Pessimism

School enchantment (compulsion) [emotion, mind-affecting]; Level bard 4, medium 4, mesmerist 4, psychic 5, sorcerer/wizard 5, witch 5

CASTING

Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M/DF (a shard of a broken mirror)

EFFECT

Range close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target one creature
Duration 1 hour/level
Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

DESCRIPTION

You erode the target’s confidence and instill a sense of despair.

This fear of failure manifests as a –2 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, skill checks, and weapon damage rolls. Additionally, the target can’t gain morale bonuses of any kind while the spell remains in effect. No amount of achievement counters the spell’s effects—the target simply explains away positive events with a self-critical perspective.

Certain events can solidify the character’s belief that it is doomed. Whenever the target rolls a natural 1 on an attack roll or saving throw, fails an ability or skill check by more than 5, or takes additional damage as a result of a foe’s confirmed critical hit, the penalty to roll imposed by pessimism becomes –3 for 1 round.

This increased penalty doesn’t stack, even if multiple catastrophes occur on the same round.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Horror Adventures © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: John Bennett, Clinton J. Boomer, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, Jim Groves, Steven Helt, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Brandon Hodge, Mikko Kallio, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, F. Wesley Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

scroll to top