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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Class The more important it is to others, the more it's worth to steal. [3.5, Mythos, WIP]



Sgt. Cookie
2014-09-06, 09:52 PM
The Epithymia

http://i.imgur.com/QJo8x0J.png

"This Thief is the absolute best there is. He is faceless, he could be anyone. No one has ever gotten a fingerprint, a footprint, not even a whiff of him. Even the Keepers are oblivious to him. He carries out his work with meticulous detail, leaves no evidence at all that he was there. He has quite a large self image but cares nothing about gaining a reputation. In fact, he wants to remain anonymous. But at the same time, he enters a mission with a heightened sense of paranoia. Nothing can go wrong, he will settle for no error or slip ups in his execution of the job. He is a Paranoid Perfectionist while working, nothing out of place or amiss when he is finished. Not even the Allusion of a Thought in anyone's mind that he was there. He is also discriminating. Some missions he might not take because he might leave a trail, clue or hint of something. People are wondering how these things happen or get stolen and who is doing it and how. But no one knows anything or has a clue."

In the time of the Gods of Law, The Sun rose and birthed the first day. The Sun reigned, unchallenged, as the Stars appeared. The first, lost to time, passed by. The second, Harmony, created all the Gods. The third, Erudition, became knowledge itself. And the fourth, End, brought the first night. Revealed the Moon and brought darkness to existence. But in that darkness, there was... something. It was not a star, called by the light of the sun. It was not a God of Law, unseen and unheard. It was anguish, loss. Its birth-scream one of longing, of grief.

Of Desire.

The loss of the Sun caused a thought to appear. It was, at first, meaningless. Barely more than an incoherent whisper with nothing but darkness and the Moon. But the darkness soon coalesced around that thought, amplifying it, adding a voice. The whisper grow louder, more comprehensible until the darkness could contain it no longer. Its anguished sound shocking the thought into self awareness, at first, and then horror soon after. "I want the Sun!" it cried, but as soon as Desire made his demand, he realised what he had done. He had given an order to the Sun.

Before it could respond, Desire fled. He ran and hid and hoped he was beyond the Sun's reach. On the Second day, the Sun rose and heard Desire's demand, but found only an echo of grief. Oblivious to the thing it had unwittingly created. It spent the second day existing. It's brilliance brightening the sky. But the bodiless demand unsettled him. And so on the second night, he told the stars to wait. To be a beacon when the Sun could not. But their light was weak. No matter how brightly they shone or how many was among their number, darkness still reigned supreme.

But for Desire, it was a gift beyond measure. His demand of the Sun made him wary. When darkness fell, he was started at the sky, but was soon calm. The light was not the Sun, it was something... else. Desire did not know what they were, only that he wanted them. And so he left his hiding place and went to the stars he saw. They were not the Sun, no, they were lesser beings. But they still held a light and Desire very much wanted light. So he stole some Stars. He stole and stole and stole until the Sun approached and Desire returned to his secret place.

When the Sun arrived, fully, he saw that some Stars were gone and he did not know where. The Sun questioned the Moon, but she saw nothing. He questioned the rest of the stars, all of them, but none saw anything. Their brethren were there but then they were not. Desire, in his hiding place, looked upon "his" stars. But he found them lacking. Individually, they were nothing but together, they were brighter. Much, much brighter. But together, they still paled in comparison to the Sun. But he wanted more, ever more, until he had a light as bright as the Sun. And so he waited, until night fell once more and he could, unseen and unknown, take the Stars to create for himself a new sun. All his own.

And such is his Legacy, The Epithymia. They walk the earth, coveting all they see. Wealth, gold, jewels, they take it all. But they are not without allies. Darkness, anonymity and stealth. They take and steal and want, with only what has been lost proving that they exist at all.




The Thief's Mythos: An Epithymia's power is expressed in terms of one or more "Mythos", the building blocks of the legend they are, and the stories that they have told and will tell. While any given Mythos differs from the rest, they share some similar traits. They are always Extraordinary abilities and when they reference a difficulty class that saving throw is always calculated as (10 + 1/2 class level + Charisma modifier, unless otherwise stated). When a Mythos mentions a "level" that is not clearly defined in some other way, such as "character level", it refers to "class level" as in the number of levels one has in the Epithymia class. When a Mythos references "allies", it specifically does not refer to the Epithymia using it. When a Mythos grants a feat as a bonus feat, it is regardless of whether the character meets the prerequisites for that feat (unless otherwise stated), and if the character already possesses that feat (in some permanent fashion - via the normal allotment gained by leveling up, or through another Mythos, and so on, but not those gained temporarily, such as via a "Heroics" spell), they must replace the prior instance of that feat with another feat that they qualify for. Some Mythos grant bonus skill tricks, which do not "use up" the slots normally allotted to a character nor do they cost skill points. Additionally, these bonus skill tricks can be used an unlimited number of times, rather than once per encounter.

Every Mythos has a Tier. The Tier of a Mythos ranges from 1 to 4, typically referred to as Exceptional, Fantastic, Legendary, and Exalted. Exceptional Mythos are the stories of skilled footpads who stalk the halls of the well-to-do in search of loot. Fantastic Mythos are the stories of the silk touch specialists who can open any lock and take any item. Legendary Mythos tell of those who see thievery as a performance, playing for the silent applause of treasure taken without any knowledge of his passing. Exalted Mythos are of Thieves who have become true heirs of Desire who move hidden, unseen, unknown and unremembered. Just the way they like

Some Mythos, in addition to their initial stated effect, have Basic and Advanced manifestations. When an Epithymia gains access to a Mythos with a list of Basic manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit immediately as well. This choice may not be changed later. When an Epithymia gains access to a Mythos with a list of Advanced manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit upon achieving their next level of Epithymia. This choice may be changed at any point before receiving the chosen manifestation itself, but not after (choosing beforehand is just an easy way to mark it down on your character sheet so you don't forget that you'll be getting something later).

Mythos Known: A 1st level Epithymia begins play with two Exceptional Mythos that he qualifies for, if this is his first level in a PC class. At higher levels he gains additional Mythos as noted on the Epithymia table.

For character that multiclass into Epithymia after having taken levels in another PC character class, the 1st level of Epithymia grants one Mythos, rather than two.

An Epithymia also has the ability to learn more Mythos, above the ones automatically allotted to him by stealing something and simply... discarding it. Whenever the Epithymia steals something, he can, if he so desires, to simply get rid of the item at no mechanical benefit to him. This could be something as simple as throwing a gemstone that you no longer covet into the dirt, never to see it again or you could sell off the stolen item and donate the proceeds to an orphanage or something. Hell, stealing something and then [I]putting it back would also count. Whatever, as long as the item (or the proceeds thereof) is lost in some manner, with the intention that you will never try to reclaim it. Because if you didn't want it then, why would you want it now?

If you choose to do this, then the item's Gold Piece value is recouped to you as an equal number of Mythos Points.

By spending 1,000 Mythos Points, and 250xp, he may learn an Exceptional Mythos. A Fantastic Mythos requires 5,000 Mythos Points and 500xp. A Legendary Mythos takes 10,000 Mythos Points, and 1,000xp. And an Exalted Mythos takes 20,000 Mythos Points and 2,000xp.

Learning Mythos above the standard amount requires astounding, nearly single-minded devotion to the story of the Epithymia. An Epithymia may only utilize this ability while more than half of his effective character level (ECL) is devoted to levels in the Epithymia class.

Excellence Unseen: As denoted on their class table, an Epithymia gains a certain number of abilities known as "Excellencies". These tend to be more general, generic, and passive than a Mythos, but are useful nonetheless, and are drawn from their own separate list, unsegregated by Tiers. Like a Mythos, an Epithymia may learn more Excellencies above their allotted amount. Each one costs 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp, plus an additional 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp for each time a new Excellency is innovated beyond the first. (So, 2,000mp and 200xp for the second, 3,000mp and 300xp for the third, etc.)

Sgt. Cookie
2014-09-06, 09:53 PM
Sun Escaping Shadow Walk

Before the age of creation, the Sun shone eternal. Brightening almost every corner. Almost, being Desire's greatest ally. In his paranoia, Desire sought all those places were the Rebel Dawn did not touch and learned to move from shadow to shadow, under the light of the sun.

You gain Darkstalker (LoM) and Lightfeet (RotW) as Bonus Feats. You also gain the Slipping Past and Shrouded Dance Skilltricks as Bonus Skilltricks.

Traversing The Paths Unknown

You gain Roofwalker as a Bonus Feat.

Basic:

Urban Pathway Epiphany: You gain Agile Athlete (RotW) and Leap of the Heavens (PhB2) as Bonus Feats.

Clamber upon statues: You gain Steady Mountaineer (RoS) as a Bonus Feat. You also gain the Extreme Leap, Speedy Ascent and Leaping Climber skilltricks as Bonus Skilltricks.

Sgt. Cookie
2014-09-06, 09:55 PM
Reserved for Fantastic Mythos.

Sgt. Cookie
2014-09-06, 09:57 PM
Phantom Echo of Avarice
Prerequisites: -

When you take this Mythos, you disappear from history. Your name, face and deeds performed vanish not only from memory, but from all places. Letters with your true name, paintings (or other images) of you or tapestries representing your deeds become damaged, irrevocably lost or otherwise rendered unrecognisable. Your "Truename" (As per ToM) does not cease to be, but "changes" to be little more than a vague sound, making it impossible to use it to identify you (But that doesn't stop people who are right in front of you from affecting you with Truenaming. Their mind just doesn't make the link between that sound and you if they're not looking at you).

The exception to all of this, of course, are acts of thievery. Although they will forgot "who" did it, no one's going to forget that the Emperor's grand safe had been opened and the crown jewels had been taken, for example. You will be forgotten, but remembered by what you stole.

This does not only affect the past, but the future as well. People who see you will forget you existed, depending on your level of contact. A guard who caught sight of you for a few moments is going to forget you were ever there almost as soon as you turn the corner. But a man you've viscously tortured for several days is going to be able to describe you. In VERY general terms, of course (Such as, "man", "short hair" and "pale skin".). Family members (Or other people YOU tell your true name to, such as fellow Party Members) will still be able to recognise you.

This ability is also useful in a fight (As hinted at above). Enemies who are not actively focused on you* "forget" you're there. This is effectively Total Concealment, except that your enemies cannot purposefully attack random squares in an attempt to find you. AoE's targeted at others can still hit you (You are physically there, after all), but you still get the benefits of the Miss Chance. This is not "true" concealment so you cannot use it to make Hide Checks.

Your opponents still "know" that you're there they just don't know where, unless they're looking at you. As such, combat won't end as soon as attention is shifted from you, they do remember enough to try and find you. Once an opponent has lost track of you, it must spend a Standard Action to try to "find" you again, provided that they are able to focus on you. If an opponent cannot find you after 1d3+1 turns, then if forgets you exist at all.

*This includes, but is not limited to: Not having Line of Sight to you, engaging in Melee combat with someone else, making a Ranged attack or casting a Single Target Spell against someone else and all Standard and Full Round actions that provoke AoOs that are not targeted at you.

Sgt. Cookie
2014-09-06, 09:58 PM
Once more for Exalted Mythos.

Sgt. Cookie
2014-09-06, 09:59 PM
Sifting Through the Horde
Prerequisites: -

When looking at an object you instinctively know it's rough GP value to it's largest, closest integer. For example, if you were looking at an object worth 12,300 GP, you would know it was worth roughly 10,000 GP. An item that was worth 192,500 GP would ping as being worth around 200,000 GP. You are still well aware that this is a rough estimate, so Appraise checks will still be required to find out it's actual value.

This ability functions on objects you've never seen before, an object someone is trying to deceive you into believing is more valuable (A green glass bauble, for example, would ping as being almost worthless despite how much you believe it to be an Emerald), illusionary treasure (Wouldn't even ping)* or other such objects.

Additionally, when looking at a large "chunk" of treasure (Such as a Dragon's Horde or a large, well filled vault) you instinctively gravitate towards the most valuable portions, even if you can't physically see the valuables.

This ability assumes that the Epithymia primarily deals in Gold Pieces, but if you find yourself in a place that uses something else as currency (Such as a lower plane that deals in Souls), your instincts acclimatise to this alternate currency after 24 Hours.

*You are treated as if you were "Interacting" with the Illusionary Object, but your inability to gauge any kind of value at all is often proof enough that an object is an illusion. Illusions of creatures (And even some large, low value objects such as an Illusionary wall) are not "Interacted" with, as the creature (or large object) would not "have" a value even if it were real.