I've been playing a single class kobold sorcerer. She began her career as a trainee in magical mining techniques, and stubbornly clings to her tribal ways. Even separated from her tribe, she aspires to become the best manipulator of earth, stone, and metals that she can be. I play her this way, rather than working to maximize her adventuring or combat effectiveness.
Among her cantrips, Mold Earth (though it would be nice for the manipulation effects to be permanent, rather than temporary), Mending, and Prestidigitation. She's fond of using Maximillian's Earthen Grasp for defense (Also been known to use the earthen hand in non-damaging ways, like to temporarily block access or to shoo away a creature). She uses Erupting Earth for defense, but also for excavation (This assumes that a hole is produced when the earth and stone erupt. If the target is a vertical surface/slope, then a hole appears, with a large pile of rubble adjacent to it, to be hauled off later, or by others).
Despite this apparent lack of overall adventuring effectiveness, I wish to press forward with turning this kobold into a master miner/excavator, who can one day pull the gems and precious metals from the living rock through her magical efforts. Her end goal is to become an important member of a powerful kobold tribe, and finish her days serving the tribe's best interests.
I play this kobold at a live table game. As kobolds are supposedly, by nature, outstanding miners and tunnelers, the DM is willing to make some allowances toward this goal, so long as I come up with solid options that don't overbalance my character. For simplicity's sake, I'd like to keep the spells as close to RAW as possible, and homebrew spells and effects only as necessary.
Any suggestions on how I can go about reaching this goal, as this character gains levels?
There aren’t many metal spells, and not a whole lot of earth/ stone spells either. What you could do is lean into how ancient miners actually worked - with Fire and Water. Building fires at the base of the rock face till it’s very hot then rapidly chilling the rock so it fractures and breaks apart. So adding spells like create bonfire, create water, wall of flame, tidal wave etc can lean into the mining motif especially if you can talk the DM into allowing some spells that only affect creatures to also affect objects or “natural crystalline materials” (rocks and ores but not processed metals. You might also talk to him/her about a custom background “miner” with 2 skills of your choice and 2 tool sets of your choice then take smith tools and jewelers tools and perhaps nature (geology) and perception (so he spots those mineral veins more easily). That might also give him some greater non combat usage.
If you’re looking for earth related spells, there’s stone shape and wall of stone, stone shape isn’t on the sorcerer list, but I doubt it would be game breaking to allow you to have it. Also investiture of stone, which would be really cool for this concept, and stoneskin of course. There’s meld into stone, also not a sorcerer spell, but with some tweaks, maybe the DM could let you at least find minerals and gems while you’re in the stone.
Transmute rock is another choice. Spike growth, passwall
I’d also say maybe take something like melfs minute meteors for a direct damage option. Meteors are just rocks from space.
I’d also consider dropping sorcerer and moving into Druid, or if your DM allows, respec as a Druid. They’re the ones that get all the cool stone-related spells. And a level 10 moon Druid can turn into a stone elemental.
I once played a winter themed wizard and was able to work with my DM to reflavor a lot of spells. Bigby's Hand became a icy claw dealing cold damage. Hold Person froze people with a thin layer of ice. Wizard is better than sorcerer in this case purely for the number of spells available. Definitely talk with your DM about acquiring spells outside your class and reflavoring/homebrewing spells to fit your theme. Fog Cloyd could become Dust Cloud without changing its effects, Magic Missle could be metal darts (piercing damage), Slow covers the target in a thick layer of mud, Lighting Bolt becomes a large Boulder that crushes everything in its path.
Basically, let your imagination go crazy and talk with your DM.
Thank, y'all! I appreciate your input. I am a story builder, first and foremost, in my gaming. Hopefully this character will retire as a colorful NPC one day.
OK, I had a chat with the DM, and they like the concept a lot!
Though not playable at any official gaming table, this character is now a transmutation school specialist. Above 1st level spells, this character has access only to transmutation spells that affect earth, stone(minerals), and or metals, but has access to those related transmutation spells that are outside the official sorcerer list. The DM has also granted me some leeway in the form of tweaking or home brewing a spell or three that further this character's goal to be an effective mining specialist. To feel around for gems and metal ores using a slightly tweaked version of Meld into Stone ("Reach into Stone", already worked out), and to extract metals from mined ore, and ore veins in live rock (think magical smelting, a high level spell that the character is a long way from reaching). This character also has a geology background.
Overall, the character is a less well rounded adventurer but quite helpful in underground or dungeon settings, and not so useful onboard a ship. Sure, if conditions are right (always at the DM's discretion), this character might find a hefty haul of mineral wealth, but not likely while adventuring with a party. It does provide for a good way to make a living, after this character decides to retire from adventuring.
I look forward to developing this character, and their story, further.
Sounds like a lot of fun, and I’ll bet you can come up with some interesting uses for those spells. Personally, I’ve always thought stone shape was a crazy useful utility spell, I’m betting you can figure out more things to do. If you’re allowed this kind of homebrew, you might ask about re-flavoring some cantrips. Like firebolt is actually molten lava you throw at someone. Or shocking grasp is using a lodestone to generate an electric shock from the magnetic properties of the rock. Keeps to the theme but gives you some basic offensive power.
Great ideas! Now if only my character could have more "known spells" to work with. Just kidding about the extra known spells, we've mutually agreed that we won't be going there.
Here's one Home Brew variant that the DM and I settled on:
Reach into Stone [Home Brew Variant of Meld into Stone]
3rd Level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range/Area: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 8 Hours
Attack/Save: None
Damage/Effect: Movement, Utility
Source:Basic Rules, pg. 259 [Meld into Stone]
Developed by the great kobold excavator Ir Svaust Ordahiric, this spell'sprimary purpose is to find out what lies just ahead, out of reach of the pickaxes, and to roughly determine the stability of the stone ahead.
Your hand becomes semi-corporeal, and can reach into a stone object or surface. This hand has 20HP. You can feel around for changes in the primary rock, indicating a possible vein of a different material, or an open space. The reach (depth) is 5', plus 5' for each spell level cast above 3rd.
One cannot identify what is touched, only that something different has been felt. One can grasp a small sample of the material in question and pull it out (~1 cubic inch). If air, the hand will be empty. If removing the material would cause the resulting hole to collapse, [Unstable strata, DM discretion,] then the reaching hand takes 1d8 points damage, and must release the material or remain trapped in the stone. When 8 hours have passed, or the hand's HP drop below 0, the hand is ejected from the rock and the spell ends; any additional HP are taken from the caster's total. The caster cannot cast other spells while this one is active, but can withdraw their hand and cancel the spell at any time, as an action.
The reaching hand cannot pass through living things, nor any solid material that once lived, nor worked metals. It can be attacked by creatures that can sense it and reach it, and will take damage accordingly.
I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but if not, you might check out the last air bender on Netflix. The main characters are basically monks with a certain elemental affinity. The earth benders in particular might be of interest.
Hey y'all,
I've been playing a single class kobold sorcerer. She began her career as a trainee in magical mining techniques, and stubbornly clings to her tribal ways. Even separated from her tribe, she aspires to become the best manipulator of earth, stone, and metals that she can be. I play her this way, rather than working to maximize her adventuring or combat effectiveness.
Among her cantrips, Mold Earth (though it would be nice for the manipulation effects to be permanent, rather than temporary), Mending, and Prestidigitation. She's fond of using Maximillian's Earthen Grasp for defense (Also been known to use the earthen hand in non-damaging ways, like to temporarily block access or to shoo away a creature). She uses Erupting Earth for defense, but also for excavation (This assumes that a hole is produced when the earth and stone erupt. If the target is a vertical surface/slope, then a hole appears, with a large pile of rubble adjacent to it, to be hauled off later, or by others).
Despite this apparent lack of overall adventuring effectiveness, I wish to press forward with turning this kobold into a master miner/excavator, who can one day pull the gems and precious metals from the living rock through her magical efforts. Her end goal is to become an important member of a powerful kobold tribe, and finish her days serving the tribe's best interests.
I play this kobold at a live table game. As kobolds are supposedly, by nature, outstanding miners and tunnelers, the DM is willing to make some allowances toward this goal, so long as I come up with solid options that don't overbalance my character. For simplicity's sake, I'd like to keep the spells as close to RAW as possible, and homebrew spells and effects only as necessary.
Any suggestions on how I can go about reaching this goal, as this character gains levels?
There aren’t many metal spells, and not a whole lot of earth/ stone spells either. What you could do is lean into how ancient miners actually worked - with Fire and Water. Building fires at the base of the rock face till it’s very hot then rapidly chilling the rock so it fractures and breaks apart. So adding spells like create bonfire, create water, wall of flame, tidal wave etc can lean into the mining motif especially if you can talk the DM into allowing some spells that only affect creatures to also affect objects or “natural crystalline materials” (rocks and ores but not processed metals. You might also talk to him/her about a custom background “miner” with 2 skills of your choice and 2 tool sets of your choice then take smith tools and jewelers tools and perhaps nature (geology) and perception (so he spots those mineral veins more easily). That might also give him some greater non combat usage.
Wisea$$ DM and Player since 1979.
If you’re looking for earth related spells, there’s stone shape and wall of stone, stone shape isn’t on the sorcerer list, but I doubt it would be game breaking to allow you to have it.
Also investiture of stone, which would be really cool for this concept, and stoneskin of course.
There’s meld into stone, also not a sorcerer spell, but with some tweaks, maybe the DM could let you at least find minerals and gems while you’re in the stone.
Transmute rock is another choice. Spike growth, passwall
I’d also say maybe take something like melfs minute meteors for a direct damage option. Meteors are just rocks from space.
I’d also consider dropping sorcerer and moving into Druid, or if your DM allows, respec as a Druid. They’re the ones that get all the cool stone-related spells. And a level 10 moon Druid can turn into a stone elemental.
I once played a winter themed wizard and was able to work with my DM to reflavor a lot of spells. Bigby's Hand became a icy claw dealing cold damage. Hold Person froze people with a thin layer of ice. Wizard is better than sorcerer in this case purely for the number of spells available. Definitely talk with your DM about acquiring spells outside your class and reflavoring/homebrewing spells to fit your theme. Fog Cloyd could become Dust Cloud without changing its effects, Magic Missle could be metal darts (piercing damage), Slow covers the target in a thick layer of mud, Lighting Bolt becomes a large Boulder that crushes everything in its path.
Basically, let your imagination go crazy and talk with your DM.
Keep your friends close, and enemies closer.
Thank, y'all! I appreciate your input. I am a story builder, first and foremost, in my gaming. Hopefully this character will retire as a colorful NPC one day.
OK, I had a chat with the DM, and they like the concept a lot!
Though not playable at any official gaming table, this character is now a transmutation school specialist. Above 1st level spells, this character has access only to transmutation spells that affect earth, stone(minerals), and or metals, but has access to those related transmutation spells that are outside the official sorcerer list. The DM has also granted me some leeway in the form of tweaking or home brewing a spell or three that further this character's goal to be an effective mining specialist. To feel around for gems and metal ores using a slightly tweaked version of Meld into Stone ("Reach into Stone", already worked out), and to extract metals from mined ore, and ore veins in live rock (think magical smelting, a high level spell that the character is a long way from reaching). This character also has a geology background.
Overall, the character is a less well rounded adventurer but quite helpful in underground or dungeon settings, and not so useful onboard a ship. Sure, if conditions are right (always at the DM's discretion), this character might find a hefty haul of mineral wealth, but not likely while adventuring with a party. It does provide for a good way to make a living, after this character decides to retire from adventuring.
I look forward to developing this character, and their story, further.
Sounds like a lot of fun, and I’ll bet you can come up with some interesting uses for those spells. Personally, I’ve always thought stone shape was a crazy useful utility spell, I’m betting you can figure out more things to do.
If you’re allowed this kind of homebrew, you might ask about re-flavoring some cantrips. Like firebolt is actually molten lava you throw at someone. Or shocking grasp is using a lodestone to generate an electric shock from the magnetic properties of the rock. Keeps to the theme but gives you some basic offensive power.
Great ideas! Now if only my character could have more "known spells" to work with. Just kidding about the extra known spells, we've mutually agreed that we won't be going there.
Thanks again!
Here's one Home Brew variant that the DM and I settled on:
Reach into Stone [Home Brew Variant of Meld into Stone]
3rd Level Transmutation
Casting Time: 1 action
Range/Area: Touch
Components: V, S
Duration: 8 Hours
Attack/Save: None
Damage/Effect: Movement, Utility
Source: Basic Rules, pg. 259 [Meld into Stone]
Developed by the great kobold excavator Ir Svaust Ordahiric, this spell's primary purpose is to find out what lies just ahead, out of reach of the pickaxes, and to roughly determine the stability of the stone ahead.
Your hand becomes semi-corporeal, and can reach into a stone object or surface. This hand has 20HP. You can feel around for changes in the primary rock, indicating a possible vein of a different material, or an open space. The reach (depth) is 5', plus 5' for each spell level cast above 3rd.
One cannot identify what is touched, only that something different has been felt. One can grasp a small sample of the material in question and pull it out (~1 cubic inch). If air, the hand will be empty. If removing the material would cause the resulting hole to collapse, [Unstable strata, DM discretion,] then the reaching hand takes 1d8 points damage, and must release the material or remain trapped in the stone. When 8 hours have passed, or the hand's HP drop below 0, the hand is ejected from the rock and the spell ends; any additional HP are taken from the caster's total. The caster cannot cast other spells while this one is active, but can withdraw their hand and cancel the spell at any time, as an action.
The reaching hand cannot pass through living things, nor any solid material that once lived, nor worked metals. It can be attacked by creatures that can sense it and reach it, and will take damage accordingly.
I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but if not, you might check out the last air bender on Netflix. The main characters are basically monks with a certain elemental affinity. The earth benders in particular might be of interest.
I have watched the live action movie, but that's all I've seen. I'll look into it. Thanks!
The live action movie was an insult to the property. Definitely watch the animated series. It's amazing.