Looking for help building your first champion and fusing the two Spheres systems together? You're in the right place. This page will walk you through the process of creating a character, including the process of selecting a concept and working to flesh it out. Note that this page assumes you know how to create characters under the normal rules of Pathfinder and how to create characters in both Spheres of Power and Spheres of Might. If you haven't used either of the two base systems before, you may have difficulty creating a viable character.
If you've never made a character before, ask your GM or a more experienced player to guide you through the process.
See also: How to Build a Practitioner and How to Build a Spherecaster. You should read both of these pages before reading this page.
Step One: Read the Using Champions of the Spheres page
This page introduces the Champions of the Spheres system and provides an overview of the three new classes, how Blended Training works, what Champion feats are, and how Unified Traditions work.
Step Two: Pick a Class and Theme
Before you start making a character, you need to figure out what kind of character you want to play. Champions of the Spheres is a particularly flexible system and supports a wide variety of concepts that mix martial and magical power together. If you don't have a good theme in mind, it will be much harder to create an effective character. As part of this, you may end up selecting one of the unified traditions (or making your own), which essentially describes your character's initial powers and training.
If you need inspiration, try looking at movies, television shows, artwork, or video games. Remember, Champions of the Spheres is all about having both martial and magical talents. If you're only looking for one side, you may be better off sticking with the base system.
If you'd like to stick with Paizo's classes, archetypes exist to convert some of them to champions.
If you'd like to use one of the new classes, here's a brief description of each, sorted alphabetically. "Casting and/or Practitioner Modifier" refers to the stat that determines saving throw difficulties - if 'Any', it can be Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma. As for martial and magic talents, remember that Experts have full progression, Adepts have middle progression, and Proficients have low progression for combat talents. Some classes don't have martial progression but still get talents - these are functionally high, mid, or low for power.
Class | Description | Casting and/or Practitioner Modifier | Martial Proficiency | Casting Proficiency |
---|---|---|---|---|
Crimson Dancer | The Crimson Dancer is a master of bloodletting, mixing their control of the liquid of life with deadly prowess on the battlefield. | Any Mental Score | High (see Blended Training) | Low |
Dragoon | The Dragoon forms a bond with a drake companion, acting in concert with them for greater power. This is a good class to play if you like dragons. The Dragoon is a 3PP class and is not official Spheres content. | Wisdom or Charisma | Mid (see Blended Training) | Mid |
Mountebank | Mountebanks are magical rogues who excel at stealth, guile, and social encounters. This is a good class to play if you want to be a magical rogue. The Mountebank is a 3PP class and is not official Spheres content. | Intelligence or Charisma | Mid (see Blended Training) | Mid |
Necros | The Necros is a master of undeath, channeling energy and raising a Corpse Puppet to do their bidding. This is a good class to play if you want a somewhat more martial necromancer. The Necros is a 3PP class and is not official Spheres content. | Intelligence or Charisma | Mid (see Blended Training) | Mid |
Prodigy | The Prodigy specializes in stringing together abilities in a sequence to unleash a powerful finisher. This is a good class to play if you like being flexible and pulling off elaborate combos. | Any Mental Score | Mid (see Blended Training) | Mid |
Reaper | The Reaper is an obsessed hunter who specializes in tracking and eliminating certain types of prey - all while falling more and more into a cult. This is a good class to play if you want to play an assassin of sorts. The Reaper is a 3PP class and is not official Spheres content. | Any Mental Score | High (see Blended Training) | Low |
Sage | The Sage is a monk-like class that can specialize in a variety of different fields. This is a good class to play if you have a role in mind and want to pull it off as an unarmored combatant. | Wisdom | Proficient | Low (see Style Talent) |
Troubadour | The Troubadour is a class that channels Personas to unleash talents appropriate for the task at hand. | Charisma | Proficient | Low |
Warden | The Warden is a defensive warrior who can protect their allies through various means. | Any Mental Score | High (see Blended Training) | Mid |
In addition to the main classes, Champions of the Spheres has archetypes for a number of existing classes. If you're looking for a generic magical warrior class, the closest options are the Martial Mageknight and the Mystic Magus.
Step Three: Decide Which Spheres To Use
Champions blend the martial and magical systems, but in many cases, they have strictly limited ability to invest in different options - especially at low levels. It's highly recommended that you outline your character's growth immediately after picking a class, counting the number of talents in each category you have. (Some talents can be used with either system.)
As a general rule, your goal at Level 1 should be to get a viable build for whatever role you're trying to play in the party. As part of this, take a look at the Unified Traditions and see if any of them, or an original tradition, will be enough to get your build started. It may take 2-3 levels to really get the build you want started, so for now, the main goal should be creating a character that's fun to play and can reasonably contribute to the party.
Also, be sure to avoid over-specializing. A Unified Tradition is approximately six talents/feats worth of abilities, but should include weapon and (potentially) armor proficiencies, magic talents, and martial talents. It can be tempting to try and put all of that into doing one thing well, but this is likely to lead to an unbalanced character who can't contribute very effectively outside of their specialty. If you're using an original tradition, your GM should evaluate it for balance.
Step Four: Select Some Drawbacks (Optional)
Champions of the Spheres allows drawbacks in the same way the base systems do. Given the often-limited number of talents you have to spread between the systems, Champions may find drawbacks more useful than Spherecasters and Practitioners.
(Note for Sages: General casting drawbacks apply to all of your ki powers. Some drawbacks, such as those requiring longer casting times, can be crippling for this class. Be careful when selecting drawbacks.)
Step Five: Fill Out Your Character Sheet
Once you've done all of the above, it's time to fill out your character sheet. Do this in the following order:
- Race
- Ability Scores
- Combat and Magic Talents
- Feats
- Skill Points
- Values (Saving Throws, Attack Modifiers, etc.)
You'll note that talents come fairly early in the process. This is because some talents provide the effects of feats or grant you skill points, so they should be selected before you pick anything for those categories.
Other Notes
- The same notes that apply to practitioners and spherecasters apply to champions. You may want to largely forego one side (usually magic talents) for a few levels, allowing you to get your combat build going.
- Remember that most champions have difficulty using martial and magical talents at the same time. It's often one or the other unless you take options (like the Energy Strike talent of the Destruction sphere) that are designed to mix weapons and magic. Keep your action economy in mind and consider limiting your selection of talents that require separate actions (especially during combat).
U: Part of Ultimate Spheres of Power and does not need to be bought separately from that book