This week we have come to the end of the path focus series, looking at the last of the 8 paths. One that I deliberately waited until the end to do, both because I didn’t want to have to write a blog post about what can be seen as a boring type of magic, but also because fire magic is one of my favourite types. I say fire magic can be boring because in some systems is all about the damage, with no subtlety or significant variation. And don’t get me wrong, I love fireball as much as the next caster, but a path of magic has to be more than just damage dealing. Though the path of living flame has plenty of ways to inflict fire damage on people.
But the Path of Living Fire is also about heightening emotions, just as the Glacial Path is about deadening them. Heightening emotions can be very useful, though sometimes what is useful to the caster is not useful to the target. The first spell we are looking at is just one emotion heightening spell, Call forth Rage. This spell forces the target to make a check or enter rage/battle frenzy for 1 minute. It has a twenty meter range, and is easy but slow to cast. Useful for buffing a friendly warrior about to charge into battle, also useful for targeting enemies who don’t normally want to be in melee like archers or mages, especially since you normally can’t cast spells while in battle frenzy. Higher tier versions of this spell could affect more people, last longer, or be harder to resist.
Next we have another tier 1, Fire Eyes, that lets the caster make an intimidation check against everyone in a small area. Fairly short ranged, as the targets need to be able to see the caster’s eyes, it has average difficulty and slow casting time. A potentially good way of de-escalating a situation, failure could instead lead directly to a fight. Higher tier versions could make it more likely for the caster to win the intimidation check, impact more targets, let the effect linger for some time or work at a longer range.
Third we have Ignite, not a direct damage spell it instead sets things on fire. Great for creating a distraction or for raiders attacking an enemy camp. It can also be used very effectively if you have prepared the area ahead of time, separating foes into smaller groups that can be defeated in detail by creating walls of flame. Short ranged, the spell is easy but slow to cast. Higher tier versions could have longer range, ignite a larger area or even set things less flammable on fire.
I should note that tier 2 and tier 3 path of living fire spells tend to be on the difficult side to cast, because of their significant damage potential and the raw power of the magic that has to be channelled to do so. This means that fire spells fail slightly more often than most paths and fire mages rarely hold back on the power they pour into their spells. In other paths where you have level 3 or 4 path magic you might not use all your available dice to reduce the potential for magical side effects.
For tier 2 spells we start with Molten Beam, it hits targets in a 3 meter by 8 meter area for a decent amount of fire damage and a chance of catching on fire. Now you are probably thinking that sounds really powerful for a tier 2 spell and it is, but it is both difficult and time consuming to cast, taking 4 actions, when many tier 1 spells take 1 action. Since you only get two actions in a turn this means that at best Molten Beam can be cast in two turns and you aren’t moving or doing anything but using your reaction to avoid/reduce the impact of an attack. Tier 3 versions of molten beam could have a faster casting time, hit a larger area or do even more damage.
For the tier 3 spell we have Empowered by Pain, this lets a small group of warriors channel the pain of their wounds into dealing more damage. Effectively they deal extra damage equal to the wounds they have lost for 1 minute. Clearly a very powerful spell in a tough fight, it has average casting difficulty but long casting time for a tier 3 spell. It can create a dangerous situation though as you actually want your damage dealers to take damage to deal more, but if you push things too far without healing, warriors may actually die. Depending on the caster that might be acceptable.
For a hybrid spell we have an uncommon type, one with 3 paths each at level 1, life, fire and shadow, Protection from Shadow and Flame. It halves all incoming damage from shadow and flame attacks for one minute. It has average difficulty and casting time for a tier 3 spell, the difficult part is mastering 3 paths enough to cast the spell. You could see similar spells focused on other pairs of elements though you would never find a spell that provides protection from opposing paths such as life and death.
The path focus for the Path of Living Fire gives the caster resistance to fire damage. Given that you are probably going to be dropping fire damage spells all over, it helps to be less worried about taking damage from your own spells. You can divide the battlefield with fire and probably walk through it without worry or minimal damage, or drop an aoe damage spell on top of yourself if you're getting surrounded by foes.
What do you think of the path of living fire? What was your favourite spell? What spell would you build in the path of living fire? Come back next time as we look at building an orc culture for a generic rpg setting.
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