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Enlightened Scholar (PFRPG) $3.95
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Enlightened Scholar (PFRPG)
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Enlightened Scholar (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Shane O. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/19/2010 16:02:27

Versatility is the zeitgeist of class design in Pathfinder. Considerations such as balance and flavor are important, but the high-water mark of making a great class is giving a variety of options for a significant number of class abilities, since this lets a player customize a character made with that class into something closer to their vision for their PC. Hence, options are a good thing; something that the Enlightened Scholar, from Rite Publishing, showcases heavily.

Excerpted from their forthcoming Jade Oath product, the Enlightened Scholar is a Pathfinder variation of the Arcana Evolved source material. The file comes with three PDFs, those being the main file, the printer-friendly version, and a PDF with some tables missing from the main file. The main file has bookmarks, but they’re absent in the printer-friendly version.

The dominant color in the book is, unsurprisingly, green. Pages have a green border on alternate sides, tables use a green and white scheme on alternating rows. The artwork, of course, doesn’t follow this theme, instead staying more in the realm of looking Oriental in nature, and seems to be from stock art collections. Oddly, the actual illustrations are still present in the printer-friendly version; only the borders and table shadings were removed, presumably to avoid having to re-layout the entire file.

Opening with a thorough overview of what the class is like, the enlightened scholar looks slightly similar to a monk at first glance, with its increasing unarmed strike damage and class-based AC bonus. However, it’s only when you look at the class features that you see how different the enlightened scholar truly is. Fully fifteen of its twenty class levels give a class ability called enlightened knowledge.

Enlightened knowledge is a large (over fifty!) group of class features, divided into nine thematic subsets. There’s no restriction on which subset of abilities you can draw upon, save that some have others for prerequisites, so most enlightened scholars will likely be dabblers across various fields. But still, there are some incredible variations here, from gaining limited spellcasting ability to healing powers to inventing machines, there’s a wide range of abilities here that covers most “eastern mystic” archetypes.

And it doesn’t end there either. Following this is an overview of the new feng shui skill, and a selection of ch’i and chakra feats (oddly, there’s no table giving an overview of the feats the way there was for the enlightened knowledge abilities). While these can appear somewhat mind-boggling at first, they’re actually reminiscent of psionics, in that you can become “ch’i focused” and gain a small selection of “ch’i points” to route to your various chakras (represented by a combination of feats). There’s some talk about whether your ch’i is “balanced” or slipping too much into yin or yang, but while it does seem like that’s a game term in other parts of Jade Oath, it’s just so much flavor text here.

Needless to say, there’s a lot of great new material introduced here, and it does an incredible job of giving you a wide array of feats and abilities to let you make the type of enlightened scholar you want. However, the book is not without its flaws. For example, it has medium BAB progression, but a d6 Hit Die. The Folk Magic ability tables lists up to 6th-level spells, while the ability description says the enlightened scholar can gain up to 7th. The class has new uses for the Concentration skill, apparently having forgotten that Concentration isn’t a skill in Pathfinder. And the 20th-level capstone ability, called Immortal Knowledge in the class table, is nowhere to be found.

The above problems dampened my enthusiasm for this class, but they didn’t come close to extinguishing it. There’s a truckload of great new options present, and the sheer breadth that you can customize your character with the various class abilities is nothing short of stunning. However, the fact that there’s still some problems that need to be worked out show that the Enlightened Scholar hasn’t quite found Nirvana yet. Still, if you want a colorful and versatile class brimming with a far east feel for your Pathfinder game, definitely pick up the Enlightened Scholar.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Enlightened Scholar (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Thilo G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/28/2010 15:33:00

This full-color pdf clocks in at 26 pages, 1 page front cover, 1 page credits, 2 pages ads and 1 page OGL, leaving a whopping 21 pages of crunch and fluff for this class, and rest assured, the space has been put to good use.

What is the enlightened scholar? Well, remember "Kang the Mad" from Bioware’s Jade Empire? The Uncle in Jackie Chan movies? The Enlightened Scholar is all of this and even more. Mechanically, it's a D6, 6+Int, 1 good save class that has a monk-like improving unarmed attack that gets better as he progresses as well as a progressing bonus to AC.

The major abilities of the ES, however, are abilities selected from diverse fields of knowledge, so called "enlightened knowledge"-abilities he may select from several fields.

The fields are: Academia (Knowledge + Languages), Feng Shui (alter the flow of of fate, exorcise with a broom), Folk Magic (makes the ES a minor preparing spellcaster), I Ching (Divination and prediction abilities), Invention (trapfinding and creating strange devices and the like), Medicine (gives helping healing abilities), Nei Tan (internal alchemy), Warfare (Help allies with strategy), Wei Tan (external alchemy).

Each of the fields has several different abilities to choose from and you may switch freely from field to field, however, some of the abilities with a given field have additional prerequisites (skills, feats and other enlightened knowledge abilities).

An Enlightened Scholar may also dispel enemy spells via Brandish Magical Might, gained at 4th level. The respective check is d20+ES class levels + his WIS-mod. He can also use this check 0.5 x Class level to overcome SR. This ability seems to be quite powerful to me, granting essentially unlimited, improved dispel magics (albeit only to counter spells), freeing resources of the other characters. If it only had limited uses, it wouldn't be so powerful.

The whole class takes up 15 pages and is advanced in every sense of the word: Interesting, complex and many options to consider. The ES is certainly not a class to pick-up-and-play, but rather a versatile and complex class that is definitely rewarding to play.

We also get 1 page with a new skill, the Feng Shui skill. Pathfinder purists might dislike the synergy bonus the skill grants to heal and survival, which is not really Pathfinder, imho.

After that, we get 4 pages of Ch'i- and Chakra-feats. I liked them. As written in the pdf, it's a bit hard and counter-intuitive how many Ch'i points a character has. My tip: Read the feat "Ch'i awakened" first, it answers the question. I still think that separately pointing towards this feat in the list would have helped to avoid the (possible) confusion.

Unfortunately, the pdf has some editing mistakes and leaves me with the impression of being a bit rushed. These are the errors/problems I found:

Page 3: Masterful Linguist […]"need"(lack an "s") make a linguistics check… Against what DC?

Page 23: "ch4'i" in Footsteps of the Dragon should read ch'i

The Feng Shui table on page 17: DC 20: Reduce the amount of rest needed per day by 2 hours. (The recovery of spell slots still requires 8 hours of rest.) Reduce the amount of rest needed per day by 3 hours. (The recovery of spell slots still requires 8 hours of rest.) Both are DC 20, so which one is correct? Or can he choose whether to shorten his rest by 2 or 3 hours?

Diet of Jade has Knowledge (Magic) as a prerequisite skill. Shouldn't that be Knowledge (arcane) is PF? What difference is there between Knowledge (Magic) and Knowledge (Arcane), if any? (P.7+13)

The prerequisite for Bone Setting is Knowledge (Anatomy). While I have played with this skill as complimentary to Heal for years, I don't think its standard for PCs to have it. A short description on this particular knowledge skill would have helped there.

As a final bit of constructive criticism, I think it would benefit the pdf to include a bracketed "See feat Ch'i Awakened" behind the Ch'i-related abilities of the ES as well as in the beginning of the explanation on what Ch'i and Chakra feats are.

Conclusion: I have to say that this one is not easy for me. At all. I'm a latecomer patron to the "Heroes of the Jade Oath" patronage project and really like it. I really like the Enlightened Scholar and also the possibility that, sales being high enough, we might see a full conversion of the Arcana Evolved setting to PF. HotJO would definitely deserve an even broader audience, being innovative and far from the Rokugan/Japanese-Oriental standard and wholly unique. I do think that Rite Publishing did a good job converting the ES. However, the pdf also struck me as very unpolished, to the degree that I noticed all of the above problems while reading the pdf for the first time. On the plus side, though, this is an extremely iconic, versatile and cool class with but one balancing concern I have: Unlimited dispels will never, ever get into my campaign. Period.

I'll start with 5 stars for the beautiful pdf, nice artworks and awesome idea. Minus 1 star for the editing glitches, -1 star for the strange Knowledge variations that should be either explained or corrected as well as the 3.5.-synergy-remnants that have crept into both the "Gain Ch'i focus" and "Replenish Ch'i Reservoir" descriptions as well as the new Feng Shui skill. Then there is the strange double entry in the Feng Shui table. My final criticism is, that the class is quite complex and versatile and thus should be presented in the most concise way possible: Putting the feat that explains how many Ch'i points a character has and how to get them in the very end of the pdf, after both the class-features that mention the mechanic and the explanations of Ch'i feats and Chakra feats failed to mention where to find the basis for the mechanic they use: That is not good formatting. It's confusing at best, at worst it could dissuade potential players from playing the class. A simple "See page x, feat y" would suffice. I love the class to death, I really do, but as of now, with all the problems and the unlimited-counter-spell-ability, I can only give 2 stars. I really hope for it to be corrected soon. The awesome class that is the Enlightened Scholar deserves better.



Rating:
[2 of 5 Stars!]
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Enlightened Scholar (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Nathan C. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 06/18/2010 12:00:50

The ability to customize your own class is a staple of the Pathfinder game system. Some classes, like the monk, were given a more “rigid” treatment than the bloodline Sorcerer and jack of many tricks Rogue. Rites Publishing obviously noticed this slight and produced the finest monk replacement class in the D20 world with Enlightened Scholar.

I do not like toss around superlatives but I cannot remember feeling so good about a monk class in a long time. It is the same feeling felt when I first read the Pathfinders Sorcerer Class. The Enlightened Scholar feels like a true monk. Sure you still have the physical prowess, but it also contains the wisdom “lore” that monks of fantasy and film are often known to have.

Most single class PDFs come in at 10 to 12 pages, maybe 15 if the publisher gets carried away with the artbook. Enlightened Scholar weighs in at a heavy 26 pages and not a single word of it feels like too much. Most of this is needed to include the customization of the Scholar’s Enlightened Knowledge ability. This ability defines the class and presents a whole new list of options that will give your character the feel of playing a decent melee fighter with wise man abilities.

For the Dungeon Master There is a new skill called Feng Shui that I see getting a lot of use for the DM controlled Enlightened Scholar. It allows you to bend the rules in that way that we DMs love and yet stay within the confines of the game rules. Thus villains and PC helpers can offer wisdom, recover and get more powerful with a good skill roll. For the Player

This class rocks. You can play the monk however you want to play. There are options for the old school karate master, options for over-the-top Naruto ninjas, and even options for sit back and let the hitters do all the work cowardly monks. Besides the Enlightened Knowledge ability, which allows you to pick abilities from trees such as Academia, Invention, Medicine and Warfare, there’s a whole set of optional feats that are based on Ch’I and Chakra.

The Iron Word I would heavily consider replacing the monk class in any campaign with the Enlightened Scholar. It opens the book of customization and allows players to do what they wish to with the monk within the rules. Sure, the power and hard hitting are watered down, but that feels more in line with the traditional monk lore. This book is a must buy for those looking for a very different class.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Enlightened Scholar (PFRPG)
Publisher: Rite Publishing
by Will H. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 06/16/2010 15:55:38

The Enlightened Scholar is an interesting new class from Rite Publishing. Adapted from their Heroes of the Jade Oath project, the enlightened scholar exemplifies the pursuit of knowledge. Both the enlightened scholar and the monk are trained in unarmed combat, though the scholar does not focus on it to the same extent as a monk (and thank goodness, or we'd just have a monk with a fresh coat of paint!). The scholar's chief ability is Enlightened Knowledge, which allows a character to take 13 abilities over 20 levels drawn from 9 trees. These abilities vary widely and mean that no two enlightened scholars will have the same focus and abilities.

The incredible variety is also one drawback to the product. The layout and design are generally good, but the list of Enlightened Knowledge abilities is so lengthy as to be a bit cumbersome. Because much of the flavor of the enlightened scholar is drawn from Heroes of the Jade Oath parts of the class may be confusing at first pass, but anyone willing to sit down with this PDF for 20 minutes will certainly not regret it. The class is a nice change from standard fantasy offerings, and integrates well with the Pathfinder RPG.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
I wanted to thank Will Hopkins for taking the time to do a review of the Enlightened Scholar. Steve Russell Rite Publishing
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