New Sorcerous Origin: Elemental Affinity

[Redthistle]

Inspired by the race conversions thread by Remathlis (in particular the Genasi) and adapted for D&D 5e from sources including earlier DnD editions and Pathfinder's Sorcerer class, this is my thinking for an elemental sorcerer:

Sorcerous Origin: Elemental Affinity________________


Your innate magic comes from the Elemental Planes. Most often, this is seen in individuals that have some ancestral connection to those planes, but it may also occur in individuals that have themselves spent significant time on one Elemental Plane or another or who have entered into some agreement with an elemental being or through some other extraordinary circumstance.


Elemental Identity
Your sorcery first manifests when you become a 1st level sorcerer. Choose one type of element from the list below. This element is like a constant hum along your nerves, and it throbs with every beat of your heart. The choice cannot be changed later. Any spell you cast that either deals energy damage or that provides energy resistance will use the type of energy associated with your element rather than the energy described in the spell.

The element you select also grants you resistance to damage of that energy type if you do not already have it.


Element - Energy Type
Air - Lightning
Earth - Acid
Fire - Fire
Water - Cold


You can speak, read, and write Primordial. Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with an elemental creature of your elemental type, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.


Elementally Empowered
Starting at 1st level, whenever you cast a spell that causes energy damage, increase the damage by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier.


Focused Energy, Shared Resistance
At 6th level, each day you choose either Elemental Weapon or Protection from Energy as a bonus spell usable once per day. Either spell can only be cast to apply to the type of energy associated with your elemental choice. This spell does not use up any of your spell slots.


Elemental Storm
Beginning at 14th level, once per day, by spending 5 sorcery points, you can cast the spell Fire Storm, converted to your energy type, as a bonus spell that does not use up any of your spell slots.


Master of Elements
When you reach 18th level, once per day by spending 6 sorcery points, you may add any one other elemental energy type to any energy spell you cast, doing both types of energy damage or providing resistance to both types of energy.

Also, by spending an additional 9 sorcery points, you can add a third energy type to the spell you cast.


Please let me know if this seems balanced and workable.

Thank you.

 

[Sadrik]

I like the concept. It is sorely needed to pump the sorcerer up. It is a bit of a bad class. I think it would be good to go through the spells of all classes and give them access to spells that work for that element (e.g., create or destroy water for water sorcerer). Also give them cool names: storm(wind) sorcerer for air, polar(ice) sorcerer for water, cave(stone) sorcerer for earth, and furnace(flame) sorcerer for fire.

Elemental Identity
Your sorcery first manifests when you become a 1st level sorcerer. Choose one type of element from the list below. This element is like a constant hum along your nerves, and it throbs with every beat of your heart. The choice cannot be changed later. Element choice: Air, Earth, Fire, or Water.

You can speak, read, and write Primordial. Additionally, whenever you make a Charisma check when interacting with an elemental creature of your elemental type, your proficiency bonus is doubled if it applies to the check.

You are proficient with all simple weapons.

Some of the spells that you learn are preselected, when you acquire a new spell known of a new level it must be one of the following spells.

0 Fire Bolt (all)
1 Chromatic Orb (all)
2 Gust of Wind (air), Magic Weapon(earth), Heat Metal (fire and water)
3 Elemental Weapon (all)
4 Conjure Minor Elementals (all) or Freedom of Movement (air), Stoneskin (earth), Fire Shield (fire and water)
5 Conjure Elemental (all)
6 Chain Lightning (air), Disintegrate (earth), Sun Beam (fire), Wall of Ice (water)
7 Fire Storm (all)
8 Control Weather (air), Earthquake (earth), Incendiary Cloud (fire), Tsunami (water)
9 Storm of Vengeance (all)

Elementally Empowered
Beginning at 1st level, any spell you cast that deals damage will use one of the types of damage associated with your element, your choice, rather than the damage type described in the spell. Whenever you cast a spell that causes damage of one of your element's types, increase the damage by an amount equal to your Charisma modifier.

Element - Damage type
Air - Lightning, thunder, or slashing (wind slashes)
Earth - Thunder (shockwave), bludgeoning (bruising rocks), or piercing (small pebbles)
Fire - Fire, radiant (searing heat), or lightning
Water - Cold, piercing (frozen icicles), or bludgeoning (gush of water)

Elemental Resistance
At 6th level, the element you select also grants you resistance to damage of that energy type if you do not already have it.

Element - Damage Resistance type
Air - Lightning
Earth - Thunder
Fire - Fire
Water - Cold

Elemental Storm
Beginning at 14th level, by spending 1 sorcery points, you can cast a damaging spell and convert its damage type to all three damage types. Creatures affected by this consider the least advantageous damage type to be affecting them.

Element - Damage types
Air - Lightning, thunder, and slashing
Earth - Thunder, bludgeoning, and piercing
Fire - Fire, radiant, and lightning
Water - Cold, piercing, and bludgeoning

Master of Elements
When you reach 18th level, When you use empower spell metamagic roll damage for the spell twice, use the higher value. Your elemental resistance to damage is granted for all three types of damage associated with your element.

Element - Damage Resistance types
Air - Lightning, thunder, and slashing
Earth - Thunder, bludgeoning, and piercing
Fire - Fire, radiant, and lightning
Water - Cold, piercing, and bludgeoning

 

[steeldragons]

Oo! Can I play?

I'd go with/how about something like this?

Sorcerer traits all stay the same/as stipulated in the PHB with the exception that Sorcerous Bloodine is Elemental.

Elemental Bloodline
bladdity blah blah you have an elemental ancestor/elemental power in your veins.However you want to flavor that.

"At 1st level, you choose one type of elemental as your ancestor. Once chosen you can not change it. The damage type associated with each elemental is used by features you gain later. Also, any spell which deals an energy type damage, deals your elemental type energy damage instead.

Elemental . . . .Energy Type
Air . . . . . . . . .Lightning or Force (concussive winds)
Earth . . . . . . . Bludgeoning (from actual stone/earth striking your foes) or Thunder (concussive waves of sound/force: stomping on the ground, slapping fists/clapping hands, slamming rocks together, etc...)
Fire . . . . . . . . Fire/Heat [duh]
Water . . . . . . .Cold/Ice or Bludgeoning (slamming foes with waves/spouts of water)

Elemental Affinity
As written for the Draconic Sorcerer, but applies the above options and moves up to 1st level.

In Your Native Element
At 6th level, you can spend 3 sorcery points to assume a semi-elemental form to move in and through your element up to a speed of 60': flying speed for air/fire ["heat/hot air rises"] or swim and/or surface speed [riding over waves of] for water/earth. While doing so, you are not damaged by your element (a fire sorcerer moving through a Wall of Fire, for example). The sorcerer is not impeded by difficult terrain of their element type and spells or other magical effects of the sorcerer's native element can neither reduce movement speed nor cause the sorcerer to be paralyzed or restrained. The sorcerer's movement or attacks are not impeded while in their element. This form/freedom of movement can be maintained up to one hour. You must complete a short rest before using this power again.

Elemental Storm
At 14th level, as a bonus action and with 5 sorcery points, you can invoke a surging maelstrom of your element type that conforms to the parameters of the Ice Storm spell, except it deals 5d10+Cha. mod. of damage type appropriate to your element: air: lightning and [wind] force; earth: bludegoning [rocks] and thunder; fire: fire; water: cold and bludgeoning [ice chunks, sleet or liquid water].

Energy Immunity
At 18th level, you can no longer be harmed by elemental damage of a type matching your element, as follows:
Air: Lightning immunity, resistance to Thunder.
Fire: Fire immunity, resistance to Cold.
Water: Cold immunity, resistance to Fire.
Earth: Thunder immunity, resistance to Lightning.

Edit to mention as an aside: I would hold off/save the "Bonus Spells" idea above to be applied for Cleric [individual] Element Domains, since getting bonus spells is kinda the "cleric domain" thing.

 

[Redthistle]

Welcome to the sand box!

Sadrik and Steeldragons, it's fascinating how different some of our perspectives are, and both of you have given me some important things to think about.

I wonder if that may be why WotC didn't include an elemental bloodline in the PHB: too many good options to sort through.

 

[Sadrik]

Edit to mention as an aside: I would hold off/save the "Bonus Spells" idea above to be applied for Cleric [individual] Element Domains, since getting bonus spells is kinda the "cleric domain" thing.

I agree, but for the listing I presented, I was trying to convey that these were preselected spells not bonus spells. So they are still limited to 15 spells and 6 cantrips, it is just that some of them are preselected already. This is a good way to design a flavor for the sorcerer class. Also, if I were the DM and a player envisioned more than just a sorcerer spell list spell. I would say, go for it. In this way, the sorcerer's actual spell list is actually meaningless. For instance, if the player wanted to venerate a psion sorcerer I would allow them to select any spells that fit that mold - 21 psion abilities: 15 psion spells and 6 psion cantrips.

So, when the sorcerer player sits down at the table I might say, what is your archetype? Pick any spells for sorcerer now at character generation up to level 10, and I will sign off on them. Of course they can switch them per their spell casting feature but this would give them a baseline and direct their theme in a good way.

 

[Redthistle]

Check out Farland's thread:

http://www.enworld.org/forum/showth...ag-Behind-and-Telekinetic-Explosion&p=6494556

Both of these would be useful to an Elemental Earth Sorcerer.