Designing A Paramecia Devil Fruit Sheet
Paramecia Devil Fruits are one of the three types of devil fruit classifications, allowing their users to achieve superhuman feats by modifying their bodies, producing and conjuring materials, or affecting their environment. These rules will help you design a Devil Fruit for a paramecia user.
Paramecia Subtypes
Body Enhancer, Substance Generator, and Environment Alterer are the three subtypes of paramecia devil fruits that defines a paramecia user's abilities. Each paramecia will normally limit its user's powers to one of these three subtypes. A body enhancer can only alter their own body and clothes using their powers, a substance generator can only produce a specific type of substance around and outside of their body, and an environment alterer can only transmute or change the properties of objects and people around them. It isn't always clear what subclass a paramecia fruit may belong to, so work with your DM to decide what makes the most sense.
For example, the Toge Toge no mi (Spike Paramecia) could classify as either a "body enhancer" or "environment alterer" subtype, allowing you to either make your body spiky or make the area around you spiky. However, you must pick only one of these two subtypes before continuing to develop the rest of your abilities. The only exception to this rule is if you "awaken" your devil fruit powers later on, which will give you the ability to bypass the limitations of your paramecia subclass.
If it is difficult to decide the logical subtype of a paramecia, simply determine it randomly or roll a 1d3. 1 - Body Enhancer, 2 - Substance Generator, 3 - Environment Alterer.
Paramecia Type: Body Enhancer
If your devil fruit makes you into a Body Enhancer power user, you can now change the properties of your body in various ways. This subtype is most likely to use transmutation, illusion, or abjuration spells on oneself.
For example, the Bara Bara no mi (Chopping Paramecia) and Kilo Kilo no mi (Weight Paramecia) under the body enhancing subclass will allow you to divide your body into floating segments or increase and decrease the weight of your body.
If your devil fruit makes you into a Substance Generating paramecia power user, you can now produce a certain type of material from your body. You can use this substance as armor, to create a held weapon, or to create structures and barricades. This subtype will typically use evocation, conjuration, or abjuration spells focused on offensive or defensive creation of a substance or material.
For example, the Doku Doku no mi (Poison Paramecia) will produce poison around the user's body that can be sprayed at enemies or used as armor. Alternatively, devil fruits such as the Bari Bari no mi (Barrier Paramecia) can allow their user to create substances a bit farther away from their body. This can depend on the range and target of the devil fruit
If your devil fruit makes you into an Environment Altering paramecia power user, you can now control, transmute, or change the properties of the environment around you. This means you can control creatures, objects, space, time, or the air and atmosphere around you depending on your specific power. This subtype will typically use magic that affects other creatures or manipulates the environment such as enchantment, necromancy, illusion, transmutation, or divination spells.
For example, the Noro Noro no mi (Slowing Paramecia) allows its users to make time move slower in certain areas around them for a limited period of time.
Paramecia devil fruit users will almost immediately notice that they are immune to certain types of elemental or physical attacks.
For example, a rubber body paramecia fruit will make its user immune to bludgeoning and lightning attacks because rubber typically nullifies that type of damage. Working with your DM, decide which of the following features apply to you based on your devil fruit's power and nature.
It might make sense for certain spells to work especially well for a paramecia devil fruit, but they may not list a damage type in the spell description that corresponds to the devil fruit's element or material. For example, if you wish to use the cone of cold spell for an acid-natured devil fruit, you may list "deals acid damage instead" for the spell on the devil fruit sheet.
A paramecia devil fruit power grants at least one type of resistance or immunity to a damage type or condition that would align with the devil fruit's nature.
For example, a user of the Bomu Bomu no mi (Bomb Paramecia) might be immune to fire damage, a user of the Gomu Gomu no mi (Rubber Paramecia) might be immune to non-magical bludgeoning and all lightning damage, and a user of the Oto Oto no mi (Sound Paramecia) might be immune to thunder damage and being deafened.
Magical bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, such as from a creature using Armament Haki, will overcome resistances and immunities.
Paramecia Basic Skills
Every paramecia-type devil fruit will have at least one ability or attack that can be used innately so long as the devil fruit user is not incapacitated or exposed to water or seastone. Cantrips work well for this purpose, as they can be used infinitely for little to no cost.
Alternatively, devil fruit abilities might extend or amplify a character's already existing traits. For example, the Bara Bara no Mi and Gomu Gomu no Mi devil fruit powers allow the user to extend their limbs a great distance. This could allow the user of these powers to effectively extend their melee attack reach by 30 ft and use the Mage Hand cantrip to represent this extended limb reach.
A devil fruit should always come with such a basic skill that costs nothing. If a special basic skill is too powerful to be used infinitely at no cost, it might be wise to limit the number of times it can be used each day (or require recharging at the next dawn to be used again).
The example sheet below shows an early design idea for the Nuke Nuke no Mi using paramecia immunities and resistances as well as basic skills.
Example: Nuke Nuke no Mi (Phasing)
Devil Fruit, Rare
Type. Body Enhancer Paramecia
Fruit appearance. Translucent purple apple with blue stripes
Description. Allows its user to phase through physical objects and forces physical projectiles and weapons to pass through the user as well.
Sea Weakness. You are weak to water and seastone.
Weapon Immunity. You are immune to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks, as physical objects pass through you. However, attacks made of living tissue do not phase through you, meaning you are not immune to unarmed strikes for example.
Phase Movement. You can choose to pass through physical objects as if they were difficult terrain, similar to a specter's incorporeal movement. However, this feature does not allow you to pass through living creatures. You take 5 (1d10) force damage if you end your turn inside an object.
Additionally, you can choose to allow any creature or object you are touching or grappling to share this feature with you so long as they are touching you.
Attempting to balance these basic abilities should depend heavily on the leniency of the DM and the rarity of the devil fruit power. For example, a Legendary devil fruit might even allow for the casting of certain leveled spells at no cost, whereas Uncommon and Rare devil fruits should be far more strict with what can be used without expending any resources. This could even go as far as limiting uncommon devil fruit basic abilities to one or two cantrips only.
Paramecia Spells, Skills, and Awakening
Designing and deciding which spells and skills which can be used with a devil fruit can be tricky at first. Hopefully, after following these steps, choosing paramecia devil fruit spells will become a little more intuitive.
Also be sure to refer back to "Designing a Devil Fruit Sheet with Steps" under step 4 for more examples and an explanation on devil fruit charges and which spell levels to choose from.
To decide which spells to choose from, make sure you keep their spell level beneath the "highest spell level" equal to or lower than the number decided by the devil fruit's rarity. The spell you choose can be from any 5e class spell list. Next, select at least 1 or more spells within that range and modify them as needed. Remember to stick to the rules of paramecia subtypes in order to decide what these spells will be allowed to target, such as "self only" for body enhancers.
A good example for this might be for a Bomu Bomu no Mi (bomb human) devil fruit user to be able to cast Burning Hands (1 charge) and Fireball (3 charges), representing how its user can use skills involving explosions of fire. Additionally, an awakening ability might be a much higher level spell than can be used once per day, even bypass the spell level limit for that devil fruit. For a Bomu bomu no Mi user, this could be the ability to cast Fire Storm once per day.
Here is another more in-depth example below still using the Nuke Nuke no Mi, a rare type devil fruit, as a template to show which type of spells and awakening ability might be appropriate to use.
Spells
This devil fruit power has 9 charges. Using your ability to phase through nonliving materials at rapid speeds and reappear somewhere else, you can expend 1 or more of its charges to cast one of the following spells from it without needing to expend material components: Absorb Elements (1 charge), Misty Step (2 charges), Blink (3 charges), Far Step (5 charges). The devil fruit regains expended charges daily at dawn.
Awakening (Reality Phase). Once you've awakened your power, you can use an action to cast Etherealness. You can’t use this action again for another 24 hours.