Palatine Detective (Class Archetype)

Whether at the invitation of a senior member of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, after going through a rigorous sorting process, or by a twist of fate, you recently underwent a secret ritual involving The Lost Gospels of Tabris that granted you a greater understanding of both the divine and the occult. Not even you are certain of the origin or purpose of the forces that have granted you these abilities, but you know the key to answering that question and expanding your power lies hidden behind the cryptic words of the many ancient texts still waiting to be discovered and examined. If you choose this class archetype, you must select Palatine Detective Dedication as your 2nd-level class feat.

Prerequisites: You must be an investigator. You are affiliated with the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye.

Palatine Detective Adjustments: Instead of choosing a methodology from others available to the investigator class, you have the esoterica methodology (see below).

Esoterica Methodology

You become trained in Occultism or Religion, and you gain the Quick Identification skill feat. In addition, choose one common cantrip from the divine spell list and one common cantrip from the occult spell list. You can cast those spells as innate spells at will. You become trained in the spell attack modifier and spell DCs statistics. Intelligence is your spellcasting attribute.

Your study of a variety of esoteric texts and supernatural matters has broadened your mind and improved your spellcasting. Choose a 1st-rank occult or divine spell. You can cast this spell once per day as an innate spell. At 6th level, you gain a 2nd-rank spell of the same tradition you chose, and at 8th level, you gain a 3rd-rank spell, also of that tradition.

Special You can take this feat a second time, choosing spells from the other available tradition.

Thanks to your constant involvement with cryptic texts, you have attained an almost-supernatural ability to decipher complex codes and understand ancient writings. You can always use Occultism or Religion when you Decipher Writing, no matter the subject matter. In addition, you can ignore language constraints when Deciphering Writing, and when you critically fail to Decipher Writing, you get a failure instead.

You have found yourself facing supernatural beings often and have learned how to combat them. Whenever you Devise A Stratagem against a creature about which you could Recall Knowledge using Occultism or Religion, you can make the subsequent Strike against that creature as if the weapon has either a Ghost Touch or Vitalizing property rune.

Frequency once per day

Trigger A creature you can see Casts a Spell that is from the divine or occult tradition.

Requirements The triggering caster must be able to hear and understand you.

Your deep grasp of the mystical lets you know exactly what to say to make others doubt how well they understand the source of their own power.

Attempt a counteract check against the triggering spell. Your counteract rank is half your level rounded up. You use your Occultism modifier as your counteract modifier if the triggering spell is from the occult tradition, or your Religion modifier if the triggering spell is from the divine tradition.

If you successfully counteract the spell, the caster becomes Stupefied 1 until the end of their next turn.

Your strikes are particularly deadly against supernatural creatures. Whenever you deal precision damage with Strategic Strike to a creature about which you have successfully used Occultism or Religion to Recall Knowledge, you deal an additional 2d6 precision damage with your strategic strike.

Frequency once per day

Using various implements and esoteric methods, you can attempt to remove a curse from an unfortunate victim. It takes 10 minutes to perform these rites on a willing creature, who must remain within your reach the entire time.

Attempt to counteract one curse afflicting the creature; your counteract rank is half your level rounded up, and you use either your Occultism or Religion modifier as your counteract modifier. If the afflicted creature or the individual who placed the curse on the afflicted creature is the target of your active investigation through Pursue a Lead, you gain a +1 circumstance bonus to this counteract check.

If the curse comes from a cursed item or other external source, a success indicates that the target creature can rid itself of the cursed item, but it doesn't remove the curse from the item.

Frequency once per day

Thanks to your diligence in the study of divine and occult mysteries, you can focus to temporarily attain a perception beyond the ordinary. A lightless flame appears in the center of your forehead. For 1 minute, you gain the benefits of a See The Unseen spell.

In addition, when you attempt a Strike during this time against a creature about which you could Recall Knowledge using Occultism or Religion, the attack ignores circumstance penalties to the attack roll and any flat check required due to the target being Concealed or Hidden.

Your understanding of magic has evolved, and so has your spellcasting. You become an expert in the spell attack modifier and spell DC statistics. Also, choose a tradition from which you can cast innate spells due to the Esoteric Spellcasting feat. You also gain a 4th-rank spell of that tradition as an innate spell you can cast once a day. At 12th level, you gain a 5th-rank spell, and at 14th level, you gain a 6th-rank spell, both of the same tradition.

Special You can take this feat a second time, choosing a different eligible tradition.