"Although the gods work through many agents, perhaps none is more mysterious than
the oracle. These divine vessels are granted power without their choice, selected
by providence to wield powers that even they do not fully understand.
Unlike a cleric, who draws her magic through devotion to a deity, oracles garner
strength and power from many sources, namely those patron deities who support their
ideals. Instead of worshiping a single source, oracles tend to venerate all of the
gods that share their beliefs. While some see the powers of the oracle as a gift,
others view them as a curse, changing the life of the chosen in unforeseen ways.
Oracles do not usually associate with any one church or temple, instead preferring
to strike out on their own, or with a small group of like-minded individuals. Oracles
typically use their spells and revelations to further their understanding of their
mystery, be it through fighting mighty battles or tending to the poor and sick."
Because Pathfinder Fate Accelerated doesn't use spell lists and the magic guidelines
allow free casting by default, the differences between a cleric and a oracle boils
down to the wording of Aspects and Troubles to model a
Mystery
and a
Curse
in order to capture the desired "Oracle" feel, and Stunts to model any special abilities.
Therefore, it is recommended that players interested in making an oracle type character
refer to the
Cleric class translation document
and choose their Aspects, Trouble, and Stunts appropriately to suit their concept.
In the case of an oracle character, any Stunt or ability that refers to "faith"
would simply be interpreted through the lens of their mystery and curse instead
of the religion of a patron deity.
Starting Archetype Sets
Fervent
Divine +4
Devout
Combative +1, Divine +3
Pious
Combative +2, Divine +2
Diverging From Source Material
From a certain perspective, the Oracle class is an example of mechanics before concept.
Sorcerers allowed players to make a full Arcane spellcaster using the "spontaneous"
spell casting model, but no such class existed for Divine casters.
Thus, the Oracle was made primarily to fill that mechanical gap and the class amounts
to a copy and paste of Sorcerers with some chrome changes. Concept was entirely
secondary.
The one distinct quirk of the class is the idea of a "Curse" afflicting each Oracle,
but functionally they amount to a bundle of useful abilities paired with a detriment.
From a fiction perspective, overall the class is not well integrated into the setting
(though there are a few exceptions).
As Pathfinder Fate Accelerated is far more concerned with concepts than mechanics,
the concept of Oracles offers little to distinguish itself from the Cleric concept.
However, individual players and GM's can overcome this by finding ways to more seamlessly
integrate the Oracle concept into their campaigns.