Elsa
Based on The Snow Queen, Elsa of Arendelle is a princess with the ability to create and manipulate ice and snow. This gift – or curse – deeply affected her childhood after she inadvertently harmed her sister Anna. After that, she concealed her powers for years, until her royal coronation, when she sent the entire kingdom into eternal winter.
The original fairy tale of The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen featured the title character as a villain. Elsa was reworked in Frozen, Disney’s eventual adaptation, into a misunderstood figure. She was fearful of her power and its potential to harm others, her “cold heart” a demeanour that she must adopt to protect those she loves.
Later, in Frozen II, her powers expand as she finds and tames the horse shaped water-spirit Nixie (Nokk).
I didn't see Frozen immediately (my kid came later) but when I finally did I was impressed with a lot of it – the songs, the snow animation, the sociopath badguy, and Elsa.
Keys to the Character
Ice, Ice, Baby
Elsa was born with the ability to produce and manipulate winter elements. She has shown a wide variety of applications of this power – from a single snowflake, to a mystical castle of ice, to sending an entire country into eternal winter.
Fear and Loathing in Arrendelle
Elsa has been fearful of her power ever since she accidentally harmed her younger sister. Due to this, she has shut herself off to society. However, as she said in Let It Go, “And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all”. Things have changed!
Snow Sidekick’s Better Than No Sidekick
Elsa created Olaf, a dim-witted snowman who usually follows her sister Anna’s adventures.
The Cold Never Bothered Her Anyway
Elsa lives on top of a mountain in a giant castle made of nothing but frozen fractals. Despite that, she wears a simple blue dress… and doesn’t have even a single goosebump.
Any ice mage like a character based on Elsa is a powerful addition to any adventuring party. The upper reaches of her magical ability are incredibly powerful, and her ice-theme keeps her spells useful for more than just amazing damage.
Elsa’s ability to affect the battlefield itself needs to be unmatched. Her command of ice and snow is unparalleled, and needs to be reflected on the tabletop as she creates barriers and difficult surfaces to make life hard on her enemies before delivering untold area damage.
In Frozen, Elsa’s magical ability is innate – a scary power that she finds difficult to control for a long time. Innate spellcasting is of course the sorcerer bread and butter in Pathfinder, but this build goes a different route to represent her ability.
Instead, Elsa is an Ice Witch – a Winter Patron Witch. This gives her the total breadth of ice and snow spells available to a character. Plus, to represent the innate nature of her abilities, she will take the Cathartic Mage dedication to have her emotions affect her spellcasting.
The Witch class gives a lot of space for customization in the levels between Lessons, so Elsa will also spec into the Geomancer Dedication, which will give her greater control over the elements on the battlefield.
Off the battlefield, Elsa can use her status as Queen to bring great boons to her party. It is rare that someone will be better connected, and she is well known in even far away cities.
Build OVERVIEW
Ancestry
Human – Wintertouched Human
This combo is pretty much perfect for Elsa. Human, but with a preternatural ability to not be bothered by cold. The Human natural ambition always comes in handy, but the Wintertouched Human heritage gives access to the Ice Witch feat later on. That is a no-brainer pick up for the Snow Queen.
Background
Royalty
Speaking of the Snow Queen… Elsa is the princess of Arendelle. In other words, royalty. This background gives her some courtly knowledge, plus that Intelligence boost she’ll need for her class.
Class
Witch – Winter Patron
Honestly, this build is a bit too easy. The Winter Patron seems custom-made for the Snow Queen. It naturally gives her access to all the snow and ice spells in the Primal tradition. Plus, it gives special focus spells and cantrips reserved only for the winter witches.
But what is the ideal familiar for her? No problem there, Olaf the magical snowman can fill the role perfectly.
Alongside the Witch class, she will spec into the Cathartic Mage dedication to highlight the effect her emotions have over her spellcasting. Finally, she will also grab a few feats from the Geomancer Dedication to improver her prowess over snow and ice.
Skills & General Feats
Legendary: Society, Nature
Master: Acrobatics, Intimidation
Expert: –
Attribute Increases
Equipment
Suggested Starting Equipment
Light Mace – The closest thing to a weapon we’ve ever seen Elsa hold is her royal scepter. A simple mace will do.
Explorer’s Clothing – As far as armor goes, it’s got to be a dress version of explorer’s clothing. Like usual, these offer no protection, but can be imbued with runes later on.
Key Spells
Changelog
Related Builds
