This is a continuation of my main Pathfinder page, where I am documenting all of the changes to the classes, archetypes and Prestige Classes from the tabletop to the video game. If a feature or ability is the same as the tabletop game I will not list it here–assume it is present and unchanged. Any new archetypes or bloodlines will be denoted by an asterisk (*). So, to begin with the O’s:
Oracle: The class is essentially unchanged (they get 3 skill points/level instead of 4), however the mysteries and curses themselves are changed, as well as the archetypes. I will give a breakdown of them all. Minor spoiler: depending on your choices, you may gain a companion with this class. The available mysteries are Ancestor, Battle, Bones, Flame, Life, Nature, Stone, Waves, Wind. The available curses are blackened, demonic, hellbound, lame, plagued, powerless prophecy, pranked, wasting, wolf-scarred face.
MYSTERIES
- Ancestor
- Revelations: Spirit Walk, Voice of the Grave and Wisdom of the Ancestors are removed. For the final revelation you now gain Foresight as a spell-like ability
- Bonus Spells: unseen servant is now unbreakable heart, spiritual weapon is now see invisibility, spiritual ally is now crusader’s edge, telekinesis is now burst of glory, greater heroism is now true seeing, ethereal jaunt is now true seeing communal, vision is now prediction of failure, and astral projection is now foresight
- Battle
- Revelations: Resiliency and Surprising Charge are removed. For the final revelation you do lose the ability to not die until your negative total is twice your Con score
- Bonus Spells: fog cloud is now bull’s strength, wall of fire is now mass enlarge person, control weather is now legendary proportions, earthquake is now rift of ruin, storm of vengeance is now overwhelming presence
- Bones
- Revelations: Bleeding Wounds, Raise the Dead, Undead Servitude and Voice of the Grave are removed. Final revelation is changed, now “you gain Power Word Kill and Animate Dead as spell-like abilities”
- Bonus Spells: control undead is now create undead
- Flame
- Revelations: Gaze of Flames and Wings of Fire are removed. Final revelation is changed, now “all spells cast with the fire descriptor are always empowered”
- Bonus Spells: wall of fire is now volcanic storm, fire seeds is now Dragonkind I, incendiary cloud is now summon elder fire elemental
- Life
- Revelations: Delay Affliction, Energy Body, Healing Hands are removed. Final revelation is changed in that you only gain immunity to bleed, death attacks, exhaustion, fatigue, nausea effects, negative levels, and sickened effects
- Bonus Spells: detect undead is now remove sickness, true resurrection is now heroic invocation
- Nature
- Revelations: Animal Companion must be a horse or wolf; Natural Divination, Speak with Animals, Transcendental Bond, Undo Artifice, are removed.
- Bonus Spells: charm animal is now feather step, speak with plants is now poison, grove of respite is now spike stones, awaken is now cave fangs, stone tell is now primal regression, world wave is now shapechange
- Stone
- Revelations: Crystal Sight, Earth Glide, Rock Throwing, Steelbreaker Skin are removed. Final revelation is altered, and now says, “all spells with the acid descriptor cast by the oracle are always empowered”
- Bonus Spells: magic stone is now corrosive touch, meld into stone is now protection from acid, wall of stone is now elemental body I (earth), stoneskin is now acidic spray, stone tell is now acid fog, statue is now caustic eruption, repel metal or stone is now summon elder earth elemental
- Waves
- Revelations: Fluid Travel, Water Form, Wintry Touch are removed. Final revelation is altered and now says, “all spells with the cold descriptor cast by the oracle are always empowered”
- Bonus Spells: touch of the sea is now snowball, slipstream is now frigid touch, water breathing is now protection from cold, wall of ice is now ice storm, geyser is now icy prison, fluid form is now elemental body III (water), vortex is now ice body
- Wind
- Revelations: Gaseous Form, Wind Sight and Wings of Air are removed. Final revelation is altered and now says, “all spells with the electricity descriptor cast by the oracle are always empowered”
- Bonus Spells: alter winds is now feather step, gust of wind is now protection from arrows, cloak of winds is now lightning bolt, river of wind is now echolocation, control winds is now call lightning storm, sirocco is now elemental body III (air), control weather is now summon greater air elemental, whirlwind is now stormbolts
CURSES
- Blackened: At 5th level flaming sphere is replaced by burning arc; at 10th level wall of fire is replaced by fire snake; delayed blast fireball is replaced by hellfire ray
- Demonic: It’s now only a -3 to diplomacy; there is no restriction on casting good or lawful spells
- Hellbound: Only a -3 to diplomacy; there is no restriction on casting good or lawful spells
- Lame: Your movement is reduced by 10 feet regardless of your base speed
- Plagued: You no longer raise the number of saves required to recover naturally from these diseases you inflict by 1
- Powerless Prophecy: you are now able to act in a surprise round; at 15th level you get the +4 bonuses during the first round of combat only, but aren’t reliant on a surprise round or being unaware of an attack
- Pranked: You do not add ghost sound to your list of spells; at 5th level minor image is replaced by mirror image; at 15th project image is replaced by insanity
- Wasting: This is unchanged
- Wolfscarred Face: There is no longer the 20% chance of spell failure
ARCHETYPES
Divine Herbalist: This is actually the Pei Zin Practitioner archetype from the tabletop. It gets a slight upgrade as they gain the ability to Brew Potions in the game.
Dual-Cursed Oracle *DLC only*: My favorite way to play an oracle. Now the bonus spells add to–they do not replace–the mystery bonus spells. Misfortune and Fortune are somewhat altered and more powerful:
- Misfortune: Whenever an enemy within 30′ rolls a 20, they reroll automatically. No immediate action, it just happens, but only once per creature per day. Incredible benefit that works in every combat
- Fortune: Whenever an ally within 30′ rolls a 1, they reroll automatically. Only once per ally per day. Good for boss battles
Enlightened Philosopher: Lawful alignment is not required. EP’s do not gain the bonus spells specific to the archetype, it’s entirely based on your mystery. They now get Skill Focus Knowledge (World) at level 1. The final revelation is altered: if you die you are reborn one round later, and “your body re-forms with all your equipment, and you return to life with maximum hit points.”
Lone Strider: This is actually the Hermit archetype. They must choose one of the Ancestor, Life, Nature, Waves, or Stone mysteries. LN’s do not gain the bonus spells specific to the archetype, it’s entirely based on your mystery. LS no longer requires taking the reclusive curse
Possessed Oracle: PO’s are now required to take the powerless prophecy curse. PO’s do not gain the bonus spells specific to the archetype, it’s entirely based on your mystery. The Two Minds revelation is altered, in that it now provides a +4 bonus to saves against mind-effecting effects.
Purifier: P’s do not gain the bonus spells specific to the archetype, it’s entirely based on your mystery. Diminished spellcasting is altered in that they no longer adds the cure or inflict spells to their spell list. The See Sin revelation is removed, but they still lose that level’s revelation. Holy Terror is removed. Celestial Master is removed. They gain another Celestial Armor benefit at level 19, but I don’t know what it does
Seeker: Tinkering has changed its name to Seeker’s Trapfinding. Seeker Lore is removed, but they still lose the revelation at that level. Seeker Magic is removed, in their place is the following ability:
- Seeker bonus feats: At 5th, 10th and 15th level, a seeker gains a bonus feat from the following list: Augment Summoning, Superior Summoning, Combat Casting, Greater Elemental Focus, Greater Spell Focus, Greater Spell Penetration, the Metamagic feats, Elemental Focus, Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Spell Specialization
*Wind Whisperer: This is the only new oracle archetype for the game. It has the following description: “People often find themselves listening to the rustle of the wind, but only a handful of them hear whispering of the mighty nature element, and can use it as a source of power.” WW’s must select the Wind mystery, lose 7th and 15th level revelations in exchange for the following abilities:
- 7th level: Haste of the Wind. “As a swift action Wind Whisperer can affect all allies in 30 feet radius with the haste spell effect for a number of rounds equal to his Charisma modifier. This ability can be used once per day plus one more time for every six oracle levels”
- 15th level: Freedom of the Wind. “As a swift action Wind Whisperer can affect all allies in 30 feet radius with the freedom of movement spell effect for a number of rounds equal to his Charisma modifier. This ability can be used once per day plus one more time for every six oracle levels”
I had planned on covering paladins in this post also, but as you can see there were so many changes to the many aspects of the oracle class that I’ve decided to just leave it here. I’ll start with paladins on my next post!