Ever since I read Ed Greenwood's novel years ago, I've loved the concept of the ability known as Spellfire. For those who don't know, it is an inherent power to absorb magic and use it later to fire bolts of energy, heal wounds, fly, and more. While more limited than a spellcaster, and reliant upon the magic of items and/or casters, Spellfire has its own appeal.
I'm really hoping that they release a Spellfire Wielder class for 5th edition, particularly with this version of D&D focusing so much on the Forgotten Realms setting that Spellfire was created in. I feel it needs its own class, rather than a class variant, as to do otherwise would require a lot of loss to the lore of the ability to remain balanced.
The Spellfire was a power given by Mystra to her Chosen ones. My guess is that since the killing of Mystra (event that triggered the Spellplague) and her recent return as the goddess of magic the Spellfire is not available anymore.
Elminster almost died in the last book. No sign of Spellfire there.
Ever since I read Ed Greenwood's novel years ago, I've loved the concept of the ability known as Spellfire. For those who don't know, it is an inherent power to absorb magic and use it later to fire bolts of energy, heal wounds, fly, and more. While more limited than a spellcaster, and reliant upon the magic of items and/or casters, Spellfire has its own appeal.
I'm really hoping that they release a Spellfire Wielder class for 5th edition, particularly with this version of D&D focusing so much on the Forgotten Realms setting that Spellfire was created in. I feel it needs its own class, rather than a class variant, as to do otherwise would require a lot of loss to the lore of the ability to remain balanced.
in 4E, it was a Paragon path, but 4E was an abomination.
In 3E, it was a Feat, that could grow into a Prestige class, with Epic versions of both.
I don't see them making it a complete character class in 5E, because they seem to be avoiding complexity. (See: Mystic) But I can see it returning in some fashion. It's just hard to do without becoming overpowered.
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The Spellfire was a power given by Mystra to her Chosen ones. My guess is that since the killing of Mystra (event that triggered the Spellplague) and her recent return as the goddess of magic the Spellfire is not available anymore.
IIRC, Mystra could grant Spellfire powers to her Chosen, but wasn't the source of the natural ability manifesting itself in people.
The Spellfire was a power given by Mystra to her Chosen ones. My guess is that since the killing of Mystra (event that triggered the Spellplague) and her recent return as the goddess of magic the Spellfire is not available anymore.
Elminster almost died in the last book. No sign of Spellfire there.
You're close. Mystra's Chosen were given silver fire, not spellfire.
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You're close. Mystra's Chosen were given silver fire, not spellfire.
In flicat's defense, Silver Fire was listed under Spellfire in the FR Campaign Setting book for 3.0 (I had to look it up again), but it is rather different.
You could do a Sorcerer build based on it. That seems the best fit. Possibly Warlock?
A Spellfire class based on Sorcerer, I'd be fine with. More SP (which only recover by absorbing spells), no cantrips, no spell slots, no metamagic, no Sorcerous Origin, a small Spell List that's really just Spellfire abilites. When absorbing, call it 1 plus the absorbed spell's level (cantrips being 0). Make it a reaction to absorb a spell, perhaps.
As for Warlock, lose cantrips and Pact Boon, greatly limit the options for Invocations, etc. Eh, I think basing it off Sorcerer is better.
Part of why I think Spellfire needs its own class is that I think it would be better balanced that way. A spellcaster that takes a level dip into a Spellfire class might get the spell absorption, but they at least lose out on that level of their own class (and the spells that come with it). They also couldn't spend absorbed spells to cast their own magic, but could only use such stored energy for the few Spellfire abilities. And, if they don't take further levels in Spellfire, they can't unlock the other abilities. As a limitation, perhaps Spellfire Wielders automatically drain any magic item they touch until they get a few levels in. There's a precedence for that from 2nd Edition, IIRC, although I believe it only lasted until level 2.
They've already come out with Mystic and Artificer (test versions, anyway); I see no reason why Spellfire couldn't be its own class.
I think Spellfire would be most appropriate as a variant of Warlock. Eldritch Blast already closely represents the basic offensive uses of spellfire. Adding a few more invocations could get you the other abilities demonstrated.
I liked this idea at first. But then consider back to when Shandril was fighting the heap of beholders. She didn't seem to be being injured by them, spell wise. You can only do 1 reaction per round. This would have meant that she would have only absorbed 1 spell for that round and all others would have got through. Ive decided that on the characters first round they have to ready an action to turn on the absorption ability and then it stays on till the pc mentally turns it off or falls unconscious, etc. Remember the harpers used a slow spell on her and the demi lich also used magic on her while asleep. Id say the harpers initiative was first so she couldn't absorb it. And its a conscious thought to absorb so therefore needs to be awake.
I liked this idea at first. But then consider back to when Shandril was fighting the heap of beholders. She didn't seem to be being injured by them, spell wise. You can only do 1 reaction per round. This would have meant that she would have only absorbed 1 spell for that round and all others would have got through. Ive decided that on the characters first round they have to ready an action to turn on the absorption ability and then it stays on till the pc mentally turns it off or falls unconscious, etc. Remember the harpers used a slow spell on her and the demi lich also used magic on her while asleep. Id say the harpers initiative was first so she couldn't absorb it. And its a conscious thought to absorb so therefore needs to be awake.
Keep in mind that narrative does not always translate to gameplay mechanics. Having the ability to completely absorb that many spells would be quite overpowered as an actual class. A more balanced way to think about that encounter--as it might translate to a PC--would be something like her dumping all of her power into manifesting a temporary effect similar to Antimagic Field.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I know it's missing a lot of the flavor of the class you're looking for, but I like this idea as a variant sorcerer whose main feature is being able to use a reaction to potentially stop a spell and absorb it, converting into sorcery points. There's a lot of rebalancing that this would need... it's basically a better version of Counterspell that can be cast repeatedly. Maybe treat it more like Uncanny Dodge where it halves the damage from a magic spell?
Actually, here's how I would do it... Give them a reaction that can be used to absorb magic, and the player chooses whether they reduce the damage by half, or if they take the full damage but recover one sorcery point. You'd have to build in some class features and maybe some unique forms of metamagic exclusive to the subclass to get it more in line with what you're going for, but that would be a fairly straightforward way to homebrew this subclass and not have it too blatantly broken right out of the gate.
Give them a reaction that can be used to absorb magic, and the player chooses whether they reduce the damage by half, or if they take the full damage but recover one sorcery point.
That'd actually be nice to just straight up add to the core Sorcerer.
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You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
okay thanks guys, my next question is antimagic fields and/or magic dead areas. Im guessing it wouldn't function in a magic dead area, but what about an antimagic field. Again in the novel the beholders antimagic ray from their main eye had no effect, it actually states that in the story. Is this because its a supernatural ability, like the dragonbreath and therefore the actual spell would still work? Sorry just trying to clear up some things for better game play.
What if the innate spell recovery from Rests was very limited, but from absorbing spells and/or effects you fuel additional spell slots? You'd have to do a different Class Features table... So at level 1 you'd only have 2 innate Spell Slots, but could "hold" up to 5 Spell Slots from absorbing magic. So if you were fighting against another spell caster, you could potentially cast a great many spells even at level 1, but only if you successfully absorbed your opponent's magic.
Might need to separate it across multiple dice rolls. The first to mitigate the incoming spell, reducing it's damage or outright deflecting it. Then, if a success is achieved from the first roll, the second is taken to see if you absorb the magical energies for your own use.
This is sounding more and more like a really interesting homebrew class.
I'm joining this party late, so no idea whether anything happened with this but I ran a game based on Spellfire back in 3E. Spellfire wielders gained the ability as a feat and could become more powerful by taking the Spellfire Channeller and Spellfire Hierophant prestige classes.
A spellfire wielder could 'ready an action to absorb spells targeted at her as if she were a Rod of Absorption'. They could store a number of spellfire levels up to their Constitution score. Spellfire was unable in an anti-magic field but not lost. Dispel Magic could not negate stored spellfire levels. A character with stored spellfire levels radiated magic as if they were an item with a caster level equal to the number of stored levels. A spellfire blast dealt 1d6 damage per level used (Reflex save for half) and heal a target for 2 hp per level used. Source: Magic of Faerun.
I'm new to 5E so I'm not at all sure how to do conversion but the campaign never got to completion because of RL stuff. I found this while looking for a conversion because my players want to resurrect the campaign in 5E, which I'm still working to get my head around (Not had time for D&D for years until now, basically).
Silverfire is when you are chosen by Mystra, but Spellfire is just pure, raw magical energy, that can heal, hurt, and do a few (limited but powerful) things
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Ever since I read Ed Greenwood's novel years ago, I've loved the concept of the ability known as Spellfire. For those who don't know, it is an inherent power to absorb magic and use it later to fire bolts of energy, heal wounds, fly, and more. While more limited than a spellcaster, and reliant upon the magic of items and/or casters, Spellfire has its own appeal.
I'm really hoping that they release a Spellfire Wielder class for 5th edition, particularly with this version of D&D focusing so much on the Forgotten Realms setting that Spellfire was created in. I feel it needs its own class, rather than a class variant, as to do otherwise would require a lot of loss to the lore of the ability to remain balanced.
I'm just sane enough to admit my insanity.
Please, correct me if I am mistaken.
The Spellfire was a power given by Mystra to her Chosen ones. My guess is that since the killing of Mystra (event that triggered the Spellplague) and her recent return as the goddess of magic the Spellfire is not available anymore.
In 3E, it was a Feat, that could grow into a Prestige class, with Epic versions of both.
I don't see them making it a complete character class in 5E, because they seem to be avoiding complexity. (See: Mystic) But I can see it returning in some fashion. It's just hard to do without becoming overpowered.
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IIRC, Mystra could grant Spellfire powers to her Chosen, but wasn't the source of the natural ability manifesting itself in people.
I'm just sane enough to admit my insanity.
⬐ If you thought I added value to the conversation, please let me know!
I'm just sane enough to admit my insanity.
You could do a Sorcerer build based on it. That seems the best fit. Possibly Warlock?
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I'm just sane enough to admit my insanity.
I think Spellfire would be most appropriate as a variant of Warlock. Eldritch Blast already closely represents the basic offensive uses of spellfire. Adding a few more invocations could get you the other abilities demonstrated.
Make it a reaction to absorb a spell, perhaps.
I liked this idea at first. But then consider back to when Shandril was fighting the heap of beholders. She didn't seem to be being injured by them, spell wise. You can only do 1 reaction per round. This would have meant that she would have only absorbed 1 spell for that round and all others would have got through. Ive decided that on the characters first round they have to ready an action to turn on the absorption ability and then it stays on till the pc mentally turns it off or falls unconscious, etc. Remember the harpers used a slow spell on her and the demi lich also used magic on her while asleep. Id say the harpers initiative was first so she couldn't absorb it. And its a conscious thought to absorb so therefore needs to be awake.
Keep in mind that narrative does not always translate to gameplay mechanics. Having the ability to completely absorb that many spells would be quite overpowered as an actual class. A more balanced way to think about that encounter--as it might translate to a PC--would be something like her dumping all of her power into manifesting a temporary effect similar to Antimagic Field.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
I know it's missing a lot of the flavor of the class you're looking for, but I like this idea as a variant sorcerer whose main feature is being able to use a reaction to potentially stop a spell and absorb it, converting into sorcery points. There's a lot of rebalancing that this would need... it's basically a better version of Counterspell that can be cast repeatedly. Maybe treat it more like Uncanny Dodge where it halves the damage from a magic spell?
Actually, here's how I would do it... Give them a reaction that can be used to absorb magic, and the player chooses whether they reduce the damage by half, or if they take the full damage but recover one sorcery point. You'd have to build in some class features and maybe some unique forms of metamagic exclusive to the subclass to get it more in line with what you're going for, but that would be a fairly straightforward way to homebrew this subclass and not have it too blatantly broken right out of the gate.
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That'd actually be nice to just straight up add to the core Sorcerer.
You don't know what fear is until you've witnessed a drunk bird divebombing you while carrying a screaming Kobold throwing fire anywhere and everywhere.
okay thanks guys, my next question is antimagic fields and/or magic dead areas. Im guessing it wouldn't function in a magic dead area, but what about an antimagic field. Again in the novel the beholders antimagic ray from their main eye had no effect, it actually states that in the story. Is this because its a supernatural ability, like the dragonbreath and therefore the actual spell would still work? Sorry just trying to clear up some things for better game play.
What if the innate spell recovery from Rests was very limited, but from absorbing spells and/or effects you fuel additional spell slots? You'd have to do a different Class Features table... So at level 1 you'd only have 2 innate Spell Slots, but could "hold" up to 5 Spell Slots from absorbing magic. So if you were fighting against another spell caster, you could potentially cast a great many spells even at level 1, but only if you successfully absorbed your opponent's magic.
Might need to separate it across multiple dice rolls. The first to mitigate the incoming spell, reducing it's damage or outright deflecting it. Then, if a success is achieved from the first roll, the second is taken to see if you absorb the magical energies for your own use.
This is sounding more and more like a really interesting homebrew class.
I'm joining this party late, so no idea whether anything happened with this but I ran a game based on Spellfire back in 3E. Spellfire wielders gained the ability as a feat and could become more powerful by taking the Spellfire Channeller and Spellfire Hierophant prestige classes.
A spellfire wielder could 'ready an action to absorb spells targeted at her as if she were a Rod of Absorption'. They could store a number of spellfire levels up to their Constitution score. Spellfire was unable in an anti-magic field but not lost. Dispel Magic could not negate stored spellfire levels. A character with stored spellfire levels radiated magic as if they were an item with a caster level equal to the number of stored levels. A spellfire blast dealt 1d6 damage per level used (Reflex save for half) and heal a target for 2 hp per level used. Source: Magic of Faerun.
I'm new to 5E so I'm not at all sure how to do conversion but the campaign never got to completion because of RL stuff. I found this while looking for a conversion because my players want to resurrect the campaign in 5E, which I'm still working to get my head around (Not had time for D&D for years until now, basically).
Beware the Nice Ones
Silverfire is when you are chosen by Mystra, but Spellfire is just pure, raw magical energy, that can heal, hurt, and do a few (limited but powerful) things