesses as if via positive energy and allowing the medium to ask the haunt a single question. The haunt can answer the question however it chooses. Additionally, the medium can forgo his saving throw against a haunt’s effects to funnel the haunt entirely into himself. If he does so, the medium suffers the haunt’s full effect, but the haunt doesn’t affect anyone else (even if it normally would). The haunt then gains control of the medium’s body for 24 hours. Once per minute, the medium can attempt to end this possession early by succeeding at a Will save (DC = 20 + 1/2 the medium’s class level).
At 5th level, a medium can perform a special seance at the site of a person’s death—or a location that was precious to that person in life—to call forth that person’s spirit into the medium’s body so his allies can ask it questions. The effects are similar to the spell call spirit, except that the duration is 1 round per medium level and the spirit possesses the medium’s body instead of appearing in a wispy form. The other participants of the seance must ask the questions. Once the medium attempts to call a spirit, he cannot attempt to call the same spirit again for 24 hours. Once per round, the medium can attempt to end the seance early by succeeding at a Will save (DC = 20 + 1/2 the medium’s class level).
At 7th level, a medium can use his location channel ability at any location, so long as he possesses some connection to the deceased. If another participant in the seance is more familiar with the deceased than the medium, the medium can substitute that participant’s familiarity in place of his own to determine the DC of the call spirit effect.
At 9th level, a medium has learned hidden techniques and rites that allow him to mollify his channeled spirit once per day, reducing its influence over him by 1 point (to a minimum of 1 point of influence). The details of the propitiation ritual vary based on the individual spirit, but the process always takes around 10 minutes to perform and it never requires any additional cost (such as an offering of wealth or a live sacrifice).
At 13th level, a medium can send his consciousness to the Astral Plane any number of times per day to ask the spirits for advice, as if using contact other plane to contact the Astral Plane. The medium automatically succeeds at the Intelligence check to avoid the possible decrease to his Intelligence and Charisma.
At 14th level, a medium can enter a deep coma in order to project himself onto the Astral Plane as astral projection, except he can project only himself, he can’t enter other planes, and his projected gear has no magical properties.
At 15th level, a spirit dancer learns to dance with two partners. When using spirit dance, he can choose to spend 3 rounds of spirit dance each round to gain access to the abilities of any two of the six spirits he prepared during his seance for 1 round.
At 18th level, a spirit dancer learns how to shift rapidly into the next movement of his dance. He no longer takes a penalty after his spirit dance ends and can enter another spirit dance immediately.
At 19th legend, the medium becomes a legend among spirits, particularly lesser spirits. He can use his spirit surge ability an additional two times per day without incurring influence.
At 20th level, a spirit dancer has perfected his dance. He can now use each of his supreme spirit powers’ once-per-day abilities one time each day, instead of just one ability. He can use his spirit troika by spending 2 rounds of spirit dance instead of 3. Finally, he can enter a spirit dance with all six of his prepared spirits at once by spending 4 rounds of spirit dance each round.
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SECTION 15