#clockwork servant

In the Golarion setting, Pei Zin is an alchemical art from Tian Xia, its name translating to “The Process”. It is based around reagents derived mostly from herbs and other plant life, finding useful properties in the natural world, and is known for its particularly potent alchemical remedies.

Today’s archetype focuses on the divinely inspired few that can take Pei Zin to its fullest potential, blending in divine magic with herbal remedies, pushing them beyond the limits of biochemistry.

These Pei Zin Practitioners (or Divine Herbalists if you prefer the d20pfsrd setting-neutral name) are true masters of alchemical remedies, acupuncture, and the use of pressure points in healing, and when those don’t suffice, their spells can more than pick up the slack.

 Masters of herbal alchemy, these mystics can craft most any alchemical item from herbal components, and can identify even magical potions by hints of their herbal origin.

Though they already possess healing magics, the healing arts of these oracles are diverse, and with a touch, a quick jab to a pressure point, or a quickly applied alchemical remedy (aided by divine magic of course) these healers can restore lost vitality with a few quick touches.

Furthermore, when doing so, they can use those techniques to even alleviate various debilitating conditions as well, though they must use their skill in herbal medicine alongside their healing arts to do so. The more skilled they are, the more harmful the conditions they can cure, but failure means risking making their would-be patient sick.

So basically what we have here is an oracle with massive buffs to herbalism profession roles, the equivalent of lay on hands, and an equivalent to mercies, but instead of learning specific conditions to cure, they make dice rolls to see if they can cure them, with each class of malady having its own DC. If you’re looking for an extra-heal-y oracle that makes heavy use of herbalism for alchemy, more traditional herbal arts, and even the herbalism rules from Ultimate Wilderness, this archetype is for you. I recommend a build that focuses on support, buffs, and nature-based control.

 It’s important to note that since they replace wisdom with charisma for herbalism skill rolls, that the stereotype of the patient, soft-spoken healer type need not necessarily apply here. Certainly many with a public following might cultivate that persona, but they might be of the “I know more about healing than you do, now shut up, take your medicine, and if I see you getting up to go fight before your healed I’ll put you back in that bed before you can say ‘pinch of thyme’.”

  The daughter of the mayor has been cursed with unnatural sleep, and the town is too remote to have ready access to the expensive healing magic required to save her. However, they say a master herbalist of divine power lives in the forest to the south, but it is a forbidden place full of spirits and monsters.

 Blessed by the favor of the Green Goddess, Shou discovered wellsprings of healing magic and alchemy, brewing healing from plants overlooked by his contemporaries, but over time, he has also seen how his divine power can be used to punish the wicked, and the pacifistic vanara has developed reservations about the true nature of his blessing.

Not every martial art is about hitting things extremely hard. Some are more subtle, striking precisely to pick apart a foe at the seams with pressure points, pain, and debilitating aftereffects.

Most monks have access to the stunning fist technique, which can leave foes reeling or otherwise befuddled with various conditions meant to place them on the back foot, but those that master mantis style are especially good at this, deflecting blows with a whipping, hook-fingered stance and striking at the weak points.

Some, however, go beyond this, becoming fully devoted to mastering this singular style, unlocking greater secrets from it.

In the real world, there are technically two mantis styles, Northern, and the similar but unrelated Southern styles of Mantis Kung Fu. The mantis style feats in Pathfinder, and indeed this archetype, seem to be based more on the former.

Interestingly enough, the mantis style feats themselves are not automatically acquired by this archetype, so it is possible to take it without them, but given the focus of both, they synergize well together.

 The feints and deflections of these ascetics can leave foes wide open, and they are trained to take advantage of that, striking at the weak points of foes, dealing devastating pain and damage.

Furthermore, the blows of these martial artists are particularly debilitating, leaving their body unresponsive in various ways. Further, they can infuse such stunning strikes with ki to make the aftereffects last longer.

The most powerful among them can tune the vibrations of the quivering palm technique to knock out foes, rather than slay them, if they so choose to grant that mercy.

Built for unleashing stunning fist attacks followed by sneak attack damage, this monk archetype is built for shutting down foes and punishing them. If that interests you, this archetype begs to be paired with the mantis style chain, as well as improved feint and any other technique that lets them approach and lock foes into overwhelming combat. They lose out on a bunch of bonus feats though, so keep that in mind.

 Funnily enough, though we have the master of many styles, there are little in the way of archetypes devoted to exploring the intricacies of just one like this. Perhaps this archetype could serve as a basic template for other archetypes devoted to perfecting other styles, both drawn from earth lore and otherwise.

 A cunning warrior, the beastbrood tiefling Uriskar predicts his opponent’s strategy with his natural ability to read thoughts, and picks them apart with his graceful martial arts and precise strikes. However, he often refuses to fight more than a few times a day due his reliance on that ability. He can be convinced into a fight, however, by appealing to his rakshasa blooded ego.

 The nation of Yu Nasei has long been a place where warriors far and wide can come to test their skills against others, having basked in a lasting peace for nearly a century. Various monastic orders get in on the action by testing their combat styles against each other. However, recently the House of the Mantis has rediscovered secrets of further perfecting their art. This year, they may very well have the advantage, but who revealed this lost lore, and why?