the murder nerds

I’ve been playing the Skull and Shackles adventure path in Pathfinder, and one of the players in the group is an Oracle. I was thinking about offering to convert the whole thing to 5e (because it’s simply better), and assumed that the Oracle would have to be changed to a Cleric, or maybe Favoured Soul using the latest Unearthed Arcana.

But then I thought: why not convert it properly? So here’s the first draft of my 5e Oracle class! I’m only doing the first 5 levels to start with, and I’d appreciate as much feedback as possible.

The Oracle

Proficiencies and That

Hit Dice: 1d8 per level

Armour: Light armour

Weapons: Simple weapons

Saving Throws: Wisdom, Intelligence

Skills: Choose two from History, Insight, Investigation, Medicine, Nature and Religion

Level	Prof	Features	Cantrips	Spells Known	Spell Slots	Slot Level
1st	+2	Oracle’s Curse, Revelation Magic	2	2	1	1st
2nd	+2	Spiritual Guidance	2	3	2	1st
3rd	+2	Oracle’s Mystery	2	4	2	2nd
4th	+2	Ability Score Improvement	3	5	2	2nd
5th	+3	Mystery Feature	3	6	2	3rd

Features

Oracle’s Curse

The divine power that flows through you grants you power, but comes at a cost. At character creation you must choose a Curse. As the this curse is supernatural in origin, it cannot be overcome or cured with magic (such as greater restoration).

Blind – You are blind, but your spiritual power has allowed you to open your third eye. You have Blindsight to 60ft, but are blind beyond this radius. At level 11 you gain  30ft Truesight.

I’m really dubious as to how powerful blindsight is on a character (I would say that it negates invsibility, but you can still sneak past them the old fashioned way). Blindness can render you immune to a bunch of spells and abilities (especially charms and illusions), but it also means you don’t get an advantage from things like faerie fire and guiding bolt. Truesight might be a bit much, but I love the feel of the blind oracle who sees all.

Deaf – You are deaf, but you have learned to affect the weave in silence. You have disadvantage on Dexterity(Stealth) and initiative checks (unless the DM rules otherwise), but cast all spells without verbal components. At level 11 you gain 30ft Tremorsense, and no longer have disadvantage on initiative.

As with blindness, deafness can be an advantage as you’re now immune to spells like command or viscous mockery (probably?). Also, I’d automatically allow the player and party to lipread/sign well enough to communicate between them, otherwise the game is just no fun.

Lame – Your legs don’t work well, but this has taught you to move in new ways. Your speed is reduced by 10ft, but you may cast gaseous form, meld with stone or waterwalk once per short rest without using a spell slot. At level 11 you gain a flying speed of 10ft.

Sick – You are afflicted by a wasting disease which leaves you weak, but resistant to other sicknesses. You have disadvantage on constitution saves, but resistance to poison damage. At level 11 you gain immunity to poison and disease.

Really unsure about this one, I might just remove it. I just wanted to avoid the ‘ugly sick people’ trope, and have it make the character weaker rather than uglier. But disadvantage on Con saves might be brutal, even with an added resistance.

Revelation Magic

Same as pact magic from warlock. Wisdom is your spellcasting modifier.

I’m not sure about the class’s spell list here, I’m thinking I’ll just use the Cleric’s. Does access to the Cleric spell list and short-rest spell slots break anything?

Spiritual Guidance

You gain the ability to call on your divine connection to offer assistance to your allies. Your may use this Spiritual Guidance a number of time per day equal to your Wisdom modifier.

At level 2 you may use your reaction to expend one use of Spiritual Guidance and give one of your allies within 60ft advantage on their attack roll, ability check or saving throw.

Your Oracle archetype adds more options for Spiritual Guidance.

I wanted to give the class a clear ‘support’ role, where they can use their divine power to aid their allies, in ways that aren’t just healing.

Oracle’s Mystery (Archetypes)

At level 3, you choose which mystery to pursue: mind, body or spirit:

Mind – you gain one Wizard or Oracle cantrip of your choice. In addition you gain an expanded spell list (see table). The spells count as Oracle spells for you and may be chosen as part of your spells known.

Body – you gain proficiency with medium armour, shields, and martial weapons. In addition you learn a ritual that creates a magical bond between yourself and one weapon… [the thing that Eldritch Knights get].

Spirit – you gain one additional Oracle cantrip of your choice, and you always know the spells Cure Wounds and Inflict Wounds, these do not count against your spells known. In addition you gain an expanded spell list (see table) blah blah blah.

Spell Level	Mind	Spirit
1st	Magic Missile, Mage Armour	Charm Person, Heroism
2nd	Invisibility, Magic Weapon	Misty Step, Suggestion
3rd	Fireball, Lightning Bolt	Aura of Vitality, Fear

How many spells should you give a class? To a certain extent I don’t think it will really matter for this, as it will be limited by the ‘spells known’. Should the body archetype have an expanded spell list too? (maybe some smite spells?)

5^th level Archetype Feature

Mind – You may expend one use of Spiritual Guidance when you cast a spell to give a number of creatures equal to your Wisdom modifier disadvantage on the saving throw.

Body – You may attack twice when you take the attack action. In addition you may, as a reaction, expend one use of Spiritual Guidance to give an enemy within 60ft disadvantage on one of its attack rolls this turn.

Spirit – You may, as a bonus action, expend one use of Spiritual Guidance to target one creature currently making death saves. They immediately regain consciousness, stand up, and heal a number of hit points equal to your Oracle level.

So what do you think? It’s only a first draft, so everything is subject to change, but I feel like I’ve captured the ‘feel’ of the Pathfinder class while still fitting it into the 5e design philosophy.