A player in my new campaign is interested in playing a Flame Oracle, but isn't pleased with the current Curse options. After discussing the player's concept with them, their suggestion was something akin to Charlene from Stephen King's "Firestarter".
One idea we came up with was that anything easily flammable (paper/scrolls, rope, twigs, etc) held by the character for more than a single round bursts into flame.
What do others think? To much of a hindrance? Not enough? If the above is "just right", what benefits would be appropriate? The Haunted curse grants some low levels spells, so some suitable ones might be:
Spark
Produce Flame
Flaming Sphere
Heat Metal
Firefall
Flamestrike
Firebrand
Firestorm
Another possibility would be the abilities granted by the Elementalist Wizard or Sorcerer or Fire Domain options.
Other ideas?
Hmm... That's both interesting and rather difficult to pull off.
Starting with the benefits, I'd say the idea about granting bonus spells is the best way to go. Since you're just taking haunted (which thematically fits for a firestarter) and subbing spells, you don't have to worry too much about balance issues.
The proposed drawback sounds like it could be hard to roleplay, though. Instead, maybe say that whenever the firestarter casts a spell without the fire descriptor, she must cast the spell defensively. If her concentration check fails, the spell is still cast, but it duplicates one of her firestarter bonus spells of equal or lower level instead of producing its normal effects.
Or, whenever the Oracle casts a spell with a fire descriptor, everything in a 20-foot radius from her that is combustible bursts into flame. Characters in the radius get a reflex saving throw not to catch on fire.
If she casts the spel defensively, with a -10 penalty to the concentration check, nothing bursts to flame.
If you're going for the movie effect, she had a lack of control over her powers. So you could require to hit rolls to place the fire spells, a Will save when the character's agitated to prevent the PC from casting a fire spell accidentally, a rage effect that she has to stave off or be ONLY able to cast fire spells, horrible nightmares, etc.
I'd caution against your drawback of 1 round then it bursts into flames. Everything's flamable if you get a high enough temperature. Also, if the PC grabs the sheets for 12 seconds while asleep, her bed's on fire. In addition, you're ruling out scrolls, wands, and a few wondrous items.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
I am in love with this curse. I think your idea for flammable objects having the chance to burst into flame when held for longer than a round makes sense. I would also like to see it come into play when she is under stress. When in combat or in a stressful situation she has to make a dc10 concentration check every 1d4 rounds to avoid a shower of sparks going out into all adjacent squares radius which has the chance of igniting whatever is around her. This could be used against enemies as well as allies so it could be used to advantage but at the same time it could be very dangerous when dealing with explosive gas, black powder, oil, or dry forests. It would definitely make indoor combat a lot more dangerous.
Thanks for everyone's input!
I'm still mulling over the disadvantage. I like the idea of a shower of sparks surrounding the character during times of stress/unease.
Firestarter: You find your powers manifest themselves uncontrollably during times of stress or unease. During combat, all adjacent squares are affected by Spark (DC = 10 + 1/2 CL + CHA modifier). Objects held by the Oracle are automatically affected. Add Spark to your list of spells known. At 5th level, add Burning Disarm and Produce Flame to your list of spells known. At 10th level add Flame Strike to your list of spells known. At 15th level add Fire Storm to your list of spells known.
By the way, what's the definition of a Fine object? I can't seem to find specifics on dimensions of any size category. The closest I've seen is 1/16th size of Medium, which would mean ~4" x 4" x 4". I imagine, for purposes of the spell, paper, rope, clothing, dry wood, etc are all flammable.
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