Elemental Priests have always been a favorite of mine in Dark Sun and while placing them onto the wizard chassis would be the simplest approach it didn’t quite sit right with me. With all the unique abilities they posses I decided instead to make their own class, with their own spells and magic dice. For now I simply present the base four elements, but have plans to move onto the para-elements as well.
The Elemental Disciple
Starting Gear: Basic weapon, leather armor, a wooden icon of your pact.
Skills: (1) Music, (2) Oral History, (3) Herbalism, (4) Medicine
+1 ED for each template you posses.
A: Elemental Invocations, Sense Element, Defy Defiler
B: Align to Element, +1 Invocation
C: Gate Element, +1 Invocation
D: Sanctify Shrine, Transcend Element +4 Invocation
Elemental Invocation: You use Elemental Dice (ED) to cast Elemental Invocations just like you can with Magic Dice (MD). When you gain Elemental dice you must swear yourself to one of the four elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water).
You begin play with two elemental invocations from your elemental list by rolling a d6 twice. When you gain the second level in this template roll a d8 to choose your new invocation, and roll a d10 when you gain the third level in this template. Upon gaining the 4th template in this class choose 4 invocations and learn them.
Additional invocations can be learned from prayer scrolls by bringing them to an appropriate shrine and meditating upon them. This costs 25 cp in prayer materials and takes 1 hour, at which point you learn the invocation. You cannot learn invocations of other elements, but you can cast from their prayer scrolls. These scrolls come with one inherent ED and the scroll is consumed – you may add your own ED to the invocation but these ED only return to your pool on a 1-2.
After a night of good rest you can meditate to regain your Elemental Dice, but note Elemental Dice only recharge while you are in contact or adjacent to your chosen element. Earth disciples must be touching rock or soil (but not silt), Air disciples must be in at least a minor breeze, Fire disciples must bask in a fire at least the size of a torch, and Water disciples must be near a pool of water (at least 1 gallon of water poured out counts).
Sense Element: By closing your eyes and concentrating you can sense the presence of your element with 30 ft or so. This can sense your element through up to about a foot of solid non-living material.
Air Disciples detect air
Earth Disciples detect earth, soil and stone
Fire Disciples detect fire
Water Disciples detect water
If there is a mystical disturbance related to your element in the area you can sense that too.
Defy Defiler: When you are within the destructive life sapping radius of a defiler’s spell you hear the land shriek and groan in pain, and you can come to its aid. You volunteer your own life force in place of the land’s, taking [dice] damage and protecting the land from destruction.
Align to Element: Once per day you can ignore your element for one minute. For each ED rolled you may extend this ability to [sum] willing recipient.
Air Disciples ignore all winds, gales, storms and toxic gases
Earth Disciples may walk through earth and stone as if it were not there. If the duration ends while inside the stone, Save or die.
Fire Disciples are immune to fire and heat for this time, but not direct contact with magma.
Water Disciples can ignore water and breath underwater
Gate Element: Once per day you can summon forth your element directly from it’s elemental plane, calling about 1 cubic foot per Elemental Disciples template. By rolling an ED you can do this an additional time. A list of suggested effects are listed below, but more creative applications are obviously possible. Any foe that is not surprised may Save to halve the effects.
Air Disciples call forth a terrific wind that zips across the battlefield. This wind can be directed to strike a foe, potentially knocking them over. This can also negate toxic clouds, stop arrows, and more.
Earth Disciples can call stone in any basic shape near them, potentially dropping it on foes (1d8 damage), creating walls, or any other creative endeavor.
Fire Disciples can forth columns of flame that strike a foe for 2d6 fire damage. Nearby flammable material ignites.
Water Disciples can summon forth water, able to extinguish fires, relieve dehydration or douse individuals (but never doing damage)
Sanctify Shrine: An Elemental Disciples may now seek out a place of elemental importance and can sanctify it. Sanctifying a shrine requires clearing it of all mystical taint and 1000 cp in sacrifices.
While casting at a shrine add +1 ED to all invocations. While at your shrine by way of an hour long ritual you may transport yourself and up to 8 other creatures to the elemental plane of your element (or come back if on the other side)
Transcend Element: You can now use the Align Element ability for a number of hours equal to your level each day. If you would be struck by an attack that uses your element you can Save to instinctively activate this ability to ignore it.
Invocations
Note: Invocations with an (R) next to them denote that the invocation can be found in Skerple’s wonderful GLOG: Many Rats on a Stick edition.
Air Disciples Invocations:
Feather Fall (R)
Wind Blade
Dust Devil
Wind Whispers
Levitate (R)
Control Air (R)
Sturdy Circle in The Air (R)
Call Lightning
Call Elemental
Commune
Wind walk
Cloudkill (R)
Earth Disciples Invocations:
Dust Devil
Hold Person (R)
Spider Climb (R)
Control Earth (R)
Stoneskin (R)
Encase
Control Stone (R)
Obedient Stone (R)
Call Elemental
Commune
Serpents of The Earth (R)
Earthquake
Fire Disciples Invocations:
Light (R)
Protection from Fire (R)
Control Fire (R)
Crush Flames (R)
Vision Ignited
Scorching Ray (R)
Flame Cloak
Ignite (R)
Call Elemental
Commune
Walk The Cinder Path
Fireball (R)
Water Disciples Invocations:
Cure Wounds (R)
Fog (R)
Moon Lust (R)
Clarity (R)
Control Water
Animate Potion (R)
Speak with Water
Bless Water
Call Elemental
Commune
Desiccate (R)
Resurrection (R)
Acid Rain
Sphere: Rain, Water
R: 100’, T: Point, D: [Sum] rounds
A cloud bursts into existence, raining down acid on all caught beneath. This storm is 30’ in radius and deals 2d4 damage each round. Once a foe has taken damage from this spell their defense is treated as 2 lower until repairs or healing are performed. If you wish you may create an eye of the storm at the center, 5’ in radius.
Bless Water
Sphere: Water
R: Touch, T: Pool of water, D: 1 hour
Bless water, from one to [sum] gallons. This is treated as holy water against undead and fire (and sun, magma, and silt) elementals. Alternatively [dice] weapons may be blessed with this water, granting them a +1 magical bonus until sunrise.
By spending 2+ ED you can permanently bless water this way.
Commune
Sphere: All
R: 0’, T: Self, D: [Sum] Minutes
By meditating you may speak with the cosmic elemental spirits themselves, asking [Dice] questions of them. These spirits know a great many things and usually will answer honestly, but aren’t compelled to. If you cast this spell in a place of notable power to your element you gain an additional question.
Call Elemental
Sphere: All
R: 15’, D: Concentration
Summon forth an elemental to do your bidding. The creature has 2x[dice] HD, Defense as Chain, and an attack that deals 1d6* damage. Each elemental can use the Elemental Priest ability Gate Elemental once per day. The elemental is loyal to you and its elemental masters. At the end of the duration the elemental vanishes.
Air elementals can fly rapidly, fit through cracks and are immune to non-magical ranged attacks.
Earth elementals have defense as Plate and deal an additional 1d6 damage on attacks.
Fire elementals ignite their target, dealing 1d6 damage until they extinguish themselves.
Water elementals can swim, fit through cracks, and heal 1d6 damage per turn.
By investing 4 ED you can charge the summoned elemental to a long term task such as delivering a message or guarding a shrine. In a year and a day the elemental returns to its home if it has not completed its task.
Call Lightning
Sphere: Air, Rain
R: 120’, T: Self, D: [Sum] Minutes
You call forth a miniature cloud above you, allowing you to fire lightning bolts at targets in range. Each lightning bolt does [Dice]d6 damage and the target may save for half. Once you have fired [Dice]+1 lightning bolts the spell ends.
Condensation
Sphere: Rain, Water
R: 60’ T: Water or Fog, D: 0
Instantly turn up to [sum] gallons of water into that many 30’ cubes of fog, or vice versa. When mist is turned into water you can choose where that water forms, such as in a vase. This process can turn all the water in a fresh corpse into a 30’ radius fog cloud, drying out and shriveling the corpse instantly.
Dew Touched
Sphere: Rain, Water
R: Touch, T: Up to [sum] creatures, D: [sum] hours
For the duration as long as the targets are in contact with fresh water (even a few drops on the skin) they are kept at a cool refreshing temperature. They take [dice] less damage from fire and lightning.
Dust Devil
Sphere: Air, Earth, Silt
R: 60’, T: Space of air, D: [dice]x10 minutes
A small patch of wind is animated to serve you. It has 1 HD but cannot attack directly. You can order it, directing it around or asking it to do things for you, but it has trouble interacting as it is a swirling dust devil (it can still move light objects around, perhaps even a shield with major concentration). It can swirl around foes, creating dust clouds to distract them.
Earthquake
Sphere: Earth
R: 1 mile, T: Earth, D: [dice] rounds
Shake the ground below, you level structures and ruin lives. This spell requires at least 3 [dice] invested to be cast. All creatures must test morale and take [dice] damage. Structures Save or crumble, with a modifier based on their sturdiness. Those within collapsing structures are usually buried, often dying while buried alive.
Encase
Sphere: Earth
R: Touch, T: Willing Creature or Object, D: [sum] hours
The touched creature or object must be standing on stone or earth when you cast this spell. The affected creature sinks into the earth into a tiny peaceful chamber for the duration, healing 1d4 HP per hour.
Feather Step
Sphere: Silt, Air
R: Touch, T: Creature or Object, D: [sum]x10 minutes
For the duration the creature or object becomes exceptionally light but can still walk. Doing so allows them to walk across pressure plates, flimsy bridges, even silt, without causing it to break. Due to their lack of weight their jump distance is doubled, but so is the distance they are pushed.
Flame Cloak
Sphere: Fire
R: Touch, T: Creature, D: [sum] Minutes
The creature is wreathed in flames, protecting them against the cold and reducing all incoming cold or fire damage by [dice]. Any creature that gets too close or tries to strike the creature with a melee attack takes 1d6+[dice] fire damage as the flaming cloak burns them.
Speak with Water
Sphere: Water
R: Touch, T: Water, D: [dice]x10 Minutes
You may speak with water and it can talk back, answering questions and holding conversation. Water is generally agreeable, but note the priorities of water are not that of humans, for great oasis might ponder slowly, while rushing rivers jump quickly from topic to topic. By using 3 or more [dice] you may ask the water to perform a minor favor for you.
Walk the Cinder Path
Sphere: Fire
R: [dice]x50 miles, T: Self and 1 + [dice] creatures, D: 0
You and any other creatures step into a fire at least the size of a camp fire, and emerge out of a similarly sized fire of your choosing within range. Alternatively you may specify a general area and come out of the nearest fire there, but there is usually a 2 in 6 chance that there is no available fire at the moment of casting if done this way.
Wind Blade:
Sphere: Air
R: 0, T: Self, D: [sum]x10 minutes
Summon a nearly invisible blade of pure wind in your hand, as a longsword. You are always proficient with this magical blade and for the duration you can always reform it in your hand. Dropping the wind blade causes it to evaporate. By slashing the air you can “throw” the blade, giving attacks the range of a sling.
Wind Walk
Sphere: Air
R: Touch, T: Self and 1 + [dice] creatures, D: [sum] hours
You and other creatures may race across the winds, moving quickly across the open earth. While doing so your movement is 4 times faster and you ignore effects of terrain, though great storms might slow you still. While safe, landing with any precision is difficult due to the speed, usually off by 1d6 meters.
Wind Whispers
Sphere: Air
R: 1 mile, T: Self, D: [dice]x10 minutes
Opening your ears you invite the wind to whisper to you what secrets it has heard. By focusing in a particular direction you can faintly hear conversations up to 1 mile away. Alternatively if looking for rumors this may grant you a [dice] in 6 chance to hear these rumors. These abilities don’t work through encased chambers.
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