The oracle class is something I was surprised it took so long to see. It fulfills several niches that have been waiting for quite some time now. Mechanically it gives us a spontaneous divine spellcaster, and thematically it gives us a character that’s chosen by the gods, rather than choosing a god of their own. All of which is well and good, especially with some interesting new mechanics based around an oracle’s curse, mystery powers, and revelations…
But it’s nothing that Sigfriend Trent and Open Design can’t make better.
Advanced Feats: Visions of the Oracle is part of Open Design’s Advanced Feats series, each of which introduces 30 new feats as well as a class breakdown and several sample builds. In this book (as in all of them) the majority of the feats are thematically appropriate to the class in question, but only a few of them are specific to that class.
The book begins by examining the various parts of the class, weighing its strengths and weaknesses. We’re told about the class’s spellcasting potential versus its skills versus its multiclassing viability, for example. Each mystery is given a brief look as well, which was a nice bit of insight.
The real meat of the book is its feats, however. Designer Sigfriend Trent has beaucoup experience with feat design, being the editor behind the famous Netbook of Feats, and it shows here. Trent gives a few sentences of commentary on each feat, offering glimpses behind that curtain that make for great easter eggs.
Being that the oracle is a full-progression spellcasting class, many of the feats here deal with magic use in some regard. Magic Sense, for example, lets you automatically sense magic items and spell effects around you, and know exactly what a magical effect would have done if you successfully save against it. Tactical Spellcasting is basically the spellcaster’s equivalent of Spring Attack. Spell Retention lets you retain a spell if you fail a concentration check when trying to cast. These and others like them offer great new options for spellcasters.
Apropos of that, one-sixth of the feats in question are metamagic, ranging from things such as the general purpose Concentration Spell (increase your spell’s duration via concentration to the highly specific Spiritual Armaments Spell (create ghostly weapons/armor/equipment on undead that you create or summon). Beyond this, several feats deal with metamagic without being metamagic feats themselves. Scroll Metamagic lets you apply a metamagic feat to spells cast from a scroll, for instance.
Following this are three new example builds. Each build specifies a large number of the character variables you should choose to make a character that’s tailored toward a specific area of expertise. The Visionary Healer, for example, tells you what mystery, curse, feats, ability scores, etc. to take to be a powerful healing character. The Phoenix is a combination healer and fire-wielder, being able to blast foes with flame and revitalize allies. Finally, the Savage Seer is focused around the oracle’s battle abilities, being capable of dealing damage with sword or spell.
Overall, Visions of the Oracle provides a great mixture of feats for characters of all stripes, particularly spellcasters, and quite a few for the oracle specifically. If you’re overwhelmed by what to make your oracle character, pick up this book and receive a vision of what he could become.
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