In a 20 minute Twitch stream (linked in the title), Paizo announced two new classes being play tested starting next week:
The Runesmith
A slotless support caster/"melee magician" that invokes both passive and active "spell" effects by drawing runes on everything.
The Necromancer
A prepared Occult caster that summons undead "thralls" to do their bidding. Thralls sound like they are cheap, disposable summons intended to be utilized as an encounter resource.
We should get our hands on the playtest resources on 9 December. As someone who's gone from playing a Champion to a Guardian, I'm pretty pumped to have another melee support class. There's been an embarrassment of riches this year for support players who don't want to use spells! It's kind of giving me WoW Shaman vibes (which, of course, was my WoW class).
Rune-based magic has never interested me very much. At least not as a primary mechanic...it's more interesting when used in a form of ritual magic that exists on the side IMO.
But necromancers are hella cool! Cheap, disposable summons are exactly how a necromantic class should work, too.
I think there's a lot of interest in slotless magic lately. Kineticist has gone over well, there's been renewed focus on focus points as a key encounter resource, and we've even started to see more shifts towards feat-based abilities. It makes sense to me that they're exploring the different aesthetics for these mechanics.
Though I agree, runes in particular feels kind of out of place to me. The game already utilized runes as semi-permanent constructs. This feels like muddying the water a little bit.
Oh yeah. I completely forgot about runes' use as transferable magic item properties. That makes it very different. I actually think I like it a little more. But only a little; I tend not to like classes based around crafting very much. Alchemist is the same.
But I agree there's a lot of interesting room to explore with different takes on spellcasting. The kineticist was a fantastic concept that seems to have been very well received.