I'm not too fond of the earthform concept, but what about this:
At the height of tainted magics, the geomancer learns to trap his own soul into a prison gemstone and walk about as a soulless mortal.

...and that does what now?

I'm guessing the equivilent of Lich's no-pray, with some nifty 'I'll eat j00!" aspect.

I want to be a mudking, and you can all be my mud minions. Especially you. We'll have all kinds of mud adventures, and we can walk around and trade our nifty soul gemstones.

<3 Mud wrestling.

I've done it before. Was great fun.

Only if I get to be Mud Princess Tzaraglorp, She Who Bubbles.

Because that would be ten kinds of awesome.

On-topic, I'm rather fond of the way Pollute works, but if it -had- to be changed to a Earthform?

To echo what others have said somewhat...
Get rid of the stat bonuses, maybe +1 con if you had to. But give them earthy powers like moving freely once burrowed, (You can do d, n, u, whatever, after BURROW DOWN, instead of having to do BURROW N, S, whatever.) and perhaps like a earthquakey stomp that shakes the ground and knocks personal enemies off of their feet or something. And maybe even a little regen on Tainted land. Sure the demesne already knocks people off of their feet, but it would let you do out outside of a demesne. They don't even have to do that much, but just having earth-related powers would be nifty.

As for the Aquamancers and Druidy types? I haven't the foggiest. Maybe give Aquaformed people the ability to dive, and have them like... shoot torrents of water out of their eyes that... drown people. Or something.

Although that would leave our dear Druid friends in the lurch, as I hear they already have strange forms. Hmm.

Perhaps give them the ability to retreat (alone, not with a group) within the safety of a sapling, until that particular sapling is cut down with CHOP? And whilst they are in that sapling, they are considered to be both in their demesne, and safe from all but enemy trans druids popping in and causing harm to them?

Ah, well. There's my few random ideas, some borrowed from previous posters.

Inherent problem with mud is...

Mud = Earth + Water

Earth = tainted (yay!)
Water = not tainted (awww)

As far as I'm concerned that provides a conflict of interest. Once, all the elements weren't tainted, and that was fine. But since the Earth Plane IS tainted, and it is the source of Geomancer power.. calling on it in conjunction with the Water Plane (which isn't) to make mud = badness.

Maelstorm almost instantly kills me. Fury does at least 50% of my max health... Pollute does almost the same as Fury.

The problem with the skill is that most people don't use it effectively. Geb has said many times he can see many times when he'd use it. Munsia actually uses it all the time. The last time there was a big raid in Faethorn, she killed 4 people at once with it.

As far as I'm concerned: Mages and Druids have enough. There is no need for this.

=====

I mean seriously, Stagmar's idea is like drawdown meets transmigrate and has a bastard child. In fact, the stat bonuses are better than drawdown/stagform, etc.

Narsrim, i've used Pollute, it does less than 1.5k. It doesn't even PHASE anybody. Kaervas's STAFF does as much as my Pollute. Their needs to be a change.

Stangmar, FYI: You die in 3 hits. You aren't exactly a source for combat know how.

Geb, who is by far the best mage/druid out there, has said over and over that the skill has potential. Munsia uses fury frequently and usually scores 2-3 kills with it (which isn't too shabby) while putting everyone else who gets hit in a very tight position.

In sum, you need to try and figure out to effectively use it instead of asking for transmigrate, drawdown, and stagform/crowform in one single ability. Geomancers, most of all, rank out as one of the strongest classes. With rockslide dealing insane damage plus insane damage from a high int staff, anything else would just be way over the top.

Furthermore, pollute like staff is based on INTELLIGENCE. Compare your int versus Kaervas's. See a huge difference? I thought so - and that explains why his staff does more.

Geb is a great mage, I agree, I'm just not sure how his expertise is in this area, as I rarely even see him use a demesne, and I've never seen anyone, including him, use maelstrom in a combat situation. I don't believe I've heard him call it a viable skill either, although my missing some posts isn't unlikely.

So, what, tankiness is a prerequisite for combat knowledge now?

If so, you're in the same boat, O untanky and extremely underpowered mugwump.

Trust me, if you only last 30 seconds in combat, it doesn't leave much time to learn new tricks

There was a whole other thread on this that Geb responded in. You must have missed it.



There is a whole world between being "tanky" and being a "noob kill."

I can see using Fury in teams (I almost never see Munsia unless she's following you), but alone, I think you'd be silly to risk that much.

I think that's the point. However, Aesyra used it once on the arena. She used maelstorm and followed up immediately with blast. It killed me instantly.

She's also a demigod. If it hadn't killed you instantly, you'd have been able to instantly toadcurse her.

You can always do it in light of sight and then whole hail storm/boulder blast from a safe distance.

Wrong. At least, Maelstrom isn't, and I assume Pollute is the same.

Syntax: BREAK STAFF
Power: 10 (Pool of Stars)
Damage Type: 25% Electric, 25% Heat, 25% Asphyxiation, 25% Unblockable
Damage Source: None
The waters in your demesne will seeth and roil around your personal
enemies in a powerful storm, boiling and blistering their flesh! You
must sacrifice your staff and be at full mana to invoke such a
spectacle.

Syntax: BREAK STAFF
Power: 10 (Megalith of Doom)
Damage Type: 100% Poison
Damage Source: Magical
The most horrific power of the geomancer is to pollute his or her entire demesne
with the full blight of the tainted earth. Fissures will open up throughout your
demesne and release toxic fumes that will seek out your personal enemies and
coat their skin with flesh-stripping poison! You must sacrifice your staff and
be at full mana to invoke such a spectacle.