Arcane Endowments

Arcane endowments are special powers sorcerers sometimes develop as their natural magic powers expand with experience and maturity. A character that has at least one level of sorcerer may select an arcane endowment instead of gaining a feat at 1st, 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th character level. A multiclass sorcerer cannot have more than one arcane endowment, plus one for every three sorcerer class levels. Though arcane endowments are acquired by sacrificing feat slots, they do not count as feats for any other purpose. Even if a character with arcane endowments has spells and abilities from other classes, the arcane endowments can only affect spells the character gains through the sorcerer class.

Adaptive Caster (Ex): As a swift action twice per day, you can alter the energy you use to cast a spell, causing it to have different requirements, or affect other creatures less harshly. This allows you to cast the spell as if you had applied one of the following feats: Merciful Spell, Silent Spell, Still Spell. Use of the adaptive caster ability does not extend the casting time or effective spell level of the spell affected. You may select this arcane endowment more than once. Each time you select it, increase the number of times per day you may use it by 2.

Arcanavore (Su): You are capable of assimilating spells that affect you, temporarily gaining the ability to cast the spell. As an immediate action when you fail a saving throw against a spell, you may choose to assimilate the spell. The spell must be of a spell level you can cast. If it is not a spell from the sorcerer/wizard spell list, it must be at least one level lower than the highest spell level you can cast. Temporarily replace one spell known of the assimilated spell’s effective level with the spell you are assimilating. In essence, you temporarily add the assimilated spell to your list of spells known, losing access to a normal spell known in the process.

Only spells that allow a saving throw and are not noted as harmless may be assimilated. All spells gained through the arcanavore ability are lost when you next ready your mind to cast your daily allotment of spells.

Arcane Oddity (Ex): You learn one spell known from a spell list other than the sorcerer/wizard spell list. You cast this spell as if it was a sorcerer/wizard spell, and suffer arcane spell failure normally (even if the spell is from a class that does not normally suffer ASF). If the spell is from a class list that includes 0, 1st and 9th level spells, you treat the spell as if were one level higher than its original level. If the spell is from a class list that includes 0 and 1st level spells, but not 9th level spells, you treat the spell as if were two levels higher than its original level. If the spell is from any other spell list, you treat the spell as if were three levels higher than its original level. The end level of the spell cannot be higher than one level below the highest-level spell you can cast.

You may select this arcane endowment more than once. Each time you select it, you gain one additional spell known from another class list.

Arcane Resistance (Ex): Select one school of magic. You gain a +1 insight bonus on saves against spells and spell-like abilities from the selected school. At 5th level, and every 5 levels after, your bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.

Arcane Vengeance (Ex): Twice a day you may use an attack of opportunity to cast and deliver a spell with a range of touch and a casting time of 1 standard action. If you miss, the spell is lost (you do not hold the charge, as with standard touch-range spells).

Clandestine Arcana (Ex): The spells you cast are much harder for foes to notice or react to. When you cast a spell, as a free action you may make a Spellcraft check. The result of this check replaces the normal DC of any observers’ efforts to determine what spell you are casting with their own Spellcraft checks. Additionally, when you cast spells with non obvious physical effects, targets must make a Perception check equal to your Spellcraft check in order to realize a spell has been cast on them, even if they make their save against the spell.

Normal: The DC to use Spellcraft to identify a spell as it is being cast is normally 15 + the spell’s level. Also, targets who make a saving throw against a spell with no obvious physical effects normally automatically feel a hostile force or tingle.

Eldritch Wards (Su): Twice per day, as an immediate action whenever you fail a saving throw, you may sacrifice a spell slot to attempt that saving throw again. You gain a insight bonus on this second save equal to the level of spell slot sacrificed. (As cantrips do not require spell slots, they cannot be used to fuel this power). You must take the second result, even if it is worse.

Exultant Casting (Su): Whenever you cast a spell with verbal components, you can choose to shout the words of the spell loudly, to inspire your allies. Casting such a spell takes a minimum of a full-round action. All allies within 100 feet who hear your arcane speech gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws for a number of rounds equal to the level of spell cast. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +2.

Hereditary Vitality (Ex): The same heritage that grants your sorcerous powers also grants you a vigor greater than your frame would suggest. You gain a +1 bonus to your Constitution score, +1 for every three levels your sorcerer level exceeds 7th. A sorcerer must be at least 7th level to select this arcane endowment.

Instinctive Understanding (Ex): You may add your Charisma modifier, rather than your Intelligence modifier, to all Knowledge and Spellcraft checks.

Internalize Spell (Su): As a swift action you can use the power of a spell slot to heal yourself. You heal 1d4 points of damage for every level of the spell slot you sacrifice to heal yourself. For every four sorcerer levels you possess, you may also select one of the conditions listed below. If you use the internalize spell ability and sacrifice the listed number of dice of healing (receiving no healing from those dice), you may remove the selected condition from yourself. The conditions are: blinded (6 dice), dazed (4 dice), deafened (5 dice), fatigued (2 dice), paralyzed (6 dice), shaken (2 dice), sickened (2 dice), staggered (4 dice).

Planar Caster (Ex): As a swift action twice per day, you can add energy drawn from another plane to a spell as you cast it, altering how the spell functions. This allows you to cast the spell as if you had applied one of the following feats: Ectoplasmic Spell, Elemental Spell. When applying Elemental Spell, you may replace the spell’s normal damage with any energy type that is dealt by at least one sorcerer/wizard spell you know. Use of the planar ability does not extend the casting time or effective spell level of the spell affected. You may select this arcane endowment more than once. Each time you select it, increase the number of times per day you may use it by 2.

Natural Sorcery (Su): If your bloodline grants a power at 1st level that deals one or more dice of damage, you can sacrifice a spell slot to increase the damage you deal with one use of that power by +1 die per level of the sacrificed slot.

Signature Spell (Su): Select one spell you know. Once you make this choice, it cannot be changed. Whenever you cast this spell, you can cast it as a swift action, as if using the Quicken Spell feat, by expending two spell slots. This does not increase the level of the spell. You can use this ability once per day at 7th level and one additional time per day for every four levels beyond 7th. You must be at least 7th level to select this endowment.

Sorcerous Sideboard (Ex): In addition to your normal allotment of spells known, you have access to an additional list of spells known as a “sideboard.” You may select one spell per spell level you can cast to be in your sorcerous sideboard. These spells must be drawn from the sorcerer/wizard class spell list. Whenever you gain the ability to cast a spell of a new level, you may also select a spell of the same level to be part of your sideboard. At every odd sorcerer level, you may remove a spell from your sideboard and replace it with a sorcerer/wizard spell of the same spell level.

Each day when you ready your mind to cast your daily allotment of spells, you may swap one or more spells known with spells in your sideboard of the same level or lower. In essence, you temporarily add the spells from your sorcerous sideboard to your list of spells known, losing access to the same number of your normal spells known in the process. You retain the ability to cast the spell from your sideboard (and the inability to cast the spell known your swapped it with) until you next ready your mind to cast your daily allotment of spells.

This arcane endowment may be selected more than once. Each time you select it, you add one spell per level of spell you can cast to your sideboard.

Sorcerous Summoning (Su): Each creature you summon with any summon spell gains bloodline powers as if it is a sorcerer of a level equal to its hit dice with the same sorcerous bloodline as you.

Spell Shaper (Ex): As a swift action twice per day, you can alter how the energy of a spell you cast is disbursed, altering its shape or duration. This allows you to cast the spell as if you had applied one of the following feats: Enlarge Spell, Extend Spell, Focused Spell, Lingering Spell. Use of the spell shaper ability does not extend the casting time or effective spell level of the spell affected. You may select this arcane endowment more than once. Each time you select it, increase the number of times per day you may use it by 2.

Target Refinement (Ex): As a swift action twice per day, you can alter the aim and focus of a spell you cast, modifying its targeting, effect, or maximum power. This allows you to cast the spell as if you had applied one of the following feats: Bouncing Spell, Disruptive Spell, Intensified Spell. Use of the target refinement ability does not extend the casting time or effective spell level of the spell affected. You may select this arcane endowment more than once. Each time you select it, increase the number of times per day you may use it by 2.

Sidebar: At What Price Endowments?

Arcane endowments are designed to be approximately as powerful as the revelations gained by oracles from their mysteries. Since the guiding principle of Sorcerer’s Options: Beyond Bloodlines is to give sorcerers new options without taking away from their bloodlines, to maintain game balance a sorcerer must give up something in order to pay for the additional power an arcane endowment represents. Because an oracle can gain an additional revelation by taking the Extra Revelation feat, it seems reasonable to make sorcerers pay for endowments by sacrificing feat slots.

Two obvious additional choices follow as possibilities once endowments are bought with feat slots. The first is to allow sorcerers gain endowments with the bloodline feats they gain at 7th, 13th and 19th level. The drawbacks of that option are twofold. First, it reduces the impact a sorcerer’s bloodline has on her total characters design, which results in an unfortunate reduction of the class’s flavor. Second, it either gives a sorcerer three more possible endowments (if bloodline feats are an additional method of gaining endowments) – which might prove unbalancingly powerful – or it prevents a sorcerer from taking advantage of endowments until 7th level (if bloodline feats are made the only method for gaining endowments) which lessens the impact of the new option so much as to nearly be pointless. For these reasons neither of those options is recommended, though both will work if a GM feels they are more appropriate for his campaign.

Section 15: Copyright Notice – Sorcerer’s Options: Beyond Bloodlines

Sorcerer’s Options: Beyond Bloodlines. Copyright 2011, Super Genius Games; Author: Owen K.C. Stephens

scroll to top