Designing a Path - Elemental

Greetings friends!

Carrying on from my previous posts about the Path of Blood and Path of Law, next up is the Path of Elements.

Now the Path of Elements is one walked by members of The Circle, a group of regular people who see themselves as magicians, sorcerers and alchemists, distilling and purifying the power of Blood Shards into what they believe to be a less corrupting power than the followers of Blood and Bones.

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As a walker of the Elemental Path you start at Level 1.

Level 1: Ring of Fire.
Like all paths you start with a Free Action that acts as an immobilise. Ring of Fire unlike the other paths does not prevent the enemy's movement as a rule. Instead it lasts until the end of the target's next activation when it dissipates. During this time they may choose to perform a movement action, but doing so causes damage (low damage, probably 1/2/4), but this threat of damage will put off all but the strongest of enemies from making such movements.

Every time you successfully cast Ring of Fire you gain 1 Elemental Point. After gathering 10 points you unlock Level 2.

Level 2: Elemental Command.
As a walker of the elements you can command their power to a small degree to do your bidding.

Elemental Command is a Free Action buff that allows you to apply one of the following to a friendly character that lasts until the effect is used up. It requires a 3+ to cast.

Fire Command: Increase their next attack damage roll by 1

Water Command: Increase their next heal roll by 1.

Earth Command: The next time this model is due to take damage reduce the damage dice by 1. If only a single dice is due to be rolled, roll 2 and pick the lowest.

Every time Elemental Command is successfully cast add 1 Elemental Point to your path. Once you have gathered 20 Points (Level 2 +10) you unlock level 3.

Level 3: Ion Storm
As a walker of the Elemental Path even the very electricity of the air is available to you, but this comes at a price and is not always a reliable tool.

As a 1GA you try to unleash the electrical energy around a single enemy of your choice. If successful that model looses all Melee, Ranged and Magic modifiers until the end of their next turn and they suffer damage of 1/2/4. If you are unsuccessful then that effect is applied to you. No damage is dealt to you however.

For every successful cast you receive 1 Elemental Point. At 40 points (Level 3 +20) you unlock level 4.

Level 4: Fog of Confusion
The walkers of the elemental path have found ways to use their abilities in strange and unusual ways, one such method is the Fog of Confusion.

This is a ability that is held to the upmost secrecy and very few outside the Circle even knows of it's existence.

As a 1GA you may cast a ranged magic spell Fog of Confusion. If successful you swap places with your target of choice. If targeting a friendly model, if the target is in agreement this is cast on a 3+. If they do not agree, roll as normal.

For every successful cast gain 1 Elemental Point. After gathering 80 points (level 4 +40) unlock level 5.

Level 5: Rise of the Phoenix
Those who try to utilise the power of the elemental path often discover something more volatile than they first imagined. Many a trainee in the path have been known to have their bodies turned to ash, burned from the inside as they try and fail to control these energies.

For those who learn to harness these energies the Rise of the Phoenix is there reward.

RotP is an ability that requires 2GA to cast with an AoE range of 3. Everything within range and is hit then suffers damage equal to 2/4/8 + 50% the caster's Health rounded down. So someone on full health (12) will do 8/10/14. Once damage has been dealt exhaust 1 Blood Shard and restore them to full health.

This ability is a super strong one as it's damage output is enough to kill almost anything the game has to offer and but that is why it is currently set as a 1 use per game ability. Currently the only ability that has such a requirement.

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And there we have it! Another Path put down on paper!

I hope that this path came across as intended, as something that when used correctly it has many uses, relies heavily on magic casting and damage output and can in the wrong situation cause problems (as is mainly seen in Ion Storm).

So we're clear on design here, RotP is not aimed as a Self Rez. Yes it does that function, but if you are say on 1 Health it will only do it's base damage. Perhaps this is too high? Perhaps it should have a base damage of 0 and your output is based exclusively around your remaining Health? That is something I am open to interpretation and opinion with.

It's also worth noting that it requires 2GA to pull off, so without movement based Aspect Abilities you're going to have to rely on setting it up previous turn. That said, by the time you're using paths, you should be up to speed with Aspects, so there's no reason why your healer couldn't equip their move nth ability to move you forward, then you activate next, DPS Leap and unleash RotP. Bam you just moved a range of ~8 and unleashed a super powerful ability (if on full health).

Anyway, next time we're looking at The Path of Bones. A path based around buffs and debuffs, perfect for your healers and ranged support based DPS.

Until next time, stay safe and I'll see you Cryptside!

- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley