I'm considering a nation in my world where wizards, magi, witches, etc... all the arcane casters are outlawed.
The only arcane casters allowed will be a very small group of spontaneous arcane casters whose primary job is to hunt down and eliminate any other arcane casters.
So either bard archtype or sorcerer bloodline (possibly 1 of each).
So my question is this:
Which bard archtype or sorcerer bloodline do you think would be best at the primary task of finding and fighting all the other arcane casters?
Celestial (Empyreal) might be good thematic fit AND they have great Will saves.
I will give a closer look at sandman bard and celestial sorcerers.
Magi has powers that apply, but does NOT fit. That is a prepared caster. They are outlawed. Basically if you can use anything on your list just by finding a book or learning it from anyone else, then the god's have no control over what you could do. Spontaneous casters use what the gods gave them.
Can not a prepared caster use their intelligence, which the gods also gave them? Why should THEY be unable to use their gifts, while sorcerers are allowed to use theirs? Further, abjurerers are very very anti-mage. Though they are a prepared arcane caster, and are persecuted for using their god-given gifts.
Well -- you could have a prepared caster who is determined to kill all other prepared casters. ...
It is bigotry, prejudice, and persecution not reasoned thought. Yes, a prepared caster might choose to hunt down all other prepared casters. But the theocracy does not rely on that.
The spontaneous caster has only magic that god gave him. So god chose to make him a caster and what powers he has. The prepared caster just decided to learn magic when he could have chosen to become a scribe. So he is obviously just in it for the power. If he is just in it for the power he cares nothing for who he harms. Hence no controls and bad.Think wizards in terms of the Oath of Swords series by David Weber. There are non-evil wizards. There might even be a few good wizards. But they are all considered evil and killed when found.
There is a caste of casters that use their magic primarily for hunting wizards. They only have what powers they were born with. That book calls them magi but the description sounds much closer to sorcerer.
Spent some time looking over the sandman bard. I agree that works pretty well. They really won't be the best at battling wizards. But the skills will help in finding them. And the church is more interested in the control rather than their effectiveness. If necessary the church will send multiple teems rather than rely on an untrusted magus.
The steal spell ability is good enough to provide the theme (and make any PC arcane casters nervous). While not being so deadly that PC casters would be impossible.
Not sure if I will have any sorcerers in the order or not. Still considering.