Ah, time, that inexorable force that we cannot escape. Whether you believe that time is a stream, a branching path, or simply the sum of all events, one of the greatest fantasies out there is having even a tenuous handle on its flow. Travelling through time, altering its flow, even reversing or stopping it are all things that mortals have fantasized about doing.

Sadly, even in the system of Pathfinder, time travel remains out of reach save for the rarest of magical artifacts, or any of the strange denizens of the Dimension of Time like time dimensionals, the irii, and siktemporas. The manipulation of the flow, on the other hand, is achievable in short bursts. Spells like time shudder, slow, haste and time stop can accelerate, slow, or briefly almost stop the flow of time. Other spells like certain divinations look briefly into the future, while spells like temporal divergence allow the user to glimpse the effects of different spells in the immediate future and pick the best timeline accordingly, and temporal regression lets the spellcaster return their body and mind to a previous point, restored to their original position with new knowledge. And then there are even spells that call upon alternate reality versions of yourself that briefly threaten foes and provide aid as needed.

That list is by no means exhaustive, but the fact that those spells exist proves that time in Pathfinder is not immutable, and can be affected by those with the know-how. And where there is a form of magic, there are those who specialize in it.

Enter the chronomancer! These wizards study the esoteric nature of time itself in order to understand and master it. To what end is uncertain. Some may wish to alter the course of history, for good or evil, while others may seek knowledge lost to time.

Chronomancy is a hard to define specialization, as it can be unclear what divination spells are truly time magic, looking into the future or past, and it is almost certainly one of the most frustrating fields to work in due to how little is understood about time as a force and as a dimension. Even the tiniest breakthroughs are cause for celebration.

It is these breakthroughs that power the unique magic of the chronomancer, which we will see below.

 Forgoing an arcane school and several techniques they would otherwise learn, these mystics learn to foster a pool of energy within themselves that they can use to activate many minor temporal effects. These include gaining minor awareness of future events to improve their or an allies reaction to danger, rewinding the magic of a failed spell to cast it again later, accelerating a single creature, gaining greater control over contingent magic, and even, at the zenith of their abilities, calling upon an alternate self from another timeline to finish the fight should they die.

While this archetype only grants one ability with a myriad of uses, it is a doozy, granting some buffs to allies and themselves, as well as the ability to re-prepare spells similar to mage’s lucubration but with a caveat, and even various contingencies! While you are not required to take the various time-manipulating spells, they are available for thematic purposes. That being said, you should definitely take the contingency spell if you plan on playing the archetype at high level, setting up many a useful effect for emergencies. Beyond that, the exact build and spell choice is up to you. Just remember that you are missing out on extra school spells and school abilities.

 This archetype is associated with the multi-formed Fey Eldest Shyka The Many, but one does not need to be a worshipper or disciple of the fey demigod to take this path, though I imagine that many do honor him, or other masters of time.

Regardless, these mages may alternate between strangely knowledgeable to the point of being unnerving, to being intensely frustrated with the limitations imposed on them by linear time and by their own limited magic.

  With a flash of light and crack of thunder, an unexpected guest has appeared on the duchess’s breakfast table. The strange cecaelia had a curious accent and clothes of unknown make, and managed to elude the guards with magic that sped up and slowed down the world around her. If confronted about where she came from, she offers only the cryptic words “Time is not a river, it is an ocean.”

 Pursued from the outer planes to the material world, a mysterious wizard flees from the insectile fury of empusa outsiders. Whether they decide to help or hinder the mage, the mystery only grows when the mysterious box he was carrying breaks open, causing reality to warp and distort.