Brewer's Guide to The Jargonaut (Words of Power Oracle)

... or: Getting Over Your Depression.

The Words of Power system is pretty spotty. It doesn't include a lot of the really powerful spells (good luck trying to
teleport your party away from danger). And while some classes can make it work well, others just look... depressing.
And of all the classes, Oracle looks to be one of the most depressing. They don't get a whole lot of decent words, and
what they do get can't really be combined with other words to generate unique effects. Wizards can combine Wrack and
Acid Wave to create a unique debuff, or combine Fire Blast with Lightning Blast to create a blast spell with an extremely
high damage cap. The Oracle? Well... you can combine Resist Energy with a Bull's Strength. Yay.
Words of Power gives all these cool toys to play with, but doesn't give them to the Oracle. The problem is: you're
expecting too much. Let me show you the core of a Jargonaut:
A) Standard Action Summoning
B) The Undeath Effect Word
... that's it. And that's enough to turn you into an exceptionally powerful character. So let's forget about everything that
was lost and build something awesome out of those few gems you did get.

A Quick Fly-By of the Words of Power System

I'm not going to go too far into how the Words of Power system works because, really, you're not going to be using very
much of it - almost all of your stuff will work the exact same way.
Words of Power involves a Target Word, one or more Effect Words, and possibly some Meta words.
Target Words are basically just that: specifying what your spell will effect. There are a lot of options available, but
there's no need to get very far into them. 95% of the spells you cast will have the same target word: Selected. What's
important to understand is Selected is a short-range spell - there's no such thing as a "touch" spell when it comes to your
magic. This is very important, for a lot of different reasons.
Effect Words will specify what the spell actually does. You can combine Effect Words according to a table, but again,
this isn't something you really need to worry about. You really don't have a lot of spells that even really combine together
very well - to combine spells, they have to have compatable areas (so you can't combine a Paralyze Person spell with a
Fog spell) and they take the shortest duration among effects (so you can't combine a Fog spell with a blast spell.)
Jargonauts sometimes combine spells, but the vast bulk of the time, they're either summoning or reanimating the dead.
Meta Words are optional free bits of metamagic. You get a smattering of these each day (half your character level).
Some will be the "Lengthy" word to make your summons last twice as long. But a number of them will be "Boost" on the
Selected word - it lets you hit multiple targets with a single-target spell (though it raises the spell level by 3.)
And as a final note: the Words of Power spells don't have material components and they're all Standard Actions to cast.
Jargonaut Character Concept
So, let's take a look at our two tools we have to work with:
Servitor Spells. Basically, Summon Monster... with two major differences. You can't easily use them to summon
multiple monsters (bad), but you can use it as a standard action (amazing.)
Undeath. So imagine taking the Animate Dead spell. It's a 3rd level Oracle spell which requires a costly material
component (25 gp per HD of the monster) of a specific shape/size (a single gemstone of a specified market value) of a
type that is going to draw questions upon purchasing (good luck buying large Onyx gems in any good-aligned town.) And
when it's all said and done, you have to walk up to the creature you're Animating and touch it. Gee... wouldn't it be nice if
we removed that material component all together, as well as let you do it 30+ foot away from your target - and as a way of
balancing it out, changed it to an Oracle 2nd level spell instead of 3rd?
In fact, Undeath is so good, you're not going to use it like a regular Necromancer. Regular Necromancers keep close
guard of their minions, working hard to keep them alive, to string them from one battle to the next. That's because they
have to spend money on every single thing they reanimate - they simply can't afford to toss away skeletons and zombies
every battle.
Not you. If you're in a battle with four beasts, as soon as one of them drops, you cast Undeath on it. Why not? It doesn't
cost you anything and you're getting a ridiculous amount of power out of a second level spell. After the battle, you might
decide to just put the undead minion back out of its misery. You don't need to walk around with a throng of undead -
unless you really need the oomph for your next battle, you're not losing out by tossing them in the bin when you're done
with them. Plus, it really helps not having to walk from town to town with a horde of skeletons at your heels. When it’s
all said and done, you’ll find yourself using Undeath more like an alternative to Summon Monster than traditional
necromancy.fx

Anyway, the Servitor Spells and the Undeath Effect Word have some important things in common. Neither of them
depend on your spellcasting stat. An oracle with a Charisma of 14 can cast them just as well as one with a Charisma of
34. Neither really want you to spend a whole lot of feats on them - Undeath doesn't really need any, and Servitor just
wants the standard Spell Focus + Augment Summoning. That's two feats to pull off your core spellcasting, leaving you a
whole bunch of feats at your discretion.
This all points to a martial character. You don't need impressive mental stats, so why not pimp out your physical ones?
You have all sorts of feats to play with, so why not take the ones that will turn you into a real martial character?
But not just any martial character. One of my previous guides, the Reach Cleric, exploited the synergy between Attacks of
Opportunity and Standard Action summons. Well, why not do that here as well? Enter the Jargonaut: an Oracle that
spends their turn summoning up something nasty and slices up the enemy during their turn.
A Quick Word on Combat Oracles and This Guide
I'm not going to spend a whole lot of effort going over the various ways you can build a Combat Oracle. Mostly because
it'd just be retyping a lot of the good advice given in a previous Oracle Guide (google "Oracle Guide" and look for an
entry on "Channeling the Cosmos"). If there's anything here you wish was a bit more detailed, I highly recommend you
give that guide a look - it will go over everything in more detail.
Just be aware that there are a few differences between that guide and this one. This guide is focused solely on a polearm
wielding Oracle, so some of the advice on stats, race, mysteries, etc will be unique. For instance some races and
mysteries are marked as being good for "Warrior Oracles", but that's because they give teeth or claws - not something that
really helps you out.

Jargonaut Stats
Your initial stat spread will be pretty tight. Strength is a Primary Stat, but you also want 14 or so in three other stats. This
means that you will be dumping Intelligence and Wisdom pretty low, just to get things to work.
After Racial Stats, you're looking for something like Str 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 7, Wis 8, Cha 14. If you've got extra
points to play with, your main focus should be improving Strength or Constitution. If you have to let something suffer,
taking Dexterity down to 12 isn't a big problem.

Your Race
You've actually got strict requirements when it comes to Race. It can't have a Strength penalty. It can't have a penalty to
Dexterity, Constitution, or Charisma unless it has a bonus to Strength.
Take Drow, for instance. It seems like a good deal - bonuses in two tertiary stats and a penalty in the third. The problem
is, that means instead of buying 14/14/14 in those three stats (15 total points), the Drow buys 12/12/16 (14 total points.)
That swap-out is almost completely a wash - it only saves a single point. Getting a +2 to Strength, though, saves a
whopping 5 points.
The two places you should start by default should be Human and Half-Elf. They give you your bonus to Strength and
have nice perks to go with it.
Humans and Their Favored Class Bonus
Humans get an incredible alternative Favored Class Bonus with Oracles: they get to learn an additional spell at the cost of
a single hit point.
However, this is complicated by the Words of Power system. Do they learn regular spells or effect words? This is
something you'll have to talk over with your GM, because there are rules that point either way.
If the GM rules that you get an additional effect word? You should just grab the hit point almost every level. There aren't
that many effect words at each level, and you'll probably have no problem picking up the ones you want as you continue
through your career. About the only exception is the 5 th level, which has 5-7 words worth picking up (and you’ll only
know 4 at most.)
If the GM rules that you get an additional regular spell? Awesome! You're probably going to be picking up a regular
Cleric spell every other character level. Some of the ones you'll immediately want to consider are: Light, Bless, Divine
Favor, Dispel Magic, Prayer, Divine Power, Breath of Life, and Heal.

Your Archetype
The only Archetype you're going to want to look at is Dual-Cursed. In general, the benefits far outweigh the downsides.
Here's what you're looking at:
Bonus Spells. Generally, a trade-down. The 1st level is the most important bonus spell, because that's where the Words of
Power system is lightest for oracles. While Ill Omen is an okay spell, it's definitely not in the same league as Enlarge
Person.
A Second, Non-Improving Curse. This generally isn't a huge issue. The Wasting Curse, for instance, doesn't have a
drawback severe enough that you don't care whether you ever improve upon it. A good starting place for two curses is
Wasting (never improves) and Lame.
Misfortune Ability: Absolutely, positively amazing. Basically reads: your party will almost never have a critical hit land
against them.
Fortune Ability: Quite a bit less impressive than Misfortune, since you can't use it nearly as often. That said, it's still
awesome.
Extra Revelations: Very solid, especially if you're playing a low-to-mid level character - where you'll be agonizing over
which revelations you have to leave until a later level.
Your Curse
Lame. Of all the curses, this is one of the easiest to counteract - it's not terribly difficult to get a speed increase. The 10th
level ability is pretty solid, too, letting you wear whatever armor you want without impacting your strength. This works
really well with Battle Mystery's Skill at Arms Revelation.
Wasting. Probably the "mildest" curse, giving you a debuff in an area you probably won't care about anyway (you're not
playing a party face, especially with a Words of Power Oracle.) This is definitely the "non-improving" curse you want if
you're going Dual-Cursed, since the benefits you get at level-ups really aren't all that impressive.
Tongues. This one isn't too bad, especially if your group doesn't talk a whole lot during combat. The effect goes away
quite a bit at 10th level - at that point, the only restriction is that you can't do the talking during combat (you can still
understand what your partymates are saying.)

Your Mystery
Like I said, I'm not going to go too far into how to build a Battle Oracle. Instead, I'll just point you to the Battle Mystery,
which is probably the best option for a Jargonaut - if you're interested in other options, take a browse through the
"Channeling the Cosmos" guide I mentioned earlier. In general, the Words of Power system really isn't going to change
what makes a "Battle Oracle With A Polearm" good or bad - it's just going to make their spellcasting much more relevant.
The Battle Mystery gives you a number of important things:
- Perception as a class skill.
- Enlarge person as a 1st level spell
- Some really good Revelations.
You should be looking at the Revelations in roughly this order:
1st Revelation: Skill At Arms. This lets you pick up whatever Martial Reach weapon you want, as well as don the
heaviest armors. Although it might seem like you can wait to grab this (nothing's stopping you from starting out at level 1
with a Longspear and Chainshirt), you need to take this before the Weapon Mastery Revelation.
2nd Revelation: Weapon Mastery. Early on, this is just a Weapon Focus feat - but it gets better at 8th, and insane at 12th
(at that point, it's basically three solid martial feats rolled into one.) Still, despite it "only" being Weapon Focus early on,
that's still probably good enough to warrant taking before the 8th level bonus kicks in.
3rd Revelation: Surprising Charge. This is good enough that you might consider taking it at first level, pushing back
Skill at Arms and Weapon Mastery. Getting a 20 ft or 30 ft move as an immediate action is extremely good, and has all
sorts of uses. You can use it defensively, retreating to thwart a charge at you. You can use it protectively, blocking a
charge at the party wizard. You can use it offensively, getting a free Attack of Opportunity. The uses are endless.
4th Revelation: War Sight. Of all the different casters, you're probably the one that minds losing initiative the least,
especially early on. Nothing is funnier than getting ambushed by three bandits... only to kill them all before your turn
because they ran into your Attacks of Opportunity. Later on, though, you definitely want to be summoning things and
getting off the right defensive buffs before the enemies go.
4th or 6th Revelation: Ironskin. This is almost certainly your 11th level Revelation (so it would be 6th if you're Dual-
Cursed; 4th if you're not) This thing lasts around 2-3 hours, so you'll probably be able to do most of your dungeoneering
in one swath. DR 10 is a pretty hefty amount, especially for a skirmisher that doesn't quite have the HP to be a front-liner.
Other Option: Maneuver Master. Want to focus more on tripping? Or Disarming? Then here you go - you basically
get feat lines for free. Don't take it early, because it'll be awhile before your BAB lags far behind your Class Level.
Other Option: Battlecry. A pretty weak option. But if your party has a lot of martial DPS, it might be worth thinking
about taking this 1st level. Mid-levels, though, your standard actions will be too useful to use on this ability.
Other Option: Resiliency. This isn't nearly as good for a Words of Power caster as it is for a regular Cleric/Oracle,
because you don't have a spell named "Heal". Still, it's something to think about for any character that can heal
themselves back up from the brink.
Feats
Again, I'm not going to go too far into the Feats for a Battle Oracle. I'll just brush over the essentials, as well as the ones
that play into the Words of Power system. If you want some more in-depth details, check out the "Channeling the
Cosmos" guide.
Power Attack, Combat Reflexes. These are the core of the martial aspect of the Jargonaut.
Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning. These are the core of the spellcasting aspect of the Jargonaut. You
probably want these after the physical aspects, because early on, being able to Power Attack and get additional attacks of
opportunity is going to be a lot better than the little critters on Summon Monster 1 suck even with the buff.
Weapon Focus. If you have the Battle Mystery, you don't want this (because you'll pick it up from a Revelation) but
otherwise, you'll need it.
Toughness. Yes. You will never have enough hit points for what your character wants to do.
Divine Interference. This is such a ridiculous item. Want a feat that says, "Your party will never have a critical hit
landed against them"? Here you go. The point of this feat isn't tossing a spell to give the enemy a penalty; it's simply
forcing them to reroll at all. Suddenly, those nasty /x3 criticals you were dreading are flittered away by a single spell.
Quicken. Okay, if I haven't sold you on Undeath at this point, you can probably see where this is going. The best part is,
since Undeath is such a low level spell, it's not really all that long before you can start using it Quickened.
Improved Initiative. Going first matters a little less for these guys than regular casters, because Combat Reflexes can
help out. Still, going first means you get to summon an ally or place the right buff spell before the enemies move.

Eldritch Heritage Line

Eldritch Heritage always deserves special mention when you're working with a high-charisma character. You basically get
to cherry-pick some of the best sorcerer abilities without having to take a single level of the class. You're probably not
going to be able to afford to do this; you need your feats to stay competitive martially. Still, here are options to mull:
Arcane. Mostly mentioned to caution you against it, because of all the spellcasting classes/builds, an oracle without
touch spells is probably the worst to get a familiar. And while getting to add a few spells known from the Sorcerer list is
incredible... you're spending 3 feats to get it.
Abyssal. For those really high-level campaigns. This will let you use your standard-action summons and get two
monsters instead of one (aka, it’s incredible.)
Primal. Give your summons an additional 1d6 damage. You have to take 3 feats to get it, but it still might be worth it.

Traits
Here's where you have to make some decisions. The big question is: how many traits do you devote to improving
Undeath, versus improving your martial prowess? My advice would be to go with Undeath, simply because that's the
most unique, powerful, and interesting aspect of the class. If so, here's what you're looking at:
Magical Lineage (on Undeath.) This might sound stupid: Undeath isn't exactly Fireball - it's not like you're going to be
throwing out all sorts of Metamagic on it. It's worth it for one simple reason: Quickened Undeath from a 10th level
character. That opens up all sorts of really sick turns - moving into a position, summoning something, reanimating
something, and then getting 3 attacks of opportunity on the enemy's turn.
Missionary. This is a campaign trait, so you'll have to check with your GM; I'd say that it's not available for PFS, but
then again, neither is Words of Power. This gives you a +1 to your caster level of Undeath (and two other spells.) This
might sound silly, but it makes it more likely that Mass Undeath will be able to resurrect two creatures instead of one, or
three instead of two.
... and if you're interested in regular traits?
Reactionary. A great place to start, giving you a mini-Improved Initiative.
+1 To A Save Traits (like Deft Dodger.) Another good place to start. They're not exciting, but they're definitely good.
The Spells

Cantrips
Cantrips are the biggest disappointment of the Words of Power system. Mainly because you don't have any source of
illumination.

1st Level Spells

This is an important level to have a good spell from your Mystery list. If you've taken the Battle Mystery, for instance,
half your casts at this level will be Enlarge Person. That's because while there are some decent Words of Power options,
they're not going to be ones you're casting a whole lot.
Best Words To Pick Up early: Lesser Cure, Fog Bank, Align Shield
Wrack. This is a lot less valuable to you than it is to the Wizards and Sorcerers - you don't have the casting stat to make
this connect reliably. That said, if you see a clump of minor mooks that you don't want to waste a higher level spell on,
this can be a decent option.
Simple Order. No. However, it might be worth picking this word up eventually, because the boosted version is actually
pretty solid.
Alignment Shield. Basically, Protection from Evil. A nice spell to have available spontaneously. Still, this isn't
something you're regularly going to cast 3+ times a day.
Fog Bank. A nice battlefield control spell. Just keep in mind, though, that fog hurts you more than most characters. Fog
grants partial concealment, which is enough to deny you Attacks of Opportunity. So be careful how you use this.
Lesser Cure. This heals one less point of damage... but can be done at range. Still, you're probably not going to use this
in combat after the first few levels (it simply heals too little). The best way to view this spell is as a money generator:
each time you cast it, you save 15 gp that it would've cost to have someone use a Wand of Cure Light.
Servitor 1. No. They don't do much damage, they don't do it reliably, they don't soak up much damage, and if you're
thinking about casting it (aka, are low level), they don't stick around long enough to matter.
2nd Level Spells
Aka, the Undeath Level. The nice thing is, having a crazily-overpowered spell at this level leaves you free to learn
circumstantial spells without any guilt.
Best Words To Pick Up Early: Undeath, Enhance Form, Predict
Undeath. Plan on casting this several times a day. No, seriously - a lot of times, this will be the only 2nd level spell you
cast the entire day. This will usually work out to be equal in power to a Summon Monster spell at your highest level,
which is an incredible bargain for a 2nd level spell! And unlike the summon spells, you get to keep the minion for longer
than a minute or two. Still, don't hestitate to purge your ranks – you don't need to keep a throng at all times.
Energy Resist. Aka, Resist Energy. It's a good spell to have available spontaneously.
Enhance Form. This is a steal for Oracles. You don't have to pick up multiple varieties of stat-boosting spells: this one
does all three physical stats by itself. It also allows the recipient to shrug off the duration for a 1-round boost of +8.
Paralyze Humanoid. No. The Save DC will suck, and even if it connects, they get another save next turn.
Dischordant Note. Meh. An easy to resist area stagger... Wrack's probably a better bet, and even that was yellow.
Predict. Nerfed Augury but without any material costs. I'd suggest picking this up because, while it can be extremely
circumstantial, when it's useful it can be a lifesaver.
Servitor 2. No. Not because it's not good, but because you'll rarely run into circumstances where you'll want to cast this
as opposed to Undeath. Wait until Servitor 3.
Moderate Cure. There if you need it - but you've got Undeath vying for your spots. You'll probably find it much easier
to use 1st and 3rd level slots for healing.

3rd Level Spells

This is where you begin your work as a heavy summoner. You get SLAs from the Lantern Archon and Dretches, as well
as some genuinely combat-capable monsters - and they'll finally be sticking around long enough to matter. It doesn't hurt
that this level is light on Words of Power options - so you'll have slots available for healing and summoning here.
Best Words To Pick Up Early: Servitor 3, Serious Cure
Force Armor. A shorter-duration Mage Armor. And Mage Armor is already pretty mediocre for a character that will
already be wearing armor.
Serious Cure. This is actually a pretty decent spell in the mid-levels. Yes, casting a spell to heal 3d6+7 is usually a bad
idea... but if that spell revives an unconscious teammate and doesn't cost you productivity (because you do your attacks on
the opponent's turn)? Then it starts to look nice. And it’s always worth remembering: unlike a regular Cleric/Oracle, you
don’t have to be up next to your ally to deliver your “Selected” target spells.
Servitor 3. Yes. Expect to use this with the Lengthy Metaword pretty often in the mid-levels. Even at 12th level,
summoning a Latern Archon that lasts 2 minutes can be incredible. If that seems stupid, think of it this way: it casts Aid
on everyone on the party, giving them 1d8+3 preventative healing. Then, throughout a battle, it can cast it on whoever got
hit, giving them another fresh buffer. Although it's not a large amount (basically, just a cure light), it's doing it every
single round, over and over and over again.
Wind Wall. This is actually loads better than the regular version (Wall of Wind). The key is to Boost the Barrier target
word. This not only doubles the length of the wall, but lets you curve it along the battlefield however you want. Go
ahead - enclose the party in a safe range-proof box. Or curl it out along the battlefield randomly, making it difficult to
have any clear shots more than 10-20 foot long. It’s a niche spell, but when you want it, it’ll be great.
Fog Bank + Wrack. This one has a trick to it: using it as a Boosted Barrier target and curving it along the battlefield to
immediately hit every enemy. Even with easy Save DCs, being able to sicken half the enemy is worth it.
Damage. A "meh" spell. The main thing that holds this spell back from your usage is that your saves will be pretty low.
Just wait until level 6, though...
4th Level Spells
Another great level for summoning, especially now that you've picked up the Mephits
with Servitor 4. You do have a lot of options at this level, but a lot of them are
conditional or circumstantial. It’s another reason why Magical Lineage for quickened
Undeath is so powerful: how many spells do you see yourself casting regularly each
day from the list below?
Best Words To Pick Up Early: Servitor 4, Soar, Purify
Elder Cure. To be honest, this probably isn't much better than Serious Cure. Both
should only be done in combat if it's going to bring a party-mate from being
unconscious to being able to continue fighting. 3d6+7 or so should easily hit that
threshhold - Elder Cure is just adding a few more points into the mix. If everyone is
currently fighting? Then you have better spells to prevent damage instead of trying to
preemptively heal an endangered partymate.
Perfect Form. Not as good as it first seems. I'm not a fan of spells that give a
temporary CON bonus - you're spending a spell that doesn't actually prevent any
damage or save you a healing spell later. And by 8th level, that +4 to STR is really
just +2 STR, since everyone will have at least a 4k stat-boost item. It's not a bad spell,
but it's not really a good one, either.
Purify. Restoration, but without a material cost. This removes a few thousand from
every resurrection cost, since you now can remove negative levels without spending a
copper. Just send your 1k invoice to the party fighter.
Servitor 4. Excellent. You get some nice options, as well as all those SLA's from the
Mephits. Just be warned that you can't use this spell to get 1d3 Lantern Archons or
1d4+1 from the Servitor 2 list.
Simple Order (Boosted.) The trick to this spell isn't to use the Boosted Barrier to hit
every enemy. The trick to this spell is to put it into a box around the party with the
Drop command; the enemy charges, and suddenly a third of them drop their weapons
as they charge in.
Wind Wall + Wrack. Very similar to the Fog Bank + Wrack combo a level earlier,
except its a good alternative if you're dealing with ranged opponents or don't want to
block line-of-sight.
Energy Resist + Enhance Form. Meh. Not the most common spell you'll toss out,
but it's there if you have need of it. NOTE: Never be tempted to add a cure spell to a
mix. You may be tempted to use Moderate Cure + Enhance Form as a 4th level spell.
But the spell will have a duration of instantaneous - meaning that the Enhance Form
won't do anything.
Align Shield, Mass. Not something you'll be doing all that often, but when you need
to, it's absolutely fantastic. Suddenly find the party up aginst an evil enchantress?
Give everyone in the party Protection from Evil in one spell.
Translate. Tongues, nerfed (sort of). You only get to choose one language... but then
again, most of the time when someone uses Tongues, they're only out to understand a
specific language anyway.
Grave Bane. I'm not a big fan of this spell by itself. Not because the effect isn't good, but because the times you need it,
you need it on everyone, not just one party member.
Soar. Flying. It's a good spell, and you get access to it without any hassle.
5th Level Spells
Okay, this is where you start getting silly. You've got so many options at this level that you might get quite a few raised
eyebrows. Bad news? This level is so tight that you'll never have enough slots to be happy.
Best Words to Learn Early: Revive, Servitor 5, Stone Wall
Servitor 5. An excellent spell and you've got some really great options at this level. My personal favorite is the Bralani,
who not only is a good flying archer but has a pair of Lightning Bolts as well.
Undeath, Mass. Let's get this out of the way early: you have the ability to cast Animate Dead, without it being a touch
spell, and animate multiple targets with no material cost. Going up against a horde of enemies? Reanimate the first two
or three that fall. The only thing that stops this from being outright broken in half is the 2 x HD limit per cast (so you'll
usually only get 2 at most; and very rarely more than 3.)
Revive. Would you like Raise Dead, but without that 5,000 gp cost? And do it as a standard action (instead of a minute
cast time)? Here you go. The only thing that taints this spell is that third negative level it adds - so if you're playing in a
campaign with no down-time, it might be worth paying for a regular Raise Dead cast instead, just so you won't have to
deal with those negative levels for so long.
Stone Wall. Aka, Wall of Stone, one of the signiture God Wizard spells. This is one of the best Round 1 spells there is,
because it will dictate the flow of battle. There is one caveat, though: yours isn't permanent. It only lasts 1 round per
caster level. This isn't really a huge deal - lasting 10+ rounds is usually enough to do what you want, but it's something
you need to keep in mind.
Alignment Assault. About the only time you should be tempted to take this is if you know you're going to be in a
campaign that puts you waist-deep in demons or devils. Otherwise? You've got a really bad blast.
Cinder Storm. Aka, the love-child of Fireball and Firesnake. You don't have what it takes to be a blaster. That said,
having this on hand can sometimes save yourself a lot of hassle.
Dimensional Shift. Yes, you get this later than normal. Yes, it sucks that you can't bring along your friends. Yes, this
spell is generally worse than Plane Shift. That said, it's still a valid Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free card (shift to Elysium, Heaven,
the Elemental Plane of Air, whatever.) It's also an "Oh *#%" card if an ally is in a really bad spot; unlike the regular
version of this magic, you can cast it at range (though keep in mind, your ally probably doesn't have Plane Shift, so
"Sending him to Nirvanna" should only be done if you're truly desperate.)
Far Casting. Sending, but without the 25-word maximum.
Far Sight (Boosted.) I actually like this spell more than Scry. The penalty for failing to scry on someone else isn't just
that the spell doesn't work, it's that you can't try again for 24 hours. Whereas with Far Sight (Boosted), you can spam the
target with this spell. Trying to scry the BBEG and only have a 25% chance of connecting? No problem - just spam him
with 4 castings, and suddenly you have a 70% chance of succeeding. This might be a bad deal with regular spells, but you
typically Scry in downtime, or at least not-in-a-dungeon time, where "wasting" four slots isn't a huge deal.
Resist Arcana. A way to give someone Spell Resistance. The big downside is simple: it's going up against so many
better spells that you probably will never even learn this word.
Energy Resist, Mass. Going up against a bunch of Fire Elementals in cahoots with a pyromancer? Throw resistance on
everyone in the party with one stroke.
Paralyze Humanoid, Mass. You don't have the Save DCs of an enchanter. If you can only hit 30% of the enemies, and
only 30% of those fail the next save... yeah, this is pretty bad.
Enhance Form, Mass. With this spell, you're not out to hit people's primary stats. Instead, you're just looking to give
everyone +2 AC by increasing their dexterity.
Soar + Enhance Form. Or swap out that Enhance Form for Energy Resist. Basically, it's just Soar with an additional
relevant perk.
Metamagic: Quickened Undeath (with Magical Lineage). Utterly, stupidly good.
6th Level Spells
When you start out, this level will almost exclusively be devoted to Servitor 6 (and if you didn’t take Magical Lineage, on
Quickened Undeath.) Later on, when you're working with Servitor 8 and Servitor 9, you can use this level for the more
niche spells - Mass Damage, Blade Wall, etc.
Best Words to Learn Early: Servitor 6, Blade Wall
Blade Wall. This would ordinarily be a pretty mediocre spell... if you had to cast it in a straight line. By Boosting the
Barrier word, you can do some pretty sick things. One big one is to simply wrap the wall around the enemy a few times in
a concentric circle - you have 240+ feet worth of wall to play with, after all. If you're up against a large creature (without
flying), you can create a blade wall that they'll have to cross twice no matter what - and if they charge, it'll require three
times. For a 12th level character, that's a minimum of 18d6 - even if they make all three saves! Still, this is more useful
as you progress in levels and Servitor 6 is no longer a combat-relevant spell.
Energy Immunity. It's tough to justify spending a 6th level spell for this effect (one target gains immunity for one
round/level.) Most of the time, what you want is either Energy Resist or Energy Resist, Mass.
Far Casting (Boosted). "Bob, yeah, this is Tim. No, no, nothing going on - listen, I'm going to put Alice on the line, she
needs to talk to you." ... I can't recall ever facing a situation where I wanted Sending, but I wanted someone else to do the
talking.
Locate. This doesn't work on something you've never held before, so you can't use it to locate some treasure/monster
you're questing after. Plus, I have a cynical view of these spells: they only work as well as the GM wants them to in order
to fit into what they have planned.
Sense Hidden. Really? This is a pretty high level spell slot for an effect like this. No thanks.
Servitor 6. Absolutely. Almost certainly your first word learned for the level. You've got a great mix of options; my
personal favorite is the Lillend Azata - you basically get to add a Bard to the party.
Slay. No. You have much better blasts available than a single target one that does almost nothing if they succeed on their
save (which they will most of the time.)
Revive + Serious Cure. If you're resurrecting someone in battle, and aren't restricted to 5th level slots or lower, seriously
consider this spell instead. Getting someone on their feet at 1 hit point isn't nearly as good as getting them on their feet at
24 hit points.
Soar + Enhance Form + Energy Resist. Turn the fighter into a dragon-slayer.
Damage, Mass. Oh yes. Picture this: you're a 12th level oracle. You're entering the climactic battle with the BBEG
Antipaladin and his 8 cleric minions. "I'm going to cast Damage and target the bad guy's sword... and his shield... and his
armor... and that fancy amulet he's got around his neck... and, uh... the scythes all his minions are carrying. Go ahead and
roll 12 will saves, DC=19." Chances are, enough of those saves are going to fail that it'll easily be worth the spell.
Metamagic: Quickened Undeath (without Magical Lineage). Of all the spells, both in the Words of Power system and
outside of it, Undeath is probably the best quickened spell of them all. If you didn’t take Magical Lineage, expect a good
portion of your 6th level slots to be devoted to this spell.
7th Level Spells
There's not much going on at this level. Aside from summoning, you've got a few really conditional spells, a mass
teleport, and mass flying. The good news is that Summon Monster 7 is powerful enough that it'll always be combat
relevant.
Best Words to Learn Early: Servitor 7.
Servitor 7. Yes. In fact, this is the only good word you'll learn at this level. I think Summon Monster 7 is one of the
most over-powered, and the reason for that is the Bone Devil. With an At-Will Wall of Ice, which thanks to your standard-
action casting, you can get the same turn you start summoning him?
Storm Master. Heh. This word sucks. But you're going to learn it anyway, because the Words of Power system only
gives Oracles 2 words at this level.
Servitor 6 + Soar. Before this point, using Servitor and combining it with a buff wasn't worth it. Summoning is designed
for each level to hold creatures twice as powerful as the ones before it. So giving a monster off the Servitor 4 list
"Enhance Form" as a 5th level spell isn't worth it, because that spell doesn't make the monster twice as powerful. Soar,
though, can sometimes tip the scale enough to be worth it.
Soar, Mass. Give everyone flying.
Dimensional Shift, Mass. Teleport everyone. Yeah, it's a lot higher level than usual. That said, it's still worth a 7th level
spell. And on the plus side, you don't all have to be holding hands. As long as you're conscious and have a slot available,
you can get the entire party to safety.
Resist Arcana, Mass. If you're going up against some spellcasters, this can be a game-changer. Too bad you’re probably
not going to know the word – there are so many 5 th level words that want your attention that you might never pick up
Resist Arcana anyways.
Grave Bane, Mass. Same thing as Mass Resist Arcana, except with negative level effects and an even smaller chance
you actually know the word.
8th Level Spells

After the disappointing 7th level (only two words, one of which is
worthless), the 8th level is a bit of a surprise - aside from the always-nice
Servitor, there are three excellent words to learn here. Dimensional Gate is
solid, Negation is incredibly potent, and you get one of the best resurrection
spells in the game here (better than True Resurrection, because it doesn't cost
a copper and it only takes a standard action.)
Best Words to Learn: Life Touch, Negation, Dimensional Gate, Servitor 8
Alignment Aura. This spell is an outright joke. Spell Resistance 25? By
the time you cast this, you'll be level 16, so that's actually not that impressive
(Resist Arcana will get you, minimum, SR 28 by the time you cast this.)
Getting +4 to AC? And dealing very minor damage if someone hits you? In
an 8th level spell? For reference, you can get almost the same effect with
Resist Arcana + Alignment Shield + Enhance Form - and that's only a 7th
level spell.
Dimensional Gate. Summon a gate to whatever plane you wish.
Life Touch. This is your golden spell. Basically, raise people from the dead
in fighting condition, with no material cost, at range, while only giving them
a single negative level (which will even fade away after 24 hours.)
Negation. Utterly, stupidly good. Anti-Magic Field was already one of the
best spells for dealing with some nasty stuff in the higher levels. Now
instead of casting it and sacrificing your spellcasting, you create an area
burst (aka, you can arrange it so that you can still do spellcasting
afterwards...)
Rumble. A pretty minor effect for an 8th level spell.
Servitor 8. Probably not. Even if you're a 20th level character, you're
probably only going to know 3 words at this level. More importantly,
Summon Monster 8 has one of the weakest lists - and you can't use Servitor
8 to summon multiple monsters off a different list (the closest you can do is
use the Boosted Selected word on Servitor 5 - but that doesn't depend on you
knowing Servitor 8.) There are only two outsiders and the elder elementals
on the list - none of which can match the usefulness of At-Will Wall of Ice
from the Bone Devil a level earlier. So... no, you're probably not going to
learn this Servitor spell, making it the only Servitor you don't learn besides
the early level ones.
Unmake, Mass. Dispelling really sucks in the Words of Power system. You can't target "effects", only the recipients of
the effect (yes, that's right: under Words of Power, you can't dispel a Wall of Flame unless you toss the fighter into it
first...) That said, a Mass Unmake is actually a pretty decent option. You run up against a group of enemies that have
magical boons on them, and throw one of these out. You can target 16+ enemies, and even if they succeed on the saving
throw, all that means is that you only get a chance at dispelling one spell (instead of them all.)
Metamagic: Quickened Mass Alignment Shield. Not something you’ll want to do all that often, nor is it something you
were working towards when you took Quickened Spell. That said, this option is there, and might be incredibly useful in
niche battles.
Metamagic: Quickened Mass Energy Resist. Another one of those niche options. Useful when it’s needed.
9th Level Spells
Although there aren't many options at this level - 3 words and 2 decent combos - those options are good enough that you'll
never be unhappy. Although in a vacuum, Repulse is better than Servitor 9, you’ll probably learn Servitor 9 first (because
you probably won’t know Servitor 8; see that section for the reasons why.)
Best Words to Learn: Servitor 9, Repulse, Catastrophe.
Catastrophe. A nice effect, but not one that's worth a 9th level slot. Although a 20th level Oracle would learn this word,
it's something they'd probably never cast.
Repulse. Oh, yeah. Not only is this Reverse Gravity, but take a look at what Boosting does for the word: you can specify
a dozen or two creatures that aren't affected by the spell. So you can use it like Reverse Gravity, isolating out a clump of
enemies that will be out of the battle for the foreseeable future. Or you can use it defensively, casting it around your party,
pretty much making it impossible for melee/ranged enemies to do anything to them.
Servitor 9. Absolutely. This makes up for the lackluster Summon Monster 8 list with some really excellent options. First
on the docket is the Trumpet Archon, which is basically a 14th level Cleric - that includes two casting of Heal, two
castings of Mass Cure Serious, a Raise Dead, and a Plane Shift. The Glabrezu is no slouch either, with an At-Will
Reverse Gravity and Dispel Magic. The Ice Devil has the same Ice Wall'ing ability of the Bone Devil. And the
Nalfeshnee has an at-will Greater Dispel Magic and Feeblemind, making him an excellent anti-mage summon.
Life Touch + Purify. Life Touch is already amazing. If you're in combat, though, it might be worth the extra level to also
remove the nevative level (this will also heal them for 5, since negative levels reduce HP by that much.)
Life Touch + Elder Cure. Probably not better than the Purify option. Instead of getting them back up at half hit points,
you'll get them at about 2/3 their hit points (more, if they're not a front-liner.)
Metamagic: Quickened Stone Wall. Not really what you want to be spending your 9th level spell slots on. That said,
Quickened Stone Walls are pretty good.
Metamagic: Quickened Mass Undeath. Usually, you can make do with a regular Quickened Undeath. That said, when
you really need the power, you’ve got this available. Also, if you’ve taken Magical Lineage, and your GM rules that it
applies regardless of whether you boost the target word, then this would actually be an 8 th level spell.
Guides by the Author
You may have to download this PDF before you can click any of the following links; sometimes PDF sharing sites don't
allow hyperlinks within their documents.
Brewer's Guide to the Reach Cleric
Shadow Conjuration - Guide and Reference Manual
Shadow Evocation: More Than Just Blasts (A Guide)
Thus She Spoke: A Words of Power Sorceress Guide
Brewer's GM Guide to Campaign Design
Brewer's GM Guide #2: Session Structure
Brewer's Guide to Undeath - A Necromancer's Handbook
Brewer's Guide to the Blockbuster Wizard