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View Full Version : DM Help Interesting Attacks and Tactics from a Fire Elementalist?



ramakidin
2015-08-29, 12:22 PM
My Players will soon encounter a person they know as the "Man of Fire". He is the third best Fire Elementalist in the world but I am having trouble thinking of attacks other than just adding fire to stuff, (Fireballs, Flame Sword, Inferno Cloud, Lava Stream, Burning Whip) and variants on those. They have already fought a group of Fire Cultist so most of these are already a little tired. My group is incredibly easy going rule-wise so anything is possible. He could probably have up to 4 acolytes of various other Elemental Disciplines (Earth, Water, Air, Fire) if combinations would make things more interesting.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Broken Crown
2015-08-29, 07:45 PM
The big problem with elementalists in general is that their magic is focused on a single theme, which tends to be pretty easy for the players to figure out and guard against. ("Man of Fire"? How are the PCs not going to buff themselves with Fire Resistance in preparation for this encounter?) This is especially a problem with fire elementalists, because so many of their spells are direct damage effects, so protection against them makes them especially ineffective.

Look for ways to use fire indirectly, to affect the environment, rather than the PCs. Smoke can cause blinding and choking effects. Bright flashes can blind opponents. Attack spells can be used to blast holes in floors, topple columns, drop chandeliers, and otherwise hit the PCs with effects against which Fire Resistance provides no protection. A pool of lava will still trap someone who is completely unharmed by the heat. A big enough firestorm can cause hurricane-force winds: That could have many dramatic applications in a battle.

You didn't specify whether you're using D&D, but if your PCs are high enough level to survive it, consider giving the Man of Fire an iron golem bodyguard. They're a nuisance to fight under normal circumstances, but when there's someone flinging fireballs around, they're almost unkillable. Plus it might be an unexpected twist for the PCs to end up facing a brute melee opponent when they're expecting to go up against a caster.

In short, make sure that fire damage isn't the only weapon in the Man of Fire's arsenal.

Honest Tiefling
2015-08-29, 08:28 PM
I am not hundred percent sure what you mean by elementalist, but is there a chance he can learn other spells? Spells and potions to protect against fire sure suck if you are Big Bad Fire Wizard. So strip them of their protections. Everyone needs to feel the flames, after all, and the flames hunger after all. Be quite rude to deny them a meal.

Depending on the system, spells to heat metal and to cause blood to burn would be quite thematically appropriate and a little different.

Also, I think he needs to live in a volcano. Cliche? Perhaps. But I think it would look quite cool. Also, any effect or attack to push would become quite deadly. The lava could be swimming with plenty of fire type creatures for extra variation.

What about fiery undead, or is he not a necromancer type guy?

Bad Wolf
2015-08-29, 08:58 PM
Have him use one ice spell. Just to throw everyone off.

Brova
2015-08-29, 10:16 PM
One place to look for something like this is other media. Here are some options.

Consider Avatar's Firebenders. Most of their attacks involve fire, but one of the high end fire techniques (at least in Last Airbender, it's more common in Legend of Korra) is lightning. That opens up a lot of potential options. It's a second energy type to bypass immunity, it tends to show up in multi-target rather than AoE attacks, there's some association with slows or dispels, and having lightning jump around between pillars to create a shifting battlefield is reasonably interesting.

Alternatively, Pokemon's Fire Type. Almost everything that the Fire Type does involves hitting people for fire damage. But they do get to dish out a physical debuff/DoT (burn status), manipulate lava, and trap people. That's another solid set of abilities for a fire guy to use.

Finally, the color Red in MTG. Red is the color of fire, and it gets all sorts of fire related abilities. But it also gets to manipulate emotions, toss around other elemental damage (lightning, frost IIRC, lava), produce mana temporarily, or just be a freakin' dragon. Red's abilities are kind of a stretch for a fire elementalist in a lot of cases though. I don't know that Goblins or Elementals have any particularly useful seeds.

There's also a Fire Mage class found here (http://www.tgdmb.com/viewtopic.php?p=40226#40226) that you can mine for ideas.

TeChameleon
2015-08-29, 11:15 PM
Fire is an incredibly primal force, with strong associations with purification and destruction. Have a variant of Dispel Magic that 'burns up' their protective spells, or a refluffed Rust Monster attack that melts their weapons. Give him stone golems that midway through the fight get melted down to become lava golems. Make the entire battlefield a whirling sea of flame, with constantly shifting lines of sight.

... also, at least in D&D 4e, there are a few feats that one can take to bypass fire resistance or even flat-out fire immunity, and one that I vaguely remember makes fire attacks do even more damage if the target has resistance. So your players may find that their fire resist potions are more of a hindrance than a help, in that case...

Nifft
2015-08-29, 11:39 PM
Unexpected fire spells:
- Unforge Steel ("sunder weapon" but with fire)
- Improved Infravision (darkvision and see invisibility but with fire)
- Clinging Spark Shower (glitterdust and the Fiery Burst [Reserve] feat as a single action)
- Purifying Pyre Portal (dispelling breath and firestride exhalation with the Entangling Exhalation feat, ultra-nasty if you have the entangling aspect apply the dispelling breath effect each turn)
- Easybake Wizardcake of Abi-Dalzim (just regular horrid wilting, it's bad enough as-is)

PersonMan
2015-08-30, 03:09 AM
... also, at least in D&D 4e, there are a few feats that one can take to bypass fire resistance or even flat-out fire immunity, and one that I vaguely remember makes fire attacks do even more damage if the target has resistance. So your players may find that their fire resist potions are more of a hindrance than a help, in that case...

3.5 has a similar feat, Searing Spell, which makes your flame spells so hot they pierce Fire Resistance and half of Immunity. It needs to be applied to spells individually, though.

Something I did in one of my games was making an enemy that used fire attacks which left behind small bits of fire, that it could detonate later with other attacks - maybe something similar here, with him applying some kind of layer of flame that deals bonus damage to shielded enemies and lets his main spells go through?

Corey
2015-08-30, 03:51 AM
Besides the excellent ideas above, it's sometimes a trope that fire = speed.
http://caamfest.com/2013/files/2013/02/astroboy21.jpg

Xuc Xac
2015-08-30, 09:51 AM
If he's such a good fire mage then he should be able to control the essence of fire as well as its substance.

He can ignite your passions and rage: everyone goes into a frothing berserk fury. Not a problem for the barbarian who would have done that anyway, but not so great for spellcasters and roguish types who would rather be smart and subtle.

He can snuff the spark of your creativity. Did you have a powerful combo in mind? Sorry. Now all you can think of is casting magic missile or hitting him with a stick. In fact you see nothing wrong with spamming your most basic attack even if it doesn't seem to be working very well.

Not to mention all the side effects of fire that can't be stopped by fire resistance. It might not feel burning hot when you have fire resistance, but a spray of ashes to the face will still blind you, as will a cloud of thick black smoke. Do you still need to breathe? Good luck with that. You're immune to fire damage? What about the bridge you're standing on? You might not mind the heat, but the shrapnel from an explosion will ruin your day. What happens if I superheat these spiky iron drums full of water and flash boil them? Does fire resistance protect you from a boiler explosion? What about a bunch of pipes full of water and plugged with metal balls or rods? Does fire resistance protect against an enfilade of steam cannon?

ramakidin
2015-08-30, 04:55 PM
This has been fantastic thank you so much for your contributions. I definitely know how I want to set this battle up now.