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.

What is more mysterious than an Oracle? It is the turn of the Oracle character class to come under the microscope: no mere list of feats but a detailed look at the potentials and options available to players who fancy being an Oracle.

We begin with an overview of the class as a whole, discussing the salient points of an Oracle. It's an interesting class, a spontaneous caster but divine rather than arcane (the answer to those of us who mutter that surely our deities would never let us choose the wrong spells for the day...), with many opportunities for the role-player as they tend to be good socially as well as with that air of mystery! Speaking of mysteries, your choice here sets the flavour of the whole character, affecting him in terms of game mechanics as well as laying the seeds for role-playing and characterisation. As they are so important, there's a thumb-nail sketch of each one, to aid your choice based on just what kind of oracle you would like to play. Oracles are well set up for defence, if offensive capability is desired crafty choices of mystery (Battle is good, or an elemental one) can prove an advantage. Oracles will tend to specialise in something, but that thing they can generally do very well indeed.

On to the feats, a full 30 of them. Many can, of course, be taken by any character although they are aimed at oracles. Some present novel variations to combat - for example Armed Touch Casting allows you to extend the range of a 'touch' spell by using a melee weapon to deliver it, with the added bonus of doing the normal weapon damage as well as whatever effect the spell has! (Shades of a wizard I knew back in AD&D days, who delivered shocking grasp down a staff carefully prepared with bands of copper along its length.) A grumpy Oracle might enjoy the Mystic Retribution feat, which allows you to lash out with residual magical energy at anyone who disturbs your concentration whilst you are spellcasting. And for those who want to take the title 'oracle' literally (and whose GM agrees) there's a Prophetic Dreamer feat, as well as the ability to make ordinary divination spells more effective. Overall, the feats are combat-oriented, and careful choices can enhance your Oracle's capability considerably. There are interesting notes about the inclusion and design of several which make fascinating reading especially if you enjoy devising your own feats, giving you points to ponder.

Finally, the suggested 'builds' taking your Oracle in a path from 1st level depending on what you intend him to become as he gains more power. The options presented are a Visionary Healer, the Phoenix and the Savage Seer. The Visionary Healer is better than most clerics at healing, and adds the divinatory powers and other abilities of the class, definitely a good build for a strong role-player who cares about the people encountered in his travels, or seeks to champion the people of a township in which he settles. The Phoenix utilises the elemental power of fire, and can do damage any pyromanic would be proud of, while having considerable social skills - well beyond the "It was on fire when I got here" that most use to evade responsibility for the blazes that they have caused. The Savage Seer is a battle-monster, dealing tremendous amounts of damage with both weapons and spells. Great potential for a memorable character in any of these, or inspiration in planning your own career as an Oracle.

Well up to the standard of earlier books, and invaluable if you want to play a well-developed Oracle in a lasting campaign.