Mesmerist
Have you ever wanted to be like that snake from the Jungle Book? Ever wanted to be the master manipulator? To implant thoughts in people's heads that can alter what they do?
The Mesmerist class is for you.
Essentially the Psychic "counterpart" to the Bard. Once again, similar chassis: 3/4ths BAB, good Reflex and Will saves, and 6-level spellcasting focused on enchantment. You only get light armor and simple weapons, along with the whip, sword cane, and hand crossbow. Your spellcasting is spontaneous and based off of Charisma. The Mesmerist differs, however, in that it's a lot more focused on the debuffing side of things than a Bard.
First: you get access to Consumnate Liar, which lets you add half your level to your bluff checks. It also qualifies you for feats that make feinting much better in combat, even if you don't have those prerequisites.
Second: your stare. The hypnotic stare lets you put a -2 penalty on enemy will saves at first level, which is huge. It's superficially similar to a gaze attack, but it can't be prevented, you can use it while blinded. It doesn't stack with witch hexes unfortunately, and it's mind-affecting, so you can't use it on Undead or Vermin (until level 3). Once per Round the Painful Stare ability adds half the mesmerist's level to any source of damage taken by the target of the stare. This starts out crap, but at every level that's a multiple of 3 you add an extra 1d6 if you use this on your own attack, and at level 7 can take a feat that adds another 1d6 at 7/12/18 (or an extra quarter level in damage for anyone else's damage). This is essentially a weaker sneak attack that can't hit multiple times but is way easier to activate, especially since the damage doesn't need to be from a weapon attack or have any restrictions on ranged attacks within the 30 foot limit (beyond your crap proficiency list, which are easily solved with a 5000GP lesser bracers of archery). They also get Bold Stare talents at level 3/7/11/15/19 that add new penalties, and there's a series of feats add extra conditions to the stare as well.
Third: Mesmerist tricks. Essentially, you touch somebody and Inception an idea into their head, which you can later activate, a la-The Manchurian Candidate, but with less communism. You can activate these as a free action when your buddy is in a tight spot.
Some of your other abilities include: getting your Charisma bonus to Will saving throws, applying more penalties with your hypnotic stare (like affecting undead and vermin, debuffing attack and damage rolls, and other bonuses), removing harmful effects from themselves or allies with just a touch (this one is important because it makes them the only occult caster to not be completely and utterly fucked by fear effects), implanting two tricks in an ally's head, getting bonuses to enchantment and illusion spells, being able to fool lie detecting magic, getting more powerful mesmerist tricks (like cursing an enemy that attacks your ally, faking an ally's death, and others), and getting mind slaves. Permanently.
All in all, the Mesmerist is a low Tier 3: Able to do one thing well, disabling foes who can't pass a will save while making it harder for them to pass it, and capable of contributing when that's not possible or appropriate since their list contains some buffs and they've got a not insignificant damage as well as good skills. Their spell list still lacks somewhat in versatility compared to a Bard or Magus, being low on anything that isn't a buff or targeting will saves, and they need to blow a trait on Disable Device as a class skill to fufill the role they're best suited for. Still, they've got plenty of casting from a non-terrible list, good skills aside from the lack of disable device, and their class features are far better and more synergistic than Hunter or Inquisitor got.
d20 Modern[edit]
D20 Modern has a Mesmerist class in d20 Past. It's an explicitly nerfed version of the Telepath from the core book. This is notable for two reasons. 1: The explicit nerf confirms WotC intentionally didn't balance classes against eachother 2: It neglects to say what list it learns its psionic powers from, rendering it Truenamer levels of broken (the example character suggests the telepath list, but example characters are always wrong).
| The Classes of Pathfinder 1st Edition | |
|---|---|
| Core Classes: | Barbarian - Bard - Cleric - Druid - Fighter - Monk Paladin - Ranger - Rogue - Sorcerer - Wizard |
| Advanced Player's Guide: |
Alchemist - Antipaladin - Cavalier Inquisitor - Oracle - Summoner - Witch |
| Advanced Class Guide: |
Arcanist - Bloodrager - Brawler - Hunter - Investigator Shaman - Skald - Slayer - Swashbuckler - Warpriest |
| Occult Adventures: |
Kineticist - Medium - Mesmerist Occultist - Psychic - Spiritualist |
| Ultimate X: | Gunslinger - Magus - Ninja - Samurai - Shifter - Vigilante |