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reddir
2012-05-22, 08:27 PM
Empathic Martyr

There are those who seem born with the ability to take others' pains upon themselves. In the popular mind, they are usually associated with Ilmater, but that deity seeks no recognition for himself.

Some of those who think they are born for a purpose really are singled out. They may be touched by Ilmater, they may share his blood from far back in their ancestry, or they may be one of his celestial servants born into a mortal body to fulfill some purpose of his, be it grand or obscure.

Being otherwise normal mortals, these people have as wide a range of personality as would be expected in the populations in which they are raised. There are also, as in all things, people who will fixate on some one thing as the singular reason for their existence. In relation to this Bloodline, two types stand out.


The Proud Savior
"I am great. I am so strong and they are so weak, my help is needed. I can carry their sorrows, so I do as I must, lest they become even more wretched than they are now."


The Condemned Wretch
"I'm so wretched, I am so very fallen. My only hope for even the possibility of redemption is to taste some little bit of the suffering with which my presence burdens those who have the misfortune of encountering me. By taking their suffering upon myself, I relieve some the torment that I cause, and repay some of the intolerable debt of misery my pestilent existence has earned."


Most people, however, take a less extreme view of things.

While The Proud Savior and The Condemned Wretch types might present themselves in either vainglorious or austere or abrasive dress and lifestyle, most Empathic Martyrs are not so obvious to spot. Still, their faces tend to be more deeply lined from the pain, and it may seem as if they are never fully healthy. Sometimes, if they have been careless while using their gift, they may be seen to have red or yellow stains on their shirt-cuffs.


Version 1.0 [old]
{table=head] Level |
Minor |
Intermediate |
Major

1 | | | Born to Bleed
2 | | Born to Bleed | Glimmer of Redemption
3 | | | Con +1
4 | Born to Bleed | Glimmer of Redemption | Tough as Old Leather
5 | | | Care Affinity +2
6 | | Con +1 | The Soothing Touch
7 | | | Concentrate +2
8 | Glimmer of Redemption | Tough as Old Leather | My Brother's Pain
9 | | | Wis +1
10 | | Care Affinity +2 | Shake it off
11 | | | Care Affinity +4
12 | Con +1 | The Soothing Touch | The Hand of Comfort
13 | | | Heal +2
14 | | Concentrate +2 | The Broken One
15 | | | Cha +1
16 | Tough as Old Leather | My Brother's Pain | Resilient as Oak
17 | | | Care Affinity +6
18 | | Wis +1 | Shoulder the Burden
19 | | | Diplomacy +2
20 | Care Affinity +2 | Shake it off | Suffering Soul
[/table]

Stats: Con, Wis, Cha
An Empathic Martyr quickly becomes tougher, inured to the constant pain. Over time, he learns more about himself and the people around him, gaining insight into why people are as they are. In time, others begin to feel safe and trusting around this soul that has been purified by taking on the agonies of others.

Skills: Concentration, Heal, Diplomacy
An Empathic Martyr learns to tolerate the pinpricks in life (and sometimes the sledgehammers), he is able to ignore the clamoring of his senses and focus his mind on the task at hand. By his personal experiences of the many ways the body can break or suffer, he gains an empirical understanding of how to care for others. So also, he knows the stresses which others are trying to deal with, and how to reach past those stresses to the desired goal.

Affinity: with healers and those looking to ease their own suffering.
Those who give care recognize a fellow helper. Those who need care respond to one who can offer it.



(Lvl 1) Born to Bleed
May take hp damage from others by laying on of hands, [Con or Wis mod] hp/round.
[I know this is a change from the usual run, but for this particular bloodline, this was the only way. The rest of the bloodline follows the regular progression.]

(Lvl 2) Glimmer of Redemption
Takes on pain during the day and, in effect, sits vigil with at night, cleansing it through his witness to it and suffering of it. He has willingly taken it upon himself and experiences it, and it can be cleansed from the world. He is as if asleep during this time (can't be on watch, etc). As the vigil ends with the Sunrise, the Empathic Martyr may purge some of the damage which he has taken on from others. This only affects the damage or harm he has taken from others; damage or harm which he has suffered directly is not affected.
At 2nd lvl, the Empathic Martyr may purge [character lvl * 2] hp damage at sunrise.
At 9th lvl, the Empathic Martyr may purge [character level] diseases/poisons at sunrise.
At 15th lvl, the Empathic Martyr may step down ability damage or drain or burn, up to a total of [character level / 2] steps (burn -> drain -> damage -> nothing).
At 20th lvl, the Empathic Martyr may purge [character level / 4] negative levels at sunrise.

(lvl 4) Tough as Old Leather
The Risen Martyr is blessed with a faster healing rate than is typical. He heals hp at [1+ (character level /3)] x his otherwise expected rate.
[atm, this stacks with everything...is that a good idea?]

(lvl 6) The Soothing Touch
At 6th lvl, for every 6 pts of hp damage he takes from someone, he only suffers 4 pts of hp damage.
At 12th lvl, for every 6 pts of hp damage he takes from someone, he only suffers 2 pts of hp damage.
At 18th lvl, for every 6 pts of hp damage he takes from someone, he only suffers 1 pt of hp damage.

(lvl 8) My Brother's Pain
May take diseases/poisons/curses/status effects from others by laying on of hands, [Con or Wis mod / 2] ailments/round, min 0.

(lvl 10) Shake it off
The Empathic Martyr may reroll the original save when he first takes an ailment from another. He may continue to reroll the save every sunset and sunrise until he succeeds, is healed of or purges the ailment, or the ailment runs it course.

(lvl 12) The Hand of Comfort
At 12th lvl, he now suffers only 2/3 (min 1) of the ongoing damage or other negative effects of the ailments he has taken from someone.
At 18th lvl, he now suffers only 1/3 (min 1) of the ongoing damage or other negative effects of the ailments he has taken from someone.

(lvl 14) The Broken One
May take ability damage/drain/burn from others by laying on of hands, [Con or Wis mod / 4] pts/round, min 0.

(lvl 16) Resilient as Oak
The Empathic Martyr recovers from as much ability harm in 12 hrs as others of his level would recover in 24 hrs.

(lvl 18) Shoulder the Burden
Any ability burn he takes from someone now comes to him as ability drain. Any ability drain he takes from someone now comes to him as ability damage. Any ability damage he takes from someone now counts as only 1/2 what it was (no rounding, keep track of all fractions of ability damage till purge or heal).

(lvl 20) Suffering Soul
May take negative levels from other by laying on of hands, 1/min.
Note, the Martyr's character level calculation decreases with each negative level they suffer, and so their bloodline abilities correspondingly decrease. Before starting to use this ability, the Martyr may specify how many negative levels he will accept. As long as his character level at the start of the procedure is sufficient to use this ability, and so long as his use of this ability is not interrupted, he may take up to the # of negative levels that he specified despite his decreasing character level (to a min of character level 0, at which point death interrupts).

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I am going to redo this bloodline. The first version got no response, and to me this means it was just too blah for anyone to care.

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(Inspired first by "Gem" (http://www.startrek.com/database_article/gem) from an old Star Trek TOS episode. Next by the Empath (http://www.play.net/dr/info/guilds/empath.asp) in the DragonRealms MUD. Recently, my interest was reawakened when looking at some Heroic Paths for d20 Midnight.)

reddir
2012-05-22, 08:28 PM
I need some help on this one. I don't know how effective this Bloodline really is.

Should any of the abilities be stronger? (I suspect so)

Weaker?


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Also, right now the class is based on Con. I am thinking of letting the player decide whether it should be based on Con or Wis, or just saying that the higher of the two applies for any given use of an ability.

Thoughts?

reddir
2012-05-24, 12:26 AM
No one has any opinion on this?