LucyG92 |
So a player wants to take levels in sorcerer, but they don't want to just start casting spells - they'd like me to come up with some sort of story explanation. Like how in a lot of fantasy books the main character gets themselves into a dangerous situation and end up exploding things (or another magic user recognises them - but I don't think that could work in Pathfinder) :)
I don't think uncontrolled destruction would really suit his character (currently a rogue), so would like to come up with something different. The problem is, I've known about this for a while and keep trying to find opportunities to hint at it before he gained a level - but now his XP has exceeded the level boundary, so I need to come with up with something quick.
He's taking the arcane bloodline, and is currently in the wilderness in Ustalav. I already know he wants a raven familiar, so I was going to have a raven mysteriously following him about. I'm sure there are plenty of those around... Other than that, I'm stuck. I could have some high level creature attack and he manages to save the day, but that could realistically kill the other characters, so probably isn't an option :/
Has anyone done this for any of their players? Just wondered about hearing examples, really.
Letric |
During combat start describing effects from other casting classes if you don't do already. Like Flora the cleric casts a bless spells and you say everyone sees a light on their heads and they feel invigorated and more precise.
If the Rogue is under attack let the party make a spot check and tell them they start seeing sometimes a glowing around the Rogue.
Maybe when the Rogue is about to take a dire hit a shield seems to stop the blow, but it doesn't actually stops it. All sorcerers have innate magic, that doesn't mean they can control it.
Or during a long jump make it feel like people would swear the rogue was flying.
Just give the hint that something is happening in regards to the Rogue. It doesn't have to be necessarily something game changing or saving someone's live, just teasing the party.
Umbral Reaver |
Stuff exploding nearby or tremendous fantastical effects going off when a person first discovers their magic is a hugely common trope in fiction.
'Oh no, I accidentally burned down my house when I awoke as a sorcerer.'
I don't like it in Pathfinder because it seriously misrepresents levels of achievable power and control. If you've just made level 1 sorcerer, you're not going to accidentally 'fireball'.
Not only that, there are exceedingly few conditions that can make someone accidentally cast a spell. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I would imagine some obscure spellblight or curse might do it.
Rather, I think it makes more sense, if you're going with this, to discover you can use your first cantrip. It can be a subtle thing. I would make it an extension of practiced skill at first.
MageHunter |
Stuff exploding nearby or tremendous fantastical effects going off when a person first discovers their magic is a hugely common trope in fiction.
'Oh no, I accidentally burned down my house when I awoke as a sorcerer.'
I don't like it in Pathfinder because it seriously misrepresents levels of achievable power and control. If you've just made level 1 sorcerer, you're not going to accidentally 'fireball'.
Not only that, there are exceedingly few conditions that can make someone accidentally cast a spell. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I would imagine some obscure spellblight or curse might do it.
Rather, I think it makes more sense, if you're going with this, to discover you can use your first cantrip. It can be a subtle thing. I would make it an extension of practiced skill at first.
You accidentally cast spark?
Johnny_Devo |
I'm agreeing with Umbral Reaver here.
Brings me to thinking VampByDay's idea seems best.
Did he choose the draconic bloodline? he grows his dragon claws one morning. Things like that. Now he has to figure out what's happening to him, and then an appropriate "knowledge - arcana" might help, or whatever you want to decide he's got latent magic in his blood.
Azten |
Stuff exploding nearby or tremendous fantastical effects going off when a person first discovers their magic is a hugely common trope in fiction.
'Oh no, I accidentally burned down my house when I awoke as a sorcerer.'
I don't like it in Pathfinder because it seriously misrepresents levels of achievable power and control. If you've just made level 1 sorcerer, you're not going to accidentally 'fireball'.
In 3.5 the sorcerer class had descriptions of people thinking houses with a budding sorcerer were haunted because they had no control of their magic and/or weren't even aware of it.
And here are two blog posts that are really good at explaining how accidentally 'fireball' can happen.
K-kun the Insane |
Hm... This kinda stuff is usually worked into the backstory of the character.
As a child my Dragon Disciple noticed strange flashes around town, his hair turned white and his eyes became golden. His ears became tapered and his teeth and nails became slightly sharper. When his father slapped him upside the head, one of his eyes became permanently slit-pupiled. He was soon banished from town for being posessed and he spent the next few years in the desert gaining control of his powers. He emerged 7 years later as a 1st level Sorcerer
That said it is more difficult to come up with such reasons at a later time, assuming you don't have a a few years for a time skip. I suggest playing up the bloodline abilities more than trying to emmulate spells. Perhaps they glow whenever someone casts a spell or they unknowingly affect spells subtly just by being nearby.
Divvox2 |
While a trope, magical effects during periods of high stress are an easy way to work it out. Instead of some super flashy display, maybe as he is about to take a hit a single round shield effect pops into existence and saves him, but it knocks him prone due to the sudden discharge of energy. The rest of the party sees a flash of light and the rogue is down (preferably in a fight/situation where the rest of the party can cover the rogue as he recovers a full round later, or finish the fight).
I'd go with something that fits the rogue's tactics. If they're more combat oriented, the shield would work. If they do ranged, have a single magic missile go out as they pull back the string, distracting them from shooting but still doing the 1d4+1 damage. If they like stealth, pull a vanish effect, just tie it to whatever they're good at since that's what they'd be focusing the most on and have the most insight into. If it was a different bloodline I might try to make it thematic to that (red draconic bloodline = they sneeze fire when hit with a tanglefoot bag or something, like an allergic reaction, giving them a minor bonus to getting through it due to the fire burning off the material, etc...)
After that, have the player try to use spells sparingly for the first half of the level (as long as their willing) to ease into it since you don't have a chance to let it build up.
UnArcaneElection |
Casting by accident sounds more appropriate to Occult casters rather than Sorcerers. After all, to cast spells, Sorcerers have to use at least one (often both) of specific verbal and somatic components. This does not apply to the Bloodline Powers (including the various nearly useless rays) -- those could manifest by accident.
Drahliana Moonrunner |
I don't like it in Pathfinder because it seriously misrepresents levels of achievable power and control. If you've just made level 1 sorcerer, you're not going to accidentally 'fireball'.
That pretty much was the premise in Blackmoor. Sorcerers come into power frequently with explosive results far beyond the power of what they control when they "settle down". It's also the justification the Wizard's Guild has for the bounty they put on them.
Nermal2097 |
If you use the knowledge based familiar option so and have the familiar have knowledge arcana ... you could say the raven sets him on the course to how to use his magic.
It would be a cool inversion of the trope that the spellcaster has all the knowledge and the familiar is just a tag-along. Having the Raven begin their path and teaching them the basics would be a fun twist indeed.
Surren Starr |
I've had a similar situation arise in one of my games, this is the gist of how I ended up playing it out...
You could set it up by making his character have a dream in which he follows the raven on a journey, a dream would make it feasible for him to be communicating with the raven without knowing he has magic and doing something out of the norm without being overly concerned with dangers. Throughout the journey, you mention a phrase that can be heard ever-so faintly in the wind.
The dream then leads to either a cliff, tower or somewhere else that is high up where the players character is blown off the edge by a gust of wind... it's at this point he wakes up to find he had been sleep walking and is now falling from a height to what he can only imagine will be his death.
Then during the free-fall, he could have a moment of clarity where he recalls the echoing phrase that followed him throughout the dream (which will later be revealed as the verbal component for Feather Fall) and as he speaks the words aloud his descent slows to a soft pace and guides him to the ground safely.
If you want to spice it up a bit, you could even give him a very low DC to recall the phrase that he kept hearing in his subconscious. If he's an unlucky roller, maybe give him the equivalent to three combat rounds to pass the DC.
Charon's Little Helper |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I already know he wants a raven familiar, so I was going to have a raven mysteriously following him about. I'm sure there are plenty of those around... Other than that, I'm stuck.
Since ravens can talk - that makes it easy. Just have the raven explain what's going on and walk him through his first casting.
"You will be a mundane mortal nevermore."
Yossarin |
I had the same thought as Surren Starr about a dream sequence for the familiar. The "bonding" between magician and familiar is strong enough to warrant a more intimate exchange. My recommendation might be for the raven to have previously been a magician's familiar, maybe a witch who was slain by witch hunters or a sorceror who ditched him in favor of something better or something like that. That way, you have a raven who is already familiar with "magic" to a certain extent and is poised to answer some of the character's questions about the changes he is going through.
Another detail you'll want to work out with the player, if you haven't already, is how much agency he wants in determining his own bloodline and spell selection. The total surprise would be having you select those for him, which gives you a lot of narrative freedom to determine the significance and meaning of every ability and power that gets developed. You can still do the same thing if the player selects them, it just usually means a little more head work for you and a little less surprise factor for the player.
Charon's Little Helper |
RDM42 wrote:If you use the knowledge based familiar option so and have the familiar have knowledge arcana ... you could say the raven sets him on the course to how to use his magic.It would be a cool inversion of the trope that the spellcaster has all the knowledge and the familiar is just a tag-along. Having the Raven begin their path and teaching them the basics would be a fun twist indeed.
So... Sailor Moon?
UnArcaneElection |
Now I've got this vision of a Sorcerer and Dog Familiar as Wallace and Gromit. Actually, a cartoon from the 1990s(?) that featured a similarly smart but non-anthropomorphic dog that served this really clueless farmer might be an even better inspiration, but to save me, I can't remember the name of the cartoon.
(*)Use Fox stats, except gives +3 to Diplomacy (like Pig) instead of +2 to Reflex Saves.
Since dogs (or pigs if you decide to just go the porcine route) can't talk, post a lot of comical stuff in the PbP (if applicable) about how the dog (or pig) is trying to guide the uncomprehending Sorcerer into casting. This character setting might also work for a Witch with a low Wisdom score.
Ravingdork |
Why couldn't someone spontaneously awaken great, fireballing sorcery? There's already rules for a character with an NPC class exchanging it for a PC class, whose to say a 10th-level common couldn't suddenly awaken into a 10th-level sorcerer the same way?
Maybe he needs to hide and it's not going so well until, for some reason the person/thing he is hiding from looks right at him and doesn't seem to see him anymore(vanish spell).
Won't really work in Pathfinder. The very act of spellcasting is not only a very deliberate action, it essentially requires loud sirens and flashing lights to go off that indicate you're spellcasting.
Scythia |
He awakens in the middle of the night to a small mote of light flitting about. It fades quickly, and perhaps he thinks it merely a dream.
When he wakes up, and for a little while all the magical objects seem to have a glow around them.
When he goes to leave a building, the door swings open before he can touch it.
Later on, there's a situation, something threatening, that could be fixed with a tiny object like perhaps a potion... That's just a bit out of reach. If only it could just move towards him... Then it twitches a little and begins to scoot towards his outstretched hand.
These are all based on 0 lv spells, but would be strange enough to be noticeable.
Ravingdork |
^Unless you're an Occult caster . . . .
If you're referring to psychic casters, they are the reason everyone, even monsters with spell-like abilities, can no longer hide the act of spellcasting without generating some kind of obvious, observable manifestation that screams "I'm casting a spell" to everyone in the vicinity.