PF Linnorm Bloodline from Wayfinder Magazine - Broken ?

[heinrich]

Hi everyone,

I was planning to get a Skill Focus and Eldritch Heritage Feat for my character and was thinking about the Linnorm Bloodline, for obvious reason.

At the level 1 power does increase in power with sorcerer level, that is with character level -2 for Eldrtich Heritage.

It starts out with +2 racial Bonus on Perception, Darkvision 60ft. and Scent. At 5th and 7th level the bonuses increase to +4 and +6 and the range of the darkvision increases to 90ft and 120ft. At 11th level the bonus reaches +8 and one gains blind sense.

So, all in all, that is a lot of stuff, but it's all themed around sensing things. Maybe the other bloodline powers are weaker in relation to other bloodlines, I can't tell. Since I want to use Eldritch Heritage to gain access, all I get is this basic power.

Also, the bonuses come at character level 3rd, 7th, 9th and 13th, since Eldritch Heritage has a virtual sorcerer level of character level -2.

So, are these bonuses broken?

Dark Vision of 90ft. is available as option for Half-Orc and Dwarf at level 1, although they would need to trade in another racial ability (half-orc), or suffer penalties in bright light (dwarf).
Scent is available as a feat for Half-Orc and Orc, prerequisite is Wis 13.
Also there is a feat to boost dark vision to 120ft.

Darkvision is available as a spell staring 3rd level, with 1h/level duration. The stronger version with 120ft. range is available at level 7.
I can't think of a spell generating scent like powers, though.

So, what's your opinion?
Is the power so good, that it has to be considered broken, or is it just good?

[ThiagoMartell]

I don't think Linnorm is a valid choice for Eldritch Heritage, since it is not a normal bloodline.
EDIT: Actually, we're probably not talking about the same Linnorm bloodline, nevermind.
EDIT 2: Found the one you meant. It does sound a bit stronger than most other bloodlines. It's 3rd party material, after all - that happens quite frequently.

[heinrich]

EDIT: Actually, we're probably not talking about the same Linnorm bloodline, nevermind.Probably not...

I'm referring to the one, that was in Wayfinder #2. It is on d20PFSRD: Linnorm Bloodline (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/sorcerer/bloodlines/bloodlines-from-3rd-party-publishers/paizo-fans-united-wayfinder-magazine/linnorm-bloodline)

[jmelesky]

If you look at some of the other 1st-level bloodline powers, it's overpowered.

Compare, for example, the Imperious Bloodline (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/sorcerer/bloodlines/bloodlines-from-paizo/racial-bloodlines/imperious-bloodline-sorcerer-human), which is only available to humans:


Student of Humanity (Ex): At 1st level, you gain Diplomacy, Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), and Linguistics as class skills. In addition, when using these skills to learn, study, or gather information about humans, you add an insight bonus equal to your Charisma bonus on such checks.

It adds some class skills, and gives a conditional bonus based on an existing attribute. Nothing tiers up at different levels, nor do you automatically get ranks in those skills.

And that's the most generous skill-centric 1st-level power I can find in first-party sources. Others, like the Rakshasa Bloodline (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/sorcerer/bloodlines/bloodlines-from-paizo/rakshasa-bloodline), have a 3+Cha/day power:


Silver Tongue (Su): At 1st level, you can draw upon your outsider heritage to spin amazingly convincing lies. Activating this ability is a swift action. You gain a +5 bonus on one Bluff check made to convince another of the truth of your words (similar to using glibness). If a magical effect is used against you that would detect your lies or force you to speak the truth, the user of the effect must succeed on a caster level check (DC 10 + your sorcerer level) to succeed. Failure means the effect does not detect your lies or force you to speak only the truth. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier.

And most of the rest are 3+Cha/day combat powers (do damage, put a minor condition on someone, perform a maneuver, etc). When they tier up, it's usually either a flat bonus to damage, or the option to put a more severe condition on someone, in exchange for lower duration or similar.

By comparison, the Linnorm Bloodline has 1- unconditional bonuses, 2- which are constant, not 3+Cha/day, and 3- which add significant special abilities as you go up in level, where 4- those special abilities are constant, unconditional, and don't impact the other bonuses negatively at all.

So, yes, overpowered in comparison to 1st-party bloodlines. Broken? Possibly.