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Alfrohawk
2017-12-09, 03:03 AM
Hello long time lurker, first time poster. I've been wanting to create a template based loosely on the Biblical and Supernaturals interpretation of the Mark of Cain. So far I've come up with this much. Please feel free to offer any suggestions. I will be applying it to a 3.5 game I am running. Thank you all for your time in advance!

Mark of Cain (Only one such Mark may exist at a time)

+4 Str +2 Con

Fast heal 5

Bestow: The current creature with the Mark of Cain (hereafter "the Bearer" and "the Mark", respectively) may choose to transfer it to another, willing, living humanoid creature of equal of lesser HD. Doing so will bestow the new Bearer with all of the effects of the Mark, and remove them from the previous Bearer. This can only be done when neither creature is threatened, and may only be done after 2d10 days of bearing the Mark. The receiving creature must have killed one of it's own race.

Sevenfold: If the Bearer would take lethal damage dropping it's health below -10 and killing her, the original damage is multiplied by seven (7) and dealt to the attacker. A saving throw of Fortitude (DC 10 + The Bearers HD) can half the damage.

Demonic Awakening: If the bearer is slain, she raises in 1d4-1 days with Fiendish Traits. She retains these traits even if the Mark is transferred. Her alignment shifts to Chaotic Evil. If her body is destroyed, it reforms wherever it was destroyed 1d10 days later and she awakens immediately once it is complete.

Unbridled Rage: When entering melee combat, the bearer flies into a Rage as a barbarian of 1st level, with the exception of daily limits. However, she may not fly into a Rage if she is still fatigued from a previous Rage. A Will save (DC 15 + # of previous successful saves against Rage) negates the Rage. The DC resets after a failed save.

LA +?

Any help is appreciated.

Avigor
2017-12-13, 02:29 AM
First, it should specify that death by old age still triggers the Fiendish transition, or else that once you get the Mark you are Ageless and are essentially frozen until you pass it on (assuming you don't die and reconstitute).

The wording of the Fiendish transition feels funny to me as it lacks the word "template" in it but that's a nitpick at best.

Also, isn't the Mark of Cain supposed to make others shun you? If so I'd suggest an automatic, initial attitude of Unfriendly that cannot be increased above Indifferent by any method, and also a universal Charisma-based check penalty equal to the Bearer's HD.

Otherwise, whoever has this has a form of unkillability that's stronger than that of a Lich as there's no phylactery to worry about (albeit in theory someone could "contain" your reconstitution point within a box filled with self-resetting traps or environmental dangers like an eternal acid fog so you just die immediately after reconstituting), just less caster friendly (no caster ability bumps, rage prevents casting).

Lanth Sor
2017-12-13, 12:04 PM
Point of note is the mark is a curse, sealing a greater being in the Nothing. Which might constitute the Far Realm, but the Nothing just seemed to be more like the Betwixt, or something new, similar but not the same as the Betwixt. The Nothing is black oblivion where everything permanently dead like outsiders that die go instead of the outer planes. And everything sleeps there.

Avigor
2017-12-13, 06:27 PM
Point of note is the mark is a curse, sealing a greater being in the Nothing. Which might constitute the Far Realm, but the Nothing just seemed to be more like the Betwixt, or something new, similar but not the same as the Betwixt. The Nothing is black oblivion where everything permanently dead like outsiders that die go instead of the outer planes. And everything sleeps there.

...so it's the realm that Vestiges come from?

Lanth Sor
2017-12-26, 11:57 AM
...so it's the realm that Vestiges come from?

Vestiges don't come from the Betwixt, they are trapped there. It does share some similarities. The jist i got for the supernatural is the void is nothing. Nothing is suppose to happen there, the vestiges are not in the realm of nothing they are in the place beside the universe that is not the far realm.

Alfrohawk
2018-01-31, 03:14 AM
Wow, thanks for the age thing. I hadn't even considered that. I'll probably go with the ageless option.

I meant for the Demonic Awakening to effectively apply the Fiendish template to the Bearer permanently, barring normal removal methods. Any suggestions as to how I could word it better?

I like the idea for the initial Unfriendly attitude, but I'm not sold on the universal penalty, unless you mean solely for social interactions. Even then I would find someone cursed in such a manner intimidating at the least.

The functional immortality is apart of the curse, in that as long as you have the Mark, you're doomed to roam the world eternally, and eventually alone. Long after the heat death of the universe you'll float, undying through space.

I really appreciate you taking the time to look it over. Any ideas on a level adjustment? I'm kind of lost on where to rank this, as it can potentially grant another template as apart of its effects.