Not finished with my Aurelian version of the sorcerer or its three variants yet.
For my Rhunaria homebrew, I added houserules for three kinds of sorcerer, with a brief mention of rumors that other, stranger varieties of sorcerer may exist, but those are unconfirmed as of yet.
The spirit sorcerer was added to accomodate Karil's backrgound and desired flavor for his spellcasting and its source. Fit well enough anyway into Rhunaria's abundant profusion of spirits and spirit realms. The talisman sorcerer was likewise put in to accomodate Mouse's little flavor, always flinging coins to cast her spells, with the coins disappearing afterward. The natural sorcerer was just accomodating the standard, common sorcerers of the world with a few minor benefits to balance out with the other sorcerer variants (and the wizard, since sorcerers are a bit too disadvantaged by comparison). A sorcerer PC would just choose which of the three kinds they'd be upon taking the class, and receive the appropriate benefits.
I'll put my Rhunarian sorcerer houserules into a spoiler block, since they take up a handful of paragraphs in total (considering the spirit sorcerer's various differences, whereas the other two are quite simple). Note that I use 3.0 rules as a base, so one or two things may seem a bit unusual or something for 3.5 players.
[sblock]Sorcerers in Rhunaria come in various types, bearing different gifts and sources for their power.
Common sorcerers are called blood sorcerers or natural sorcerers, as their arcane talents come
from a magical heritage, some ancestor or parent who belonged to a magical race such as dragons,
celestials, fiends, or fey. Many descendants of these creatures have a talent for sorcery, though
only some pursue the development of this talent further. As a houserule, Rhunarian blood
sorcerers gain a bonus metamagic feat, Spell Focus feat, Spell Penetration feat, or Skill Focus feat
at their 3rd sorcerer level and every four beyond that.
The next most common variety of sorcerer in Rhunaria is known as the talisman sorcerer or
fetish sorcerer, who requires some unique sort of extra material component for every spell, out of
some unknown eldritch connection to that type of item. Theories abound on how or why these
connections are formed, ranging from divine selection to spirits' favor to mysterious astrological
arcana. Some think this type of sorcerer is created artifically through some alchemical or arcane
ritual used by some unknown cult or secret society. In any case, the type of talisman or fetish
used as a reagent varies by the individual but is consistent for that individual. Thus, some use
coins as reagents, others use teeth, yet others use dragon scales, many use handfuls of particular
spices or herbs, and a few even use such odd reagents as knives or tankards of ale! As a
houserule, Rhunarian talisman sorcerers must sacrifice an appropriate material component in
order to cast any sorcerer spell, but in exchange the save DCs of their spells are increased by +1,
and they learn an extra spell at each even-numbered sorcerer level.
A fairly rare type of sorcerer is the spirit sorcerer, who possesses some inherant bond with the
Ghostlands and is favored by worldly spirits, for reasons unknown to sages. Spirit sorcerers
befriend spirits who serve them through tasks appropriate to the spirit's nature, such as a fire
spirit lighting campfires or building walls of flame to keep enemies of the spirit sorcerer at bay.
Often the spirit sorcerer doesn't know why the spirit has befriended him or her, and the spirits
seem offended or agitated if asked why they serve the sorcerer, so there's no telling what their
motives are. Then again, spirits are otherworldly beings not easily comprehended by mortals, so
they may simply refuse to explain because it could be beyond mortal ken. Spirit sorcerers must
often focus their attention on their spirit benefactors, whether they like it or not, as the spirits
demand constant attention by the sorcerer and seem to crave mortal interaction or answers.
As a houserule, Rhunarian spirit sorcerers gain the ability at 1st-level to sense the presence
of most worldly spirits and communicate with them, partly through speech and partly through the
spirits' mental communication. Often the spirit sorcerer is contacted through dreams to converse
with the spirits, but rarely remembers these sessions upon waking. Spirit sorcerers are not
inherantly able to sense ephemeral spirits, such as wraiths and ghosts, who have no worldly form
and only take on temporary forms to harass mortals. Through the spirits they do sense, however,
they can tell what sort of mood has been around the area recently, infer minor hints about recent
activities in the area, determine the alignment of any recently-deceased creatures in the area
(whether or not corpses remain), judge the general health of an area or individual, and sometimes
notice the presence of magic, evil, good, law, or chaos in the vicinity. Of course, the sorcerer can
only detect that which the spirits allow him or her to, as all he really senses is what sort of spirits
are in the area, and he can't really identify specifics (such as a spirit's name) and he cannot sense
the presence of creatures (whose spirits/souls are too tightly bound to their bodies). Hostile or
single-minded spirits are unlikely to reveal their presence to a spirit sorcerer, let alone speak.
Spirit sorcerers may, at 1st level, choose to gain Knowledge [Spirits] in place of Knowledge
[Arcana] as a sorcerer class skill. A spirit sorcerer's familiar is always a spirit creature, regardless
of whatever templates or creature types it technically has; the familiar gains the Spirit subtype from
Oriental Adventures, which pretty much just renders them susceptible to certain spells from that
supplement. At 5th-level a spirit sorcerer gains the Improved Familiar feat, from the 3E D&D
supplement Tome & Blood, and it costs them nothing to replace their familiar at that time, if any,
with a new familiar appropriate to the feat. For purposes of the Improved Familiar feat, however,
the spirit sorcerer does not get to choose their type of familiar, and cannot dismiss it afterward; only
death will separate them from that particular familiar, and then allow them to summon another
random familiar after a year and a day. However, intentionally killing the familiar is likely to
prevent any other spirits from ever answering a familiar summons by that spirit sorcerer. Aside
from their spirit sense and familiar differences, a spirit sorcerer gains a bonus feat at 10th-level,
which can be either a Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Combat Casting, or metamagic feat, or can
instead be any other feat that requires spellcasting ability, as long as the spirit sorcerer meets any
prerequisites. Spirit sorcerers of 17th-level or higher gain See Invisible as a permanent
supernatural ability, and if they already knew that spell, they learn a new spell of the same level in
its place. Spirit sorcerers often learn various custom spells based on the spirits that befriend them.
Rumors abound of rare, mysterious, exotic sorcerers in Rhunaria, such as totem sorcerers, shadow
sorcerers, bone sorcerers, necrophage sorcerers, elemental sorcerers, exalted sorcerers, storm
sorcerers, chaos sorcerers, ley sorcerers, void sorcerers, phantom sorcerers, abyssal sorcerers, or
machina sorcerers. However, while these rumors are common, they are generally laughed at by
sages and discredited as uneducated observances of shamans, shugenja, wu jen, or druids.
Nonetheless, at least a few of these rumors likely hold kernels of truth.[/sblock]
