Book of Elements (3.5e Sourcebook)/Elementals of Style
Character Backgrounds[edit]
| “ | What, you think I know him just because we're both from the Elemental Plane of Earth? Do we all look the same to you, too? | ” |
Characters who originate on the inner planes often have completely different origins than those from the material plane. Seriously, every single elemental and genie is itself immortal. Every single mephit is also potentially immortal. So backgrounds for mortals from the war-torn material plane don't necessarily fit immortals from the war-ravaged inner planes. Still, many do. The elemental planes have Fallen Nations, some of which even had Royalty, and whose supporters sometimes form a Resistance. They have Apprentices and masters. They have War, and the wars produce Profiteers and Veterans and Refugees. And, of course, complete Amnesia is as common an occurance on the inner planes as it is on the material. But there are also a bunch of things they can do that people from the material plane usually can't. Some of these backgrounds are also apppropriate for other nonmaterial creatures, such as fiends.
Like the backgrounds in Races of War, many PCs won't want to take a background off a list, and instead will want to write their own. They should get some ability similar in power to these if they do so. Matching the original background to whatever one of these is closest and just handing out the ability is fine. Many PCs, though, will pick one of these backgrounds, either because the player is inspired to put a twist on one of these or is too uncreative to come up with something else, and there's nothing wrong with either.
Called Servant[edit]
You were minding your own business on your home plane one day, when BAM, you find yourself on the material plane. You try to move, but don't get very far before you run into an invisible force field. There's a mortal nearby who offers to make a deal with you where you'll be let go in exchange for service. You took that, and for some reason stuck around on the Material Plane afterwards. Maybe you were trapped by something, maybe you're hanging about for revenge.
Effect: Called Servants can return to their home plane once per ever as a standard action, as long as they are no longer doing whatever task they were called for (PCs should be from the beginning). Knowledge (the Planes) is always a class skill for you, and you get a +2 bonus on Diplomacy checks with called creatures called by someone else. You're going to meet people who knew the person who called you, or people opposed to the task you were called to do. Since you may have changed sides since your calling, some of them will like you and some won't, and you won't necessarily know which is which.
To Serve in Creation[edit]
You were a minion of a genie or other powerful critter of the elemental planes. Now you broke into the material plane and got free.
Effect: You have enormous experience in genie culture looking at it from below. You know genie ettiquette extremely well, and so gain a +2 bonus to checks to Bluff genies and to negotiate with bound genies (see the Tome of Fiends). If you were a minion of something other than a genie, you gain these benefits against whoever your masters were, instead of genies. Bluff is a class skill for you no matter what you do.
Strange Aeons[edit]
You're old. You might only be older than the elf king, or you might be old enough to not trust this newfangled "dirt." The point is, you're old, and you've done a little bit of everything in your past. Where you come from isn't nearly as important as where you've been, and where you've been includes most of the cosmos.
Effect: To take this background, you must be immortal. You've picked up a whole bunch of obscure knowledge over your lifetime, and so have the Bardic Knowledge ability of a 1st level core D&D bard. You can also start with as many professions as you want, for free. Also, you at least have an acquaintance in common with half of the important immortal NPCs in the campaign that you haven't met, and know the same people as many of the mortals. Your old friends and enemies will show up during the campaign to beg for your help or thwart you.
Planar Rampage[edit]
Some foolish mortal mage called you to the material plane, and you broke out of their trap and killed them.
Effect: When you were pulled to the material plane, all your cool stuff got left on the other side. So you don't get or need to pick out starting equipment. You start with a club, dagger, or quarterstaff if you don't have natural weapons, leather armor if you need it, and similar trivial equipment. You also have enemies, who happen to like the people you've killed on your way out. You're a generally suspicious person, so you get +2 Sense Motive. Also, Disguise and Hide are class skills for you whatever you do.
Eternal Sleeper[edit]
You just woke up after a long slumber. Now the world's all different, mortals work metals and all your old friends are gone.
Effect: You must be immortal to take this background without a plausible excuse. You share one language in common with modern creatures; all other languages you speak are dead languages. But, since you speak so many dead languages, you gain a +2 bonus on Decipher Script checks, and Knowledge (History) is a class skill for you no matter what you do. Also you may have been in some of the dungeons you will visit back before they were dungeons.
Spheres[edit]
Many characters and creatures, in the course of acquiring elemental power, gain access to spheres. Some of these spheres are the same ones available to fiends, while others are of entirely new varieties. Nearly every sphere available to elemental creatures is restricted in terms of which elements can access them. Many of them are also available to fiends who seek to gain power over the elements, as well, but many aren't. Every sphere has a listing of which elements are able to access it. New spheres that are accessible to fiends will have Fiend listed as one of their available elements.
Elemental Spheres function like Fiendish Spheres, except that each one has some prerequisite element. An Elemental Weird or Genie taking an Elemental Sphere must be of at least one of the Sphere's prerequisite elements. Note that Magma has no spheres listed for it. This is intentional: it can draw Spheres from both the Earth and Fire lists. Some of these spheres can also be taken by fiends; they will be marked with the Fiendish type.
In The Other Tome of Magic, some revisions were made to the key abilities of certain spells. Spells cast from Fiendish spheres, regardless of what book they come from, still use Charisma for save DCs. Spells cast from Elemental spheres, even Elemental spheres from the Tome of Fiends, use Wisdom to set their save DCs. An Elemental Weird would therefore use Wisdom to set the save DC of the Lightning Bolt from their Electricity Sphere and also that of their Fireball from their Pyre Sphere, since even though the latter was originally published as a Fiendish sphere, it is being accessed as an Elemental sphere. Likewise, a Conduit of the Lower Planes would use Charisma for both spells, since even though the Electricity spell originates here, it is being accessed as a Fiendish sphere.
Elementals can also take some spheres from the Tome of Fiends. These are listed, with their elemental prerequisites and any changes that happen when they're elemental spheres, at the end of the list.
It should be noted that when a Sphere grants a bonus spell-like ability at some level, that spell-like ability and the normal one at that level use the same uses. So when a weird with Advanced access to the Metal sphere gains Chill Metal and Heat Metal together, it can use both abilities a total of three times per day, not three times a day each.
Some spheres have substitution options listed for spells in expansion books. If those aren't available, use the given substitution option.
Option: Sphere Heightening[edit]
Since the Tome of Fiends has been published, something of a consensus has come about that using underleveled abilities of your spheres not only sucks, but does so for no reason. See, the top end of your sphere powers have level-appropriate save DCs, meaning that they keep pace with your opponents' bad saves. But the spells you've had for the longest don't, and instead become worthless. That sucks. So under this option, all of your sphere spell-like abilities have save DCs of 10 + 1/2 your hit dice + your appropriate ability modifier. This goes for Fiends too, by the way. Merry Christmas.
New Spheres[edit]
The new spheres are available as a full listing or on the table below.
| Name | Elements | Spells | Special Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air | Air | Expeditious Retreat (Also applies to Fly speed) , Wind Wall, Gaseous Form, Gust of Wind, Quickened , Control Winds, Overland Flight, Summon Nature's Ally VII (Cast as an [Air] spell only) , Whirlwind, Telekinesis, Quickened (Violent Thrust only) , Summon Elemental Monolith (CArc, Substitute: Elemental Swarm) (Cast as an [Air] spell only, no need to concentrate) | Elemental: Your Fly speed improves by one maneuverability class and 10'. If already perfect, it improves by 20'. Fiend: You gain the (Air) Subtype and the above ability. If you have no Fly speed, you instead gain a Fly speed of 15' (Good). |
| Arctic | Water, Ice | Chill Metal, Icy Sphere (as Flaming Sphere, but cold) , Sleet Storm, Ice Storm, Fire Shield (Chill Shield only) , Polar Ray, Prismatic Spray (has [Cold] descriptor for no reason) , Flesh to Ice, Quickened (Frostburn, Substitute: Temporal Stasis) , Comet Swarm (as Meteor Swarm, but Cold) , Earthquake with added Ice Storm (covers entire area of Earthquake for full duration, does damage every round). | Your spell-like abilities with the [Cold] descriptor leave a frozen slick over all surfaces in their areas or touched by their Effects. This slick functions as a Grease spell, and lasts for two rounds. |
| Creation | Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Ice, Wood, Shadow | Unseen Servant, Make Whole, Minor Creation, Stone Shape, Major Creation, Fabricate, Wall of Iron, Magnificent Mansion, Wish (Wealth and Magic Item only for free, spend for Raise the Dead and Increase power of item only) , Genesis | You gain a bonus [Item Creation] feat. |
| Dust | Air, Earth, Shadow | Gust of Wind, Glitterdust, Sleet Storm, Disintegrate, Cloudkill, Mass Blindness, Creeping Doom, Horrid Wilting, Summon Golem (Clay Only) (PHB2) , Disintegrate (You may use this ability as an immediate action.) | Your area spell-like abilities may, at your option, stir up a stinging dust cloud, inflicting a -2 penalty to Perception checks and a -1 penalty to attack rolls for one minute to any creature that does not successfully save against the spell. The cloud lasts one round, and its effects last one minute after the affected creature takes its last increase. |
| Electricity | Air, Earth, Fire | Lightning Bolt, Shocking Ray (as Scorching Ray, but electric) , Orb of Electricity (CArc) , Chain Lightning, Electric Shield (PHB2 Sonic Shield, but Electric) , Thunder Field (PHB2) , Power Word: Stun, Greater Shout, Electric damage and [Electricity] descriptor, not sonic. , Lightning Bolt, Maximized, 6 damage per caster level with no maximum , Chain Lightning, Quickened | You gain Immunity to Electricity. |
| Ether | Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Ice, Wood | Alarm, See Invisibility, Blink, Baleful Blink (PHB2) , Mage's Faithful Hound, Ethereal Jaunt, Greater Arcane Sight, Maze, Etherealness, Gate (Travel version only) | Your equipment all gains the Ghost Touch property for as long as you carry it. |
| Metal | Earth, Fire | Magic Vestment, Heat Metal (special bonus: Chill Metal) , Keen Edge, Rusting Grasp, Major Creation (metals only) , Wall of Iron, Blade Barrier, Iron Body, Binding, Summon Golem (Iron only) (PHB2) | You may burrow through metal using any existing Burrow speed. |
| Oracle | Air, Earth, Fire, Water, Ice, Wood, Shadow | Identify, Augury, Tongues, Divination, Commune, True Seeing, Vision, Discern Location, Metafaculty, Wish (Undo Misfortune and Turn back Time only, no EXP cost to Undo Misfortune if you don't undo the same round more than once) | Roll all chances for every divination you cast to work or backfire twice, and take the more advantageous result. |
| Permafrost | Earth, Ice | Chill Touch, Gentle Repose, Hold Monster, Wall of Ice, Stoneskin, Transmute Mud to Rock ([Cold] descriptor, rock appears as frozen mud) , Waves of Exhaustion, Horrid Wilting, Imprisonment, Simulacrum | Three times per day, whenever you cast a spell or spell-like ability with the [Cold] descriptor, you may apply the Extend Spell metamagic feat to it for free. |
| Plant | Wood | Entangle, Wood Shape (bonus: Warp Wood) , Plant Growth, Command Plants, Wall of Thorns, Liveoak, Animate Plants, Control Plants, Shambler, Mass Awaken (Trees only) (SpC) | You gain the Druid's Wilderness Stride ability. |
| Quicksand | Earth, Water | Soften Earth and Stone, Earthen Grasp (CArc, Substitute: Entangle (requires earth, not plants)) , Water Walk, Stony Grasp (CArc, Substitute: Black Tentacles) , Transmute Rock to Mud, Acid Fog, Flesh to Stone, Sympathy, Gate (Travel only, always oriented flat horizontally and facing up) , Imprisonment | You can walk and stand on soft or sticky ground, even quicksand, as if it was firm. You still can't normally walk on water. |
| Radiance | Fire, Ice | Color Spray, Faerie Fire, Daylight, Continual Flame, Invisibility Purge, Widened, Sunbeam, Prismatic Spray, Sunburst, Prismatic Wall, Prismatic Sphere | You can cast Light as a swift action at will, and gain resistance to damage from [Light] sources equal to your character level. This resistance is subtracted from each source of such damage you take, to a minimum of zero. |
| Roots | Earth, Wood | Pass without Trace, Barkskin, Poison, Antiplant Shell, Antiplant Shell, Ironwood, Transmute Metal to Wood, Regenerate, Clone (Self only, must grow in earth) , Soul Bind (Uses a seed to hold the soul) | You can heal yourself by one hit point per spell-like ability this Sphere has granted you as a standard action as long as you are in either light as bright as natural sunlight or standing on earth (or, stone if you can burrow into it). |
| Shadow | Shadow | Darkness, Mirror Image, Displacement, Shadow Conjuration, Shadow Evocation, Shadow Walk, Project Image, Greater Shadow Conjuration (bonus: Greater Shadow Evocation) , Simulacrum, Shades | You can see in any kind of darkness, even magical darkness, out to 60', or 30' more than you normally could, whichever is more. |
| Smoke | Air, Fire, Shadow | Heat Metal, Pyrotechnics, Stinking Cloud, Flame Blade, Quickened , Cloudkill, Mirage Arcana, Delayed Blast Fireball, Horrid Wilting, Implosion, Summon Efreeti (as Summon Monster IX, but summons an Efreeti) | Any [Fire] spell-like ability you cast that affects an area may, at your option, produce a smoke cloud that provides concealment to any creature more than 5' away through it, and total concealment to any creature more than 10' away through it. This smoke cloud lasts for one round per caster level and fills the entire area. |
| Trickery | Shadow | Silent Image, Mirror Image, Invisibility (Extended), or Invisibility Sphere, Confusion, Persistent Image, Mislead (Quickened) , Project Image, Mirage Arcana (lasts for 1 day per level) , Astral Projection, Mind Rape | You can take 10 on bluff checks. You also gain a +2 bonus to diplomacy and sense motive checks. |
| Water | Water | Grease ([Water] descriptor) , Quench, Control Water, Freedom of Movement, Transmute Rock to Mud, Acid Fog, Telekinetic Sphere, Arctic Cloud (as Incendiary Cloud, but cold damage) , Summon Elemental Monolith (Water only) (CArc, substitute: Elemental Swarm) , Crushing Hand | You gain the (Water) subtype and a Swim speed equal to your base land speed. If you already have those, your Swim speed improves by 10' |
| Weather | Air, Water | Obscuring Mist, Sleet Storm, Call Lightning Storm, Solid Fog, Ice Storm, Extended , Acid Fog, Control Weather, Horrid Wilting, Meteor Swarm, Storm of Vengeance | You suffer no penalties (such as to Listen, ranged attacks, or ability to make ranged attacks at all) due to weather conditions or wind of any kind. |
Old Spheres[edit]
Elementals can also use some spheres that belonged to fiends before, as follows:
- Cold is accessible by Air, Water, and Ice elementals, and grants those with the cold subtype the ability to, as an immediate action three times per day, become cold enough to ward off outside fires, gaining fire immunity. This lasts for one round. Otherwise they gain the (cold) subtype.
- Dominion is accessible to all elementals
- Fire is accessible by Fire elementals. If they have the (fire) subtype (and they do), then instead of gaining it again they can as an immediate action three times per day, become hot enough to ward off outside cold, gaining cold immunity. This lasts for one round.
- Frostbite is usable by Water, Ice, and Shadow elementals.
- Pyre is usable by Fire elementals.
- Stone is usable by Earth elementals.
New and Revised Spells[edit]
Some spells are introduced for these spheres or for new classes or need to be revised to fit with the other rules in this work. Most of these spells just exist to fill out spell lists rather than to fix critical bugs. Antimagic field, though, is here because it doesn't really play nice with the rest of the game.
| Abjuration | |
| Level: | Cleric 8, Magic 6, Protection 6, Sorcerer/Wizard 6 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, M/DF |
| Casting time: | 1 action |
| Range: | 10' |
| Area: | 10' radius emanation, centered on you |
| Duration: | 10 minutes/level (D) |
| Saving Throw: | None |
| Spell Resistance: | See Text |
The Antimagic Field spell creates a mobile area in which magic is suppressed. Spell lines of effect are blocked by an Antimagic Field, and areas stop at its edges. Furthermore, all creatures and objects in the field are affected as by Antimagic Ward (no save or spell resistance), except that their dispelling abilities can and must be targeted on the field, not their own ward; this effect ends when they leave. Summoned creatures within an antimagic field are suppressed, not existing but with their durations still counting down, returning to existence when the field leaves them. Incorporeal creatures that can become corporeal do so; otherwise they behave like summoned creatures. Any creatures that would be suppressed by the initial casting of the spell may force a spell resistance roll; failure blocks the field from forming. Conjured objects with a noninstantaneous duration are also suppressed. Stationary force effects, and effects like Prismatic Wall and Prismatic Sphere are not affected if they were entirely outside of an antimagic field when cast; otherwise, the antimagic field forms a hole in them. The field can be affected by Mage's Disjunction, although nothing in the field can be.
Arcane Material Component: A pinch of iron filings.
| Abjuration | |
| Level: | Sorcerer/Wizard 4 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, M |
| Casting time: | 1 Action |
| Range: | Touch |
| Target: | Creature or Object less than 1 ton/caster level touched |
| Duration: | 1 round/level |
| Saving Throw: | Will Negates |
| Spell Resistance: | No |
The Antimagic Ward spell is a narrowed variant of Antimagic Field. The target gains immunity to all spells, spell-like, and supernatural abilities, but cannot use any of its own except Dispel Magic, similar spells, and abilities that emulate it, which must be targeted on itself. The target's items, likewise, lose their supernatural power. Magic weapon attacks from other creatures retain their bonus to hit and damage, but not any additional effects of the weapon, including energy damage. The ward can be dispelled.
Material Component: A pinch of salt.
| Divination | |
| Level: | Bard 1, Cleric 1, Elementalist 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 1, Summoner 1 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S |
| Casting time: | 1 round |
| Range: | Close (25' + 5'/2 caster levels) |
| Target: | A Portal |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | None (Object and see below) |
| Spell Resistance: | No (Object) |
You probe the portal, finding its destination
You instantly know the destination of the target portal. If the portal leads to another plane, it tells you which other plane it leads to, although it tells you nothing about the plane in question if it's one you've never heard of. If the portal leads to the same plane, it tells you the general direction (to within about 10 degrees) and distance, plus or minus 20%. You also know if the portal is one-way or two-way.
If the portal has multiple destinations, it reveals the one it would take you to were you to step into it. If something has just gone through the portal (within the last two combat rounds) or if the portal would not work for you for whatever reason, it tells you where the last thing to go through got taken. If it's random, it reveals one randomly-selected destination, which is not necessarily where it will take you when you step into it. For most portals, this spell examines them without disturbing them, although very sensitive portals may make a will save to be disturbed by it. On a successful save, those portals behave as if something went through the portal in response to the spell, changing destinations or setting off alarms appropriately. The spell doesn't actually reveal any of these traits of the portal.
| Transmutation [Fire] | |
| Level: | Alchemist 5 (Flame Secret), Elementalist 5, Sorcerer/Wizard 5 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, M |
| Casting time: | 1 standard action |
| Range: | Personal |
| Target: | The caster |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | Reflex Half (see text) |
| Spell Resistance: | See text |
You take a deep gulp of air, holding your lungs full as you speak the incantation, then belching forth an enormous cone of fire.
When you cast this spell, you gain a breath weapon attack, and use it as part of casting the spell. This breath weapon is a 30 foot cone of fire that deals 1d6 damage per caster level, to a maximum of 15d6. It allows a reflex save for half damage against the spell's save DC. Any metamagic feats that affect the spell's area, damage, or other effects instead affect the breath weapon it grants, so it can be maximized, empowered, widened, and so on as usual. Unlike other breath weapons, this one allows spell resistance.
Material Component: A drop of alcohol and a bit of tinder.
| Transmutation [Fire] | |
| Level: | Alchemist 9 (Flame Secret), Elementalist 9, Sorcerer/Wizard 9 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, M |
| Casting time: | 1 standard action |
| Range: | Personal |
| Target: | The caster |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | Reflex Half (see text) |
| Spell Resistance: | See text |
A blazing inferno rushes forth from your lungs and lingers over the battlefield.
When you cast this spell, you gain a breath weapon attack, and use it as part of casting the spell. This breath weapon is a 60 foot cone of fire that deals 1d8 damage per caster level, to a maximum of 25d8. It allows a reflex save for half damage against the spell's save DC. Any metamagic feats that affect the spell's area, damage, or other effects instead affect the breath weapon it grants, so it can be maximized, empowered, widened, and so on as usual. Unlike other breath weapons, this one allows spell resistance.
Also, after breathing, you may place a cloud of thick smoke, sparks, and floating embers in the shape of a 20' radius cylinder 20' high anywhere in the breath weapon's area of effect. The smoke cloud behaves like a Solid Fog spell, and deals 2d6 fire damage per round to any creature caught in it.
Material Component: A drop of alcohol and a bit of tinder.
| Transmutation [Fire] | |
| Level: | Alchemist 1 (Flame Secret), Elementalist 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 2 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, M |
| Casting time: | 1 standard action |
| Range: | Personal |
| Target: | The caster |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | Reflex Half (see text) |
| Spell Resistance: | No |
A puff of flame leaps from your mouth and spreads into a cone of fire.
When you cast this spell, you gain a breath weapon attack, and use it as part of casting the spell. This breath weapon is a 15 foot cone of fire that deals 1d4 damage per caster level, to a maximum of 5d4. It allows a reflex save for half damage against the spell's save DC. Any metamagic feats that affect the spell's area, damage, or other effects instead affect the breath weapon it grants, so it can be maximized, empowered, widened, and so on as usual. As is normal for breath weapons, spell resistance does not apply.
Material Component: A drop of alcohol and a bit of tinder.
| Transmutation [Cold] | |
| Level: | Alchemist 9 (Ice Secret), Sorcerer/Wizard 9 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S |
| Casting time: | 1 round |
| Range: | Close (25' + 5' per two caster levels) |
| Targets: | One creature per level, no two of which can be more than 30' apart. |
| Duration: | 1 round/level |
| Saving Throw: | Fortitude Negates |
| Spell Resistance: | Yes |
You finish the spell, and freeze the horde of beasts in place.
All creatures affected by this spell are paralyzed for the spell's duration.
| Conjuration (Creation) [See text] | |
| Level: | Cleric 9, Sorcerer/Wizard 9 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, M/DF, XP |
| Casting time: | 1 week (8 hours/day) |
| Range: | 180 feet (see text) |
| Effect: | A demiplane centered on your location |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | None |
| Spell Resistance: | No |
This spell creates a demiplane as per the demiplane creation rules in this book. The demiplane must be coterminous or tangent to the plane you cast it on, and this spell must be cast on the Ethereal or Astral plane.
The plane's traits may have a total trait value of up to the caster level the spell is cast at (see the section on creating demiplanes in this book). The spell's descriptors match the elemental and alignment traits of the plane it creates.
When this spell is cast, a local density fluctuation precipitates the creation of a demiplane. At first, the fledgling plane grows at a rate of 1 foot in radius per day to an initial maximum radius of 180 feet as it rapidly draws substance from surrounding ethereal vapors and protomatter.
The planar environment is decided by the caster: atmosphere, weather, composition (including amount and presence of water), and the general shape of the terrain, to no more accuracy than about a 20' cube. The spell cannot create life (including vegetation) nor construction; such things must be brought in or built in the plane. After creating the plane, this spell can be cast again on it after it reaches its maximum size to add another 180 feet to its radius.
Arcane Material Component: A snow globe.
XP Cost: 5000 EXP
| Transmutation | |
| Level: | Cleric 1, Shadowcaster 1 (Black Writings), Sorcerer/Wizard 1 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, F |
| Casting time: | 1 standard action |
| Range: | 10' |
| Target: | An object to be written on |
| Duration: | Concentration |
| Saving Throw: | None (Object) |
| Spell Resistance: | No (Object) |
This spell causes a writing implement (the spell's focus) to begin writing or drawing on the spell's target surface at a rate of a page per round, as long as the necessary amount of ink is provided for writing implements that use it. It may turn pages in books as needed. It writes exactly as the caster dictates, or it may copy a work the caster has on-hand. If cast with a stylus as the focus, the rate of writing is cut to half in clay and a fifth in stone, but the words are carved rather than written in ink, and it needs no ink. This spell may not itself copy spellbooks. The caster may choose to change the object being written on; for instance, having covered one scroll, the caster may choose to begin writing on the next.
Focus: A writing implement, such as a pen, brush, piece of chalk, or stylus.
| Divination | |
| Level: | Bard 2, Elementalist 3, Sorcerer/Wizard 2, Summoner 1 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S |
| Casting time: | 1 minute |
| Range: | Close (25' + 5' per two caster levels) |
| Target: | One portal |
| Duration: | Concentration, up to two rounds per level |
| Saving Throw: | None (object) |
| Spell Resistance: | No (object) |
You learn information about the destinations of the target portal. On the first round, this spell behaves as Discern Portal Destination. Each subsequent round, you may take one of the following actions:
- Find a new destination: You learn of a randomly-selected destination that the portal has that you didn't already learn about this investigation, and begin to focus on it. If you already know of all of them, you instead learn that.
- Focus on a known destination: You begin to focus on a destination you already know about.
- Determine a piece of the key: You learn one piece of the key to the destination you are focusing on. You also learn if you have uncovered enough parts of the key to have a complete key. If you have uncovered all of the parts to the key, you learn that when you try to find a new one.
- Determine a complete key: The DM secretly picks a random key to the destination you are focusing on. You learn which parts you already know about go to that key, and whether or not that is a complete key.
- Project a sense through: You may project any one sense you have (hearing, smell, sight, or an exotic sense like tremorsense or blindsense) through to the destination you are focusing on. If you do this on two consecutive rounds, you get two senses on the second round. If your blindsense or blindsight or whatever is based on another sense (such as hearing), you must project the basic sense through first (it comes through deadened enough to deny you your better sense). Until you have spent three rounds probing with your senses, all creatures and objects on the other side have total concealment regardless of what senses you use, even sight or blindsight.
| Divination | |
| Level: | Bard 2, Sorcerer/Wizard 3 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S |
| Casting time: | 1 action |
| Range: | 1 mile per caster level |
| Target: | Nearest portal in range |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | None (Object) |
| Spell Resistance: | No (Object) |
You learn whether or not there are any portals in range. If there are, you learn the direction, to the nearest five degrees, to the nearest portal, and an approximation of its distance. If the nearest portal is more than a mile away, you learn the distance to the nearest mile; if it's between 600 feet and a mile, you learn it to the nearest 600 feet; if it's within 600 feet, you learn it to the nearest 60, and if it's within 60', you know the exact 5' square that it's in.
You may also specify a kind of portal. You may choose only interplanar portals, or only portals to a specific plane or list of planes. Portals that don't meet those restrictions will not be detected by this spell.
| Divination | |
| Level: | Cleric 1, Elementalist 1, Sorcerer/Wizard 1, Summoner 1 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S, F |
| Casting time: | 1 minute |
| Range: | Long (400 feet + 40'/level) |
| Area: | Spread over entire range |
| Duration: | Instantaneous |
| Saving Throw: | None |
| Spell Resistance: | No |
You gain information about the future stability of the plane's traits. You know for certain whether the planar traits of the spell's area are going to change on their own within the next one minute per caster level, and which minute they will occur in (to the round, if within one round per caster level). You also learn if such a change will happen at all within one hour per caster level, and if it will happen at all in a wider time interval of unknown length. The DM rolls 1d10 secretly; on a 1, the interval is one month per caster level; on a two or three, one week per caster level, on a 4-7 one day per caster level, on an 8, 12 hours per caster level, on a nine it tells you nothing you didn't already know and on a 10 it gives a false positive.
This spell gives a positive if a planar bubble or leeching is about to collapse, or if a doldrum or edge zone border is about to shift, or anything of the sort. Naturally, the whole place falling into another plane of existence also sets it off, but being shunted into another plane as a bubble doesn't.
Focus: A planar diagram and a handful of pebbles
| Abjuration | |
| Level: | Shadowcaster 6 (Furtive Grasp), Sorcerer/Wizard 7 |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S |
| Casting time: | 1 standard action |
| Range: | Close (25' + 5'/2 caster levels) |
| Target: | One creature |
| Duration: | Instantaneous and 1 minute/caster level (see below) |
| Saving Throw: | None |
| Spell Resistance: | No |
This spell functions as a targeted Greater Dispel Magic. You may make a Spellcraft check to identify every spell removed by this effect, and select one of them. That spell now affects you as though you were the original target, lasting for the remainder of its duration or for one minute per caster level, whichever is shorter.
| Illusion (Shadow) | |
| Level: | Shadowcaster 3 (Treacherous Night) |
|---|---|
| Components: | V, S |
| Casting time: | 1 standard action |
| Range: | See Text |
| Effect: | See Text |
| Duration: | See Text |
| Saving Throw: | Will disbelief (if interacted with); varies; see text |
| Spell Resistance: | Yes; see text |
This spell functions like Shadow Conjuration, except that it can emulate spells of up to 2nd level, and they are only 10% real.
| Illusion (Glamer) | |
| Level: | Shadowcaster 1 (Seek the Shadows) |
|---|---|
| Components: | S |
| Casting time: | 1 action |
| Range: | Personal |
| Target: | You |
| Duration: | 2 rounds |
| Saving Throw: | None (harmless) |
| Spell Resistance: | No (harmless) |
As the spell Invisibility, except as noted above.
Elements and Feats[edit]
| “ | There are a few benefits to being older than the world. | ” |
There are a whole lot of different kinds of feats available to people who want to wield the power of the elements, so its appropriate to explain what these are here.
Elemental Feats[edit]
Elemental feats can only be taken by elementals and outsiders from the inner planes, and by other creatures with a close affinity for the inner planes. Shadow creatures corresponding to a set of elemental creatures, such as Shadow Elementals and Khayal genies, count as elemental creatures for these feats. They are a lot like [Fiend] feats, except for elementals. More rules for monstrous feats and monster-type specific feats will be given in the Book of the Wilds.
Spellcasting Feats[edit]
A long-awaited counterpart to Combat Feats and Skill feats for magic-using characters, Spellcasting feats grant new powers to spellcasters. Some magical feats make your spells better, while others, like Summon the Legion, give you non-spell abilities. Because magical feats to improve spells that are already good aren't really necessary since those spells are already good, magical feats to improve spells help with areas that aren't much good, like damaging spells.. Some magical feats scale only with the highest level of some subset of spells you can cast, such as damaging spells or spells of a specific school or subschool. The feat text will identify this; if not stated, it scales with any spell. Scaling is based on spells known and spell slots available, so characters who prepare spells need only have a spell slot and a known spell (if they keep a spellbook, this counts every spell they could have prepared when last preparing spells) that meets prerequisites of at least whatever level to get the feat benefits from that level, they need not have any such spells prepared. Magical feats do not scale based on Spheres or Spell-like abilities.
Item Creation Feats[edit]
There was going to be a book about items specifically in the Tome series, but it didn't entirely pan out and has now been on hold for three years, with a few chapters released. The next best place to put new rules for magic item creation is probably here in the book about elementals and the magic of the inner planes. Not only since it's the most magical of the book topics to be written for a while, but also since elementals are so often used as tools by spellcasters capable of summoning them, both inside and outside of battle.
The trouble with [Item Creation] feats, as written in core, is that their specializations are all wrong. Seriously, there are like four that are well-defined in what they do, three of which make external spell slots and one of which was meant to primarily make numeric bonus items. The elephant in the ill-defined room is, of course, Craft Wondrous Item, which covers everything that doesn't fit into these incredibly narrow shape-based categories and can, depending on interpretation, make knock-offs of every other feat's items (no, I don't want a Rod of Rulership, I want an Orb of Rulership. Completely different item. Honest), but other item creation feats have definition problems too. Craft Staff, for instance, manages to make externally-mounted spell slots and still be ill-defined because of the way specific staffs work. Forge Ring is necessary only to make some specific subset of magic items and gain access to two body slots, which were never a good idea to begin with, and Craft Rod is in practically the same boat. Then whenever a new book introduces a new category of item, it would as likely as not also add a new item creation feat for them, no matter how small the category. In 3.0, they went as far as to actually print a Craft Portal feat in an actual book.
Item creation feats have another problem: they always suck for the person taking them. Depending on the campaign's pacing, item creation feats might either suck or own for your party, though. Unless you've got huge piles of downtime, huge piles of gold, and some EXP abuse loop of some kind (just following the default rules EXP rules is sometimes enough, since you get more EXP if you're a level behind), they suck. If you have those, they make your party own by allowing you to turn all the magic items you find as loot into magic items you want for free, and all the gold you find as loot to buy magic items you want at half price. But the character taking them isn't getting any special benefits for their effort. The crafter wizard is getting to buy magic items for half price, but so's the fighter, and the fighter didn't set any character power on fire to be able to do this. Related to this, you can get away from the feat tax by making your cohort, or even follower, take these feats, which is just as good as taking them yourself, so there's actually no reason to take them.
So, the deal with Item Creation feats. The draft of the Book of Gears has good rules, some of which have been tweaked in the Magic Items section of this book. The Book of Civilization will finish the fix started here. The term [Item Creation] feat is left reserved for WotC-style feats, even if you can actually pick up several [Item Creation] feats for the price of a single feat, because they're not worth spending a real feat on unless you're an NPC. Instead, the new item creation feats will be scaling feats based on your highest available spell level, with the [Spellcasting] tag. Item creation feats granted by [Spellcasting] feats count for satisfying prerequisites that call for [Item Creation] feats. Yes, this means you can take "Three or more Item Creation feats," a common prerequisite for advanced crafting feats, as a single feat. This is because Item Creation feats suck. Also, these item creation feats will give a minor benefit with regards to using items to anyone who takes them.
Some of the crafting feats will refer to "kinds" of item, especially wondrous items. Here are all of the kinds:
- Charged and Single Use
- Numeric Bonus (this includes all Book of Gears Minor Items and anything that deserves to be replaced by them)
- Nonportable (includes technically portable items that aren't generally used while adventuring, like Crystal Balls, and also includes architectural features like portals and traps).
- Persistent Active (items with no permanent use limit that nonetheless require an action to use, like a Bag of Tricks or a Lyre of Building or a Cape of the Mountebank)
- Utility (items that are either primarily non-combat in function, passive use, or both, like Handy Haversacks and Portable Holes, but also Carpets of Flying and Decanters of Endless Water)
An item can belong to multiple kinds if it has properties from each of them. The ability to craft any of one kind of item as if you had some feat does not extend to multiple-kind items unless you can craft items of every kind that it belongs to, if it matters. Any single ability counts as whatever possibility comes first on the list (i.e., a charged ability is a charged ability, regardless of what it does, a nonportable utility power is nonportable).
Leadership Feats and Magic Items[edit]
Characters are only allowed to use eight magic items at a time, or fewer if they lead minions into battle. Each cohort, or group of followers or created monsters with an EL two less than the character's level, or smaller, counts as a magic item if they accompany their leader. These minions are allowed one less item for each point of difference between their CR and their master's CR. None of those items can be cohorts or follower groups of their own. You don't have to follow these restrictions if your minions aren't accompanying you. If you send your cohort off to find the Dungeon of Doom while you loot the Tomb of Dread, you don't have to spend any item slots on them.
If, for some reason, you're still using the body slot system instead of the eight-item limit, minions are only allowed to fill half their body slots, and their leaders have to set aside and not use two body slots for each cohort or follower group. Minions can't have minions of their own under this arrangement, either. More complete Leadership rules will be found in the Book of Civilization.
Damaging Spells[edit]
It's a documented fact that damaging spells suck. To fix this, some feats here specifically affect "damaging spells", in the hopes of making them not suck. A spell is considered a "damaging spell" if it allows a saving throw for half damage, or if it only deals damage. Example damaging spells include Magic Missile, Lightning Bolt, Cone of Cold, Meteor Swarm, and Sunbeam. Other spells might also be created with or assigned the [Damaging] descriptor, which makes them count as damaging spells.
Unless noted otherwise, you can only apply the effects of one [Spellcasting] feat to each casting of a damaging spell. You can, of course, cast the same spell again with a different feat, but you cannot combine two abilities from different feats onto one casting of one spell. This is so that I can balance the feats so that you can take one, be awesome, and spend your other feats on fleshing out your character, instead of having to design them as part of a blaster mage build that takes all of them.
Metamagic Feats[edit]
Metamagic feats have a different problem from Item Creation feats, but the solution is actually the same. Their problem is that most of them apply to damaging spells, and charge twice: once in that you have to take the feat, and once in that you then have to pay a spell level increase. Since the spell level increase actually charges for the whole value of applying the feat, metamagic feats are mostly just overpriced. That they're for damaging spells just adds insult to injury, since then you're paying twice for something that would make a shit option not shit if it was free. So the solution is to create [Magical] feats that emulate most of the metamagic feats you'd want to put on damaging spells. If you want to Empower or Split Ray your Enervations, though, you're going to have to actually spend the feats on them. Extend Spell is also a useful feat, since it's reasonably priced and mostly applies to nondamaging spells.
Heighten Spell, though, should probably be given away for free. Better than that, every spell should be counted for all purposes as the level of the spell slot you prepare it in, so a Fireball prepared in a seventh level spell slot is a seventh level spell. It might also be quickened or something. Some games go even more extreme, and set save DCs for spells to always match the caster's highest castable spell level, which is a fine houserule.
There's no reason why sorcerers should eat a casting time penalty for metamagic feats. They're casting their spells spontaneously, and it's not like they're actually taking the established recipe for a Fireball and tweaking it to make it bigger or whatever, they're using their own unique ability to cast a bigger fireball. Really, a wizard doesn't take any casting time penalty for taking a spell they've already prepared and squeezing a Sudden Metamagic feat onto it, which is kinda like what a sorcerer is doing except that they're making the change at the tail end of the casting rather than the beginning, and anyone who has worked on anything will tell you it's harder to make large-scale changes quickly to something that's almost done. So sorcerers and other spontaneous casters don't take a penalty to their casting times when they use metamagic, and they can use Quicken Spell. Whew, that was easy.
Feat Listing[edit]
The feats of the Book of Elements are available as a full listing and on the table below.
| Name | Type | Description | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abode of Earth | Elemental | You are at home within the earth. | (Earth) Subtype, Burrow speed, Character level 3+ |
| Adept Flyer | Elemental | You are a natural flyer. | (Air) subtype, Fly speed, Character level 5+ |
| Attune Sphere, Book of Elements | General | You incorporate the workings of an elemental sphere into your magic. | Caster level 1, must conduct a ritual using a piece of an elemental with access to the chosen sphere. |
| Binding Growth | Elemental | You grow on people. | Wood Elemental Creature (e.g., Psuedoelemental Being (Wood) feat) |
| Breath of the Elements | Elemental | You have a breath weapon. | Resistance 20+ or immunity to an energy type. |
| Burn | Elemental | You're hot. You're on fire. You like to burn things. | (Fire) Subtype |
| Double Strike | Elemental | You can strike twice as fast. | Base Attack Bonus +4 or higher, one Slam natural weapon. |
| Drench | Elemental | Your body puts out fires. | (Water) Subtype |
| Drowning Grasp | Elemental | You drown your enemies in your watery embrace. | (Water) Subtype, Character level 3+ |
| Element-Binding Craft | General | You have found the secrets to force an elemental into a magic item and steal its power. | Three or more Item Creation feats, ability to cast Lesser Planar Binding. |
| Elemental Aura | Fiend, Elemental | Your close relationship with primal elemental forces has manifested in a damaging aura. | Character level 7, must have a subtype granting immunity to a form of elemental damage |
| Elemental Avatar | Elemental, Racial | You gain the full Elemental type. | Hardiness of the Elements |
| Elemental Resistance | Elemental | Your elemental heritage gives you the ability to resist energy attacks. | None |
| Elemental Whirlwind | Elemental | You gain the signature ability of Air Elementals to transform into a Whirlwind. | (Air) Subtype, Character Level 5+ |
| Extra Arms, Book of Elements | Elemental | You have more arms than normal. | Character level 9+ |
| Extra Legs | Elemental, Fiend | You are quadrupedal. | None |
| Huge Size, Book of Elements | Elemental | Your size increases to Huge | Character level 10 |
| IGTN/Pseudoelemental Being | Racial | You are a psuedoelemental being, with rare and unique powers. | Elemental-Bodied |
| Ice Trail | Elemental | You leave a trail of ice where-ever you go. | Character Level 3+, (Cold) Subtype |
| Infusion of Elemental Essence | General | You have been infused with the power of one of the elemental planes, granting you an affinity for that element and a small degree of magical power. | None |
| Large Size, Book of Elements | Elemental | Your size increases to Large. | Character level 5 |
| Master of the Primordial | General | Your mastery over raw chaos rivals that of the oldest gods, allowing you to shape it into entire planes of existence. | Reality Shaper, 18+ ranks in Craft |
| Primal Armor | Elemental | Your body deflects blows off of itself. | None |
| Ravid's Hand | General | Objects near you occasionally animate and do what you want | Clockwork Centurion, ability to cast Animate Objects, or connection to the Positive Energy Plane |
| Reality Shaper | General | You can shape primordial chaos into powerful magic items. | Three or more Item Creation feats, caster level 10th+ |
| Rending Flames | Elemental | Your fire isn't just hot, but also solid and sharp. | Burn |
| Sphere Focus | Monstrous | You can draw on the power of a specific Sphere more easily. | Access to at least one Sphere |
| Stolen Breath, Book of Elements | Elemental | You take people's breath away by force. | Character level 3, one of (Air) Subtype or Drowning Grasp |
| Touch of Shadow | Elemental | Your shadowy touch can bypass armor. | Shadow Elemental Creature (Psuedoelemental Being (Shadow), Shadow Genasi, or similar), Natural weapon, Character Level 3+ |
| Tremorsense | Elemental | Your close connection to your home element gives you Tremorsense. | (Earth) or (Water) Subtype, Character level 6+ |
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