Variant Rules: E

2 variant rules, from Elementalism to Extreme Good and Evil.

Elementalism

The world is a reflection of the Elemental Planes. Fire blazes in its core, cradled and calmed in a bed of Earth. Water brings the parched soil relief, strengthening as it soothes. All this is encapsulated by Air, which breathes life into the world. Elementalism is the belief these four elements are the components used to create all matter. Thus, magic is simply the manipulation of the four elements. Understanding these elements is the essence of elementalism.

The Four Elements

The elements are clearly observable in the natural world, but philosophers ascribe deeper attributes that can be seen in a gust or heard in a geode.

Fire is unbridled potential but must be tended with care. When nurtured, flames bring warmth and healing. They illuminate darkness and reveal truth, clearing old growth for new. But fire also burns, obscures, and destroys. An elementalist must learn to both bank and fuel the flames.

Earth is both cradle and tomb. It's home for most creatures, providing nourishment and shelter. But the earth runs deep and is too vast to fully control. An elementalist must listen carefully to the stones or risk their anger.

Water is soothing and enigmatic. Most living creatures are composed primarily of water and require water to survive; controlling water thus gives an elementalist power over the flow of life. Though water is the easiest element to work with, its depths are a mystery.

Air breathes life into myriad worlds but is ephemeral and often overlooked. In truth, air is the most difficult of elements to work with, as learning to grasp the ungraspable and see the unseen is notoriously difficult. Mastering air requires intuition, subtlety, and impressive powers of perception.

Druidic Orders

Elementalists eschew traditional magical divisions in favor of the elemental quaternity and rarely attempt a formal education. Instead, they travel Falavririak, learning from the environment and elemental masters. These sojourns are referred to as pilgrimages, and the lessons learned along the way are called exposures or forms.

Druids are among the most well-known elemental masters, capable of harnessing the power of nature that exists below a mountain or flows through an ocean. Although some act as wardens to the world as a whole, most specialize into one of three orders that revere individual elements. Within these orders, as well as the storm order (Core Rulebook 132) that focuses on air, a sizable contingent of druids devote themselves fully to elemental magic, choosing the elementalist class archetype. However, just as many druids in these orders access magic from the primal spell list normally, believing that they can still take a wider view of nature through the lens of their element.

Elementalist druids are more common in regions with strong traditions involving the cycle of elements, such as Brafalaisias.

You can find the Flame Order, Stone Order and Wave Order on the class page.

Focus Spells

These elemental focus spells are available to druids of the flame, stone, and wave orders and to characters with the elementalist class archetype.

You can find the new focus spells on the spells page.

Monk Stances

Monks manipulate the elements within themselves to manifest magic. Mountain Stance and Wild Winds Initiate from the Core Rulebook provide earth and air.

You can find the new monk feats on the feats page.

Elementalism on Falavririak

Falavririak has numerous ties to the Elemental Planes across the land, along with many groups and traditions that use elemental magic.

Elemental Lord Cults: Long ago, the four evil elemental lords, deities representing the worst of each element, sealed away the four good elemental lords in nigh-indestructible artifacts. With the good elemental lord of air, Feirias, now free, adventurers and cultists seek to liberate the others as well.

Elemental Saturations: Some places across the world are so saturated with elemental magic that they might imbue those nearby with some elemental energy, potentially creating an elemental sorcerer or even a geniekin. Perhaps the most famous is the elemental air saturation located within the enormous swirling storm of the Eye of Noulotak, but others exist around the world, including the Crystal Womb, a crystalline cavern with enough earth energy to transform someone into an oread; the volcanic Mt. Kumijinja in Moutriavriam, which can remove curses with purgative flames; and the Kevuth Kingdom of Outsea, which transmutes massive volumes of fresh water into sea water.

Monks: Though Brafalaisias's four Houses of Perfection are the most famous examples of elementalist monks, many other forms exist. In resplendent pagodas, disciples of the Stoked Flame strike with such speed that their motions emit sparks. Others stoke their inner fire so high, their bodies turn ice to steam and the surrounding air becomes distorted with heat. On placid lakeshores, with feet sinking into wet sand, initiates learn the graceful motions of the Pavilion of Reflective Ripples; a peaceful, meditative martial art that's as much a dance as a form of combat. Their artistry is breathtaking and their forms impossibly fluid.

Elementalist

You can find the Elementalist class archetype on the archetypes page.

Secrets of Magic, page 198.

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Extreme Good and Evil

In this variant, some creatures exemplify the concepts of extreme good and evil by their very nature. Only fiends, celestials, and other residents of aligned Outer Sphere planes have an alignment. Remove most alignment restrictions—such as the cleric and champion restrictions—but not ones related to those extraplanar creatures. Replace the removed restrictions with appropriate anathema if necessary.

Gamemastery Guide, page 184.

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