I have always liked the idea of spellfire...raw..naked..magical energy.
Building mechanics for a pathfinder version is not a problem....what I'm curiouse about is how to re-invision it for Golarion, so I'm not just slapping a forgotten Realms concept into my Pathfinder setting...
So...what comes to mind when you think spellfire in the Golarion setting ?
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There are plenty of ways to go with it.
You could tie it the counterspelling mechanic, and design a feat chain that leads up to the ability to convert the energy of a countered spell into blasts of 'spellfire.'
Or you could go into a full class based design, and make it work similar to the 3.5 Warlock class, only skipping most of the invocations other than blast invocations for an advanced counterspell / dispel magic utility. Tying the blasts too strongly into requiring absorbed magic might lead to a very reactive design, and limit 'blasting' to after one has countered / resisted magic from others (putting the PCs abilities firmly in the hands of the GM, who can just throw orcs and trolls or whatever at the party, and leave the spellfire user with nothing to charge his lasers, other than chugging potions or draining magic items to fuel his powers, forcing him to devour his WBL just to keep up and contribute). As a result, I'd be more inclined to stick to making it a feat chain that an Abjuration / counterspelling focused spellcaster might adopt, so that I'd have options to call upon when facing giants, trolls, golems, undead, etc.
As for tying it into Golarion, there are several thematically appropriate ways to go.
Rovagug, Nethys, Groetus, Dahak, etc. are patrons of destruction, who could tie into a type of power deriving from unmaking things or dismantling spells, converting any form of refined magical power, even such beneficial forces as healing spells or complicated warding spells or protective magical items into blasts of destructive magical power.
Followers of more primal (or fey or Endless) powers might see the unraveling of more complicated and 'fancy' magic into blasts of raw destructive force as being somehow more 'honest' and 'natural' than the subtleties of spellcraft, bending chaotic magical energies into unnatural and enduring creations.
In the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, or the Realms of the Mammoth Lords, or the Hold of Belkzen, these sorts of channelers might be seen as a natural line of defense versus the witches of Irrisen, or the more advanced and 'unnatural' magic of their foes. Demonic forces in the Worldwound might also prefer to unravel the overly refined magics of their divinely inspired foes in Mendev, than to waste time creating complicated new spells and items of their own. They might consider themselves to be 'freeing' magical energies that have been bound and constricted, turning magic of hated items like wardstones or holy relics or spells meant to keep demons out into blasts of destructive power.
Nidal and Alkenstar and Geb might also be natural fits for a style of 'magic' that involves devouring energy from the spellworks of enemies and using them to fuel simpler destructive forces. In Nidal, light could be the symbolic representation of spells and magical items, while the true power of darkness would be represented by the negating of those energies, transforming them into something purer and more potent (much as Zon-Kuthon may see himself as having been purified and made more powerful by his own transformation). In Alkenstar, the naturally chaotic primal magic nature of the area could lead to those who can unbind those unpredictable, unreliable and dangerous magics into much more predictable blasts of energy being regarded as 'safer' somehow than spellcasters whose every utterance could lead to a magical disaster of some sort. Geb's focus on negative energy might similarly lead to the notion that true power only comes from destroying and unmaking things, that in this act of surrender, the person who destroys a thing instead of freeing a greater power that lay trapped within it, just as an undead creature becomes stronger than a creature of flesh by accepting death.
Tons of philosophies across Golarion could mesh well with a spellfire-like system. Rahadoum might use such channelers to liberate the magical power left behind in holy relics left behind by the churches and temples of ousted gods, and be specially trained and bent towards being better able to absorb divine energies (and less able to absorb arcane energies), making them excellent warriors in the fight against divine spellcasters (and perhaps outsiders linked to divine sources?).
Lol just don't give it to your PC's; I've seen many a FR game ran into the ground by giving a game-breaking ability PC's should never have had. Then again we did play with some real bad players back then, so maybe I overreact to it. Anyone else have a fellow PC with spellfire ruin an otherwise cool game?
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What Set said!
I'd expand on Nethys a bit, though, because he's both the god of magic and creation/destruction. Absorbing offensive magic but still using it to destroy something (be it the original caster or something else) seems like it would be right up his alley, moreso than pure abjuration or even pure invocation.
For mechanics, I'd check out the arcanist from the Advanced Class Guide playtest rules. They have the advanced counterspelling, power management, and blasting pieces there already. You just need the right arcanist build or to port those over into feats or a new class.
Cheers!
Landon
The Mana Wastes seem like the right place for something like that to have developed, possibly with some impetus from Nethys due to his "magic for creation/destruction" portfolio.
Maybe ancient Osirion (again due to Nethys).
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Maybe ancient Osirion (again due to Nethys).
Actually, now that you mention it... Ulunat, the Spawn of Rovagug sleeping/dead in Sothis, has a power a lot like this. Nethys was instrumental to defeating it before he rose to godhood.
According to the new Osirion book, the first Pharaoh of Osirion defeated Ulunat with Nethys's power. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that Nethys figured out how to defeat it by using a similar ability.
Which means you could have up to four groups with this sort of power pretty easily:
1) Followers of Rovagug who gain the power through pilgrimages to Ulunat in Sothis.
2) Followers of Nethys who are granted the power by their god.
3) Descendants of the first Pharaoh (including the current Ruby Prince) who have the power by right of blood.
4) Whoever has access to Nethys's original writings on the matter and the knowledge to use them.
The story also gives us an inherent weakness to the power (that its vulnerable to other users) and automatically gives us at least one enemy group to throw against PCs that get too cocky with it.
Cheers!
Landon
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Lol just don't give it to your PC's; I've seen many a FR game ran into the ground by giving a game-breaking ability PC's should never have had. Then again we did play with some real bad players back then, so maybe I overreact to it. Anyone else have a fellow PC with spellfire ruin an otherwise cool game?
Way back when the first book came out I weakened and let a player have IT. It did not ruin the game...but, the rest of the party got frustrated by the endless hordes of nasty big bads hellbent to posess the spellfire...
The weilder ended the debate by moving to Kentucky...his dad got an incredibly good job there...the players last words were that no one else could have spellfire unless HE consented to it...
Fast forward to 3 years ago...one of my new players wanted spellfire so bad he could taste it...I told him of the long standing house rule on spellfire...He somehow found the first player's phone number...and while getting set to play called him up long distance no less!
The first players first response to the call was, "Who the heck are you?"
Then he cackled like a mad man and then yelled "NO!".
The house rule still stands and currently by unanimus vote no less.
The first player has since then changed his phone number.
lol that made my day :D
Like I said...mechanics are not really a problem.
I already have it pegged as an Oracle mystery (and yes, the Spellscar mystery laid the groundwork...although it needed modifications to make a solid spellfire weilder).
The Mana Wastes are (IMO) one of the most logical and flavorfull base points....as they already have traits associated with them that put you that much closer.
As far as previose additions versions, we used it a couple of times, and I always found the cries of "broken" to be greatly exaggerated.
Of course we are not "munchkin" in our approach...so it was a dramatic but limited ability many times.