CLASS FEATURES

The following are the class features of the occultist:

 

Weapon and Armor Proficiency:

An occultist is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, and shields (except tower shields).

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Focus Powers (Su):

At 1st level, an occultist learns a focus power from each of his two implement schools (see Implements below). Whenever the occultist learns a new implement school, he learns a focus power of that school. In addition, at 3rd level and every 2 levels thereafter, he learns a new focus power selected from the options granted by all of the implement schools he knows. The occultist can use focus powers only by expending mental focus (see Mental Focus below). Unless otherwise noted, the DC for any saving throw against a focus power equals 10 + 1/2 the occultist’s level + the occultist’s Intelligence modifier. The occultist can’t select a focus power more than once. Some focus powers require him to reach a specific occultist level before he can choose them.

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Instead of learning a new focus power, an occultist can instead select an Item Mastery feat that he meets the prerequisites for.

A list of all the focus powers can be found HERE.

 

Implements (Su):

At 1st level, an occultist learns to use two implement schools. At 2nd level and every 4 occultist levels thereafter, the occultist learns to use one additional implement school, to a maximum of seven schools at 18th level. Each implement school is represented by a small list of objects. Every day, the occultist selects one item from that school’s list to be his implement for the day for each implement school he knows. Implements don’t need to be magic items, and nonmagical implements don’t take up a magic item slot even if they’re worn. Implements that are not magic items are often of some historical value or of personal significance to the occultist, such as the finger bone of a saint, the broken scepter of a long-dead king, the skull of a mentor’s familiar, or the glass eye of an uncanny ancestor.

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Each implement grants a single magic sphere or talent, which must possess the base sphere before additional talents of that sphere may be added, unless the occultist possesses that sphere. At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, each implement gains an additional talent. Whenever an occultist casts a sphere effect using talents granted by one of his implements, he must have the corresponding implement in his possession and present the implement to the target or area of effect.

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If the occultist gains a base sphere from an implement, with the GM's permission he may apply a drawback to that sphere to gain a bonus talent as normal for a drawback. The drawback and bonus talent must be set at the time the implement is gained. Such a drawback may be bought off when that implement grants an additional talent. The occultist uses the talents granted by his implements as if he was a Mid-Caster and can use points of mental focus as if they were spell points.

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Each implement school also grants a base focus power. This power is added to the list of focus powers possessed by the occultist (see Mental Focus below). In addition, each implement school grants access to a number of other focus powers that the occultist can select from using his mental focus class feature.

All of the implement schools and their respective abilities can be found HERE.

 

Mental Focus (Su):

An occultist can invest a portion of his mental focus into his chosen implements for the day, allowing him to utilize a variety of abilities depending on the implements and the amount of mental focus invested in them. An occultist has a number of points of mental focus equal to his occultist level + his Intelligence modifier; these points refresh each day. He can divide this mental focus between his implements in any way he desires. If an implement is lost or destroyed, the focus invested in it is lost as well, though the occultist still refreshes those points of focus normally.

 

Once mental focus is invested inside an implement, the implement gains the resonant power of its implement school, and the occultist can expend the mental focus stored in the implement to activate the associated focus powers he knows. If a resonant power grants a bonus that varies based on the amount of mental focus invested in the implement, the bonus is determined when the focus is invested, and is not reduced or altered by expending the mental focus invested in the item. Once all of the mental focus in an implement has been expended, it loses its resonant power until mental focus is once again invested in the implement.

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The occultist refreshes his mental focus once each day after receiving at least 8 hours of sleep. After refreshing his mental focus, the occultist must spend 1 hour preparing his implements and investing them with this power. Mental focus that is not used before the next time the occultist refreshes his focus is lost.

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The occultist can choose to save generic mental focus inside his own body instead of investing all of it, but expending this focus comes at a higher cost. Any focus power the occultist activates with generic focus costs twice as much mental focus to use (and to maintain, if applicable). The occultist can expend his generic focus through an appropriate implement on any focus power he knows, but an implement he didn’t invest any focus in at the start of the day grants no resonant power.

 

Magic Item Skill (Ex):

At 2nd level, an occultist’s knowledge of magic items grants him a bonus when attempting to use them. He gains a bonus on all Use Magic Device checks equal to 1/2 his occultist level.

 

Object Reading (Su):

At 2nd level, an occultist learns how to read information from items he examines. Examining an item in this way requires him to spend 1 minute handling the item. If the item is a magic item, the occultist learns its properties and command word as if he had successfully examined the item using detect magic and succeeded at a Spellcraft check. This ability does not reveal whether the item is cursed unless the occultist’s class level is equal to or greater than the caster level of the item. If the item has any historical significance, the occultist learns one piece of information about its past. Finally, if the item was last used no longer than 1 day ago per the occultist’s class level, the occultist learns one piece of information about the last creature to use the item.

 

Shift Focus (Su):

At 4th level, an occultist gains the ability to shift his mental focus from one implement to another, though some of the focus is lost along the way. Shifting mental focus removes a number of points of mental focus from one implement and adds the same number – 1 to another implement; this takes 1 minute of quiet contemplation while touching both implements. The occultist can shift his mental focus only from one implement to another implement; he can’t shift generic focus into an implement. Unlike expending focus normally, this shift can reduce the effect of a resonant power in the implement from which the mental focus was taken. It does not, however, add to the resonant power of the implement to which the focus is added.

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Cursed Item Sense (Su)

At 5th level, an occultist treats his level as 5 higher for the purpose of using his object reading ability to reveal whether or not an item is cursed.

 

Glyph-Finding (Ex):

At 8th level, an occultist can use Spellcraft to find writing-based magical traps (including glyphs, runes, sigils, and symbols) in the same way a rogue can use Perception to search for traps.

 

Scroll Master (Su):

At 8th level, an occultist can use his own caster level instead of the item’s caster level when using a scroll or other spell-completion item.
 

Analyze Dweomer (Sp):

At 12th level, an occultist can cast analyze dweomer for up to 1 round per class level per day. He can use this ability in 1-round increments.

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Silence Master (Su):

A 12th level, an occultist can activate spell trigger, spell completion, and command word items silently, substituting a magical gesture for the necessary words. He cannot use this ability in circumstances where he could not cast a spell with somatic components. He must know how to normally activate the item for this ability to work.

 

Item Master (Su):

At 16th level, an occultist can spend 1 hour focusing his energies on a single non-charged magic item that requires an action to activate. At the end of this hour, that item becomes attuned to the occultist, and from that point on, that specific item can use the occultist’s caster level to resolve its effects rather than the item’s caster level. An occultist can change his attuned item by repeating the attunement ritual, but he loses attunement to the previous item. An occultist can have only one item attuned to him at a time.

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Spellcasting Master (Ex):

At 16th level, three times per day as a swift action, an occultist can focus his mind. Once focused this way, any spells he casts from magic items for the remainder of that round do not provoke attacks of opportunity. Spells with a duration of concentration that he casts in this round persist for a number of rounds after the occultist ceases concentrating equal to his Intelligence bonus.

 

Implement Mastery (Su):

At 20th level, an occultist learns to master one of his implements. He selects one implement school. Whenever he uses a focus power from an implement of that school, the DC to resist any of the effects increases by 4 and he treats his occultist level as 4 higher when determining the effects and duration of that power. In addition, the occultist gains 4 extra points of mental focus, but these points must always be invested in implements of the mastered school. He can’t save these points or expend them for any ability other than the focus powers of those implements. The hardness of each of the occultist’s implements of the mastered school increases by an additional 20 as long as the item has at least 1 point of mental focus stored within.