Sorcerers: How do you show your bloodline?

[Matthew Morris]

Alzrius wrote:

It would have been enough for me if they'd written something along the lines of "The Abyssal bloodline always displays its taint on your body in some regard. Perhaps you have coarse, thick hair all over your body, or your eyes glow bright red. You might have rams horns protruding from your skull, or cloven hooves, or something else altogether, but the Abyss indelibly leaves its mark on your flesh."

Alzrius,

Just to address this point in your post. I don't want the core rulebook telling me 'always' anything. If I want to play a sorcerer with an abyssal bloodline, I don't want to 'always' have to show some physical deformity at first level. Indeed, the option to 'show off' one's heritage should 'always' be in the hands of the player. We don't need rules or 'fluff' saying that X class 'always' shows Y trait.

So yes, I'd address this point with "we don't need rules for showing a bloodline 'taint'" We've seen lots of different posts on here showing people being creative. Creativity that would be discouraged with swaths of text saying 'always'.

[Eric The Pipe]

I'm playing a Verdant Sorcerer with hair that changes color to match the local flowers every night.

[LadyRabbit]

Oooh shiney thread!

I must be boring because I really didn't show my sorcerer's blood line dramatically. She had one eye that was golden in color (celestial), but was not terribly noticeable unless you got up close. This became more apparent as she leveled. I intended to give her the full golden eye treatment if she ever reached 20. Drats, campaign ended at 16.

Our DM for that campaign gave me a glowing aura when she hit level 10. Not that I minded. She had multi-colored hair, clothes that did not match in the slightest, and was also a part time "Bug Bear Rights Activist." The glow was the least of her worries.

[Freehold DM]

My wife's sorceress is an aberrant bloodline in my game. She describes her as incredibly beautiful but...strange..and getting stranger. She's becoming impossibly thin, and her fingers are getting long and spider-like. As time goes on, I might consider giving her the Horrid Beauty ability, I'm thinking she might turn into something very much like a real-life barbie doll(i.e. ankle functions as second knee, etc.).

[Umbral Reaver]

Freehold DM wrote:

My wife's sorceress is an aberrant bloodline in my game. She describes her as incredibly beautiful but...strange..and getting stranger. She's becoming impossibly thin, and her fingers are getting long and spider-like. As time goes on, I might consider giving her the Horrid Beauty ability, I'm thinking she might turn into something very much like a real-life barbie doll(i.e. ankle functions as second knee, etc.).

What's the horrid beauty ability?

[Set]

For a Celestial bloodline sorcerer, this thread has some pillageable ideas.

And for the Abyssal or Infernal sorcerer, this thread has the goods.

[Freehold DM]

Umbral Reaver wrote:

Freehold DM wrote:

My wife's sorceress is an aberrant bloodline in my game. She describes her as incredibly beautiful but...strange..and getting stranger. She's becoming impossibly thin, and her fingers are getting long and spider-like. As time goes on, I might consider giving her the Horrid Beauty ability, I'm thinking she might turn into something very much like a real-life barbie doll(i.e. ankle functions as second knee, etc.).

What's the horrid beauty ability?

It's from Ravenloft- I'll have to put it up here when I get the chance, or check Mistfinder to see if the creator put a version of it in there.

[Mikaze]

Set wrote:

For a Celestial bloodline sorcerer, this thread has some pillageable ideas.

And for the Abyssal or Infernal sorcerer, this thread has the goods.

You know....a 1000 Aberrant Bloodline traits thread has potential...

[Valkir]

For a LoF campaign, I chose to play a human sorcerer of the Elemental (air) bloodine. Considering the race, environment, and bloodline type, I really had to fend off a lot of "Hey! you're Aang, the Avatar!" comments. many of the spells I choose will have either air or electrical aspects; and it is easy to describe existing spells as such without compromising or changing their expected powers. Expeditious Retreat becomes "air-glide movement". Levitate=Air Elevator , and Fly becomes a localized air control for the express purpose of locomotion.
Physically I go for a "Jedi" look; robes, boots, deep cowl. Mage Hand becomes a low-key force grab, and energy spells become various levels of force lightning.

[dave.gillam]

Umbral Reaver wrote:

Set wrote:

Weak prestidigitation type effects might occur in his presence, even when he isn't deliberately using that cantrip.

My fey sorceress leaves trails of flowers (they disappear after an hour), which annoys her quite considerably. She's been trying to cultivate a magnificent and terrible dark sorceress image but the sparkly fairy stuff throws it off. :P

That would be cool.

I could see the elemental bloodlines leaving footprints as they walk
(puddles, fire-prints, etc)

[Fatespinner]

I'm playing a gnome fey bloodline sorcerer whose bloodline manifests in subtle sounds around him (he is still very low level). As his power grows, his shadow will behave differently than it should, his eyes may change color from moment to moment, and the tribal marks he bears will begin to animate in low light. His spells are usually accompanied by a faint chime or eerie musical note depending on the spell. His illusions are often accompanied by the sound of laughter on the wind.

[Oterisk]

I had a concept for an Aberrant Sorcerer who started out at first level with a floating mole. It would eventually turn into an extra eye or mouth and if he ever took off his shirt, his chest would be reminiscent of a Gibbering Mouther. Fun stuff. Ended up not going with it because the concept so freaked out my wife that she said she couldn't play with a character like that.

A friend of mine is playing an Undead bloodline sorcerer, currently hiding the fact that she is a Flesh Golem (only for flavor purposes) and as she levels, she will be literally coming apart at the seams.

[wesF]

Oterisk wrote:

A friend of mine is playing an Undead bloodline sorcerer, currently hiding the fact that she is a Flesh Golem (only for flavor purposes) and as she levels, she will be literally coming apart at the seams.

Gross, but fun.

[dave.gillam]

Fatespinner wrote:

I'm playing a gnome fey bloodline sorcerer whose bloodline manifests in subtle sounds around him (he is still very low level). As his power grows, his shadow will behave differently than it should, his eyes may change color from moment to moment, and the tribal marks he bears will begin to animate in low light. His spells are usually accompanied by a faint chime or eerie musical note depending on the spell. His illusions are often accompanied by the sound of laughter on the wind.

cool, man!

What are the thoughts of "reversal"; a person that rejects their bloodline, so the appearances are reversed?
An infernal would be Redheaded, with golden eyes; their claws would be refined instead of jagged,

The powers dont change, but the physical appearances would manifest as opposite of normal as they actively reject their lineage.

[Sphynx]

My Rogue/Air Elemental Sorcerer looks much like my Avatar, wearing blue with white hair (just shorter ears because he's half-elf). And like the Avatar image, his hair is always blowing as in an unfelt wind, and when he's manifesting (casting), his hands become surrounded by balls of blue electricity which for the rest of the round, course up his arms and around his body as they slowly dissipate.

(That's pretty much a cut-n-paste from my character sheet :P)

[Sarta]

I'm playing an aberrant sorcerer in the Serpant Skull AP. He's a Shoanti exile of the skull tribe who was kicked out as a result of his "tainted" magic. His family tree contains a few nagas from Kaer Maga.

His troubles began during his rite of passage when he retrieved a misshapen, fanged skull from the Yawning Cave. Shortly thereafter he developed alopecia and began manifesting his magic powers.

He's a completely hairless Shoanti with black tribal tattoos covering his body (including a large skull tattooed on the back of his head). He's filed his teeth to points. His spells manifest in the most disgusting way I can imagine (spitting or vomiting ray spells for example).

I selected a custom trait at creation to represent the aberrant bloodline changes: double jointed (+1 to escape artist and escape artist is always considered a class skill).

[Phage]

The concept behind the sorcerer bloodlines are awesome. Tons of features that can manifest in varying cosmetic degrees.

My main qualm with the bloodlines is that despite everyone saying they are unique and would manifest in varying degrees, the actual character is built with the same limitations.

Multiclassing, while it might solve some of the stat/spell issues, it delays the sorcerer's bloodline evolution. Specifically for trying to max out a bloodline power, multiclassing just sacrifices too much for too little, making many just resort to homebrewing rules.

If one wants to become a dragon or an abomination or an elemental, it doesn't make sense to delay the physical evolution to improve the melee stats. I would really like to see some expansion on the bloodline powers to give you a bit more freedom with how you can actually play your character.

Taking the APG as a baseline, it would be really nice to see some general templates applicable to each bloodline. This would provide some additional flavor for each character while keeping it balanced and legal.

For example when leveling up they could choose:
The sorcerer does not gain a caster level, instead their level 1 can be used an additional time per 2 sorcerer levels. (3day+CHA now is 3day+CHA+2/sorc). This can be taken multiple times.

The sorcerer does not gain an additional cast of their highest tier spell, instead they can increase their BaB by 1 toward their max HD. This can be taken multiple times and can deny access to spell tiers. (lvl1 sorc would have 0=>1 Bab, lvl5 2=>3, lvl10 with this twice 5=>7 etc)

The sorcerer can only choose a new spells from a specific school or elemental alignment, they gain an increased bloodline bonus to these spells.

The sorcerer can as a free action sacrifice a usable spell for the day to gain additional uses to their bloodline ability by half that spell's tier. (2 lvl1s=1use, 1 lvl2=1use, 1lvl4=2uses, etc.)

Alternatively you could benefits for multiclassing, such as every time they sorcerer takes a level in a non-arcane casting class, it's effective level for meeting bloodline requirements increases by 1. This would allow dabbling into fighter and ranger for melee prowess without delaying bloodline evolutions.

Look at Dragon Disciple, a prestige class built exclusively around a sorcerer bloodline. It offers a wide variety of awesome melee abilities, but only at far into each. The claws and bite are sweet features, however, you can never build the character around using them. It doesn't even list applicable monster feats like Ranger's Natural Combat Style does. It doesn't offer improved uses per day or level adjustments like Paladin and like every other APG description.

Ultimately the sorcerer bloodlines are cool for flavor, but insufficient to build a character around. This seems more like Paizo believes that because they gave so many options of bloodlines they don't need to offer any serious means of fleshing them out. To Paizo's credit, they did give tons, tons, and tons of options for bloodlines that are all very unique; just there is currently no means to really further develop any of the less casting-oriented bloodlines.

I'm likely over sensitive to the issue because I want to keep evolve into arcane beings that are severely lacking in options within Pathfinder.

[Decorus]

I did something rather simple. His eyes are deep blue pools of arcane energy that pull your gaze into thier infinite depths. He bleeds arcane fire as magic is literally the blood that is pulsing through his veins. His words have a timeless quality that you could just lose yourself in them as they draw you towards him.

The Arcane Bloodline is only as bland as you make it.

[dave.gillam]

Personally,
Id love to see a feat that lets me tie the bloodline to my character's HD instead of his class.