Secrets of magic brings a lot of really interesting flavor to how the world of Golarion discusses the nature of magic. Further the addition of Essences is interesting and I’m wondering if it is setting up for additional variations to magic.
I particularly enjoyed the excerpts from Chapter 1, the lore and insight in the essays and treatise were really well done. It made me want to write a magical dissertation for Rune… I still may.
I particularly enjoyed the Occult insight. With occult being a new aspect to the magic of Pathfinder it originally came off as an Eldritch/Cthulhu-like concept. The letter from Djavin Vhrest really gave me a better perspective on how the Occult tradition is viewed within the world of Pathfinder. Of note, I really enjoyed the line “Why does flawed occultism always involve tentacles”.
I’m still absorbing the portion on Essences and I’m kind of interested on why Paizo chose to break the traditions out even further into these four core essences. It really implies they must have some plan for essences in the near future.
The new Backgrounds are all really interesting, I thoroughly enjoyed that Rune’s background is a thing “Academy Dropout” absolutely fantastic.
I especially liked some of the Rare Backgrounds, specifically the Anti-Magical and the Time Traveler. I think the Time Traveler has some really interesting story options. And the Anti-magic is just super interesting. I think the Anti-magic background could have gone with a full 25% chance (DC 5) on the flat check, but still an interesting option.
Oh the classes. Okay. As expected we have the Magus, the classic sword and sorcery class. Straight from the old Spellsinger days. I really enjoyed this class if PF1, and I know Mitch was a huge fan. And I do not think this version will disappoint. Then we have a fan favorite (IMO) The Summoner.
As a side note – I have really enjoyed the PF2E Class structure, and by that I mean the design of the layout in the book. Specifically, I appreciate the “what would this class do…” portion they place at the beginning of each class. Really gives a player some insight into Paizo’s intent for the class and helps shape the creation process.
Up next… The Magus
Don’t forget, every Sunday night at 830PM EST you can watch me on Penny for a Tale as I play Rune Ravenswood in our Age of Ashes campaign.