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Zom B
2010-01-14, 03:21 PM
These feats represent a character's creating a binding pact with a supernatural power, such as a devil or celestial. They grant a significant personal boost in exchange for a favor to be owed at a later date.

You must forge a pact for this feat to be activated, either before or after taking it. To forge a pact, you must communicate your desires to a powerful supernatural being (typically through summoning or communing with them) or an ordained member of the priesthood of that entity that could likewise summon or commune with the entity, and swear to an unbreakable, binding agreement that, in exchange for the benefits of the pact feat, you agree that at any future time the entity may activate a one-time effect upon you identical to that of a Geas/Quest spell, which automatically affects you (no saving throw, and no spell resistance applies). Once your task is complete, you retain the benefits of the Pact feat you selected, and the being cannot re-activate the Geas/Quest effect, although multiple pacts with one being can be separately activated.
It is not guaranteed that the entity will enter into the pact, and even if they do there will most likely be costs involved to be established by the entity. See the Lesser Planar Ally spell for details on how the cost should be calculated.

Pact of Athleticism [Pact]
You are significantly better than many of your fellow compatriots at athletic endeavors.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to your Strength and gain a +2 bonus to Balance, Climb, Jump, Swim, and Tumble checks.

Pact of Awe [Pact]
You can inspire others or plant terror into their hearts.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to your Charisma. Once per day, you may, as a spell-like ability, use an effect identical to Cause Fear, except that the hit die limit is equal to your own hit die + 5.

Pact of Celerity [Pact]
Your speed and reflexes have been enhanced to superior levels.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to your Dexterity and a +10 ft increase to your base movement speed.

Pact of Deception [Pact]
Your words are slick like oil and have a power over others.
Benefit: You gain the ability to use Suggestion as a spell-like ability once per day. The save DC is equal to 13 + your Charisma modifier. Also, you gain a +2 bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks.
Special: This pact may not be granted by a good entity.

Pact of Greed [Pact]
Caring mostly for personal wealth, you sell a little piece of your soul in exchange for furthering your goal.
Benefit: At the beginning of each day, gold coins with a worth equal to your hit die appear in your inventory.
Special: You may take this feat multiple times. This pact may not be granted by a good entity.

Pact of Insight [Pact]
You are granted the ability to better discern situations and consequences.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to your Wisdom and gain a +2 bonus to Sense Motive. In addition, up to three times per day, you may cast Augury as a spell-like ability.
Special: This pact may not be granted by an evil entity.

Pact of Knowledge [Pact]
Knowledge, some lost to the ages, fills your head.
Benefit: You gain a +2 to your Intelligence and a +2 to all Knowledge skills. Also, choose one of either two effects:

Gain a +1 bonus to your caster level.
Gain the ability to cast Detect Thoughts once per day as a spell-like ability.


Pact of Longevity [Pact]
Your pact will grant you a long and healthy life.
Benefit: You gain a +2 to your Constitution and gain DR 2/-. As well, you are immune to all mundane diseases and add +50% to your maximum age.

Pact of Power [Pact]
Prerequisites: Must have the ability to cast 7th-level arcane spells.
Benefits: You maintain a nominal hold over your own actions while allowing the souls of up to three legendary spellcasters (Evoker 30, Necromancer 30, and Sorcerer 30) to lend you their power. Any spellcasting ability, including epic spellcasting, possessed by the three spellcasters is fully imparted to you. In addition, you may, only once, develop an epic spell whose Spellcraft DC does not exceed 75 as a full-round action (see the Epic Spellcasting section in the Epic Level Handbook).
. .You may regain full control over your actions at any time, thus rejecting the spellcasters' inhabitation of your body. Once you regain control, you may not undo this decision.
While you are being 'influenced' by the spellcasters, you gain a +50 bonus to your Spellcraft checks. Once you regain control, this bonus drops to +5.
Special: Unlike other pact feats, you must forge pacts with three seperate evil entities in order to activate this feat.
Disclaimer: Entities not responsible for acts leading to divorce and/or to becoming anathema to all dragonkind.

More to come. But please, feel free to come up with your own.

DragoonWraith
2010-01-14, 03:26 PM
I'm a bit disappointed that they aren't Binder feats (Binders from Tome of Magic use "Pact Magic"), but I love the fluff.

That said, ability bonuses through feats? Not sure about that one. And Pact of Greed... either that increases your WBL (bad plan), or it doesn't actually do anything as the DM adjusts WBL to compensate. Fitting, but I don't think it's a great idea.

And Pact of Power... fitting, but dangerous. You should have some recommendations as to the way to determine who you get. And really... I don't know if you could ever balance that. You become three spellcasters at once? Uhh....

Zom B
2010-01-14, 03:28 PM
Actually, I made a typo on Pact of Greed. It is fixed.

Keep in mind that entities can say 'no' to your pact. And the DM controls those entities.

Dante & Vergil
2010-01-14, 03:29 PM
*Yoinks!*
I like the direction you went with this, and now I am going to put this in a word file for later use.

Knaight
2010-01-14, 04:05 PM
Most of these seem like a waste of a feat. The only exception are the ones who boost casting stat, and maybe Pact of Greed(Which is extremely niche.), and Pact of Greed is only useful if you don't have to pay for it later. Boost the power up a bit on some of these.

Dante & Vergil
2010-01-14, 04:11 PM
Also, it shouldn't have to be a yes/no situation with nothing you can do about it. Maybe we can use a Bargaining system were one can pull the creature's favor. I know I saw variant diplomacy rules like this, but for the life of me, I can't find them.

Dante & Vergil
2010-01-18, 05:11 PM
A double post sucks, but it's happening with a purpose.
You could just use Diplomacy checks using the Giant's Diplomacy variant.
You should post more of these. They're great ideas.

DaTedinator
2010-01-18, 09:23 PM
As much as I love the flavor, I can't help but find them overpowered. They're all better than normal feats, and balanced by sending the PC on a quest. Thing is, that's what PCs do for a living. I mean, yes, depending on what goes down it can be a handy excuse for a DM to send the PC on a quest that they wouldn't normally go on, but the fact remains that they'd still go on a quest.

I'd suggest changing the extra balancing factor to a gold or potentially XP cost, to represent either the reagents to summon the being the pact is made with, or the piece of the soul that is being sold.

Zom B
2010-01-19, 08:53 AM
I'd suggest changing the extra balancing factor to a gold or potentially XP cost, to represent either the reagents to summon the being the pact is made with, or the piece of the soul that is being sold.

Currently, taking a pact feat means it is inactive until you create the pact with some sort of celestial/infernal/abyssal/angelic/deific power. It's on the player on how they go about summoning or communing with it and it's on the power or representatives of that power on how much they charge or what they want in exchange for the forging of the pact.

Yes, the players will quest anyway, but you point out the answer here: The power can order the player to undertake a quest. A DM worth their salt will make the quest one that jeopardizes the players' lives, reputation, standing, and/or alignment.

Still, good suggestions. I'll go back and put a cost down.