The Outer Channeler (Fixed)

 Some time ago, I played with the idea of a Medium character, in order to create a versatile type that could fill many different roles. I liked the Outer Channeler archetype for the chance to get an aligned familiar- but as I tried it, I noticed something was off.

1) If the Outer Channeler is channeling the Hierophant spirit, replacing the intermediate power makes the greater power useless, as it’s based on the character’s ability to channel energy.

2) When the Outer Channeler gains the Trance of Three ability, what good is it for him since all his outer spirits grant the same intermediate power?

I tried asking the archetype’s original author about that, but too much time had passed and he didn’t remember anymore. So I tried to do something about it myself. Here’s the fixed version. The boldfaced parts are mine.

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Outer Channeler

Rather than invite strange entities and departed souls into their bodies, outer channelers invite extraplanar entities to inhabit them, allowing the likes of angels and demons to use them as vessels in exchange for power. However, this bond always comes with a cost.

Outsider Invocation (Su): At 1st level, an outer channeler chooses one outsider subtype from among those listed under Outsider Spirits. His alignment must be within one step of the outsider’s alignment in order to choose it, and once chosen it cannot be changed. Instead of channeling spirits, an outer channeler invokes outsiders of his chosen subtype during his seance.

Each subtype lists six outsiders that, when invoked, provide the outer channeler with the same benefits as the outsider’s associated spirit. For example, an outer channeler with angel as his chosen subtype can invoke the astral deva, balisse, empyrean, movanic deva, planetar, and solar outsiders, which function like the trickster, hierophant, archmage, champion, marshal, and guardian spirits, respectively.

An outer channeler doesn’t gain the intermediate power normally granted by his invoked outsider’s associated spirit. Instead, he gains the intermediate power noted in his invoked outsider’s subtype, regardless of which spirit that invoked outsider is associated with. The medium can later choose to gain an intermediate spirit power replaced this way in place of the greater or supreme power granted by the same spirit. Furthermore, the outer channeler gains a gift at 13th level, as noted in his invoked outsider subtype.

An invoked outsider acts as a spirit for all other effects, including the astral beacon class feature.

This ability alters spirit and spirit power (intermediate).

Taboo (Ex): Whenever he invokes an outsider, an outer channeler must accept one taboo from among those listed by his chosen outsider’s subtype before the outsider will enter his body. Accepting this taboo provides the outer channeler with no benefits other than those gained from channeling a spirit; if he wishes to gain additional uses of his spirit purge ability as described by the taboo class feature, he must accept a second taboo from among those listed by the legend that his chosen outsider subtype functions as. If the outer channeler breaks this mandatory taboo, the outsider immediately leaves and the outer channeler can’t invoke a new outsider until he atones (as per atonement). This ability alters taboo.

Shared Seance (Su): An outer channeler’s ally cannot gain the seance boon from an outer channeler’s outsider spirit if that ally’s alignment is more than one step away from the outsider’s alignment.

This ability alters shared seance.

Servitor (Ex): At 3rd level, an outer channeler can summon the spirit of an outsider of his chosen subtype and house it within the body of an ordinary animal. Initially, the outsider takes the form of this animal and acts in all ways as an ordinary familiar of that type. At 7th level, the animal transforms into an outsider, taking the form of an improved familiar with the outer channeler’s chosen outsider subtype (such as a cassisian for an angel-invoking medium). The outer channeler doesn’t need to meet the prerequisites to gain this improved familiar, and the improved familiar gains the ability to change shape between its outsider form and its animal form at will (as per beast shape II).

This ability replaces a medium’s haunt channeler and connection channel.

Site Channeling (Su): At 5th level, an outer channeler can invoke outsiders from any site tied to any of the following: creatures of his chosen subtype, deities that grant his chosen subtype as a cleric subdomain, or planes that creatures of his chosen subtype are native to. This is in addition to the usual list of sites from which he can channel his outsiders.

This ability replaces location channel.

Ask the Planes (Sp): At 14th level, an outer channeler gains the ask the spirits ability of the standard medium, except he sends his consciousness to a native plane of his chosen outsider subtype (Heaven for archons, Hell for devils, any good-aligned plane for angels, and so on).

This ability alters ask the spirits and replaces astral journey.

Trance of Three Worlds (Su): At 15th level, the medium learned to host the spirits of the natural world and the deceased within his body, in addition to outsiders. This works as trance of three, except the medium gains the base intermediate power of his secondary spirit. This alters trance of three.