Wielding neither blade nor implement, flames spring to life around a tiefling. The fire is not bent to her will or under her control, instead it is an extension of her body. Flame leaps from her fingers and swirls around her, shielding her and keeping her foes at bay.
Wind swirls upon an elf’s blade, flashing as he swings and thrusts. His movements are as swift as the air itself, and he even seems to jump from place to place before striking a decisive blow. The storm is his ally.
A human crouches low, whispering to the soil. The earth is their friend and their weapon. The ground moves independently, a companion ready to lash out at any danger that finds them.
The elements infuse all things. While spellcasters shape this magical energy into codified spells through incantations, gestures, focuses, and ingredients, an elementalist simply wields raw elemental energy offensively and defensively. To the untrained, it is magic like any other, but an elementalist’s power is unrefined, adaptable, and almost always at the ready. Most elementalists remain focused upon a single element through their whole lives, taking on that element’s characteristics in both action and personality, while others are contradictions. Some elementalists learn to broaden their elemental control, gaining access to new elements as they grow in power. For some elementalists, their power is their birthright, while others have learned and developed the skill; however they have come to it, an elementalist’s power is their own, and they wield it in a myriad of ways.tural abilities that set them apart from common warriors.
Elementalists wield the power of the elements like a warrior wields a blade. But where weapons and armor have distinct boundaries, an elementalist’s weapons are mutable and adaptable. Their power is barely contained, bursting forth at first randomly and destructively until a new elementalist gains control. Even after learning to wield their power, an elementalist’s magic is best expressed raw and untamed.
An elementalists power begins with destructive blasts of elemental energy or material, pure and ephemeral; while the effects of an elemental attack are lasting, the energy or material quickly dissipates back into the ether, so elemental water or earth does not linger, but elemental fire can ignite natural fires and elemental water can quench them. Elementalists also learn to command their element, making naturally occurring material move or bend to their will. Powerful elementalists learn to do amazing feats, such as raising walls of stone from the earth, parting lakes, calling down storms, or even awakening volcanoes.
Scholars speculate on the nature of the material world, and many traditions speak of the world being formed originally by primordial elemental beings. The sheer strength of beings like djinn, dragons, giants, and other beings infused with elemental power gives credence to these theories, and it is this power that lies within an elementalist’s reach. The base four elements (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water) are the purest form of elemental power, and an elementalist wields them as easily as a warrior wields a sword or an expert wields their tools.
Elementalists are as diverse and varied as the people of the world. Most elementalists learn to master one particular element, growing into a power that rivals the forces of nature. Some elementalists grow to focus on two elements, marrying them together into a unique expression of power. Rare elementalists stretch their talents broadly and learn all four elements, but they can prove to be exceptionally adaptable. On the surface, it is easy to define an elementalist by the element they first wield. But different elementalists vary wildly from one to the next.
More information on creating an Elementalist can be found here.
An elementalists’ power comes from within them, but elemental energy permeates the physical world. By learning how to draw upon the energy of the natural world, a channeler gains access to a near endless font of power. But, wielding the primal powers of the world by force can be dangerous, and many channelers are burned in the process. See more.
Source - Manual of Adventurous Resources: Complete
In far off places, Elemental Lords were once served by specially crafted elemental warriors, wielding elemental magic and weapons with deadly efficiency. Whether or not you belong to that tradition, you have learned the skills of those ancient warriors. You prefer to not rely solely upon your elemental power, and weave your power and skill at arms together. Sometimes you will face enemies immune to your element, and sometimes you just prefer to be in the thick of combat. Swinging blade and elemental power together, you are adaptable in many situations. See more.
Source - Manual of Adventurous Resources: Complete
Maybe you always felt like your power came from somewhere else; an imaginary friend, your conscience, your desires, a mischievous spirit. Maybe the second coming to you is a surprise. Regardless, your power has grown beyond your body and taken up residence in the form of a small companion elemental. The appearance of these elementals are as unique as the elementalists themselves, but they are all united in being made of their element. See more.
Everyone can understand the raw, physical power of the elements, and none more than those who wield those forces directly. Yet there are some who are able to access powers beyond the literal, mechanical definitions these substances. These sages, or “Symbolists,” see in these primordial entities a greater spiritual and psychological reality. By conforming their wills to the lessons the elements implicitly teach, Symbolists are able to unlock abilities beyond the manipulation of matter: rather than simply bend the elements, Symbolists discover how to bend themselves. See more.
Source - Secrets of the Selkies
You focus your power inside, making it your own. As it builds within you, you become less and less like a mortal creature and more and more like an elemental. Eventually, you come to embody the elements entirely, becoming a true elemental, no longer bound by the limits of flesh. See more.
Source - Manual of Adventurous Resources: Complete