Elemental Mutations

Elemental Mutations change the way a kineticist works on a fundamental level. They can change the way their blasts, gather power or even wild talents work. Here are the mutations that are available to players in Fenar.

### Arrow Mutation

While kinetic blasts tend to be large masses of elemental energy and matter, some individuals shape their blasts into condensed, precise forms.

**Restrictions**: Must possess a kinetic blast.

**Benefit**: A kineticist with this mutation increases the critical threat range of their blast by 1. This effect stacks with other effects which increase a blast’s critical threat range, but is applied last. Any bludgeoning or slashing damage dealt by their blast is converted to piercing damage.

**Drawback**: A kineticist with this mutation does not deal full damage to swarms, instead dealing damage to it as a normal weapon depending on the swarm’s size (half damage to swarms of Tiny creatures, no damage to swarms of Diminutive or Fine creatures). In addition, their blast’s damage is reduced by 1 step (1 > d2 > d3 > d4 > d6 > d8 > d10 > d12).

**Special**: Blasts used with infusions which cause them to affect an area (such as explosion or cloud) still affect swarms as normal for area of effect attacks (dealing half again as much damage to them).

### Brutal Mutation

A brutal mutation is one that occurs when a kineticist is born with too much potential. The mutation causes their raw power to rip apart their body as it is used, often leaving lasting scars. Those who possess this mutation are far more easily able to tap into their elemental power.

**Restrictions**: Must possess the burn class feature.

**Benefit**: Whenever a kineticist with this mutation gains the expanded element class feature, if the kineticist selects a new element to expand into, they gain a bonus infusion of that element. They are also only treated as 2 levels lower than their primary element for selecting wild talents from their new element. If the kineticist chooses to expand their original element, they gain both a bonus infusion and bonus utility wild talent of that element.

Also when they select the Extra Wild Talent feat, they can select wild talents one spell level lower than they could normally use rather than two, can always select 1st-level wild talents with it, and are treated as a 5th-level kineticist for the purpose of meeting its prerequisites.

**Drawback**: All damage the kineticist receives from burn or an ability that alters burn is treated as lethal damage instead of nonlethal damage. This damage cannot be reduced or healed except by the methods of removing nonlethal damage from burn.

**Special**: A fusion kineticist with this mutation treats their sub element as 2 levels lower than their main element at 1st level, removing the restriction limiting them to only 1st level talents until 7th level. At 7th level, they consider their sub element 1 level lower than their main element rather than 2. When a psammokinetic with this mutation gains access to the earth element, they can select earth wild talents as if it was their primary element, whether through gaining them normally or via Extra Wild Talent. This mutation cannot be taken by a legendary kineticist.

### Conservative Mutation

Some kineticists don’t have the physical fortitude to channel their powers fully, causing their full strength to be locked within themselves, although they lessen the strain needed to channel their powers, leaving them in far better condition afterwards.

**Restrictions**: Must possess the burn class feature.

**Benefit**: Whenever a kineticist with this mutation receives a point of burn, they only take 1 point of nonlethal damage for every 2 levels they possess instead of for every level.

**Drawback**: Reduce the damage of all kinetic blasts the kineticist possesses by 1 step (1 > d2 > d3 > d4 > d6 > d8 > d10 > d12) as well as reducing the DCs of any infusions applied to their blast by 1.

### Dense Mutation

While some kineticists wield raw elemental energy such as fire or lightning, others manage to impart too much of their own power into the blast, making them far less adept at finding weaknesses in their opponent’s armor. These blasts instead pack a far more powerful punch to them.

**Restrictions**: Must possess a basic energy blast.

**Benefit**: Kineticists with this mutation determine the damage of their energy blasts as though they were physical blasts, as well as gaining a +4 on checks against spell resistance.

**Drawback**: The kineticist’s energy blast now targets normal AC instead of touch AC and is treated as a physical blast for how it interacts with infusions and class features.

### Gritty Mutation

Burn is a powerful resource for the kineticist, reflecting the physical and mental strain it takes to control one’s elemental powers. This resource is more in flux for a number of kineticists, however, who have gained the ability to manipulate their elements through sheer grit.

**Restrictions**: Must possess the burn class feature.

**Benefit**: A kineticist with this mutation reduces the points of burn they are suffering from in the following ways:

* *Critical Hit with a Kinetic Blast*: Each time the kineticist confirms a critical hit with a kinetic blast while in the heat of combat, if they are suffering from any amount of burn, they reduce that amount by 1. Confirming a critical hit on a helpless or unaware creature or on a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the kineticist’s character level does not reduce their burn.
* *Killing Blow with a Kinetic Blast*: When the kineticist reduces a creature to 0 or fewer hit points with a kinetic blast while in the heat of combat, if they are suffering from any amount of burn, they reduce that amount by 1. Destroying an unattended object, reducing a helpless or unaware creature to 0 or fewer hit points, or reducing a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the kineticist’s character level to 0 or fewer hit points does not reduce their burn.

Reducing burn in these ways does not count as recovering from burn for the purpose of ending effects that would normally end when the kineticist recovers from burn, but does remove the nonlethal damage (or other associated penalties) suffered from that burn.

**Drawback**: A kineticist with this mutation can only accept up to 1 point of burn per round regardless of class level and can willingly accept an amount of burn per day no greater than 3 + 1/2 their Constitution modifier (minimum 1). Elemental overflow and other abilities which rely upon the amount of burn the kineticist has accepted provide their effects based on the current amount of burn from which the kineticist is suffering, and defense wild talents can only provide their effects as if burn up to the kineticist’s current amount of burn has been spent on them, even if the kineticist has spent more than that amount on it.

If the kineticist rolls a natural 1 for their attack roll with a ranged kinetic blast, it misfires. They must choose one corner of their square, and instead of its normal effects, the kinetic blast creates a 5-foot radius burst around that point which deals the kinetic blast’s damage to any creatures in its area (themselves included), allowing a Reflex save for half (DC = 12 + 1/2 kineticist level). If they attempt to use a kinetic blast in the next three rounds after a misfire, it instead misfires on a natural 1 or 2 (a kinetic blast cannot have a misfire rate of more than 1-2).

### Intelligent Mutation

The power of most kineticists is in their creativity, although some kineticists manage to express this in even more unique fashions, their education far surpassing their allies’. These intelligent warriors have forsaken other ways of gaining power in a more physical sense.

**Restrictions**: Must possess the gather power class feature.

**Benefit**: Kineticists with this mutation gain two additional skill points per level, and can select 2 skills, treating them as class skills.

**Drawback**: The kineticist can only use their gather power ability as a move action; they cannot gather power as a full-round action (or as any type of action other than a move action, if they would otherwise gain the ability to do so).

### Utilitarian Mutation

Some kineticists prefer to use their powers with more cunning and finesse than wielding their element as a tool of war.

**Restrictions**: Must possess the gather power class feature.

**Benefit**: A kineticist with this mutation can use gather power once per minute as a full-round action to reduce the cost of a utility wild talent used the next turn by 1 (to a minimum of 0). In addition, if they possess the internal buffer class feature, it is doubled in size. This effect does not stack with that provided by abilities granted by archetypes or equipment, such as the kinetic chirurgeon’s healing buffer; however, it does stack with increases to the internal buffer granted through feats and favored class bonuses, doubling the bonuses they provide as well.

**Drawback**: A kineticist who chooses this mutation cannot reduce the cost of their kinetic blasts with gather power or internal buffer, and their kinetic blasts’ damage is reduced by 1 step (1 > d2 > d3 > d4 > d6 > d8 > d10 > d12).

### Furyshaper Mutation

While most blood kineticists receive the benefits of hydrokinetic and sometimes corpokinetic powers, the furyshaper can use fire to the same effect.

**Restrictions**: Must possess the blood kineticist archetype.

**Benefit**: A blood kineticist with this mutation gains fire as their primary element instead of water and fire blast as their kinetic blast instead of water blast. They treat bleeding, bloody, foe throw, gut-wrenching, hypertensive, vampiric, and wrack infusions as fire infusions instead of water, and can apply them to the following blasts: afterburn, blood, bloody murder, blue flame, fire, green flame, hellfire, steam, solar, and thunder flash. In addition, they can apply any infusion to their blood or bloody murder blasts which is associated with fire blast (including those previously listed), and their blood and bloody murder blasts deal half bludgeoning, half fire damage and are treated as fire element blasts instead of water (bloody murder blast is still viscera). Blood kineticists with this mutation can take other archetypes that alter elemental focus so long as they still allow the kineticist to choose fire as their primary element.

**Drawback**: A blood kineticist with this mutation cannot apply infusions to their blood or bloody murder blasts that are associated with water blast unless those infusions are also associated with fire blast. They do not gain blue flame blast the first time they select fire as an expanded element, gaining blood blast instead (they can gain blue flame blast by selecting fire as an  expanded element a second time). Their wrack infusion deals fire damage instead of untyped damage. Blood kineticists with this mutation cannot take archetypes for which fire cannot be chosen as a primary element.