Yora
2009-09-18, 01:45 PM
I really like the basic idea of Taint in D&D, but always thought it's somewhat lacking. The OA/UA variant is mostly just evil radiation poisoning, but there's no real reason anyone would WANT to gain taint.
But people who have given in to the temptations of dark powers are just such a great staple of fantasy, that I don't want to miss it.
So I did what a good gm does and made up a variant taint system that includes these things:
Variant Taint
In this variant, Taint is aquired as usual. When you are exposed to areas of taint or wield tainted items, you have to make a successful Fortitude save or gain Taint. If you perform acts that are utterly evil, you may gain Taint without any save.
A character can have a Taint score up to equal his Wisdom score. When the Taint score is equal to a characters Wisdom score, he is overcome by the taint and turned into a monster. I like to use a Wight template, similar to the barrow wights of LotR.
There are five strength categories of Taint.
{table=head]Taint score|Taint strength|Max points
0|None|-
1-4|Weak|1
5-8|Medium|2
9-12|Strong|3
13+|Overwhelming|4[/table]
A character with a Taint score has a number of Taint points per day, which is usually equal to his Taint score. These Taint points can be used for certain effects. Using Taint points is a sudden action and a character can spend taint points depending on the strength of his Taint. For example a character with a Taint score of 7 has medium Taint and can spend 2 Taint points at once.
You can use taint scores for the following effects.
Get a bonus of +1/taint point to attack and damage for 10 rounds.
As a psionic manifester or spellcaster using spell points, Taint points can be used to exceed the normal maximum caster level, like a wilders Wild Surge ability.
As a spellcaster using spell slots, taint points allow a character to cast a spell with a metamagic feat without preperation. This ability can be used on metamagic feats that would raise the spells slot requirement by a number equal to the number of Taint points spend. (If 2 Taint points are spend, you can apply a metamagic feat that would require a spell slot 2 levels higher.)
There's also a Taint spell list, that mostly includes spell with the evil and death descriptor. These spells are gone from all other spell lists, but are available to all characters who have a Taint score equal or greater to the Spells level +10. So to cast 4th level Taint spells, you need a Taint score of 14 (and therefore a Wisdom score equal or greater than 14).
The idea is, that having a low Taint score can actually be beneficial to characters in the short term. Sure the taint is evil, but with a Wisdom score auf 14, there's no real permanent danger from having low or medium taint, and it can grant a nice edge in defeating a greater evil. Once the threat is gone, you can cleanse yourself of the Taint, right?
---
Unfortunately, I'm still not quite sure about the drawbacks of Taint. For one thing, a tainted character would be vulnerable to items and effects that specifically target tainted creatures. If taint is included in a setting, I would also propose to place generous amounts of magic into the world, that is meant to detect and ward off tainted characters. Their taint would be detected by guards and priests of good temples, who would probably deny them entrance, unless they are come to request aid in having the taint removed. I would also like to include static mechanical penalties that somewhat level out the benefits of using taint points, but I'm a bit on a loss there.
Any input highly appreciated.
But people who have given in to the temptations of dark powers are just such a great staple of fantasy, that I don't want to miss it.
So I did what a good gm does and made up a variant taint system that includes these things:
Variant Taint
In this variant, Taint is aquired as usual. When you are exposed to areas of taint or wield tainted items, you have to make a successful Fortitude save or gain Taint. If you perform acts that are utterly evil, you may gain Taint without any save.
A character can have a Taint score up to equal his Wisdom score. When the Taint score is equal to a characters Wisdom score, he is overcome by the taint and turned into a monster. I like to use a Wight template, similar to the barrow wights of LotR.
There are five strength categories of Taint.
{table=head]Taint score|Taint strength|Max points
0|None|-
1-4|Weak|1
5-8|Medium|2
9-12|Strong|3
13+|Overwhelming|4[/table]
A character with a Taint score has a number of Taint points per day, which is usually equal to his Taint score. These Taint points can be used for certain effects. Using Taint points is a sudden action and a character can spend taint points depending on the strength of his Taint. For example a character with a Taint score of 7 has medium Taint and can spend 2 Taint points at once.
You can use taint scores for the following effects.
Get a bonus of +1/taint point to attack and damage for 10 rounds.
As a psionic manifester or spellcaster using spell points, Taint points can be used to exceed the normal maximum caster level, like a wilders Wild Surge ability.
As a spellcaster using spell slots, taint points allow a character to cast a spell with a metamagic feat without preperation. This ability can be used on metamagic feats that would raise the spells slot requirement by a number equal to the number of Taint points spend. (If 2 Taint points are spend, you can apply a metamagic feat that would require a spell slot 2 levels higher.)
There's also a Taint spell list, that mostly includes spell with the evil and death descriptor. These spells are gone from all other spell lists, but are available to all characters who have a Taint score equal or greater to the Spells level +10. So to cast 4th level Taint spells, you need a Taint score of 14 (and therefore a Wisdom score equal or greater than 14).
The idea is, that having a low Taint score can actually be beneficial to characters in the short term. Sure the taint is evil, but with a Wisdom score auf 14, there's no real permanent danger from having low or medium taint, and it can grant a nice edge in defeating a greater evil. Once the threat is gone, you can cleanse yourself of the Taint, right?
---
Unfortunately, I'm still not quite sure about the drawbacks of Taint. For one thing, a tainted character would be vulnerable to items and effects that specifically target tainted creatures. If taint is included in a setting, I would also propose to place generous amounts of magic into the world, that is meant to detect and ward off tainted characters. Their taint would be detected by guards and priests of good temples, who would probably deny them entrance, unless they are come to request aid in having the taint removed. I would also like to include static mechanical penalties that somewhat level out the benefits of using taint points, but I'm a bit on a loss there.
Any input highly appreciated.