Heroes of Horror Taint Rules

[Elder_Basilisk]

I'm thinking of introducing the taint rules to a game I'm running. Has anyone used them? How did they impact your game?

My expectation is that characters will deck themselves out with jade rods and sacred phylacteries (100gp taint absorbing items) until their characters look like Warhammer 40k space marines festooned with purity seals. I rather like that aspect of it. After going a few adventures and absorbing a little taint, I expect characters would also need to go on a quest of purification. Again, not a bad result. In both cases, the characters behave more like they are in a grim fairy tale where superstitions like carrying relics etc are a part of the atmosphere and they will sooner or later encounter situations where recovery requires a side quest rather than simply rest, recover spells, return to the adventure.

However, I have not actually used the taint rules in play before and it could be different in play. How did it work for you?

[Kelb_Panthera]

The biggest concern for most DMs is that some players may decide to lean into the tainted curve and go into stuff like tainted scholar or even OA's maho-tsukai if you allow it.

The important thing is to remember that there's more than one way to interpret a certain rule regarding the taint level of certain creatures. The conservative reading, and the one most conducive to actual play if you're going to allow it, is that the line that says undead have a taint of 1/2 cha +1 and outsiders have a taint of 1/2 cha +2 is a definitive statement not a declarative one. That is their forever and always -fixed- taint score. Taking it that way means they can't just go "lol, I'm necropolitan so I can have as much taint as I like with no ill effect!"

Taint still offers a -lot- of power to those who willingly throw themselves into its gaping maw but having a limit is still necessary.


The other thing is that it changes the tone of the game pretty significantly when you hit the PCs with an affliction that's as difficult to remove as taint. Great if you're shooting for grimdark (and the 40k reference makes me think you might) but maybe a bit much for more standard heroic fantasy.

[Quertus]

Tainted Sorcerer is Best Prestige Class™. Personally, I use it mostly for free castings of Animate Dead, and as a much-needed power boost for dedicated Evokers.

Taint is… difficult to remove, impossible to remove quickly in large quantities. Huh. Now I'm picturing the Guardian from Warcraft and the Fell in terms of Taint.

Anyway, I'm not really seeing any way that it wouldn't range from "minor if obnoxious adventuring tax" to "cool aesthetic for the game". Unless… unless it also acts to encourage the 15-minute adventuring day. :smallfrown:

[Kayblis]

As mentioned above, the only real issue you'll probably find with Taint rules is if the characters don't actually try to prevent it, but to weaponize it. The Taint-based PrCs, specially Tainted Scholar and Sorcerer, are not meant to be used by players, and simply break the game if you allow a PC to get it along with a method of not dying from taint. It's the most straightfoward way to have literally millions of spells per day, at effective DC: Unbeatable.

As long as you forbid players from actually building such a taint score and weaponizing it, it's a fine ruleset for a more grimdark campaign. The effects are not ignorable and lead to many new roleplay options.

[Grey Guard]

Taint is… difficult to remove, impossible to remove quickly in large quantities. Huh. Now I'm picturing the Guardian from Warcraft and the Fell in terms of Taint.

I hadn't considered this. I've been concocting a campaign for Warcraft d20, and this would be PERFECT, since the players will start as Illidan's forces fleeing their failed attack at Icecrown Citadel, so some may be Broken Draenei, Demon Hunters, or a minor demon.

[Elder_Basilisk]

Thanks for all the responses.

I'm going to use a modified version of the rules. My modifications:

1. Taint can be physical or mental or both rather than always being both. So, in some cases it will effect only Con or Wis.

2. In addition to the standard rules for removing or absorbing taint, I will allow taint to be mitigated on an ad-hoc ritual basis. For example, two characters in my campaign just acquired mental taint by failing their saving throws against the mental powers of a nameless dark entity who briefly controlled them. I will say that the penalties are suppressed if the character has either A. Spent the entire previous day protected from evil or chaos (most likely due to staying on hallowed ground such as a temple or monastery) or B. has spent the entire previous 24 hour period in bright light. In short, the characters aren't penalized if they sleep with the lights on and carry lanterns around in broad daylight just in case they pass under a bridge or go into a shadowy alley. Or if they retire to a monastery.

In game, it's because the powers of light, law, and good are antithetical to the creature that still has a hold of part of their minds. But, like the purity seals, jade bars, and phylacteries, I like the prospective game effects too.

[Tzardok]

1. Taint can be physical or mental or both rather than always being both. So, in some cases it will effect only Con or Wis.



In what way is that a modification from the rules in HoH? Isn't that the whole reason behind the splitting of taint into corruption and depravity: that one is physical and one is mental and that they can happen seperately from each other?

[Elder_Basilisk]

In what way is that a modification from the rules in HoH? Isn't that the whole reason behind the splitting of taint into corruption and depravity: that one is physical and one is mental and that they can happen seperately from each other?

Maybe it's the same as Heroes of Horror. I'm actually working from the SRD taint rules which don't have that split because I didn't get Heroes of Horror when it was new and I haven't seen a used version at my local gaming store (though I've been keeping an eye out for a while).

[Segev]

Maybe it's the same as Heroes of Horror. I'm actually working from the SRD taint rules which don't have that split because I didn't get Heroes of Horror when it was new and I haven't seen a used version at my local gaming store (though I've been keeping an eye out for a while).

It's available on Amazon, but it's a bit overpriced there, in my opinion. You maybe can find pdfs for sale, but I don't know. I mean, WotC might still be licensing them.