Talk:Flame Disciple

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Revision as of 10:32, 28 October 2010 by Slitherrr (Talk | contribs)

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I updated the article to reflect something of a consensus on the way to do fire resist (FR 5x Disciple Level), although I'm still not sure the best way to handle cold damage. In Elementals, Immunity to fire yields +50% cold damage, so anything that big seems like it would be bad news. One suggestion from [[slitherrr] was +1 to each cold damage die rolled, which is significant at high levels without being absurd. That would make sense to take effect on the 5th level. If something was needed in the interim, +1 per 2 dice could be done at level 3 or something.

I moved caster level advancement from levels 1,3,5 to levels 2,4 to provide a bit of room to do more fun stuff.

I also removed Minor Elemental Swarm -- the idea is neat, but it seems impractical and like it would be rarely used for it to be a 5th level ability.

Some ideas so far for filling in other abilities (etc):

  • Metamagic feats don't cost anything for fire-based spells
  • Possibly the option between two different styles of new metamagic feat:
    • Fire spells all get a knockback/knockdown, or
    • Fire spells apply a damage over time effect
  • A caster-centered explosion (presumably to deal with being swarmed)
  • The ability to learn druid/cleric/etc fire spells at some sort of level penalty

I'm open to suggestions for others, it seems (at least to me) like there's a bit of room to push more cool stuff in without making the class over-powered.

-TooMuchPete 17:07, 23 June 2010 (EDT)

Alright, this is what i've come up with. Saving throws are blanked, but I expect Will is strong, and Fort and Ref are weak. I'm willing to hear arguments to the contrary, naturally, but that's my initial inclination. d8 HD is clearly far too much, but considering the HP sacrificing mechanic and the severely reduced caster progression, d6 is very reasonable. I ditched the "becoming a half elemental" idea - sort of - instead migrating that ability to the familiar to give some kind of ability gain on the even (caster increase) levels. Increased the spell prereqs to bring in line with other specialist prestige classes. Persistent damage is something I try to avoid for sanity sake, but liked having a offensive defense ability and tried to compensate with a more potent single round of damage. Finally, added a mechanic that *might* be a tad to complicated (but I don't think so) in order to create a "fire storm" sort of mechanic that is still tied to spell slots rather than special abilities.

Input encouraged.


This article is a draft. Its content is likely to change, possibly drastically, in the near future.

Description: In Flux


Prerequisites: the ability to cast four arcane spells with the fire descriptor, one of which must be at least 3rd-level or greater offensive Fire spell. 7 ranks of Spellcraft, 5 ranks of Knowledge(Arcana), and 3 ranks of Knowledge(The Planes). Must not have an elemental creature type (wholly or partially).

Hit Dice: d6

Skill Points: 2+INT

Class Skills: Spot, Listen, Concentration, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (The Planes), Spellcraft

× Level Natural AC Bonus BaB Fort Ref Will Ability
1 +0 +1 +0 +0 +0 Soul Furnace, Flame Resistance, Fire Mastery
2 +1 +1 +0 +0 +0 Resistant Familiar,Inner Fire +1 to arcane caster level for spell progression
3 +1 +2 +0 +0 +0 Nova Channel
4 +2 +2 +0 +0 +0 Elemental Familiar, +1 to arcane caster level for spell progression
5 +2 +3 +0 +0 +0 Lingering Flames

Fire Mastery - All spells with the fire descriptor cast do additional fire damage equal to caster's Flame Disciple level.

Fire Resistance - Flame Disciples develop flame resistance equal to 5x their Disciple level. This does not stack with fire resistance from other sources.

Inner Fire - The caster's soul furnace has reached such intensity that he or she may ignite flammable materials with nothing but a touch as a standard action. If the item is in someone's possession or equipped my someone, then they are entitled to a reflex save to avoid the effect. If the item is magical, it is entitled to a save to avoid the effect. In both cases, the save is DC 10 + Flame Disciple Level + Caster Attribute Mod.

Resistant Familiar - If the caster has a familiar, that familiar shares the caster's innate fire resistance if within 30 feet.

Soul Furnace (Sp) - For fire-based spells, the caster may sacrifice some of his own life-force to empower them. The caster may sacrifice up to one hit points per spell level as a free action when casting a spell, adding 1d4 fire damage for each hit point so sacrificed. This effect is limited to spell levels less than or equal to the disciple level, and may only be used on spells with the fire descriptor.

Elemental Familiar - If the caster has a familiar, that familiar gains the "Elemental (Fire)" template, Fire Immunity and Cold Vulnerability. Any natural attacks now deal +2 fire damage in addition to damage from any other sources. In addition, the familiar gains a fire breath weapon, once per day, with 15' range, dealing 1d4+1 points of damage for every point caster attribute bonus. The DC for this breath weapon is 15.

Nova Channel (Sp) - The caster's mastery over her inner fire has reached such levels that the caster may us it to act as a conduit directly to the Elemental Plane of Fire, sacrificing spell castings to fuel a pyrotechnic blast from within the caster's own body. As a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity, the Flame Disciple may sacrifice a spell to generate a 20' radius ball of fire, centered on (an affecting) herself. The damage dealt by this blast is equal to 1d4 + Ability Modifier for every level of the sacrificed spell. A reflex saving throw, DC equal to casting a comparable level fire spell cast by the Flame Disciple, is allowed for half damage. The caster make a fortitude save, with a bonus equal to her attribute modifier, to suffer half damage. The Flame Disciple may not sacrifice a spell of a higher spell level than she has flame disciple levels.

Lingering Flames (Metamagic) - The caster becomes so in tune with fire type spells that he or she gains the ability to increase the duration of instantaneous spells. If the caster takes a full round action to cast a fire spell, its duration may be changed from "instantaneous" to any number of rounds of the caster's choosing. For every round the spell is extended, the spell's effective level is increased by one. If Soul Furnace is used in conjunction with this ability, the increased damage must be paid for *each round* the caster wishes to have increased damage.

Example: A Burning Hands spell cast as a third level spell would burn from the casters fingertips for three rounds: The instantaneous duration, plus one round for each spell level. Any creature in the area of effect during the caster's turn, or entering into the area of effect on its own turn, takes the damage. (Much like Ice Storm of Fire Storm spells). Likewise, a fireball cast as a fourth level spell would do exist for the round of casting plus one round.


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