The Controlled Burn

The Controlled Burn is a Nature Magic caster who has decided calm reflection is optional. They use rage to force more power through their magic, trading AC and reliable concentration for higher spell DCs and an increasingly stupid amount of free metamagic. Their magic grows plants, reshapes the battlefield, protects allies, and sets things on fire. Sometimes it does all four at once. The rage is controlled. The burn usually is not.

Basic Detail

HD Type: d6
Bonus HP Per HD: +3
Attack Curve: Low
Magical Prowess: Advanced
Spell List: Generalist through 4 HD; Nature Magic at 5 HD
Sub-Type: Generalist
Skill Growth: 4 + Intelligence Modifier (x4 at first level)
Suggested Skills: Bushcraft, Concentration, Discern Intent, Heal, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Nature), Listen, Profession, Spot, Survival, and Swim.
Known Skills: 8 + Intelligence Modifier
Weapon Proficiency: One weapon of choice
Armor Proficiency: None
Saves: 1 High and 3 Low; expands to 2 High and 2 Low at 15 HD
Primary Mental Attribute (PMA): Charisma

Suggested Attribute Distribution: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 18

Progression

HD	Perk	Base Attack	High Save	Low Save	Spell Proficiency
1	Elementalist (Fire)^D, Rage^A, and Spell Penetration^F	+0	+2	+0	+1
2	-	+1	+3	+0	+1
3	Signless Spell^F	+1	+3	+1	+1
4	-	+2	+4	+1	+1
5	Nature's Guidance^D and Soundless Spell^F	+2	+4	+1	+1
6	Greater Spell Penetration^F	+3	+5	+2	+2
7	-	+3	+5	+2	+2
8	-	+4	+6	+2	+2
9	Mixed Metamagic^F	+4	+6	+3	+2
10	Greater Rage^A and Observant Caster^D	+5	+7	+3	+2
11	-	+5	+7	+3	+2
12	Swift Spell^F	+6/+1	+8	+4	+3
13	-	+6/+1	+8	+4	+3
14	-	+7/+2	+9	+4	+3
15	Resistive Focus (Will)^D and Improved Metamagic x2^F	+7/+2	+9	+5	+3
16	-	+8/+3	+10	+5	+3
17	-	+8/+3	+10	+5	+3
18	Perfect Spell^F	+9/+4	+11	+6	+4
19	-	+9/+4	+11	+6	+4
20	Intensified Rage^A and Magic Resistant^D	+10/+5	+12	+6	+4

^F Feat, ^A Ability, and ^D Definition

The Breakdown

The Controlled Burn should make Fortitude their high save. Greater Rage handles Will for a while with its +4 bonus, and Resistive Focus makes Will a high save at 15 HD. Concentration must remain at the skill point cap. Rage requires a Concentration check of 10 + HD + spell level. The starting 10 becomes 12 during Greater Rage and 14 during Intensified Rage. Failing this check wastes the attempt to cast, so do not neglect it.

Put the attribute increases at 4 and 8 HD into Charisma, bringing it to 20. Put the increases at 12 and 16 HD into Constitution, also bringing it to 20. The final increase can go into either one. Charisma keeps the normal spell DC high, while Constitution helps make the increasingly unreasonable Rage Concentration checks.

Elementalist (Fire): Choose Fire as the Controlled Burn's element. Any spell or ability that allows an energy selection can use Heat, even if Heat is not normally one of its options. Every spell with the Fire descriptor becomes known regardless of its spell list. Also gain scaling Heat resistance.

Rage: Gain Rage. As a free action, gain +2 rage attack and damage, +1 to spell and ability DCs, and -2 AC. Casting during Rage requires a Concentration check. After Rage ends, become fatigued for 5 rounds.

Spell Penetration: Gain +2 when rolling against spell resistance or defending against a counterspell.

Signless Spell: Cast a spell without somatic components by using a spell slot 1 level higher.

Nature's Guidance: Lose access to the Generalist spell list and gain access to the Nature Magic spell list. Any intuitive Generalist spells already selected can be retroactively swapped for Nature Magic spells. This is where the build actually becomes a Nature Magic caster.

Soundless Spell: Cast a spell without verbal components by using a spell slot 1 level higher.

Greater Spell Penetration: Gain another +2 when rolling against spell resistance or defending against a counterspell, for a +4 bonus from the feat line.

Mixed Metamagic: Apply Signless Spell and Soundless Spell to the same spell. It uses a slot 2 levels higher until Improved Metamagic removes both costs.

Greater Rage: Upgrade Rage to Greater Rage. The bonus becomes +4 attack and damage and +2 to spell and ability DCs. Gain +4 Will saves and 20 + 5 times Constitution modifier in temporary HP. Every spell cast during the rage is automatically bolstered and treated as being cast 2 levels higher. This is why a Nature Magic caster is using Rage.

Observant Caster: Casting in a threatened square no longer provokes attacks of opportunity. The Controlled Burn is still a Low attack caster, but Rage and large area spells have a habit of attracting attention.

Swift Spell: Increase a standard-action spell's slot by 4 to cast it as a swift action, or change a full-round spell into a standard action.

Resistive Focus (Will): Permanently change Will from a low save to a high save.

Improved Metamagic x2: Signless Spell and Soundless Spell now add nothing to the spell's slot level. Swift Spell is reduced from +4 to +2, while Perfect Spell is reduced from +3 to +1. Mixed Metamagic can combine Signless and Soundless for no increase at all.

Perfect Spell: Maximize every randomized element of a spell. After both Improved Metamagic feats, this only increases the required spell slot by 1.

Intensified Rage: Upgrade Greater Rage to Intensified Rage. Gain +6 attack and damage, +3 to spell and ability DCs, +4 Will saves, immunity to compulsion and fear, and 40 + 10 times Constitution modifier in temporary HP. All spells are automatically bolstered and treated as being cast 4 levels higher. The first spell cast during each rage is also perfected. The Concentration check is awful, but the spell that comes out is worse.

Magic Resistant: Gain spell resistance equal to HD + 10, giving the Controlled Burn SR 30 at 20 HD.

Spell Casting

Caster Level: The Controlled Burn's caster level is equal to their HD.

Spell List: The Controlled Burn begins with the Generalist spell list. Nature's Guidance replaces it with the Nature Magic spell list at 5 HD. Elementalist makes every Fire spell known regardless of either list.

Simplex Spells: After gaining Nature's Guidance, the suggested Simplex spells are Create Water, Rolling Stone, Tend, and Zephyr. Its original Generalist Simplex spells can be changed when leveling.

Spells Known: These spells do not need to be prepared and can be cast whenever the Controlled Burn has a spell slot of the correct level. At 5 HD, Nature's Guidance allows intuitive Generalist spells to be retroactively swapped for Nature Magic spells. Other Nature Magic spells can still be recorded in a spellbook and prepared normally.

Spells Per Day: These are the Controlled Burn's base spell slots before bonus spells from Charisma.

Spells Known

HD	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	2	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-
8	2	2	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
9	3	2	2	1	1	-	-	-	-
10	3	3	2	2	1	-	-	-	-
11	3	3	3	2	1	1	-	-	-
12	4	3	3	2	2	1	-	-	-
13	4	4	3	3	2	1	1	-	-
14	4	4	4	3	2	2	1	-	-
15	5	4	4	3	3	2	1	1	-
16	5	5	4	4	3	2	2	1	-
17	5	5	5	4	3	3	2	1	1
18	6	5	5	4	4	3	2	2	1
19	6	6	5	5	4	3	3	2	1
20	6	6	6	5	4	4	3	2	2

Spells Per Day

HD	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	3	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	4	2	1	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	4	3	2	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	4	3	2	1	-	-	-	-	-
8	4	3	3	2	-	-	-	-	-
9	5	4	3	2	1	-	-	-	-
10	5	4	3	3	2	-	-	-	-
11	5	4	4	3	3	1	-	-	-
12	5	4	4	3	3	2	-	-	-
13	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	-	-
14	5	5	4	4	4	3	2	-	-
15	5	5	5	4	4	3	2	1	-
16	5	5	5	4	4	3	3	2	-
17	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	2	1
18	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	3	2
19	5	5	5	5	5	4	4	4	3
20	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4

Suggested Spells by Level

The most important spell here is Bloom. Cast it before raging and remain inside the plants. Bloom makes creatures inside immune to fatigue, which deals with Rage's five rounds of fatigue when it ends. Renew can also remove fatigue if the Controlled Burn needs to start the engine again somewhere else.

The Controlled Burn