Powers Checks

[Hrtofdrkns]

Just to clarify: you mean "hydrocephalic," right?

Ya. Sorry, my spelling is bad.

So, do I have good ideas?

[Hell_Born]

Hydrocephalic? Does that mean the (bald) swollen head look favoured by super-intelligent arch-villians in those old moves? Anyway, these are great Terror Tracks, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, but things came up...

I await further posts with baited breath...

[Jonathan Winters]

Hi,

Powers checks... Hum...
I'm in a hurry, hope this will make sense...

I know they have been made for players, so the fear of being evil is real, your own Hell before you die kinda thing... And darklordship waiting to happen.

But am I the only one bothered by the fact that by the time you become a darklord, you won't even look human anymore.... AND most darklords have a way of looking human if they're not...

To me, this always sort of clashed with the whole mood of the setting...
I am just trying to pick your brains here... I usually work around the deformity / weirdness effects, just not my cup of tea.

I have to go!

Patrick!

[Brandi]

But am I the only one bothered by the fact that by the time you become a darklord, you won't even look human anymore.... AND most darklords have a way of looking human if they're not...

Mind you, by the time a PC reaches the Creature stage he's pretty much turned NPC unless the player *really* wants to redeem him somehow. The DM could, on his whim, have the character seemingly become 'cured' as part of the effect of his darklordship, only to find that it's not what they hoped for (think of Miss Foley in Something Wicked This Way Comes).

[alhoon]

Path of the Necromancer
A path for one who uses necromancy without giving a thought to the consequences.

I have a different path for those.
1st: The prime requisite ability (int for wizards, cha for sorcerers) for spells only is considered increased by 2. For example a character with 16 intelligence would get 3 bonus skill points, but would have a +4 bonus to DC, and a bonus 4th level spell.
Becomes pale (OR 1)

2nd: The DC for his necromantic spells increases by +2. Stacks with spell focus and greater spell focus. Also gets a +2 to caster level checks to not have his necromantic spells dispelled.
For example spells from a 7th level caster would have dispel DC 11 +7 +2 =20 instead of 18.
Becomes thin and hollow cheeked (OR 2). The necromancy eats his body and he gets a -1 penalty to con and str and a extra -1 penalty to Fortitude saves.

3rd: As the caster becomes more enarmoned with the use of necromancy, he gets an extra necromantic spell/ spell level. For sorcerers that is an extra necromantic spell known per spell level, while wizards get an extra necromancy spell slot per day they can cast (like necromancers).
That bonus means that specialist necromancers now have two necromancy spell slots per day.
The character becomes corpse pale, his eyes turn white and he starts smelling a bit like a corpse, perhaps attracting flies. His voice becomes altered to resemble a voice coming from a parched throat, with echoes. His body temperature drops by 10 degrees (OR 4).
The necromantic energies contained in him begin to seriously damage his health. He gets an extra -2 con, -1 str, -1 dex, -1 Fort saves. (A total -3 con, -2 str, -1 dex, -2 Fort).

4th. The character dies.
An unpleasant surprise for those that believe they have two steps more to damnation.

[Hell_Born]

Hrtofdrkns, I just wanted to ask about the Path of the Necromancer you posted, I just wanted to know; are the stat penalties cumulative, that is, do they stack? Meaning when the char reaches the Invitation stage do they lose 4 Con or 6 Con (4 points of Con from that stage, 2 from the last one)? Also, the penalties lack a bit of flavour, I understand the char's losing them, but why is he losing them? (That's a bit of a problem with all your Terror Tracks, the Path of the Mastermind is a little self-explanatory, as his mind's getting strogner at the cost of his body). Other than that, those are excellent Terror Tracks, looking forward to anything else you care to post.

As people seem to be able to work better if I give them a sinner to twist, how about this character: A Wizard (mage/sorcerer, doesn't matter which) prone to using his/her most powerful and destructive magics on anyone he/she feels is insulting him/her, even if the "insult" is as minor as splashing mud on his/her favorite robe.

[Hrtofdrkns]

Hell_Born wrote:

Hrtofdrkns, I just wanted to ask about the Path of the Necromancer you posted, I just wanted to know; are the stat penalties cumulative, that is, do they stack? Meaning when the char reaches the Invitation stage do they lose 4 Con or 6 Con (4 points of Con from that stage, 2 from the last one)?

No, the penalties are not cumulative. They just change to the new penalties.

Also, the penalties lack a bit of flavour, I understand the char's losing them, but why is he losing them? (That's a bit of a problem with all your Terror Tracks, the Path of the Mastermind is a little self-explanatory, as his mind's getting strogner at the cost of his body).

The how and why of the penalties is for you to decide. I just provide the raw materials. You make the finished product.
Change them if you want to. I don't mind.

[Hrtofdrkns]

Alhoon, that is a cruel, heartless, and inhuman thing to do. I like it. Except the necromancer will rise from the dead. An undead pc is the classic tragic figure.

"I didn't know this would happen." he whines.

"Too bad." I say.

[Hell_Born]

I like both your takes on the Path of the Necromancer, but I couldn't decide between them. So I merged the two togther (to a degree) and made a few adjustments- no offence, I just wanted to see if I could do something right! Take a look and let me know if it's worthwhile or if I've totally ruined it .

Path of the Necromancer
A path for one who uses necromancy without giving a thought to the consequences.

The Caress
The Mage may use chill touch 1/day as a spell-like ability. His hands are unnaturally cold for 10 minutes afterwards. Skin turns pale, increasing OR by +1. In addition, his Prime Requisite ability increases by +2

The Enticement
The Mage may use ghoul touch 1/day as a spell-like ability. He becomes gaunt, hollow-cheeked and weaker, his OR is increased by +2 and he suffers -2 Con. His greater ability to channel necromantic magic means the DC to resist his Necromancy spells increases by +2.

The Invitation
The Mage may use animate dead 1/day as a spell-like ability. The necromantic energy surging through his body weakens him still further, he loses an additional 2 points of Con. His pallor increases so he is now as pale as corpse, his voice alters so that it becomes raspy and echoes like he was speaking from deep within a grave, he suffers -3 Cha. His body temperature drops by 10 degrees, if revealed his OR increases by +3, he takes +3 damage from fire and heat attacks but –1 damage from cold attacks.

The Embrace
The Mage may use contagion 1/day as a spell-like ability. He is now immune to mundane darkness but in the dark his eyes glow like fire the same colour as his iris, increasing OR in such areas by +1. He is more sensitive to light, suffering a –1 penalty to Attack rolls and skill tests in areas of bright light. He develops a noxious odour, reminiscent of death and decay, of rot and putridity. He loses an additional 3 points of Cha and beings with the Scent attribute halve the difficulty to track him successfully.

The Creature
The Mage may now use Command Undead at will as a supernatural ability. While not a true Undead, he is affected by holy water, religious symbols and hallowed ground as though he were, in addition he suffers a –50% penalty to Attack Rolls and Skill Tests in areas of bright light, sunlight causes 1 point of subdual damage per round of exposure unless he can shield himself from it entirely.

The Darklord
The Mage gains a zombie lord’s aura of death, except it casts a Create Undead spell on those it kills. He becomes an undead creature.

[alhoon]

I like both your takes on the Path of the Necromancer, but I couldn't decide between them. So I merged the two togther (to a degree) and made a few adjustments- no offence, I just wanted to see if I could do something right! Take a look and let me know if it's worthwhile or if I've totally ruined it .

No offence pal. I just said what I used. If this path works for you, then everything is fine.
My opinion, The charisma penalties are a great drawback for a sorcerer using necromantic spells. Charisma is also a measure of a character's magnetism and strength of character not just appearance. IMC I use a stat for appearence. While I agree that smelling like a corpse would certainly lower your personal magnetism and thus make you less self-confident etc. I doupt that it would so greatly disrupt your spellcasting abilities.

I propose that a sorcerer character would get the penalties to all non-spellcasting uses of charisma.

[Hell_Born]

I've made the charisma changes, but how come no-one's posted any new power checks results for so long? I know it's christmas/boxing day/whatever now, so I'm just asking if there's still any interest in this topic or if I should take it down...

[alhoon]

Path of the Santa:
Reserved for those that gain money while they pretend to do Charity.

1st: The character takes the ability to speak with animals (moose, antlets etc) 3/day at a caster level equal to HD/2 (minimum 1), but gains an affinity for the red color.

2nd: The character gains weapon proficiency (gift bag) with every kind of gift bags up to two handed large bags. He gains the drive(slide) skill as a class skills and 5 ranks in its use. He also gains a +5 unholy bonus to climb checks when climbing brick or stone walls (like chimeneys).
He starts using "Ho-Ho-Ho" in inappropriate situations gaining an arcane spell failure of 10% for spells with the Vocal component and a -2 to all social based skills. His affinity for the red color grows He now must wear at least something red or he gains a -1 morale penalty to saves and skill checks.

3rd: The character gains the ability to squeeze through chimeneys and the like at will like a marikith (see Denizens of Darkness). His ability to speak with animals becomes usable at will, and he also understands fey, in whatever language they speak as if under the effects of a permanent comprehend language spell.
He grows a pot belly that gives him a -4 dex. He must be dressed all in red or have a -2 morale penalty to saves, skills, ability checks and hit rolls.

4th: The character gains the ability to use invisibility with caster level = HD 3/day. This is a supernatural ability but small children can see through the illusion. He gains a +4 bonus on craft checks when creating gifts.
He grows a beard that messes up with hand motion increasing the arcane spell failure to 20% and giving him a -2 penalty to hit rolls and skill checks regarding hands. He has to donate 50% of whatever he earns to poor children or suffers whacking pains. Once a day he has to spend at least 2 hours working on toys or suffer the saim consequences. When under pain, the Santa can take only partial actions and each of his actions is penalized by a -2

5th: The character can make any slide he is using to fly with a speed of 90' (running x3 not x4). This is a supernatural ability. His race changes to human if not already and his hair become white and seem fake. Also he gains another supernatural and powerful ability. On the same night each year (be it the 25th of December or another night picked by the DM) and for about 15 minutes the Santa can be in every house that 1. has a fireplace 2. socks on the fireplace 3. the children are sleeping simultaneously!
He also gains a cohort that must be either a gnome or a kind of fey. The creature has delusions that it is an elf! Also it dresses like the santa or has the same penalties.
The evil nightmarish creature feels the compulsion to offer gifts his special night. Withholding from this act forces the santa to make a fortitude save each round or take a point of charisma damage. When the santa's charisma drops to 3, he instantly grabs his bag, rides his slide and flies to the fireplaces to offer gifts.
Also he grows old with all the applicable penalties (except that his dex doesn't drop another 3 points from stage 3, just another 1)

6th: By performing this last sineous act the character has damned himself for eternity. Possible curses may be that he is forever banished from the consious mind of adults and unable to harm them directly, being locked for most of the year in an icy castle with nothing to do but toys etc.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

alhoon, you really are one evil mindflayer liche I like it, heheheheh.

[Hell_Born]

I agree with Wiccy; Alhoon, you are one twisted Illithilich. Your track gets an A for effort, enginuity and sheer mind-warping capabilities, but I don't think I'll ever actually use it, my gamers would try to lynch me . Does anyone out there have any more suggesstions for -serious- Terror Tracks? And does anyone know why the hell my "Creating a Domain" topic has been hit so often, but virtually no-one's replied? Cause I'm really stuck on that.

[alhoon]

I agree with Wiccy; Alhoon, you are one twisted Illithilich.

This I am!

alhoon, you really are one evil mindflayer liche I like it, heheheheh.

This I am not!

Since I have months to bring up this topic:
Alhoons are NOT Liches. Because in the Forgotten Realms Monster Manual they show alhoons as liches, doesn't mean it is right.
Alhoons:
1. Are 9th+ NOT 11th+
2. Most importantly have NO phylactery.
They are just undead mind flayer mages.

Path of the Assassin
Reserved for those that use shadows to murder.

1st: The character gets a +2 to hide checks but all his hair turn midnight black, and seem to block light unnaturaly much (+1 OR).

2nd: The character gets darkvision out to 60' and low-light vision. If the character already has darkvision, its range is increased by another 60'.
The character eye pupils become vertical slits like a cat's (total +2 OR) and light hurts his eyes. He becomes dazzled (-1 on hit rolls and skill/ability checks) in full daylight, in the radius of the light spell and the daylight spell (as an orc).

3rd: The character can cast darkness 3/day as a 6th level caster.
The character casts no shadow (total +4 OR). His daylight vulnerability grows. When he is in full daylight or the radius of a daylight spell, he gets a -2 penalty to all hit rolls, skill/ability checks. Sudden exposure to such powerful light blinds him for one round. When he is in less powerful light (like a very cloudy day, the light of a large fire) he becomes dazzled.

4th: The character performs better in darkness. When in the dark (not necessarily total darkness, but dark as a room at night) the character gets a +2 unholy bonus to natural armor, a +2 bonus to hit rolls and a +2 bonus to all saves. He also gets a +2 bonus to move silently, hide, perform, survival, balance, escape artist.
The character's skin turns graywhite as a paper (total +5 OR). He now takes one point of constitution damage every 5 rounds he spends in full daylight or the radius of a daylight spell (the character takes this damage from ALL powerful enough light sources, not just the sun!). He is blinded for 1d3 rounds if suddenly exposed to such powerful light and then he has a -4 penalty. Penalties of -2 and -1 are given for less powerful lights (like cloudy days/full moon nights and candle lights). (almost like a drow elf)

5th: The character's sneak attack increases by 1d6 (or gets a sneak attack ablity dealing 1d6 damage). The character can now teleport 3/day from shadow to shadow if he can see the ending point and it is within 150'. The shadow must be large enough for the character to step inside and must be almost complete darkness. The darkness generated by the darkness spell is sufficient if the character can see it.
The character suffers all the above light penalties but can now take only partial actions in very bright light. Light at the intensity of a cloudy day deals him 1 point of con damage per 5 minutes.

6th: The first exposure to light brighter than a candlelight melts the character away as a shadow (No save).