Bloodline Feats (would you take these?)

[the Jester]

To help encourage themed sorcerers....




ABYSSAL BLOODLINE [Bloodline]
Your blood is tainted by demonic heritage, giving your Evil spells extra power.

Prerequisite: 1st-level character, able to cast protection from good as a spontaneous arcane spell.

Benefit: Any spell you cast with the Evil descriptor is treated as if your caster level was one higher. You have a +1 racial bonus to saves against spells that have the Good descriptor or to fire-based attacks.

BLOOD OF HELL [Bloodline]
Your sorcerous might stems in part from a bit of devil in your family tree. Your powers of persuasion are great.

Prerequisite: 1st-level character, able to cast charm person as a spontaneous arcane spell.

Benefit: Any spells you cast with the Charm descriptor have their save DCs increased by 1. This stacks with Spell Focus or Greater Spell Focus. You get a +1 competence bonus to opposed charisma checks with individuals that you have charmed.

BLOODLINE OF SPIDERS [Bloodline]
Your sorcerer’s powers come from some arcane connection with spiders and arachnid powers.

Prerequisite: 1st-level character, able to cast spider climb as a spontaneous arcane spell.

Benefit: Any web spells that you cast have the DC of any Escape Artist or Str checks to escape them increased by +4. Any spells you cast that require a Fort save against poison have their DC increased by +1. This bonus stacks with that provided by Spell Focus or Greater Spell Focus.

GET OF BLEAK [Bloodline]
Your family line is tainted by ancient witchcraft. Bleak consorted with one of your ancestors.

Prerequisites: 1st-level character, able to cast cause fear as a spontaneous arcane spell.

Benefit: Any spell you cast with the Darkness descriptor is treated as if your caster level were 2 higher for purposes of being dispelled. Any spell you cast against a cleric or paladin of Galador has its save DC increased by 1.

HEAVENLY BLOOD [Bloodline]
The blood of angels runs in your veins.

Prerequisite: 1st-level character, able to cast protection from evil as a spontaneous arcane spell.

Benefit: Your caster level is treated as if it is one higher when you cast spells with the Good descriptor. You gain a +1 racial bonus to saves vs. compulsion and fear effects and poison.

SLAADI BLOOD [Bloodline]
Strange ancestry marks you. Chaos itself runs in your veins.

Prerequisite: 1st-level character, able to cast protection from law as a spontaneous arcane spell.

Benefit: Your caster level is treated as if it were one higher when you cast spells with the Chaos descriptor. You get a +1 racial bonus to saving throws against compulsion effects and acid attacks.





What do you think about their balance, also? It's hard to predict...

 

[Destil]

I like them all! Not too powerful, not that weak, very flavorful. They would also make great stepping stones into some advanced feats (add a few known spells, for instance).

 

[Chun-tzu]

Very cool. Strong flavor, and well-balanced.

The only one that might lead to balance problems is Blood of Hell. Combined with Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus in Enchantment, possible bonuses from magic items and or prestige classes, and loaded up on Enchantment spells, that can get dangerous. I'd throw in some minor penalty, like spells with the Good descriptor being forbidden, or maybe an allergy to salt (isn't there some old wives' tale about throwing a pinch of salt over your shoulder when you spill salt, to keep the devil away?).

 

[Skade]

I very much like them. I made some simliar feats for my campaign about two years ago. I really don't like the sorceror class, and required that there be a "reason" for them to be inherently magical. I have since removed that stipulation. Aside from yours (mechanically they were different. but same ideas) I had a Fae blood, God-blooded, orgekin, akuma, oniseed, demonwrack, and Child of the Wild.

I like yours better than mine actually. Mind if I borrow them?

-Kane

 

[Eternalknight]

I like them. I'd like them even more if they were available to all characters rather than just sorcerers. Good job.

 

[Sniktch]

I'd also like to chime in and say very cool, Jester. I'm with Eternalknight (let them open for all classes) and Chun-tzu (enchantment bonus might cause a problem).

Although, considering all of the extra feats and the like in the various splatbooks, what's another +1?

 

[the Jester]

Hm, thank you all for the complements. Of course, feel free to use them or others like them- I'll prolly post more here as I work them up.

The idea I had for these was to encourage themed sorcerers. Several of you suggest I open them up to everyone, I'm somewhat hesitant because the whole idea was to play on the sorcerer's powers' origins.

Still, I'll think that over...

 

[Nail]

The fact that only sorcerer's can use 'em balances them quite a bit. I'd say stick to yer guns, boy! Sorcerer's only!

 

[Skade]

Wouldn't that change the multiclassing mechanics? One could never multiclass into sorceror if that were the case. I made my "bloodline" feats (I called mine heritage) before RR2 came out, and the way i did it was to have these various heritage feats do one thing for everyone, and allow sorcerors to take themed magic. I had no problem at the time making sorceror more difficult mostly because I really did not like the class.

What if the feats had a progression. I wish I was at home so I could post my fae blooded progression. When someone wanted to play a sorceror in my game they had to choose a heritage feat (one was mysterious bloodline that was pretty freeform but gave me a lot of leeway to play with). One of these was fae Blooded. Well, anyone could buy the same feat at creation also. In either case it opened up the sorceror option. Well, at some point Fae Awe was available, this gave the character a fear effect based on his HD. There were four in all, with each one before as a prerequisite, along with some other things. It gave everyone a reason to but these heritages.

Why would you think it unbalancing were other classes to take these feats?

 

[the Jester]

I haven't seen R&R2, does it have feats like this in it?? Darn, I thought I'd come up with it first...

You wouldn't have to take these feats to become a sorcerer, you'd have to choose to take them as a 1st-level character who was a sorcerer. So you'd only get the chance to take 'em at 1st level.

Part of the point is to kind of hint at the sorerer's origin and the derivation of his or her powers. So maybe someday the legions of Hell will come to collect him as a recruit, or his slaad ancestor might show up.

I like the idea of feat chains based on this, one of my players suggested it also.