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View Full Version : Blue Magic in 5e: PEACH if you want



BerzerkerUnit
2020-11-02, 06:31 PM
(Format improvement later, this is all on my phone for now)
Edit: getting kind of an Incarnum Totemist vibe now. I like it.

Blue Magic is a rarely practiced art in modern times though tribal peoples still hold strong traditions in remote regions. Blue Mages or Azure Magios cultivate suites of supernatural gifts from Beasts or exotic creatures such as Monstrosities and extraplanar beings, even Constructs and the Undead may have unique abilities the Blue Mage can acquire. The acquisition of these gifts is challenging as the would be Blue Mage must have both first hand knowledge of the creature’s abilities gleaned from observation, and somehow overcome the creature.

Most commonly the Blue Mage must defeat such creatures in combat. While death of the creature isn’t necessary, a piece of its body or small quantity of its blood is necessary for creation of the totem that will hold its power. It is also possible to form a pact with a reasoning creature to earn use of its gift, though often they will require the Blue Mage to prove their worth in combat or with a quest.

As a Blue Mage gains power and experience the number of Totems they can bear into combat increases as does the frequency with which they can use lesser powers. There is virtually no limit to the number of totems a Blue Mage can create.

Eventually Blue Mages learn to create totems that can hold the spells innate to the Totem’s source and borrow the Traits of such creatures such as resistances, immunities, or regeneration.

Hit Die: d6
Saving Throws: Con, Int

Armor: none
Weapons: simple
Skills: Choose 2- Arcana, Nature, Religion, Athletics, Animal Handling, Acrobatics, Survival

Tools: Choose two from- Weaver’s, Leatherworking, Carpentry, Jeweler’s


1. Totems (Attack, Armor)
2. Totems (Senses)
3 Attuned Insight, Greater Totem
4 ASI
5 Totems (Spell)
6 ASI Enchanted Totems
7 Totem (Multiattack)
8 ASI
9 Swift Realignment
10 ASI
11Totems (Trait)
12 ASI
13 Ability Totem
14 Totemic Wisdom
15 Manifest Totem Creature
16 ASI
17 Azure Soul
18 Totem (Legendary)
19 ASI
20 Invest Totem



Totems

Beginning at first level you acquire an Attack Totem and an Armor Totem. Your attack Totem will impart the ability to use your action to perform 1 Attack from a Panther, Wolf, or Boar. Your attack bonus and any saving throw you force a creature to make with this ability is Intelligence based and this is considered a Spell Attack. See the Totem Creation sidebar for details about acquiring additional totems and their benefits.

You also receive an Armor Totem granting a Natural Armor Bonus of +2 while not wearing armor or using a shield. As you gain levels you can replace your Armor Totem with one from a more resilient creature granting a natural armor rating up to the limit of your Proficiency bonus as long as you aren’t wearing armor or using a shield. You can wear only one Armor Totem at a time and it counts toward your limitnof Totems worn.

___
Totem Creation
You can create and carry any number of Totems however you can only make use of Totems you wear. You can wear a number of totems equal to your Intelligence bonus + Proficiency bonus. Wearing a Totem requires a ritual practice which aligns your spirit with the power of the Totem. At the end of a long rest you can determine which Totems you are wearing.

The power of a Totem is based on the CR of the creature that was used to create it. A Totem with a CR 1/2 your Proficiency bonus (rounded down) or less can be used at will. A Totem with a CR of your level in this class and below can be used once and you cannot use such a Totem again until you complete a short rest. With the exception of the Overcast feature acquired at level 3, Totems with CR higher than your level in this class cannot be used until your class level equals or exceeds their CR.

Creating Totems is complex. First you must know a creature has a specific ability and observe its use. It isn’t enough to know a black dragon has a breath weapon, you must observe it breathe the acid. Then you must acquire a piece of the creature and overwhelm it, doing so forges the spiritual bond necessary to grant you dominion over its power.

Blue Mages that scavenge pieces of powerful creatures become cursed, losing their identity and becoming a shadow of the to the creature whose power they sought to steal.

It’s possible to persuade rational creatures to share their power with you, but doing so is understood to create a powerfully intimate bond and such creatures will demand the Blue Mage prove themselves forcing a battle regardless or have steep prices, such as requiring the completion of a quest.

Once these conditions are met, a Totem can be fashioned for 10xCR GP of your preferred materials over the course of your next long rest. Only one Totem can be crafted at a time and a single creature can provide only one Totem. If you wanted the Bite, Armor, and Breath weapon of a black dragon you would have to acquire Totems from 3 separate dragons.

Totemic Senses
Beginning at 2nd level, instead of creating a Totem to duplicate the action of a creature, you can instead create one that grants you one of the creature’s senses, such as Darkvision, Keen Hearing. You retain the sense as long as you wear the Totem.

Attuned Insight
At 3rd level and beyond you may add 1/2 your Proficiency bonus to any Charisma check made to influence a creature that shares a type with one of your worn Totems.

Greater Totem
At 3rd level and beyond you can wear a single Totem with a CR above your level but not more than your Level+your Proficiency Bonus.
You can use this Totem Once but must complete a long rest before using it again.

ASI
At levels 4,6,8,10,12,16,and 19 you gain an ASI.

Spell Totems
Beginning at 5th level you can craft Totems that emulate an innate spell of some creatures such as an Illithid’s Planeshift. The maximum level of spell you can cast in this way is 1/2 your Blue Mage Level rounded up. You must provide any expensive material component even if the creature normally ignore such a requirement.

Enchanted Totems
At 6th level the damage of natural weapon attacks granted by your Totems is considered magical.

Multiattacking Totems
At 7th level if you are wearing a Totem for each attack that’s part of a creature’s multiattack, you may use that creature’s multi attack. You may do so once but this does not consume the use of the Totems individually. If the creature’s CR is less than 1/2 your Proficiency bonus you can do this at will.

Swift Realignment
At 9th level you learn to swiftly realign your spiritual energies with another Totem. Once, you can perform a one minute ritual to replace one of your worn Totems with another Totem you’re carrying. You regain the use of this feature after a long rest.

Trait Totems
At 11th level and beyond you can create a Totem that grants you a passive Trait from a creature such as Regeneration or a Gaze Attack. Activating such a Totem requires your bonus action. The duration of its effect is determined by its CR as follows.
-Half your Proficiency bonus or less 1 hour
-Your Class Level or less 10 minutes
-Your Class Level+Proficiency 1 minute

Ability Totem
At 13th level you learn to craft a Totem that grants you one of the most fundamental aspects of a creature, wearing an Ability Totem replaces one of your ability scores with the Score of the creature. You can wear only one Ability Totem at a Time and it counts toward your normal limit for Totems worn.


Totemic Wisdom
At 14th level you can cast the Commune with nature, commune, or legend lore Spell once by consulting the spirits of your Totems. You must complete a long rest before using this feature again.

Manifest Totem
At 15th level, by destroying one of your Totems as an action you cause the spiritual power within to manifest as a spectral version of the originating creature. This creature uses the stat block as it appeared when you created the Totem. It is friendly to you and your allies and takes its action on the turn following yours, following instructions you give it as a bonus action.
The spirit remains in your service for a duration based on its CR after which it fades out of existence.
CR equal to or less than 1/2 your Proficiency- 1 hour
CR equal to or less than your Class Level 10 minutes
CR equal to or less than your Class Level + your Proficiency bonus 1 minute.

Azure Soul
At 17th level your very soul becomes infused with the magic of your Totems conferring the following benefits.
-At the end of a long rest you may declare your type to match one of your worn Totems. You lose your original type becoming immune to spells and effects that target humanoids but susceptible to spells and effects that target your new type such as Animal Friendship or Turn Undead.
-Your aging slows to an imperceptible rate, you become immune to effects that would age you.

Legendary Totems
Beginning at 18th level you can create a Legendary Totem that grants use of one of a Creature’s legendary actions. You can use this legendary Action once but must complete a long rest before doing so again.

Invest Totem
At 20th level you can Invest Totems with the necessary power that others can use them. You can Invest a number of Totems equal to your Intelligence bonus. A creature that is not a Blue Mage can wear no more than 1 such Totem at a time.

BerzerkerUnit
2020-11-03, 02:24 AM
Alpha version ready.

BerzerkerUnit
2020-11-09, 01:15 AM
Here's a pdf

Blue Mage (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ORNNHLyG_MCp36RmwI4XvkcWtPS7k_f5/view?usp=sharing)

Old Harry MTX
2020-11-09, 02:11 AM
As a fan of Final Fantasy, I like it!

The mechanic is cool, but I have some questions:
No subclasses? (there's no problem to me, just curious)
Why don't you add in the class table some columns to show the various CR and totem uses, like a vancian system?
Invest Totem doesn't comes out a bit late?


I also understand why you don't have write it as a subclass (druids and rangers have yet spellcasting, barbarians have rage and also a totemic subclass). I think it would be very easy to convert it in a subclass, the hard part would be find the right class to attach it!

BerzerkerUnit
2020-11-09, 11:59 AM
Thanks for your interest!

Charting uses:
I can’t chart how many Uses a Mage will have because that will be up to the players’ Worn Totems, I can’t even chart out how many worn Totems there will be bc it’s based on Int and Proficiency, Prof scales automatically but Int scales based on player decisions.

Some Blue Mages might choose to wear 1 at will Totem (Totem CR 1/2 Proficiency or less) and a bunch of 1/rest Totems (Totem CR up to their level) which are short rest recovery.

Others might choose to wear lots of low CR Totems for several at will abilities, and a few might decide to go all /rest Totems and rely on a crossbow and spear for at will attacks.

This kind of versatility was the reason I didn’t make any subclasses. There’s some reward in specializing in a particular type of creature, gaining all of a Dragon’s attacks is cool, specializing in an element, or something crazy like a Hudra so your big encounter move is 6 bite attacks (though that means killing 6 hydras and using 6 Totem slots).

I really wanted to avoid a spell slot dependent class. Avoiding potent synergies with other classes was important to me for this one since it allows you to build so freely.

As for a 1/2 class subclass, By design it doesn’t synergize well. Ranger is a good thematic link, but that class is already all over the place mechanically with martial, spells, exploration features, etc. a subclass that hammers in another subsystem in isn’t going to help. Druids get Shapechange, which is practically this entire class in one spell at level 17.

That’s some of my rationale. I hope it made sense. I recommend having a look through some of the modules for low levels and see what kind of abilities are available. There are some really good ones here and there if they can survive.