No Elemental casters?

[Schwann145]

I'm really surprised we haven't seen any content for this style of spellcaster.
A friend is looking to do L5R with D&D 5e rules and the simple reality that a Shugenja and/or Wu Jen would basically require 100% homebrew to correctly pull off is surprising.

How are we lacking something so obvious - the Elementalist?

[Keeganwilson]

Monk way of the elements .

[Greywander]

Isn't this more or less what a druid is? An elemental caster?

[Schwann145]

I mean something that is tied to a specific element more than generically elemental in nature.

Something like the Elemental Bloodlines for PF Sorcs - specialized in one element that is chosen at character creation.

So an Air caster would get things like Lightning Bolt, Fog Cloud, Fly, Invisibility, Conjure Minor Elementals (of the Air subtype only), etc.
A Fire caster would get things like Fireball, Haste, Heat Metal, Conjure Minor Elementals (of the Fire subtype only), etc.
But crossover between elements wouldn't be a thing - A Water caster wouldn't get Fly or Fireball, etc.

That kind of thing.

[JackPhoenix]

D&D never really divided their spells by elements. There were some attempts previous editions, but their success is debatable.... generally, it's an attempt to fit a square peg into a round hole.

Still, we have the aforementioned 4e monk subclass, dragon sorcerers specialized by energy type, storm sorcerer (and other elemental sorcerer variants in UA articles- really, elemental specialization is more of a sorcerer thing, and WotC is not nice to sorcerers), and wu jen was mystic subclass in UA, but will propably never see print.

And you can of course play normal caster and pick thematic spells and refluff other stuff... wizards and druids are best for that, due to broad spell lists.

[Anymage]

The simplest answer is that it's generally bad form to define something by tight restrictions. If you're gung ho on your restrictions, it's better to enforce them through refluffing than outright bans. (E.G: there's no real reason not to let a fire caster use a Fly spell that sprouts wings of flame.) Add in the way that WotC is wary of content glut and has been skittish to add new base classes, and elementally limited casters are unlikely to see print.

Refluffed sorcerers, especially if you bribe them with a free Elemental Adept feat, are probably your best bet. They require player buy-in to the concept, though. Which, to repeat my above point, is something that you should really look for before trying to put together a setting defined by restrictions.

[Glorthindel]

I think part of the problem is certain elements sort of get shafted on spell variety. Fire is very well represented, but other elements are somewhat lacking.

You notice it immediately if you play one of the few elemental-themed classes. When I played a Tempest Cleric, but kept butting up against the realisation that a lot of the available spells were Thunder rather than Lightening, meaning they didn't trigger some of my class features. Likewise, if you played a Dragonborn or Draconic Bloodline Sorcerer, you get far less mileage out of going Black or Green than you do out of Red.

It is perfectly viable if you have got a DM who will let you refluff elemental spells to suit your specialisation, but if not, you are struggling against a really tight spell list for anything other than Fire.

[HiveStriker]

I'm really surprised we haven't seen any content for this style of spellcaster.
A friend is looking to do L5R with D&D 5e rules and the simple reality that a Shugenja and/or Wu Jen would basically require 100% homebrew to correctly pull off is surprising.

How are we lacking something so obvious - the Elementalist?
Hey ;)

1. Official content: Monk of 4 Elements with a dip into Druid + Magic Initiate (grab all four "element" cantrips).

2. UA: Mystic, which has Wu Jen archetype. ^^

3. Elemancer, a homebrew a guy posted while ago. I can find back a link if you want (will take a few days though because I can do this only during weekend).

[ImproperJustice]

A while back we played with an Arctic Druid with Elemental Adept (Cold) and he was highly effective with a mix of direct damage and control effects.

I think elemental casters are out there, you just need to develop them out of other classes.

I run a Sorceror based around each of the four elements. It is largely self imposed restrictions but totally workable.

[Petrocorus]

I think mechanically, the closest thing is Draconic Sorcerer.
With a bit of DM fiat on the spell list and a refluffing.

[Nhym]

A good workaround might be to reflavor spells around specific elements. A DM might even allow damage type changes. For example: Firebolt can be Icebolt and do cold damage instead; Entangle could be Freeze for an Ice elementalist or a form of electrical paralysis for an Air elementalist; Fireball could deal thunder damage and be basically a pressure explosion for an Air elementalist. Not ideal, but it's something. I myself would absolutely love an elemental subclass of the druid specifically as Circle of the Land doesn't really cut it, but oh well.

[CheddarChampion]

In addition to what has been said,
Tempest Cleric
Storm Sorcerer
Barbarian Storm Herald (power level aside)
The feat "Elemental Adept"


Making a class around the use of a single element in 5e would be like:
making a paladin that only has healing spells/effects and no smiting
making a fighter that has weapons but no armor
making a rogue with skills and is slippery but has no sneak attack

Now try to balance that without completely overshadowing the original class's ability to do the new class's specialty.
And have your DM never use any creatures that are immune to your chosen damage type. DM wanted a cool fight with a fire elemental? Welp, nevermind, the pyromancer would have a bad time.

[DarknessEternal]

L5R is an incredibly low magic setting compared to standard D&D. Focusing on one element had advantages in that setting, but in D&D such limitations would have to be self inflicted.

An element focused caster in D&D would just be an extremely bad wizard (or whatever class).

If you actually want shugenja using D&D rules, use the following:

1. Shugenja are clerics.
2. The only spells on their spell list are their domain spells.
3. They get a number of spell slots per day equal to their casting stat.

If you think no one would play that and it’s grossly under powered, I can tell you which single edition of L5R you played and that none of the others were like that.

[Undyne]

I'm really surprised we haven't seen any content for this style of spellcaster.
A friend is looking to do L5R with D&D 5e rules and the simple reality that a Shugenja and/or Wu Jen would basically require 100% homebrew to correctly pull off is surprising.

How are we lacking something so obvious - the Elementalist?

Druid. Or if you mean elemental damage (Fire/Cold/Lightning/Acid/Poison) Draconic sorcerer, or if you just want Lightning and Thunder go Storm Sorcerer.

[RifleAvenger]

If you think no one would play that and it’s grossly under powered, I can tell you which single edition of L5R you played and that none of the others were like that.
What is L5R d20/d20 Rokugan?

Speaking of which, trying to port over L5R d20 spells could be a place to start, if the GM and table is alright with that. Potentially dangerous, since that was 3e era stuff.

[GlenSmash!]

I really liked the Stone Sorcerer https://media.wizards.com/2017/dnd/downloads/26_UASorcererUA020617s.pdf

[Luccan]

You could theoretically get something from the draconic sorcerer, but I agree that a more dedicated class could be more elegant. I've actually considered homebrewing an Elementalist with Wu Jen, Shugena, and Sha'ir as the subclasses, but sticking to their... unique casting mechanics/restrictions seemed complex. Kinda surprised we haven't at least seen Wu Jen as a UA wizard subclass though.