Primal Mage

It is said that the earliest blue mages were beings of a most primal nature, more like the monsters they dined upon than the men they claimed to be. As the times moved forward, the old ways of the blue magi changed with them. Where once power was taken by flesh, blood, and bone, now it could be simply experienced; learned by a different kind of absorption…less gruesome and terrifying to modern viewers. Yet no matter how much time has passed, man cannot ever fully remove their more primal and primitive impulses. It should then come to no one’s surprise that the most ancient order of magi still exists today. Though less common than they once were these most primal of mages still roam the world, feasting upon monsters of all sorts with teeth capable of shearing steel or scale, learning the magic of monster and machines.

The primal mage is an archetype of the blue mage class, available only to qu blue mages.

Archetype Main Ability Scores:
The primal mage mainly focuses on STR for martial combat, INT and CON for their class features, and INT for spellcasting.

Archetype Feature Replacements:
1st – MP, Creature Magic, Cantrips, Spell Proficiency, Blue Magery. 2nd – Azure Talent. 3rd – Analysis (Lucubrate). 4th – Azure Physical Training. 5th – Blue Magery. 7th – Analysis (Mettle). 8th – Azure Physical Training. 10th – Azure Talent. 9th –Blue Magery, Advantageous Opportunity. 11th – Analysis (Foreknowledge). 12th – Azure Physical Training. 13th – Blue Magery, Improved Advantageous Opportunity. 15th – Analysis (Flummox). 15th – Doublecast. 16th – Azure Physical Training. 17th –Blue Magery. 19th – Analysis (Puissance) 20th – Azure Physical Training, Azure Talent.

Limit Breaks (Su)

At 1st level, the primal mage receives the Limit Break (We Have the Meats).

We Have the Meats (Su): This Limit Break allows the primal mage for a duration of 1 round + 1 round per four blue mage levels after 1st to emulate 1 additional aspect of any of their currently activated indulgences, this extra aspect can go over the normal maximum aspect type. This limit break requires only a swift action.

These abilities replace the blue mage’s Limit Break (Scan Master).

Diminished Spellcasting

A primal mage gains fewer MP than normal equal to the spell level he gains. For example, a primal mage of 5th level would only have 6 MP excluding extra MP from Intelligence bonus.

Gourmet Magic

A primal mage has the power to gain new spells from creatures that have supernatural abilities by learning from them. The blue mage must devour the raw material of the slain creature that possesses an ability that he can learn. This does not require the whole creature; even eating its ashes or ‘other‘ remains will do. A primal mage begins play with 2 blue magic spells of his choice. These do not need to be of any particular level, however, a primal mage still cannot cast them until he is at the appropriate level (a GM has final veto power of which spells can be learned, a rule of thumb is that if the creature is legendary or one-of-a-kind, it’s not available). Unlike the other blue mages, a primal mage learns spells by eating a creature (unlike normal blue mages who can learn by observation). Any blue mage that is eaten grants the primal mage all their spells regardless of level. The target must be completely dead before the primal mage gains any spells, and by doing so they stop a normal raise spell from reviving the target as they eat parts of the body.

Once learned, the ability becomes a spell in the blue mage’s known spells list. This otherwise works the same as a normal blue mage.

To learn or cast a spell, the primal mage must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell level (Int 11 for 1st-level spells, Int 12 for 2nd-level spells, and so forth). The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a blue mage’s spell is 10 + the spell level + the primal mage’s Intelligence modifier. Primal mages do not gain additional spells for having a high attribute, nor do they gain spells per level.

This ability replaces creature magic.

Gourmand’s Maw (Ex)

At the 1st level, a primal mage gains a very powerful bite attack that often becomes the primal mage’s central weapon and tool. This bite deals damage as seen from the table below and adds one and a half times the primal mage’s Strength modifier to damage. Additionally, the primal mage may make use of the grab ability after a successful bite attack (including the +4 bonus on combat maneuver checks), and may attempt to swallow the target on following rounds, as per the rules for swallow whole.

A primal mage may attempt to swallow one target of Medium size or smaller. This size limitation, and the size limitation of grab, increases to Large at 5th level, Huge at 10th level, Gargantuan at level 15, and Colossal at level 20. A successfully swallowed target is placed in a stomach dimension and suffers earth damage equal to the primal mage’s bite attack every round as well as 1d4 earth damage. This earth damage increases by 1d4 at every odd level.

The primal mage’s stomach’s AC is 10 + any natural armor bonus possessed by the primal mage. This stomach has HP equal to 1/10 the primal mage’s HP + the primal mage’s level. A target that cuts their way free from the primal mage does not leave a hole, but is instead regurgitated by the primal mage into an adjacent square. A stomach that has been reduced to 0 HP cannot be used for 1d4 hours.

Eating a target at least one size category larger than the primal mage immediately causes the primal mage to become encumbered (resulting to be considered to having a heavy load; if already have a heavy load, then the primal mage is exhausted for the time being). This status can only be removed if the target is fully digested, escapes, or is used for the regurgitate class ability.

This ability replaces blue magery.

Indulgence (Ex)

The primal mage begins with a single Indulgence at 1st level and gains a new one every other level thereafter. An indulgence is used to store the essence of a meal, which the primal mage may use to gain certain feats, racial traits, special attacks, or spell-like abilities from a digested creature. An indulgence can store one essence from a single meal. Certain essence, may require the primal mage to possess other essence to function. Each type of essence is explained in further detail later.

This ability replaces spell proficiency, advantageous opportunity, and improved advantageous opportunity.

Digestion (Ex)

At 1st level, a primal mage who has defeated an opponent with his gourmand’s maw ability, either by the bite damage and then eaten or if the target dies due to the earth damage of swallow whole, may choose to digest them.

• Digestion requires 8 hours of rest, at the end of which the target’s body is absorbed by the primal mage, and he may choose one ability from them.
• A primal mage must have at least one indulgence to use digestion.
• Upon gaining a level, a primal mage may choose to change the abilities granted by any of his meals.
• The primal mage may also choose to fully digest a meal, freeing up an indulgence, but losing any benefits it may have previously granted.
• A primal mage cannot digest any foe with hit die (HD) exceeding his blue mage level by four or more and regurgitates the target into a square adjacent to them on the following round after being swallowed.
• Any magical items on a meal digested by a primal mage are automatically expelled once digestion is complete. Mundane items are destroyed.

This ability replaces cantrips, but the primal mage gains the detect magic and read magic cantrips. He can cast either of these as 1st-level spells.

Meal Essence: A digested meal has several traits that make up their essence. A primal mage can draw upon these to increase his strength, defense, and even grant him special abilities. Certain types of essence may only be equipped when the primal mage is strong enough to control it. In the same way, some essence may only offer a partial bonus until requirements are met.

Table: Aspect Restrictions

Level	Maximum Aspect Types*	Max Natural Armor Bonus	Max Damage Reduction	Allowed Immunities	Usable Attacks & Special Abilities	Usable Movement & Speed
1st	1	+1	+1	Sleep effects	Natural attacks	30 ft.
2nd	1	+1	+1	Deafness	—	30 ft.
3rd	1	+2	+3	Blindness, hunger	Special attacks Extraordinary (Ex)	40 ft. Swim
4th	2	+2	+3	Nauseated	—	40 ft.
5th	2	+3	+3	Fear, shaken, bleed, charm	Special attacks Supernatural (Su)	40 ft. Climb
6th	2	+3	+5	Staggered, dazed	—	50 ft.
7th	3	+4	+5	Paralysis, drowning	—	50 ft. Fly (average)
8th	3	+4	+5	Mind-affecting	—	50 ft.
9th	3	+5	+5	Poison, disease	—	60 ft.
10th	3	+5	+10	Earth, fire, ice, lightning, water, wind	—	60 ft. Burrow
11th	4	+6	+10	Petrification, gaze attacks	—	60 ft.
12th	4	+6	+10	Stun, holy, shadow	—	70 ft.
13th	4	+7	+10	Channel energy	—	70 ft.
14th	4	+7	+10	Level drain, ability drain	—	70 ft.
15th	4	+8	+15	Precision damage, critical hits	—	80 ft. Any
16th	5	+8	+15	Non-elemental	—	80 ft.
17th	5	+9	+15	Spells, magic	—	80 ft.
18th	5	+9	+15	Death effects	—	90 ft.
19th	5	+10	+15	Weapon damage	—	90 ft.
20th	5	+10	+20	Any	—	100 ft.

*The primal mage may only have so many of a single type of aspect. Types include: damage reduction, feats, immunity, languages, natural armor, natural attacks, resistances, senses, skills, special attacks, speed, and spell resistance.

• Damage Reduction (DR): A primal mage may choose one form of damage reduction if it is available. For example, if the creature has DR 10 vs cold iron or evil, he would have to choose between having DR 10 vs cold iron, or DR 10 vs evil.
• Feats: A primal mage may choose to take any one feat possessed by the slain creature. They are still required to meet the feats prerequisites.
• Immunity: A primal mage may choose one aspect of immunity if it is available from the slain creature. For example if the creature is immune to both lightning and petrification, the primal mage may choose to become immune to either lightning or petrification.
• Languages: A primal mage gains every language possessed by the slain creature. This includes additional communication methods like telepathy.
• Natural Armor: A primal mage may choose to equip a slain creature’s natural armor. This bonus does not stack with natural armor granted by spells or spell-like abilities. In such a case, the primal mage uses the higher armor bonus.
• Natural Attacks: A primal mage may choose to take the aspect of any natural attack possessed by the slain creature. The damage dealt by this attack is always the same as the creature’s, minus any feats that increase their damage. For example, a barghest has a x2 claw attack that deals 1d4+4 damage, so the primal mage can gain one claw that deals 1d4 damage with any additional effects, such as grab. After acquiring a natural melee attack, it may manifest physically on the primal mage’s body. In the case of the barghest’s claws, the primal mage would gain a wicked limb of sharp digits.
  • If a creature has multiple of the same type of natural attack, like the barghest, they can use up an additional aspect slot to acquire the additional attacks, 2 in the case of the 2 claws, to the normal aspect type limit.
• Resistances: A primal mage may choose one type of elemental resistance if it is available. For example if the slain creature has ice and fire resistance 10, he may choose a resistance of 10 to ice or fire. You cannot select “strong” resistances that state 50%.
• Senses: A primal mage can choose any of the following senses if the slain creature possessed them: all-around vision, blindsight, darkvision, lifesense, low-light vision, and scent.
• Skills: The primal mage may select any skill mentioned in the monster’s entry, or that a character had ranks in. She gains a bonus equal to one half her blue mage level on all checks with that skill. Additionally, the primal mage is treated as if they were trained in that skill.
• Special Attacks: At 3rd level, a primal mage may choose to take a creature’s extraordinary special attacks. Starting at 5th level he may take supernatural special attacks. For instance, a behir has a breath weapon (20-foot line), that deals 7d6 lightning damage, with a reflex (DC 20) save for half, which can be used every 1d4 rounds. It also has a rake with 6 claws that deal 1d4+6 damage each. The primal mage may choose to equip the aspect of any one of these special attacks.
• Speed: A primal mage may choose one type of movement or speed the slain creature possessed. For example, if the creature had a movement speed of 40 feet and a fly speed of 100 feet; the primal mage could choose to overwrite his old base speed with the new one. Or he could choose to gain a fly speed of 100 feet. Additionally, no matter how good the slain creature’s fly maneuverability (poor, average, good, perfect), the primal mage may only ever have a fly maneuverability of average or lower.
• Spell Resistance (SR): A primal mage may choose to take a creature’s spell resistance as his own if it is available. If he takes another soul with spell resistance, they do not stack, he uses the greater of the two.

Example: At level 7, with 4 different creatures in your indulgence slots, you can have up to 4 different aspects with a limit of 1 per indulgence/creature. These aspects cannot exceed the limit per column, so you can only have 3 types of Damage Reduction or 3 different natural attacks.
If the creatures you have set in your indulgences have the following, you could have an array that consists of: 4 Natural Armor, DR 3/- and 4/cold iron and 5/adamantine; or immunity to the sleep, deafened, and blinded status effects and 1 natural attack.

Iron Stomach (Ex)

Primal mages can survive where few others can, drinking from poisoned, diseased wells and eat nothing but dirt and dry leaves. A primal mage can take substance from anything it sticks in its mouth no matter how toxic and terrible tasting it is. At 2nd level, a primal mage gains immunity to all ingested poisons or diseases and can eat or drink just about anything to sate himself of hunger or thirst at no penalty.

This ability replaces an azure talent gained at 2nd level.

Regurgitate (Ex)

At 3rd level, a primal mage who begins his turn with a swallowed creature may choose to take a standard action to spit it at a nearby target, dealing bludgeoning damage. This is a ranged attack with a range increment of 20 feet that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. The attack deals 1d6 damage, increasing by 1d6 for each size category above Medium the regurgitated creature is. The regurgitated creature suffers this damage as well, but may make a Reflex save (DC of 10 + half of the blue mage’s level + his Constitution modifier). Success results in half damage, while failure results in the regurgitated creature landing prone.

Additionally, the primal mage may make a special regurgitate attack as a 10-ft.-cone breath weapon, that deals earth damage. This does not require the primal mage to have a swallowed target, and instead deals damage equal to the earth component of his swallow whole damage (1d4 at 1st level), plus his Constitution modifier.

The primal mage may make a standard regurgitate attack any time he has a creature held in his stomachs, however he may only use his earth breath a number of times per day equal to 1 + his Constitution modifier (if any).

This ability replaces analysis.

Sharpened Teeth (Ex)

At 4th level and every four levels thereafter, a primal mage’s bite attack can penetrate a new kind of damage reduction based on their level

At 4th level, the primal mage’s bite is treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming DR.

At 8th level, the primal mage’s bite is treated as silver and cold Iron for the purpose of overcoming DR.

At 12th level, the primal mage’s bite is treated as adamantine for the purpose of overcoming DR and bypassing hardness.

At 16th level, the primal mage’s bite is treated as the character’s alignment for the purpose of overcoming DR.

At 20th level, the primal mage’s bite is treated as epic for the purpose of overcoming DR.

This ability replaces azure physical training.

Empowered Digestion 1 (Ex)

Starting at 10th level, the primal mage receives several benefits. First, the dice used for both his swallow whole earth damage as well as his regurgitate bonus damage are increased from d4s to d6s. Second, the time needed to digest a meal is reduced to one hour of rest and the time needed for a stomach to recover from being brought to 0 HP is reduced to 1d4 minutes. Additionally, a primal mage may choose to expel any mundane items from a meal that is completely digested. Finally, the primal mage may choose to enhance his regurgitate ability with one benefit from the following list:

• Forceful (Ex): The primal mage expels his meal with tremendous force, dealing additional bludgeoning damage equal to his bite to the target and regurgitated meal.
• Lingering (Ex): Any target that suffers earth damage from the primal mage’s regurgitate ability suffers additional earth damage equal to the primal mage’s Constitution score on the following round.
• Lobbed (Ex): The primal mage can regurgitate over much longer distances, tripling the range increment for this ability.
• Splashing (Ex): The Constitution-based damage from the primal mage’s regurgitate ability is dealt as a splash to all targets within 5-feet of the primary target.

This ability replaces an azure talent gained at 10th level.

Empowered Digestion 2 (Ex)

At 15th level, the primal mage receives another set of improvements. First, primal mages receive a second stomach, capable of holding an additional target of his swallow whole ability. This second stomach functions identically to the first. Swallowed targets in either stomach cannot interact with each other, a target escaping from either stomach is immediately ejected as normal, and a swallowed target larger than the primal mage in either stomach causes the primal mage to suffer the encumbered status. Stomachs reduced to 0 hit points now recover in 1d4 rounds. Finally, the primal mage may select a second ability from the regurgitate benefit list. This ability stacks with the first selected ability, but the same benefit may not be selected twice.

This ability replaces doublecast.

The World’s a Feast (Ex)

At 20th level the primal mage’s powers reach his pinnacle. He receives two additional stomachs, and no longer suffer from encumbrance penalties when swallowing larger targets. Additionally, any target that ends its turn in a primal mage’s stomach is subjected to 1d4 points of temporary Constitution damage as the primal mage absorbs some of their essence.

This ability replaces an advanced azure talent gained at 20th level.