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Hello! I am running a game inspired by the story of FFT: War of the Lions. For those of you who've played it you may already be familiar with the Geomancer, an elemental wielding spell user in the vein of the Wu-Jen, relying on the elemental connections he has with the world around him to use his specialized brand of magic "Geomancy." Most of his attacks result in negative effects on his enemies, blinding, stunning, confusing, or even polymorphing them. Some of these were obviously too powerful as sorcerer powers, but I tried to stay true to the concept of the geomancer. Please read and review. All feedback is welcome!
The powers of the elements flows through your veins, and the natural world obeys your commands.
Class Skill: Knowledge (Geography)
Bonus Spells: Mudball (3rd), ice slick (5th), air geyser (7th), wall of fire (9th), icy prison (11th), chain lightning (13th), scouring winds (15th), incendiary cloud (17th), clashing rocks (19th).
Bonus Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Empower Spell, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Knowledge [geography]).
Bloodline Arcana: After spending 8 hours resting and communing with the land, you gain a +1 bonus to spell damage to any spells cast that correspond to the element or energy of the environment that you've communed with. The elemental types and some example environments follow.
Air and Electricity: Open plains and high elevations.
Fire: Deserts or volcanic regions.
Earth and Acid: Mountains, caverns, forests.
Water and Cold: Lakes, oceans or tundra.
Your ancestry grants you the ability to shape and control the physical aspects of the natural world granting you a multitude of attacks and abilities depending on the terrain you find yourself in.
Geomancy: Starting at first level you gain the ability to manipulate the terrain and elemental forces around you. You can use these the following abilities a total of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. Unless otherwise specified the target of an ability must be within 5 feet of large source of the element you intend to use against them and you must be within 30 feet of the target. Each ability requires a standard action to use.
Burning Tendril (Sp): When your target is standing near a large source of fire, or magma, you can command a tendril of fire to strike them. This ray deals 1d6 points of damage of fire damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess with a successful ranged touch attack.
Ice Torrent (Sp): When your target is standing on, or near, snow or ice you can create a frigid blast of snow and ice that deals 1d4 points of cold damage +1 for every two sorcerer levels on a successful ranged touch attack and caused the target to become fatigued for 1 round unless they make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier).
Grasping Roots (Sp): When your target is standing on, or near, small vegetation such as grass, weeds, or small brush, you can command the plants beneath them to spring up and entangle them. This ability functions as a grapple maneuver using your sorcerer level plus your Charisma modifier in place of your CMB. The plants return to normal after 1 round.
Pit Fall (Sp): When your target is standing on solid ground composed of dirt or mud, you can command the earth to part and create a shallow hole beneath them. This hole occupies a single 5-foot square with a depth of six inches. Any creature occupying the square when you first create the hole, or who later steps into the square containing the hole, must make a Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier) to avoid falling prone in an adjacent square and taking 1d4 points of damage.
Sand Blast (Sp): When your target is standing on, or near, a large source of loose sand you can command a cloud of sand rise up and strike them. This sand cloud deals 1d4 points of slashing damage +1 per two sorcerer levels and dazes the target on their next turn as the cough and choke on the sand unless they make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier).
Screech (Sp): When your target is standing on, or near, a large source of metal (either raw or worked) you can command that metal to reverberate and emit a loud piercing sound. This attack deals 1d4 points of sonic damage +1 per two sorcerer levels and deafens the target for one turn unless they make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier).
Slime Ball (Sp): When your target is standing in or near, a swamp, marsh, or other source of stagnant water and mud, you can command the foul substances to form into a noxious orb and launch towards them. With a successful ranged touch attack the target takes 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage +1 per two sorcerer levels and causing a living creature struck to become sickened for one round unless they make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier).
Splinter Blast (Sp): When your target is standing near a large source of natural wood, such as a tree or wooden structure, you can command the wood to burst and unleash a hail of jagged splinters. These splinters deal 1d4 points of damage of piercing damage + 1 for every two sorcerer levels you possess with a successful ranged touch attack. In addition the target must make a Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier) or be blinded for one round by the debris.
Tremor (Sp): When your target is standing on solid ground composed of natural or worked stone you can cause the ground beneath them to shake, functioning as a trip maneuver using your sorcerer level plus your Charisma modifier in place of your CMB.
Water Pulse (Sp): When your target is standing in, or near, a large body of water you can command it to form a powerful spout. In addition to extinguishing any non-magical fires within the targets 5-foot square this ability deals 1d4 points of bludgeoning damage +1 for every two sorcerer levels with a successful ranged touch attack and subjects the target to a bullrush maneuver using your sorcerer level plus your Charisma modifier in place of your CMB.
Wild Gale (Sp): When standing in an open area with strong winds you can create a vortex of air that deals 1d4 points of slashing damage +1 per two sorcerer levels with a successful ranged touch attack and causes your target to become staggered for 1 round unless they make a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier).
Favored Terrain (Ex): At 3rd level you gain a favored terrain; as a ranger. This favored terrain may not be improved upon by gaining favored terrain abilities from another class. You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks, Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival skill checks while in your favored terrain as well as a +1 bonus to spell save DCs to any spell you cast while in your favored terrain. You do not leave tracks while traveling through your favored terrain and cannot be tracked (though you may leave a trail if you choose).
At levels 9 and 15 you may select an additional favored terrain. In addition, the skill bonus and initiative bonus in any one favored terrain (including the one just selected, if so desired), increase by +2 and the DC to spell saves increases by +1.
If a specific terrain falls into more than one category of favored terrain, the bonuses do not stack; he simply uses whichever bonus is higher.
Element Surge (Sp): At 9th level, you can unleash a blast of wild elemental power once per day. This 20-foot-radius burst does 1d6 points of energy damage per sorcerer level. The energy type is based upon the terrain associated with your bloodline arcana and uses the same table. Those caught in the area of your blast receive a Reflex save for half damage. Creatures that fail their saves gain vulnerability to your energy type until the end of your next turn. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 your sorcerer level + your Charisma modifier. At 9th level, you can use this ability once per day. At 17th level, you can use this ability twice per day. At 20th level, you can use this ability three times per day. This power has a range of 60 feet.
Earthen Armor (Ex): At 15th level, as a move action, you command the ground you stand on to cover your legs and feet. Your speed is reduced to 5 feet, but you gain a +4 bonus to natural armor and a +10 bonus to CMD against bull rush, overrun, reposition, and trip maneuvers. You also gain tremorsense 30 feet and DR 1/-. You can use this power for a number of minutes per day equal to your sorcerer level. This duration need not be consecutive, but it must be used in 1-minute increments.
Elemental Appeal (Su): At 20th level, elemental power surges through your body. You gain immunity to sneak attacks, critical hits, and damage from the energy type associated with the terrain that you are communed with.
Thanks!
For the most part, this seems rather well done.
However, I think some of the geomancy effects are too powerful. Some of them -- especially sandblast, pit fall, and the ones that do ranged combat maneuvers -- are stronger than 1st level spells. Some of the strongest ones, like pit fall, occur on very common terrain.
The abilities you get at later levels also leave much to be desired. You get ranger's favored terrain, a blast, and a defensive power that, while interesting, feels like a let down for such a high level ability.
...some of the geomancy effects are too powerful. Some of them -- especially sandblast, pit fall, and the ones that do ranged combat maneuvers -- are stronger than 1st level spells. Some of the strongest ones, like pit fall, occur on very common terrain.
The abilities you get at later levels also leave much to be desired. You get ranger's favored terrain, a blast, and a defensive power that, while interesting, feels like a let down for such a high level ability.
Thank you for your input. I appreciate you taking a look at this. Most of the powers and abilities are based on powers from other sorcerer bloodlines.
With regards to the Geomancy Powers being too strong. Those that do ranged Combat Maneuvers are actually based on 1st level spells and have slightly lower power levels: Pit Fall is a weaker version of Stumble Gap, Sand Blast is a weaker version of Ear Piercing Scream, Tremor is a weaker version of Thunderstomp, Grasping Roots is like a one turn version of Entangle but with the grappled instead of the entangled condition, and Water Pulse is based on Hydraulic Push but I added some damage to the move since they need to be in or near water for it to work.
The higher level abilities may need some work like you said. The Ranger favored terrain felt kind of forced to me, but I wasn't sure what would work better. The blast is okay, I think, since it mirrors another bloodline power at the same level.
The Earthen Armor ability is actually a palette swap of the Rooting power from the Verdant Bloodline. While it may have some draw backs I felt that it was a fair trade off but maybe I'll have to play test it a bit more.
Again thanks for the feedback, I'll look at fixing some of these powers to ensure they're more balanced.
I love FF Tactics, and I think this is a really cool concept.
Unfortunately this class get's a lot of extra bang for its buck.
The following, in most generic AP settings would be used more often:
Grasping Roots (Sp)
Pit Fall (Sp)
Splinter Blast (Sp)
Tremor (Sp)
Thus, a sorcerer with 18 charisma would be able to use these 7 times a day.
Perhaps, out of balancing, reduce the number of spells learned, or have some sort of diminished spell casting, since as you said so yourself, these abilities replicate a similar spell, and although weaker, their save DC scale better than their regular counter parts.
For example:
Lv 6 Sorcerer with 18 charisma
Using ear piercing scream = DC 15
Using sandblast = DC 17
A level 10 sorcerer with 20 charisma
Earpiercing scream = DC 16 (10 + 1 + 5)
Sandblast = DC20 (10 + 5 + 5)
Lastly,
grasping roots' grappled condition should be changed to entangled.
But besides for this, I would love playing this bloodline.
I think this would actually be best done using the kineticist class and having all the powers be supernatural abilities.
Of course, this would probably require quite a few them to be turned down.
Geomancer was an interesting class in Final Fantasy Tactics. If your enemy was in certain terrain it was incredibly overpowered as you were guaranteed to cause sleep and other nasty status effects. But it was balanced by the fact that in other terrain all you did was piddly damage and sucked.
Bu this doesn't work particularly well in Pathfinder as the class is either overpowered or severely underpowered compared to other classes, depending on the terrain.
I would base this off the kineticist and try to make all the powers good, but none of them amazing.