Primal Fury
2015-09-24, 07:11 PM
NEW TEMPLATE: Changeling
We have all heard the stories; on the night of the hunter's moon, they descend from the sky riding steeds born from pitch black clouds. They are faeries most foul, deriving sadistic pleasure from the suffering they inflict. They are the Wild Hunt. They come to take mortals, both young and old, from their beds, leaving fetches in their place. The families of these victims sometimes go their whole lives without noticing their loved one is some twisted construct of glamour and gossamer.
Those that were taken are never heard from again, for they will serve in the faerie court until the end of their days. They can be both warriors and consorts, as well as everything in between, though one thing remains constant: they are slaves. A lucky few manage to escape, though they do so into a world they does not recognize them.
In the hands of the fae, these unlucky mortals become changelings. Their capricious masters warp and twist their flesh, minds, and their very souls like clay, turning them into idealized versions of what they believe mortals should be, that is, more fae. They are more lithe, more beautiful, and more perfect in every way; but this perfection alienates them, making it all but impossible for their families to recognize them, even after their doppelgangers are disposed of.
"Changeling" is an acquired template that can be added to any living corporeal Giant, Humanoid, or Monstrous Humanoid with a soul, and Intelligence of 3 or higher.
Special Qualities
A Changeling has all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the following special qualities.
Faerie Tampering: The meddling of the fey has opened the changeling's soul to the natural world around them, allowing the power of the Omphalos to seep in. They gain a single Exceptional Mythos from those available to a Mythic Changeling (see below), even if they are in no other way an inheritor of mythic power. The saving throw DC for that Mythos is calculated as (10 + 1/2 your character level + your highest ability score modifier), and your class level for that Mythos is equal to your character level.
Inured to Deceit: The changeling gains a +3 bonus to all Sense Motive checks; this bonus increases by +1 for each Changeling mythos they possess.
No Time For Chicanery: The changeling gains a +3 bonus to Will saves against enchantment and illusion effects; this bonus increases by +1 for each Changeling mythos they possess.
Fetching Doppelganger: Upon being snatched up by the Wild Hunt, the soon-to-be changeling has a piece of their soul torn out to craft their replacement: the fetch. Fetches are, in all ways, identical to the original, down their memories, obviating the need for rolls to disguise themselves as the changeling. Because of the changes made to them, the changelings must make Disguise checks to pass as themselves, though only against those who knew of them before their abduction; they take a -10 penalty if the target knows the fetch, and a -20 if the fetch is present.
The changeling and fetch are always aware of the general direction and location of their counterpart, even across planar barriers.
Successfully scoring the killing blow on one's own fetch grants the changeling enough experience points to level up immediately; by the same token, if the fetch successfully dispatches the changeling, they gain a level. If it bares mentioning, they also gain ownership, both actual and metaphysical, of all their possessions.
Regardless of the changeling's chosen profession, the fetch is always, in some way, diametrically opposed to it. For example, if they take levels in the wizard class, the fetch might take levels in the warblade class, preferring actual skill over magical trickery. If they were to take levels in Teramach, the fetch might take levels in Kathados, offsetting their incomparable rage with absolute serenity. If the changeling is an Anthol, then the fetch must also be an Anthol; this must be done on a one-to-one basis (that is to say, each Anthol level from the changeling must be matched by an Anthol level from the fetch).
Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2
Level Adjustment:
+1
NEW FEAT: Sundering The Cerulean Fetters
Prerequisite: Changeling, One Mythos
Benefit: The thin strand of soul-stuff that was once your leash has become the vein through which you drink in the essence of the world; having finally earned your freedom, you are consumed with a singular goal: take back your old life. Unfortunately, your fetch will not give it up without a fight.
Choose one Mythos-granting class that you have levels in. You may treat the following mythos as if they belonged to that class.
Upon taking this feat, you gain one point of Essentia; each Changeling mythos you possess grants you an additional point of Essentia.
Additionally, immediately upon taking this feat, your fetch gains 'Multifaceted Duplicate Legacy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?443061-3-5-Mythos-quot-You-Look-In-The-Mirror-But-Someone-Else-Looks-Back-quot)' as a bonus feat. Whichever kills the other, they gain Broken [Mythic Patron] Amalgam as a bonus feat for their counterpart's mythic patron. If they know at least one Fantastic Mythos, they also gain the appropriate [Mythic Patron] Anthology Conflux as a bonus feat, as well as one Exceptional mythos they knew. Finally, if they have at least one Legendary Mythos, they gain the appropriate [Mythic Patron] Essense Analect as a bonus feat, as well as one Fantastic mythos they knew.
Exceptional Mythos
A Serf Among Warring Monarchs
Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Knowledge (Nobility)
All the time you've spent playing along with the games of the fey has taught you a few things about monarchies; chief among these techniques is how to go unnoticed in the midst of a conflict that does not concern you.
In the midst of combat, you gain a bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks (or Stealth checks in Pathfinder) equal to half your ranks in Knowledge (Nobility) (minimum 1). So long as you have not attacked anyone during this combat encounter, you may Hide In Plain Sight. While successfully hidden, you may move freely, so long as you take no actions to either harm one side of a conflict or aid the other.
Advanced
A Knife In The King's Back: Once per encounter, you may use the Sneak Attack ability of the rogue, gaining 2d6 dice of additional damage for each tier of mythos you have access to.
Vizier's Wicked Lies (4 ranks in Bluff): By succeeding on a Bluff check against an adjacent creature, opposed by their Sense Motive check, you may direct them to attack a specific enemy; against this foe, they gain +2 to attack and damage rolls for each tier of mythos you have access to, but an equal penalty to attacks from them. If you beat their check by 10 or more, you may direct them to attack one of their allies instead.
Blossoming Incarnum Inheritance
Prerequisite: -
The fey were much more concerned with altering your appearance when they took you, so much so that they cut corners during the alteration of your soul, leaving it partially exposed... and very malleable.
Your Meldshaper level becomes equal to your class level, to a maximum of 6. Your Crown Chakra opens. You gain 2 Essentia. You may shape a single Soulmeld per day, drawn from the following list: Beast Tamer Circlet, Crystal Helm, Diadem of Purelight, Enigma Helm.
With further meditation, requiring a Meldshaper level of at least 3, you may broaden your enlightenment. By meditating for an hour and paying 500 Mythos Points and 125xp, you may open your Feet Chakra, gain +1 Essentia, and the following soulmelds to your list: Acrobat Boots, Airstep Sandals, Cerulean Sandals, Impulse Boots.
A second session of meditation, requiring a Meldshaper level of at least 6, with the same time and cost as the first, will open your Hands Chakra, give you another point of Essentia, allow your to craft and maintain a second Soulmeld, maintain a single Chakra Bind, and add the following soulmelds to your list: Lighting Gauntlets, Rageclaws, Sighting Gloves, Theft Gloves.
If A Man Hath Eyes...
Prerequisite: -
Constantly being exposed to the mind-warping magic of the fey has formed your mind into a bastion of nearly unassailable willpower. One would need such mental fortitude to escape the clutches of the fey; many an escapee found themselves imprisoned once more after falling prey to their master's tricks.
You no longer need to interact with an illusion in order to disbelieve it, allowing you to do so as soon as you are able to see it, and are within 60 ft of it; in this case, however, the DM rolls the saving throw secretly rather than the player themselves.
Additionally, once per day per tier of mythos you have access to, you may completely negate an effect that is, in some way, hindering your eyesight. It must be noted that this does not end the effect, merely negating the effect that it has on you. In order to use this ability, you must possess at least one functioning eye.
Finally, you gain Low-Light Vision, if you did not have it already.
Basic
Eyes In The Hedge: You gain Eyes To The Sky as a bonus feat; you may commit Essentia to this ability, extending the range by 10 ft per point spent.
They See What They Want To See: You gain False Pretenses as a bonus feat.
Advanced
Snap Out Of It!: A number of times per day equal to the number of tiers of mythos you have access to, you may take a move action to provide an adjacent ally suffering from an ongoing mind-affecting ability; they take an immediate action to attempt the new save, and gain a bonus to it equal to your Charisma modifier.
Reliving Glamorous Traumas: You gain Live My Nightmare as a bonus feat, changing the DCs to (10 + Charisma Modifier + Class Level/2). If you know the 'Eyes In The Hedge' manifestation, and know at least one Legendary mythos, you may send your phantasmal killer through the magical sensor.
Meditating On The Elements
Prerequisite: -
The construction of your fetch required many materials, mostly pieces of your soul; to make your more like them, your masters graced this new emptiness inside you with pieces of themselves. It did not occur to them however that, from a mortal's perspective, these pieces might be entirely indistinguishable from air and dirt.
With intense focus and meditation on a particular element, you may voluntarily create an imbalance within your mental state, erring towards one element in particular. This requires only 10 minutes of concentration, but lasts for 24 hours. You cannot meditate to create a new imbalance until the previous one has already run its course.
Fire is intense, uncompromising, passionate, frenetic, confident, and ambitious. Like a suddenly ignited flame, while you are imbalanced towards fire, you may spend a swift action to go into a Rage* for 5 minutes. While in this Rage, you add your intelligence modifier to all melee damage rolls, and have access to the effects of the Power Attack feat, as if you possessed it. If you already have the Power Attack feat, all melee attacks you make are considered to be with a two-handed weapon, adding twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls as damage, and you may even Power Attack with light weapons.
Air is distant, detached, pensive, diligent, flexible, and adaptive. While you are imbalanced towards air, you are trained in all skills, and you are considered to have (1/2 class level) ranks in all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma based skills that you normally have fewer ranks in.
Water is graceful, deceptive, reactive, methodical, fluid, and ever-changing. While you are imbalanced towards water, taking a Delay action does not reduce your initiative count to the count in which you act after the Delay. Instead, on the following round, you initiative count is reduced by 4. (For example, if your initiative count is 18, and you Delay to act on count 11, the next round you would act on count 14, rather than 11. Although you are free to Delay again if you wish.) In addition, taking a readied action does not change your initiative count. When you Ready an action, you may either Ready two different responses (which must both require the same kind of action) to a single trigger, then choose between the two responses when the specified trigger happens, or you may specify two different triggers for your readied action, and take your readied action in response to either happening (though you may still only take your readied action once).
Earth is stubborn, slow, massive, implacable, unmoveable, and unstoppable. While you are imbalanced towards earth, you gain a +4 bonus on the opposed roll to resist being bull rushed, overrun, tripped, disarmed, or grappled. In addition, you have access to the effects of the Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, Improved Trip, Improved Disarm, and Improved Grapple feats, as if you possessed them if you do not already.
*Rage Effects
The effected character may not show any manner of restraint in their attacks (for example, they may not voluntarily deal nonlethal damage if there is a suitable lethal method available, or purposefully pull their punches to deal less damage). They may not voluntarily perform movement that would take them farther away from all of their enemies (they may switch targets, but not forsake all of them). If a foe is dropped unconscious, and there are other dangers afoot, they may focus on those other dangers, but if there are no other enemies, dangers, or pressing concerns, they must attempt to kill fallen enemies. Any creature that strikes them (even if that creature is under some kind of outside influence) is considered an enemy (and cannot be considered an ally, obviously) for the duration of the Rage.
A Raging character takes a -4 penalty on all skill checks (other than Balance, Climb, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Tumble checks), and ranged attack rolls (except with thrown weapons), and cannot cast spells, manifest psionic powers, or utilize Truenaming or Shadow Magic (Binding, Incarnum, and Invocations are fine).
Creating these imbalances within yourself alters your appearance, essentially making you appear as a Gensai of the appropriate element, and granting you a +10 bonus on Disguise checks meant to pass as one.
Fantastic Mythos
Omni-Capable Courtier-Slave Discipline
Prerequisite: The 'Blossoming Incarnum Inheritance' mythos, Must complete the enlightenment ritual twice
The changelings were forced to adapt quickly to the ever-shifting demands of their faerie masters; in the blink of an eye, one might make the transition from consort to warrior, often so seamlessly the changeling couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
You gain the ability to bind an Archetypal Soulmeld (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?192424-Archetype-Soulmelds-3-5) of your choice. In addition to their base effects, each of these soulmelds provides a bonus to certain skills, detailed below.
Soulmeld
Skill Bonuses
Champion Plate
Intimidate, Perform, Ride
Guardian's Gauntlets
Heal, Search, Sense Motive
Necroweaver Wreathe
Decipher Script, Hide, Move Silently
Soulweaver Cloak
Concentration, Disguise, Profession
Spellseeker Gloves
Knowledge (All), Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
Verdant Cape
Handle Animal, Survival, Swim
Vestige Chains
Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information
You gain a +2 bonus to each listed skill equal to the amount of Essentia you invest in the soulmeld.
Basic
Internalization Of Folklore And Myth: You gain knowledge of an additional Archetypal Soulmeld. You may purchase this manifestation multiple times, gaining a new Archetypal Soulmeld with each purchase.
Advanced
Soul-Crack Expansion: You gain Open Lesser Chakra as a bonus feat. You may purchase up to three times, each time choosing a different chakra to open.
Bonfire Of The Anima (Requires three purchases of the 'Soul-Crack Expansion' manifestation): You gain Open Greater Chakra as a bonus feat. You may purchase this manifestation again after you learn your first Legendary mythos, choosing the other chakra.
Steam-And-Dust Showdown
Prerequisite: One other mythos granted by the 'Sundering The Cerulean Fetters' feat
The only way to survive in the land of the fey was to play along with their sometimes ridiculous, and sometimes deadly games. It was considered to be in poor taste to actually best your masters while they were enjoying their sport; such tactless slaves were rarely seen again after their short-lived victory. As perilous as it is, a lucky few have earned their freedom by beating their former captors at their own game.
As a full-round action, you may issue a challenge to one target that can see and hear you. The target must be made explicitly aware that the challenge is a one-on-one conflict, if they are not already familiar with the arrangement, and you must offer stakes. These stakes can be negotiated before both parties accept. Once both parties accept, all stakes are final for the current showdown. If a character accepts against their will due to magical persuasion, the fact that they are being unnaturally compelled becomes evident to any who can see and hear them, and the showdown does not initiate.
While any stakes may be set, only the following ones are enforced by the showdown in any real way. Both participants are aware of the metaphysical significance of these stakes.
-Ownership of magical items. The participants may specify whether or not the item(s) being fought over may be used in the showdown itself. At the conclusion of a showdown where an item is at stake, the winner is left holding the item, and the defeated loses the ability to use the item for a year and a day, or until he wins back ownership of the item in another showdown. To the loser, not only do none of the item's magical properties function for them, but merely carrying it voluntarily imposes a -1 penalty on all d20 rolls, and if it is a weapon or a suit of armor, they treat the item as if they were not proficient with it.
-Services rendered. The participants specify a particular course of action that they wish the other to take, and the loser is bound to perform that course of action. The showdown enforces the spirit of the agreement, not the letter, so it is largely impossible to trick someone into agreeing to something they didn't intend to with clever wordplay. Once someone is bound to perform the specified duty, they will do so, to the best of their ability, without attempting to directly subvert their agreement, although they need not enjoy doing so. The only way to release a loser from their duty before its completion is for the loser, or someone acting on his behalf, to defeat the winner of the showdown that bound them, in another showdown, with the specified stakes of nullified the loser's service.
-Power. The participants may stake some amount of their own power, to be given to the winner. In a showdown between two Mythos-using characters, Mythos Points may be staked. Otherwise, a Mythos-user may stake the use of one of his Mythos, of a tier at least one lower than his maximum. In the case of a loss, they lose access to the offered Mythos, and the winner acquires it for however long the participants agreed upon. The recipient must meet the prerequisites of the offered Mythos, and the Mythos-user cannot stake a Mythos on a showdown if they are already missing one via another showdown. Invocation users may stake their Invocations, in the same way that a Mythos-user stakes a Mythos. A spellcaster may stake their spells. Prepared casters must stake spells they have currently prepared. If the chosen spells have expensive material components, they must be supplied as well. If the spellcaster loses, they lose access to the chosen spells, and cannot prepare more spells in the lost spell slots until the winner has used the spell from that slot. Expensive material components are consumed into the power of the spells as they are transfered to the winner. The winner may use the transfered spells as spell-like abilities, calculating the DC, caster level, range, and other statistics as if they were cast by the spellcaster at the time they lost the showdown. Spontaneous spellcasters work the same way, except that they stake a certain number of uses of specific spells that they know, and lose that many spells per day of the appropriate level, and cannot regain them until the winner uses up that energy. Divine spellcasters are morally responsible for how their spells are used by the winner, as they are choosing to broker the power of their deity or ideal, in the good faith that it will not be subverted. Incarnum users may stake specific soulmelds that they currently have shaped, with however much essentia is in them at the time of the showdown. Should they lose, they cannot shape the same soulmeld for the duration of the stakes, and their number of soulmelds per day is lowered by the number of soulmelds they lost in the gamble, until such time as the agreed upon duration elapses. Their essentia is likewise reduced. The winner cannot bind a won souldmeld to a chakra or shift its invested essentia unless they could already, although they may have more essentia invested in a won soulmeld than they could otherwise, based on the loser's essentia capacity. A Binder may stake one of their bound Vestiges. If they lose, they can bind one less Vestige than usual until the agreed upon duration elapses, and cannot bind the lost Vestige. The winner is automatically considered to have made a bad pact with the Vestige, but otherwise has access to all of its abilities, using the loser's Binder level to determine the Vestige's effectiveness, for the duration.
Stakes need not be symmetrical. A wizard can bet three Wishes against a vampire's ownership over the Sword of Kas, or two adventurers can wager ownership over the same +1 Dagger they just found in a raided tomb, or a Binder can bet 8 hours of Ashardalon's service against 24 hours of a Teramach's All-Consuming Rampage Release. And so on.
Once stakes are nailed down, and unanimously agreed upon, the showdown begins. Both participants are transported into a pocket world within the roiling nexus of the Omphalos itself; this is a Teleportation effect if used outside the Prime Material Plane. Here, the elements shift and intertwine, forming a bizarre and unique conflux of shapes and occurences for the showdown to come. This space is habitable for all kinds of creatures, allowing, for instance, air-breathing creatures and water-breathing creatures to compete together.
Randomly choose five skills (feel free to omit, for instance, Autohypnosis in a game without psionics, Martial Lore in a game without the Tome of Battle, etc). The challenge's nature is determined by these skills, and the form that it takes should be at least vaguely outlined. For example, a Jump/Diplomacy/Spellcraft/Climb/Hide showdown might be a race through a series of floating ruins. Traversing the ruins requires Jump and Climb, while the roaming ruin guards must be avoided (Hide) or reasoned with (Diplomacy). Spellcraft deciphers arcane ruins that denote shortcuts for gaining an advantage over a more straightforward adversary.
Each round, both participants simultaneously make a skill check of their choice, chosen from the five skills, to represent progressing through the challenge. No other actions may be taken; not even free ones, except to talk. Participants gain a +2 bonus on their skill check for each other skill they've used during a single challenge, to a maximum of +8 on a check if they've already used all four other skills. The challenge ends once one participant has reached a certain combined total of skill checks, and been declared the victor. The total required is set by the group challenge-to-challenge, based on how long they want to draw things out, but 100 is a good starting point for low level characters.
Once a victor has been decided, the stakes are resolved, and the participants are transported to the nearest safe space to the point where they entered. The Omphalos won't allow the sanctity of its challenge to be sullied by transporting a challenger back into, for example, a cage his foes have placed at the point where he disappeared, or inside of a Cloudkill, or similar. Participants reappear as they were when they entered; wounds, objects, and such that were narratively acquired as part of the skill challenge do not carry over.
This mythos functions somewhat differently when used to challenge one's own fetch; universally, the competitors' very being is on the line, and this is made evident to both as soon as the gauntlet has been thrown down. Whichever side wins the challenge, the cost is exacted immediately, unraveling the loser and weaving their essence into the victor's. For all intents and purposes, they have been "killed" granting them the benefits of ending their counterpart's life as outlined in the 'Fetching Doppelganger' ability and the 'Sundering The Cerulean Fetters' feat.
Legendary Mythos
Accept No Substitutes
Prerequisites: Two mythos granted by the 'Sundering The Cerulean Leash' feat
It is a curious thing to see one who shares your face; in most cases, this is simply a ruse, either mundane or magical, allowing for some sort of compartmentalization, but the situation changes when they essentially ARE you. Having fought against liars and charlatans so hard for so long, you've finally developed the narrative clout to look upon illusions, face-thieves, and all other manner of countenance-stealing trickery, and simply say "No."
Upon learning this mythos, you are under the effect of a permanent True Seeing effect. Additionally, you know, at a glance, whether or not creatures you gaze upon are the "original"; this means that, regardless of how high quality the cloning equipment, magic, or divine power used to create them, you can tell the difference between the fakes and originals.
Against the abilities of what will hereafter be referred to as "counterfeit creatures," you gain a bonus to all saving throws, AC, and attack rolls equal to half your class level. You also gain a 1d8 bonus to damage rolls against them for each tier of mythos you have access to.
The effects of this mythos increase exponentially after you've dispatched your fetch, and become whole once more. Your authority on what is or isn't in the face of counterfeit creatures is so powerful, so self assured, that their attempts to impede you are as fake as their identity. As a free action, you can choose to ignore any duplications or creatures masquerading as what it is not. Druids Wild Shaped into mighty beasts, Simulacrum's of Red Dragons, or even simple bards Change Self'd to the guise of a mayor all fall into this category. Ignoring a creature is as simple as denying it's claim to its power. Attacks, Spells, Supernatural or Extraordinary Abilities, Maneuvers, Invocations, Mythos, all wash over you with the force of a gentle breeze, if even that. Note that this is a True Immunity, and any effect that would pierce your invulnerability is ignored. If a wizard's clone can effect creatures even through immunity to magic, it still does not effect you. If a Teramach Ice Assassin possesses the "Obstreperous Shell-Cracking Mien" excellency, you are still immune to the effects. There is no saving throw, ability check, spell resistance, anything. The effect simply fails to effect you, no exceptions.
We have all heard the stories; on the night of the hunter's moon, they descend from the sky riding steeds born from pitch black clouds. They are faeries most foul, deriving sadistic pleasure from the suffering they inflict. They are the Wild Hunt. They come to take mortals, both young and old, from their beds, leaving fetches in their place. The families of these victims sometimes go their whole lives without noticing their loved one is some twisted construct of glamour and gossamer.
Those that were taken are never heard from again, for they will serve in the faerie court until the end of their days. They can be both warriors and consorts, as well as everything in between, though one thing remains constant: they are slaves. A lucky few manage to escape, though they do so into a world they does not recognize them.
In the hands of the fae, these unlucky mortals become changelings. Their capricious masters warp and twist their flesh, minds, and their very souls like clay, turning them into idealized versions of what they believe mortals should be, that is, more fae. They are more lithe, more beautiful, and more perfect in every way; but this perfection alienates them, making it all but impossible for their families to recognize them, even after their doppelgangers are disposed of.
"Changeling" is an acquired template that can be added to any living corporeal Giant, Humanoid, or Monstrous Humanoid with a soul, and Intelligence of 3 or higher.
Special Qualities
A Changeling has all the special qualities of the base creature and gains the following special qualities.
Faerie Tampering: The meddling of the fey has opened the changeling's soul to the natural world around them, allowing the power of the Omphalos to seep in. They gain a single Exceptional Mythos from those available to a Mythic Changeling (see below), even if they are in no other way an inheritor of mythic power. The saving throw DC for that Mythos is calculated as (10 + 1/2 your character level + your highest ability score modifier), and your class level for that Mythos is equal to your character level.
Inured to Deceit: The changeling gains a +3 bonus to all Sense Motive checks; this bonus increases by +1 for each Changeling mythos they possess.
No Time For Chicanery: The changeling gains a +3 bonus to Will saves against enchantment and illusion effects; this bonus increases by +1 for each Changeling mythos they possess.
Fetching Doppelganger: Upon being snatched up by the Wild Hunt, the soon-to-be changeling has a piece of their soul torn out to craft their replacement: the fetch. Fetches are, in all ways, identical to the original, down their memories, obviating the need for rolls to disguise themselves as the changeling. Because of the changes made to them, the changelings must make Disguise checks to pass as themselves, though only against those who knew of them before their abduction; they take a -10 penalty if the target knows the fetch, and a -20 if the fetch is present.
The changeling and fetch are always aware of the general direction and location of their counterpart, even across planar barriers.
Successfully scoring the killing blow on one's own fetch grants the changeling enough experience points to level up immediately; by the same token, if the fetch successfully dispatches the changeling, they gain a level. If it bares mentioning, they also gain ownership, both actual and metaphysical, of all their possessions.
Regardless of the changeling's chosen profession, the fetch is always, in some way, diametrically opposed to it. For example, if they take levels in the wizard class, the fetch might take levels in the warblade class, preferring actual skill over magical trickery. If they were to take levels in Teramach, the fetch might take levels in Kathados, offsetting their incomparable rage with absolute serenity. If the changeling is an Anthol, then the fetch must also be an Anthol; this must be done on a one-to-one basis (that is to say, each Anthol level from the changeling must be matched by an Anthol level from the fetch).
Abilities
Increase from the base creature as follows: Str +2, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2
Level Adjustment:
+1
NEW FEAT: Sundering The Cerulean Fetters
Prerequisite: Changeling, One Mythos
Benefit: The thin strand of soul-stuff that was once your leash has become the vein through which you drink in the essence of the world; having finally earned your freedom, you are consumed with a singular goal: take back your old life. Unfortunately, your fetch will not give it up without a fight.
Choose one Mythos-granting class that you have levels in. You may treat the following mythos as if they belonged to that class.
Upon taking this feat, you gain one point of Essentia; each Changeling mythos you possess grants you an additional point of Essentia.
Additionally, immediately upon taking this feat, your fetch gains 'Multifaceted Duplicate Legacy (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?443061-3-5-Mythos-quot-You-Look-In-The-Mirror-But-Someone-Else-Looks-Back-quot)' as a bonus feat. Whichever kills the other, they gain Broken [Mythic Patron] Amalgam as a bonus feat for their counterpart's mythic patron. If they know at least one Fantastic Mythos, they also gain the appropriate [Mythic Patron] Anthology Conflux as a bonus feat, as well as one Exceptional mythos they knew. Finally, if they have at least one Legendary Mythos, they gain the appropriate [Mythic Patron] Essense Analect as a bonus feat, as well as one Fantastic mythos they knew.
Exceptional Mythos
A Serf Among Warring Monarchs
Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Knowledge (Nobility)
All the time you've spent playing along with the games of the fey has taught you a few things about monarchies; chief among these techniques is how to go unnoticed in the midst of a conflict that does not concern you.
In the midst of combat, you gain a bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks (or Stealth checks in Pathfinder) equal to half your ranks in Knowledge (Nobility) (minimum 1). So long as you have not attacked anyone during this combat encounter, you may Hide In Plain Sight. While successfully hidden, you may move freely, so long as you take no actions to either harm one side of a conflict or aid the other.
Advanced
A Knife In The King's Back: Once per encounter, you may use the Sneak Attack ability of the rogue, gaining 2d6 dice of additional damage for each tier of mythos you have access to.
Vizier's Wicked Lies (4 ranks in Bluff): By succeeding on a Bluff check against an adjacent creature, opposed by their Sense Motive check, you may direct them to attack a specific enemy; against this foe, they gain +2 to attack and damage rolls for each tier of mythos you have access to, but an equal penalty to attacks from them. If you beat their check by 10 or more, you may direct them to attack one of their allies instead.
Blossoming Incarnum Inheritance
Prerequisite: -
The fey were much more concerned with altering your appearance when they took you, so much so that they cut corners during the alteration of your soul, leaving it partially exposed... and very malleable.
Your Meldshaper level becomes equal to your class level, to a maximum of 6. Your Crown Chakra opens. You gain 2 Essentia. You may shape a single Soulmeld per day, drawn from the following list: Beast Tamer Circlet, Crystal Helm, Diadem of Purelight, Enigma Helm.
With further meditation, requiring a Meldshaper level of at least 3, you may broaden your enlightenment. By meditating for an hour and paying 500 Mythos Points and 125xp, you may open your Feet Chakra, gain +1 Essentia, and the following soulmelds to your list: Acrobat Boots, Airstep Sandals, Cerulean Sandals, Impulse Boots.
A second session of meditation, requiring a Meldshaper level of at least 6, with the same time and cost as the first, will open your Hands Chakra, give you another point of Essentia, allow your to craft and maintain a second Soulmeld, maintain a single Chakra Bind, and add the following soulmelds to your list: Lighting Gauntlets, Rageclaws, Sighting Gloves, Theft Gloves.
If A Man Hath Eyes...
Prerequisite: -
Constantly being exposed to the mind-warping magic of the fey has formed your mind into a bastion of nearly unassailable willpower. One would need such mental fortitude to escape the clutches of the fey; many an escapee found themselves imprisoned once more after falling prey to their master's tricks.
You no longer need to interact with an illusion in order to disbelieve it, allowing you to do so as soon as you are able to see it, and are within 60 ft of it; in this case, however, the DM rolls the saving throw secretly rather than the player themselves.
Additionally, once per day per tier of mythos you have access to, you may completely negate an effect that is, in some way, hindering your eyesight. It must be noted that this does not end the effect, merely negating the effect that it has on you. In order to use this ability, you must possess at least one functioning eye.
Finally, you gain Low-Light Vision, if you did not have it already.
Basic
Eyes In The Hedge: You gain Eyes To The Sky as a bonus feat; you may commit Essentia to this ability, extending the range by 10 ft per point spent.
They See What They Want To See: You gain False Pretenses as a bonus feat.
Advanced
Snap Out Of It!: A number of times per day equal to the number of tiers of mythos you have access to, you may take a move action to provide an adjacent ally suffering from an ongoing mind-affecting ability; they take an immediate action to attempt the new save, and gain a bonus to it equal to your Charisma modifier.
Reliving Glamorous Traumas: You gain Live My Nightmare as a bonus feat, changing the DCs to (10 + Charisma Modifier + Class Level/2). If you know the 'Eyes In The Hedge' manifestation, and know at least one Legendary mythos, you may send your phantasmal killer through the magical sensor.
Meditating On The Elements
Prerequisite: -
The construction of your fetch required many materials, mostly pieces of your soul; to make your more like them, your masters graced this new emptiness inside you with pieces of themselves. It did not occur to them however that, from a mortal's perspective, these pieces might be entirely indistinguishable from air and dirt.
With intense focus and meditation on a particular element, you may voluntarily create an imbalance within your mental state, erring towards one element in particular. This requires only 10 minutes of concentration, but lasts for 24 hours. You cannot meditate to create a new imbalance until the previous one has already run its course.
Fire is intense, uncompromising, passionate, frenetic, confident, and ambitious. Like a suddenly ignited flame, while you are imbalanced towards fire, you may spend a swift action to go into a Rage* for 5 minutes. While in this Rage, you add your intelligence modifier to all melee damage rolls, and have access to the effects of the Power Attack feat, as if you possessed it. If you already have the Power Attack feat, all melee attacks you make are considered to be with a two-handed weapon, adding twice the number subtracted from your attack rolls as damage, and you may even Power Attack with light weapons.
Air is distant, detached, pensive, diligent, flexible, and adaptive. While you are imbalanced towards air, you are trained in all skills, and you are considered to have (1/2 class level) ranks in all intelligence, wisdom, and charisma based skills that you normally have fewer ranks in.
Water is graceful, deceptive, reactive, methodical, fluid, and ever-changing. While you are imbalanced towards water, taking a Delay action does not reduce your initiative count to the count in which you act after the Delay. Instead, on the following round, you initiative count is reduced by 4. (For example, if your initiative count is 18, and you Delay to act on count 11, the next round you would act on count 14, rather than 11. Although you are free to Delay again if you wish.) In addition, taking a readied action does not change your initiative count. When you Ready an action, you may either Ready two different responses (which must both require the same kind of action) to a single trigger, then choose between the two responses when the specified trigger happens, or you may specify two different triggers for your readied action, and take your readied action in response to either happening (though you may still only take your readied action once).
Earth is stubborn, slow, massive, implacable, unmoveable, and unstoppable. While you are imbalanced towards earth, you gain a +4 bonus on the opposed roll to resist being bull rushed, overrun, tripped, disarmed, or grappled. In addition, you have access to the effects of the Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, Improved Trip, Improved Disarm, and Improved Grapple feats, as if you possessed them if you do not already.
*Rage Effects
The effected character may not show any manner of restraint in their attacks (for example, they may not voluntarily deal nonlethal damage if there is a suitable lethal method available, or purposefully pull their punches to deal less damage). They may not voluntarily perform movement that would take them farther away from all of their enemies (they may switch targets, but not forsake all of them). If a foe is dropped unconscious, and there are other dangers afoot, they may focus on those other dangers, but if there are no other enemies, dangers, or pressing concerns, they must attempt to kill fallen enemies. Any creature that strikes them (even if that creature is under some kind of outside influence) is considered an enemy (and cannot be considered an ally, obviously) for the duration of the Rage.
A Raging character takes a -4 penalty on all skill checks (other than Balance, Climb, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Tumble checks), and ranged attack rolls (except with thrown weapons), and cannot cast spells, manifest psionic powers, or utilize Truenaming or Shadow Magic (Binding, Incarnum, and Invocations are fine).
Creating these imbalances within yourself alters your appearance, essentially making you appear as a Gensai of the appropriate element, and granting you a +10 bonus on Disguise checks meant to pass as one.
Fantastic Mythos
Omni-Capable Courtier-Slave Discipline
Prerequisite: The 'Blossoming Incarnum Inheritance' mythos, Must complete the enlightenment ritual twice
The changelings were forced to adapt quickly to the ever-shifting demands of their faerie masters; in the blink of an eye, one might make the transition from consort to warrior, often so seamlessly the changeling couldn't tell where one ended and the other began.
You gain the ability to bind an Archetypal Soulmeld (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?192424-Archetype-Soulmelds-3-5) of your choice. In addition to their base effects, each of these soulmelds provides a bonus to certain skills, detailed below.
Soulmeld
Skill Bonuses
Champion Plate
Intimidate, Perform, Ride
Guardian's Gauntlets
Heal, Search, Sense Motive
Necroweaver Wreathe
Decipher Script, Hide, Move Silently
Soulweaver Cloak
Concentration, Disguise, Profession
Spellseeker Gloves
Knowledge (All), Spellcraft, Use Magic Device
Verdant Cape
Handle Animal, Survival, Swim
Vestige Chains
Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Gather Information
You gain a +2 bonus to each listed skill equal to the amount of Essentia you invest in the soulmeld.
Basic
Internalization Of Folklore And Myth: You gain knowledge of an additional Archetypal Soulmeld. You may purchase this manifestation multiple times, gaining a new Archetypal Soulmeld with each purchase.
Advanced
Soul-Crack Expansion: You gain Open Lesser Chakra as a bonus feat. You may purchase up to three times, each time choosing a different chakra to open.
Bonfire Of The Anima (Requires three purchases of the 'Soul-Crack Expansion' manifestation): You gain Open Greater Chakra as a bonus feat. You may purchase this manifestation again after you learn your first Legendary mythos, choosing the other chakra.
Steam-And-Dust Showdown
Prerequisite: One other mythos granted by the 'Sundering The Cerulean Fetters' feat
The only way to survive in the land of the fey was to play along with their sometimes ridiculous, and sometimes deadly games. It was considered to be in poor taste to actually best your masters while they were enjoying their sport; such tactless slaves were rarely seen again after their short-lived victory. As perilous as it is, a lucky few have earned their freedom by beating their former captors at their own game.
As a full-round action, you may issue a challenge to one target that can see and hear you. The target must be made explicitly aware that the challenge is a one-on-one conflict, if they are not already familiar with the arrangement, and you must offer stakes. These stakes can be negotiated before both parties accept. Once both parties accept, all stakes are final for the current showdown. If a character accepts against their will due to magical persuasion, the fact that they are being unnaturally compelled becomes evident to any who can see and hear them, and the showdown does not initiate.
While any stakes may be set, only the following ones are enforced by the showdown in any real way. Both participants are aware of the metaphysical significance of these stakes.
-Ownership of magical items. The participants may specify whether or not the item(s) being fought over may be used in the showdown itself. At the conclusion of a showdown where an item is at stake, the winner is left holding the item, and the defeated loses the ability to use the item for a year and a day, or until he wins back ownership of the item in another showdown. To the loser, not only do none of the item's magical properties function for them, but merely carrying it voluntarily imposes a -1 penalty on all d20 rolls, and if it is a weapon or a suit of armor, they treat the item as if they were not proficient with it.
-Services rendered. The participants specify a particular course of action that they wish the other to take, and the loser is bound to perform that course of action. The showdown enforces the spirit of the agreement, not the letter, so it is largely impossible to trick someone into agreeing to something they didn't intend to with clever wordplay. Once someone is bound to perform the specified duty, they will do so, to the best of their ability, without attempting to directly subvert their agreement, although they need not enjoy doing so. The only way to release a loser from their duty before its completion is for the loser, or someone acting on his behalf, to defeat the winner of the showdown that bound them, in another showdown, with the specified stakes of nullified the loser's service.
-Power. The participants may stake some amount of their own power, to be given to the winner. In a showdown between two Mythos-using characters, Mythos Points may be staked. Otherwise, a Mythos-user may stake the use of one of his Mythos, of a tier at least one lower than his maximum. In the case of a loss, they lose access to the offered Mythos, and the winner acquires it for however long the participants agreed upon. The recipient must meet the prerequisites of the offered Mythos, and the Mythos-user cannot stake a Mythos on a showdown if they are already missing one via another showdown. Invocation users may stake their Invocations, in the same way that a Mythos-user stakes a Mythos. A spellcaster may stake their spells. Prepared casters must stake spells they have currently prepared. If the chosen spells have expensive material components, they must be supplied as well. If the spellcaster loses, they lose access to the chosen spells, and cannot prepare more spells in the lost spell slots until the winner has used the spell from that slot. Expensive material components are consumed into the power of the spells as they are transfered to the winner. The winner may use the transfered spells as spell-like abilities, calculating the DC, caster level, range, and other statistics as if they were cast by the spellcaster at the time they lost the showdown. Spontaneous spellcasters work the same way, except that they stake a certain number of uses of specific spells that they know, and lose that many spells per day of the appropriate level, and cannot regain them until the winner uses up that energy. Divine spellcasters are morally responsible for how their spells are used by the winner, as they are choosing to broker the power of their deity or ideal, in the good faith that it will not be subverted. Incarnum users may stake specific soulmelds that they currently have shaped, with however much essentia is in them at the time of the showdown. Should they lose, they cannot shape the same soulmeld for the duration of the stakes, and their number of soulmelds per day is lowered by the number of soulmelds they lost in the gamble, until such time as the agreed upon duration elapses. Their essentia is likewise reduced. The winner cannot bind a won souldmeld to a chakra or shift its invested essentia unless they could already, although they may have more essentia invested in a won soulmeld than they could otherwise, based on the loser's essentia capacity. A Binder may stake one of their bound Vestiges. If they lose, they can bind one less Vestige than usual until the agreed upon duration elapses, and cannot bind the lost Vestige. The winner is automatically considered to have made a bad pact with the Vestige, but otherwise has access to all of its abilities, using the loser's Binder level to determine the Vestige's effectiveness, for the duration.
Stakes need not be symmetrical. A wizard can bet three Wishes against a vampire's ownership over the Sword of Kas, or two adventurers can wager ownership over the same +1 Dagger they just found in a raided tomb, or a Binder can bet 8 hours of Ashardalon's service against 24 hours of a Teramach's All-Consuming Rampage Release. And so on.
Once stakes are nailed down, and unanimously agreed upon, the showdown begins. Both participants are transported into a pocket world within the roiling nexus of the Omphalos itself; this is a Teleportation effect if used outside the Prime Material Plane. Here, the elements shift and intertwine, forming a bizarre and unique conflux of shapes and occurences for the showdown to come. This space is habitable for all kinds of creatures, allowing, for instance, air-breathing creatures and water-breathing creatures to compete together.
Randomly choose five skills (feel free to omit, for instance, Autohypnosis in a game without psionics, Martial Lore in a game without the Tome of Battle, etc). The challenge's nature is determined by these skills, and the form that it takes should be at least vaguely outlined. For example, a Jump/Diplomacy/Spellcraft/Climb/Hide showdown might be a race through a series of floating ruins. Traversing the ruins requires Jump and Climb, while the roaming ruin guards must be avoided (Hide) or reasoned with (Diplomacy). Spellcraft deciphers arcane ruins that denote shortcuts for gaining an advantage over a more straightforward adversary.
Each round, both participants simultaneously make a skill check of their choice, chosen from the five skills, to represent progressing through the challenge. No other actions may be taken; not even free ones, except to talk. Participants gain a +2 bonus on their skill check for each other skill they've used during a single challenge, to a maximum of +8 on a check if they've already used all four other skills. The challenge ends once one participant has reached a certain combined total of skill checks, and been declared the victor. The total required is set by the group challenge-to-challenge, based on how long they want to draw things out, but 100 is a good starting point for low level characters.
Once a victor has been decided, the stakes are resolved, and the participants are transported to the nearest safe space to the point where they entered. The Omphalos won't allow the sanctity of its challenge to be sullied by transporting a challenger back into, for example, a cage his foes have placed at the point where he disappeared, or inside of a Cloudkill, or similar. Participants reappear as they were when they entered; wounds, objects, and such that were narratively acquired as part of the skill challenge do not carry over.
This mythos functions somewhat differently when used to challenge one's own fetch; universally, the competitors' very being is on the line, and this is made evident to both as soon as the gauntlet has been thrown down. Whichever side wins the challenge, the cost is exacted immediately, unraveling the loser and weaving their essence into the victor's. For all intents and purposes, they have been "killed" granting them the benefits of ending their counterpart's life as outlined in the 'Fetching Doppelganger' ability and the 'Sundering The Cerulean Fetters' feat.
Legendary Mythos
Accept No Substitutes
Prerequisites: Two mythos granted by the 'Sundering The Cerulean Leash' feat
It is a curious thing to see one who shares your face; in most cases, this is simply a ruse, either mundane or magical, allowing for some sort of compartmentalization, but the situation changes when they essentially ARE you. Having fought against liars and charlatans so hard for so long, you've finally developed the narrative clout to look upon illusions, face-thieves, and all other manner of countenance-stealing trickery, and simply say "No."
Upon learning this mythos, you are under the effect of a permanent True Seeing effect. Additionally, you know, at a glance, whether or not creatures you gaze upon are the "original"; this means that, regardless of how high quality the cloning equipment, magic, or divine power used to create them, you can tell the difference between the fakes and originals.
Against the abilities of what will hereafter be referred to as "counterfeit creatures," you gain a bonus to all saving throws, AC, and attack rolls equal to half your class level. You also gain a 1d8 bonus to damage rolls against them for each tier of mythos you have access to.
The effects of this mythos increase exponentially after you've dispatched your fetch, and become whole once more. Your authority on what is or isn't in the face of counterfeit creatures is so powerful, so self assured, that their attempts to impede you are as fake as their identity. As a free action, you can choose to ignore any duplications or creatures masquerading as what it is not. Druids Wild Shaped into mighty beasts, Simulacrum's of Red Dragons, or even simple bards Change Self'd to the guise of a mayor all fall into this category. Ignoring a creature is as simple as denying it's claim to its power. Attacks, Spells, Supernatural or Extraordinary Abilities, Maneuvers, Invocations, Mythos, all wash over you with the force of a gentle breeze, if even that. Note that this is a True Immunity, and any effect that would pierce your invulnerability is ignored. If a wizard's clone can effect creatures even through immunity to magic, it still does not effect you. If a Teramach Ice Assassin possesses the "Obstreperous Shell-Cracking Mien" excellency, you are still immune to the effects. There is no saving throw, ability check, spell resistance, anything. The effect simply fails to effect you, no exceptions.