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nolas85
2016-07-14, 05:20 PM
Edit: I labeled the levels each ability is gained at. Additionally, I swapped Elemental Attack and Elemental Affinity to balance some of the strengths gained by Elemental Attack as they're more in line with 3rd lvl spell

With Genasi showing up in the Elemental Evil supplement, I was surprised that the Elemental Savant didn't make an appearance. That being said I figured I'd take a stab at converting it to 5th edition. I used the Draconic Ancestry bloodline from Sorcerers to model this after. As such, I'll reference what abilities I'm replacing and why I figured it'd be appropriate for the level at which it is attained. Please take a look and provide feedback as necessary. Still waiting for Wizards to add a feat/metamagic that changes elemental damage types so you can have a viable elemental caster outside of the Fire element but we'll see.

Requirements: Genasi
*Not absolutely necessary but I like the flavor it adds. It also helps explain the connections mentioned in the class

Elemental Lineage: Your elemental lineage is determined by which subrace of Genasi you pick. Tied to your elemental lineage are links to specific elements as outlined during abilities gained later in this class. The paring is as follows; Air – Lightning, Fire – Fire, Earth – Acid, Water – Cold
*I know the water genasi has acid resistance however as I recall, water elementals were historically resistant to cold and earth was historically resistant to acid. That being said, it also allows us to pair something with earth since simply making them resistant to non-magical damage seems a bit overpowered. Other than that it's basically the dragon blood ability with an elemental flavor.

Elemental Affinity: Starting at 1st level, you become more in tune with your heritage creating a stronger tie to your elemental plane. Increase the save DC of spells associated with your elemental affinity by 1.
*A different take on the same ability granted by the dragon bloodline. Instead of increasing damage this boosts DC. Since that can be a bit more powerful than a +CHA to damage boost I removed the ability to gain elemental resistances.

Elemental Attack: At 6th level, your link to the elemental plane becomes a little stronger granting you similar capabilities as the elementals you are related to. Spend 3 SP to use a special attack associated with your element.
Air: Whirlwind – The fury of the elemental plain of air encases you in a protective circle. You generate a whirlwind that affects each creature adjacent to you. Each creature caught within the whirlwind must make a STR save DC = 8 + prof + CHA or take 3d8 bludgeoning damage, be flung 20 feet directly away from you, and become knocked prone. Creatures take ½ damage on a successful save and are not moved or knocked prone. If flung and the creature strikes an object, it takes an additional 1d6 for every 10 feet it traveled. If the object is another creature, that creature must make a DEX save or take the same amount of additional damage generated from striking an object and is also knocked prone.

Fire: Fireburst – You call forth flames from the elemental plane of fire to scorch your enemies. A burst of fire emanates from you affecting all creatures within 15 feet of you. Each creature must make a DEX save DC = 8 + prof + CHA or take 5d6 fire damage and be set on fire (burning). A successful save reduces the damage by ½ and does not ignite creatures.


Earth: Erupting Earth – Your link to the elemental plane of earth manifests as a 10 foot cube of erupting earth at a point of your choosing within 120 feet of you. Each creature in this 10 foot cube must make a DEX save DC = 8 + prof + CHA or take 3d12 bludgeoning damage and be knocked prone. A successful save reduces the damage by ½ and the creature isn’t knocked prone. After the effect, the targeted area becomes difficult terrain.

Water: Whiplash – You call forth the elemental plane of water to help you hold your enemies at bay. Two 10 foot tentacles of water sprout forth from your body and try to constrict your enemies. You may target two separate medium sized creatures or one large creature with this ability. Targeted creatures must succeed on a STR (athletics) or DEX (acrobatics) saving throw DC = 8 + prof + CHA or become grappled. Grappled creatures take 1d8+CHA bludgeoning damage immediately and at the beginning of each of your turns while still grappled as the tentacles constrict.
*As odd as it sounds, I based these off of dragon resilience. It didn't really make sense to leave the 13 base AC and +1HP / lvl so I ended up with this. The theme that I saw was survivability which I feel exists in all of the abilities. Most of the abilities give you the ability to control the area immediately around you which I feel fits with this theme. I made it cost 3 SP because that limits how often you can use it (Once at 3rd, 2 times at 6th, etc). Since it pulls from your SP I think it helps balance some of the effects because that is a limited pool that can be used for some other significant things (metamagic anyone?). Lastly, I feel that it gives each element a little more of a unique flavor and they bring something different to the table.

Elemental Transformation: When you reach 14th level, your connection to the elemental plane has awakened innate abilities in your blood. You gain the movement type and speed of a medium elemental of your element. Bonuses to movement speed granted by feats or abilities (eg. Monk movement) apply to normal land base speed only.
*Giving all elementals a fly speed didn't make sense so I changed the Dragon Wings ability to reflect each elemental. It really depends on the campaign who gets the shaft here but I feel it's between the fire and water elemental. A swim speed can be powerful but only if there's water. Additionally, water Genasi already get a swim speed but this bumps it to 90 which is cool. Aside from that, the fire elemental gets movement 50 but it's normal movement so you can't take advantage of going through walls like the earth elemental or flying into the sun like the air elemental.

Elemental Link: At 18th level, your connection to your elemental plane has become so strong that most elementals of your type consider you one of their own and will often come to your aid if asked. You gain the ability to cast Conjure Elemental once per long rest summoning an elemental of your type. For this ability, the duration of this spell is 8 hours and concentration isn’t required to maintain it. Additionally, elementals of your type are friendly towards you (DM’s discression).
*A fear aura makes sense for a dragon but not really elementals so I added a different flavor. Conjure Elementals is a 5th level spell which is rather weak at this level. To compensate I reduced the need for concentration making it significantly more powerful and extended the duration to treat it more like a companion. The 8 hour limit ensures that you can't have more than one at a time and it is still limited to a CR 5 or lower elemental. This probably won't survive much in terms of combat but neither will a ranger's animal companion probably.

JBPuffin
2016-07-15, 08:47 PM
So Elemental Savant is a Sorcerer Bloodline, right? Seems legit. I'd do one thing, and that's list the levels each feature is gained so people can rate the ability without having their PHB open next to them. Not the most balance-knowledgeable person, so that's all I've got for now. Good luck! :smallsmile:

nolas85
2016-07-15, 09:46 PM
Glad you pointed that out. I was thinking that sorcerers gained their first bloodline ability at 3rd level but they get it right off the bat. Since that's the case I switched some abilities around as it was crazy to give those attacks to a 1st level character. It makes me question the DC boosting ability but I'm not quite sure what to replace it with if it is indeed unbalanced.