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ZenBear
2019-11-28, 12:22 PM
Inspired by the Black Mage/Thaumaturge of FFXIV, Todoroki from MyHeroAca, and the Bright Wizard from Warhammer: Fantasy, I'm working on this concept for a heavily combat-focused Sorcerer that only uses fire and ice spells. I need help deciding on how the base mechanic should operate. FFXIV has a mana management mechanic where Astral Fire stacks boost damage at higher mana cost, and Umbral Ice stacks boost mana regeneration. I'm not sure how best to translate this, but I'm thinking it should play with Sorcery Points or spell slot refunds ala Divination Wizard. Alternately, it could be a temp HP/damage exchange. Drawing inspiration from Todoroki and the Bright Wizard, I had the thought to make the Astral Fire and Umbral Ice each take a different toll on the caster, forcing them to swap between the two types. Any feedback on implementation would be appreciated!

Song of Ice and Fire
At first level, you learn four cantrips: Create Bonfire, Frostbite, Produce Flame, and Ray of Frost. These take up your cantrips known. When you learn new cantrips as you level up, you may choose from: Control Flames, Firebolt, Green-Flame Blade, and Shape Water.

You can only learn spells that deal cold or fire damage. You can choose spells from any spell list and treat them as Sorcerer spells. If a spell you choose has the option to deal cold or fire damage, you must choose one or the other.

Option 1:
When you cast a spell that deals cold damage, you gain temporary hit points equal to the level of spell you cast.

When you cast a spell that deals fire damage, you take damage equal to the level of the spell you cast.

Option 2:
When you cast a spell that deals cold damage, you gain a number of stacks of Umbral Ice equal to the level of the spell cast. Each stack of Umbral Ice grants 5 temporary HP and reduces your speed by 5 feet (minimum 0). All stacks are lost after 1 minute of the last spell cast, or when you cast a spell that deals fire damage.

When you cast a spell that deals fire damage, you gain number of stacks of Astral Fire equal to the level of the spell cast. Each stack of Astral Fire deals 5 fire damage to you at the start of each turn, and the next time you cast a spell that deals fire damage you deal 5 bonus fire damage per stack of Astral Fire on you. All stacks are lost after 1 minute of the last spell cast, or when you cast a spell that deals cold damage.

Option 3:
When you cast a spell that deals cold damage, you gain a number of stacks of Umbral Ice equal to the level of the spell cast. Each stack of Umbral Ice grants you a Sorcery Point that can be converted to spell slots as a bonus action. All stacks are lost after 1 minute of the last spell cast, or when you cast a spell that deals fire damage.

When you cast a spell that deals fire damage, you gain number of stacks of Astral Fire equal to the level of the spell cast. Each stack of Astral Fire grants you 1d8 extra fire damage on spells you cast that deal fire damage. All stacks are lost after 1 minute of the last spell cast, or when you cast a spell that deals cold damage.

Trandir
2019-11-28, 12:54 PM
So you want help in designing a subclass?

ZenBear
2019-11-28, 01:04 PM
So you want help in designing a subclass?

Yarp. Just throwing ideas around and seeing what shakes out.

Old Harry MTX
2019-11-29, 01:39 AM
Why don't you make a feature similar to Magical Secrets that allow you to cast a spell that usually don't deals fire or ice damage, but with the damage type changed?

And also, can this subclass learns spells that don't deals damage but have other effects?