#Aberrant

[snototter]

A blue morph of a green frog (Lithobates clamitans). This rare color mutation occurs due to a lack of yellow pigmentation produced in the body.

by Ken Potter

[tigerleopardlion]

Indian Leopard (Melanistic) | Maxim Korenyugin

[thegreatprinceoftheforest]

European Roe Deer (Melanistic) | Janka

[packpack-killkill]

Great Lakes Coyote | Andrew Murray

[weasel-war-dance]

American Mink | Mike Warburton

[lorblr]

Archon's Burden from the best cozy fishing game DREDGE.

[wh40kgallery]

Tooth and Claw: Aberrants

by Jaime Martinez

[daily-cool-words]

Today's word of the day is...

Aberrant

[Adjective]

Definition: Departing from an accepted standard.

Example Sentence: The aberrant quality of the report was a disappointment.

[memimic]

Nervewrithe Choker

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

A writhing collar of gem-studded tentacles clings to your neck, pulsing faintly with alien sentience. It shields your mind from control—until the night falls. As you sleep, something else stirs within, lending you strength… and marking your soul.

💬 What price would you pay to never feel fear again?

Art by Midjourney

[thelethalsilence]

love me a pigment-deficient flower

[fortunaestalta]

[snototter]

A jaguar (Panthera onca) and her melanistic cub in ARTIS Zoo, The Netherlands

by safi kok

[tigerleopardlion]

Indochinese Leopard (Melanistic) | Wich’yanan L

[thegreatprinceoftheforest]

Northern White-tailed Deer | JC Guerra

[dailycharacteroption]

Retrograde Revision 4: Aberrant Sorcerer Bloodline

(art by henning on DeviantArt)

And so we end off the week with another revision of a class feature post, This time being the aberrant bloodline for sorcerer, as well as it’s warped wildblooded variant. This was my first crack at sorcerer bloodlines, and it’s pretty clear I still hadn’t figured out my style yet, but let’s see how we can improve it.

Whether they come from the darkest depths underground or beyond the stars, aberrations are something of a curiosity in the Pathfinder system. While some are perfectly normal creatures that simply defy the taxonomical classifications we’re used to, others are mutants, and others still are eldritch entities that exist in spite of our previously established understanding of physics and life. Some are dangerously indifferent, others are actively malicious.

Whether they have a fluid anatomy or one that just defies explanation, these creatures are the very picture of cosmic horror and the unknown.

And then there are sorcerers that draw upon the power of such entities!

Whether it be genetic tampering (by science or the good old fashion way), mutation through proximity, or perhaps absorbing the energies of the Great Old Ones, some individuals are blessed and cursed as they tap into their magic and twisted anatomy to great effect. These are your Wilbur Whateleys and other such hybrids.

While tentacles, extra eyes, and other strange anatomical components are common, they are not required, and some of these sorcerers may simply manifest their bloodlines in more subtle ways, such as having strang tics or ways of viewing the world.

And then there are the warped, those whos bodies are strangely fluid even without magic, possibly hinting at connections to aberrant shapeshifters like faceless horrors, mimics, or gibbering mouthers.

Needless to say, these mages definitely fit into the eerie and off-putting category of sorcerous bloodlines, and even the ones that are beautiful have a strange, alien beauty instead of what is familiar for their ancestry.

So let’s get right down to it and see what they have to offer!

The aberrant bloodline grants a variety of spells, including those that grant physical might through increased size, enhanced senses, power over language, conjuring tentacles to attack, power to assault or ward the mind with stupefaction or undetectability, illusions to cover entire groups, traversal across the planes, as well as shapechanging at will.

Meanwhile, the techniques that they specialize them involve unarmed combat, disarming and grappling, casting spells in combat, and casting magic wordlessly, making them masters of blending their spells and stealthily casting.

The arcana of the bloodline focuses on polymorphing, letting these sorcerers maintain a chosen form for much longer than others.

However, for those with the warped mutation, their polymorphic forms always sport a random beneficial mutation, giving them an albeit unreliable advantage.

Whether it be a jet or corrosive fluid or a beam of entropic energy, those of the base bloodline can blast their foes with acid in combat.

Meanwhile, the warped instead inflict a flash of their own biological instability on their foes, causing a flash of unstable mutation on contact that lasts for only a few moments before reverting them back to their original state. The pain and disorientation leaving them briefly dazed and unable to act as they get their bearings.

Whether they be hidden tentacles, elastic flesh and bone, or simply distorted proportions, these mages have a long reach, allowing them to attack foes from further away in melee combat, a reach that only grows with their mastery and further mutation.

Furthermore, their organs have a different or even fluid arrangement as their bloodline continues to change them, making lethal blows harder to achieve.

They even replicate the supernatural resistance to magic seen in many aberrations, protecting them from hostile magic.

Finally, those at the zenith of their power have become truly alien beings, only superficially retaining a humanoid form. They become completely immune to attacks on their vitals, gain unnatural senses that can pinpoint foes without sight, and their bodies become overall more durable.

With their long reach and selection of bonus feats, the aberrant sorcerer is a surprisingly useful melee combatant, especially with touch spells in their arsenal. However, both the standard and wildblooded arcana also improve polymorphing spells, making this one of the few times I’d recommend having a decent base strength score as a full caster so you can take some useful and powerful polymorphing spells to become magical powerhouses. Even without said polymorphing, they can make decent use of battlefield control and debuffing spells as well, so keep that in mind and remember to diversify.

Living as a sorcerer with this bloodline can be… rough. Even the more normal-looking ones definitely still have an air of the unnatural about them that many sorcerers don’t, which may affect how others react to them even with their high charisma unless they take pains to hide their quirks. Whether your character goes along with this and tries pretending to be normal is up to you, but I think it’s safe to say that they’d probably be fiercely loyal to anyone that can see past their strangeness and befriend them anyway, which is always a delightful recurring trope one finds in adventuring parties.

In the slums of the mageocrasy of Hightower, sorcerers without a wizard sponsor have begun disappearing, most recently several of aberrant blood. The magus-run police force will not spare resources to investigate the disappearances of these untouchables, but that doesn’t mean a third party cannot.

Gibbering Tom got his name for the extra mouths that have grown in various places all over his body, whispering strange secrets in aklo. Despite his deformities, he has risen in power to the head of the local thieves guild, guided by the voices. How can the party hope to triumph against a foe that predicts their every move?

Biderwert, a juvenile silver dragon, was initially delighted to be developing sorcerous powers decades ahead of his kin, but his delight has turned to horror as his body has begun to warp and twist, revealing a far more sinister source for his magic than anyone had guessed.

[weasel-war-dance]

Common Raccoon (Leucistic) | Kerstin Firmin