TheLogman
2007-11-27, 04:59 PM
"What kind of book did Miss Amazuki keep?"
"A Death Book"
"That is correct. And what was contained within the Death Book?"
"Names...."
-A little snippet of a Literature class my friend was in. The Questions were posed by the teacher about a selection they had just read. My friend and I are big Death Note fans, and although no references to the anime were made in the selection itself, the resemblance in quite hilarious.
The Death Books
Rare artifacts from a time and dimension long lost, the Death books are a set of seemingly normal notebooks. No one knows how the Death Books came to be, but it is said that the demons of the lowest parts of the Abyss keep them, and use them to torment the world. The Death Books have one simple power, they kill. There are three types of Death Books, each more powerful than the last, and each granting the user more power over death and humanity itself. Treat the two lesser Death Books as Minor Artifacts, and the Major Death Book as a Major Artifact.
The Rules of the Death Books:
1. The creature (The types that are affected depend on the power of the book) whose name is written in this book will die (Be affected by Slay Living, but still may save, the saves are dependent on the book). SR applies to the Slay Living. The Slay Living will affect the creature, regardless of the distance from the writer, even if they are on a different plane.
2. This Book will not take work unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. In addition, the full name must be known, nicknames and such prevent the book from being effective. The subject's face must have been seen in full at least 1 year ago.
3. The Minor and Medium power Death Books have a limited number of pages, with a number of lines on each. Writing a name takes 1 line, specifying a time of death takes another line, and for the Medium book, writing a suggestion takes another 2 lines. The Time of Death must be written within 8 rounds of the name, and the suggestion must be written within 6 minutes. If no time of Death is inscribed, the subject is affected within 2d10 minutes. A page of a Death Book has 20 lines on it.
4. The name, time of death, and suggestions may all be written in any visible substance, be it blood, mud, or ink.
5. A Possessor of a Death Book may trade half their remaining life span (Or, if playing with the Bio-Mage, half their remaining Life Points) in exchange for the Demon eyes. These eyes allow the wearer to be affected by True Seeing, Caster level 20 at all times, and may know any person's name (Except another Death Book carrier), Remaining Life Span, and Remaining LP (if any) by looking at their face. The Demon eyes are an Extraordinary effect that cannot be disrupted.
6. A time of death may not be more than 1 month from the Inscription of the name, save for the Major Death Book, which has no limit.
7. If a Truenamer knows the Truename of the Creature they wish to kill, they may use that instead of the Creature's given name, and the Save to avoid dying and the Will save to avoid bending to the user's will are each +10 DC more.
8. Any creature that attempts to kill a creature via, or even writes a creature's name in the Death Book, even unwillingly may not return to life once they die, and cannot go to any sort of afterlife, and are instead condemned to the Void of Vestiges.
9. A single line or multiple lines may be torn from a Death Book. Those lines have the same power as the book itself.
10. Writing a full entry (A name, time of death, and suggestion) in the Death Book always takes a Standard Action, regardless of how much is written. This action provokes an Attack of Opportunity, and is subject to a Concentration check if the writing is disrupted. If the check is failed, the lines involved are ruined, and the effect fails.
Death Book, Minor
Although the weakest of the Death Books, the Minor Death Books are still powerful indeed. Each Minor Death Book has ten pages. This Death Book only affects pure Humanoids, not Augmented or Monstrous Humanoids. The DC on the Fortitude Save to prevent dying is DC 20. The Slay Living produced by this book should be treated as a Spell-Like Ability. The Minor Death Book may only be used 3 times per week, regardless of the user. Attempts after that fill up lines in the Death Book, but do not have any effect. The Caster Level of this book's Slayer Living is 10.
Death Book, Standard
Carried by some of the Elite Demons of the Abyss, the Standard Death Book is a herald of Death and a weapon of immeasurable power. Each Standard Death Book has thirty pages. This Death Book affects all Living Creatures, except for Outsiders with more than 15 HD, Plants, Creatures Immune to Death Effects, and Living Constructs. The DC on the Fortitude Save to prevent dying is DC 25. The Slay Living produced by this book should be treated as a Supernatural effect. A person writing in a Standard Death Book may attach a Suggestion to the Slay Living, which may demand an action that takes no more than 1 full Round action. The Suggestion takes place before the Slay Living, and is a DC 25 Will save to prevent. The Standard Death Book may only be used 10 times per week, regardless of the User. Attempts after that fill up lines in the Death Book, but do not have any effect. The Caster Level of this book's Slay Living is 15, as is the Suggestion Spell.
Death Book, Major
Also known as the DeathGiver, the Reaper, or the Ender, there is only 1 Major Death Book. The Major Death Book is the same size as any other Death Book, but has unlimited pages. This Death Book affects all creatures. Creatures normally not affected by Death Effects are instead turned into dust, even Undead and Constructs. The DC on this Fortitude Save (Will save for Creatures with no Constitution) is 35. The Slay Living produced by this book should be treated as an Extraordinary effect. A person writing in this book may force the creature about to die to preform 1 or a series of actions, the total time of which may not exceed 10 rounds. The Will save to avoid preforming the actions is only given at the onset, and is a DC 35 Will Save. The Major Death Book may be used with no limit, but due to the pure power of the Book, any one user may only use it 25 times per week. After that, a DC 35 Will save may be more to use it again in that week, but each time the user succeeds, the DC is upped by 5. If the User fails the will save, they take 10d10 damage, and may not use the book until the week is over. The Book is so powerful, it ignores SR, and because it transcends normal magic, is cannot be stopped or destroyed by anything less than the full cooperation of at least 5 Divine Rank 16+ Creatures, or by being thrust into the Centers of Celestia, Valhalla, the Abyss, and Hell.
Plot Hooks
1. Important members of the City Council are dying at seemingly random, find the perpetrator, and stop them.
2. One of the Party's old enemies has escaped incarceration, and is in possession of a Death Book. Luckily, it has been over a year since the party met him/her, and they must not avoid recognition, and take him down secretly.
3. A cult of Vecna has their hands on the Major Death Book, and is killing all those opposing them. The Party must avoid being killed, retrieve the book, and garner the cooperation of the greatest of deities to finally destroy the book.
The Book-5th level Vestige.
Legend: Legend has it that the Book is not actually just 1 Vestige, but the combined Vestige of every Creature to have even written in the Death Books. When they died, their Souls were trapped inside this book that floats along in the Void.
Summoning: When the Book is summoned, it appears as a single word, written in space inside the Pact Circle. That word is Death. Then, the Book appears as a simple leather-bound notebook. Suddenly, the book flies open, as the names of thousands of individuals, all those whose lives were taken by the Death Books. Accompanied by the fluttering of pages is the screams of those trapped inside the book. Finally, the book opens to an empty page, and as the binder makes his pact, the books pages fill with the agreements and counteroffers.
Influence: The Book is a culmination of those who made the mistake of using the Death Book, and then died. A Binder Influenced by The Book becomes obsessed with two things, the Death Books, and staying alive. A Binder influenced by this Vestige must spend any free time searching for and researching the Death Books, and must seek (Not necessarily receive) healing once 1/4 of their HP is gone, or suffer the wrath of this Vestige.
Sign: When bound to this Vestige, a Binder's skin both feels and looks like paper, and if they bleed, their blood looks like fresh ink.
Powers Granted:
Slay Living: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may use Slay Living once every 5 Rounds at a caster level of their effective Binder level.
Voices of the Thousands: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may call upon the Creatures that were tempted to use the Book to end the lives of others, and force them to assist him mentally. While making the Pact, the Binder chooses Charisma, Wisdom, or Intelligence. He gains a +3 to all skill checks that depend on that attribute for as long as the Pact lasts.
Demon Eyes: A Binder Bound to this Vestige gains Demon Eyes for free, without losing their Lifespan or LP. When the Pact ends, the Demon Eyes dissipate.
Little Deaths: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may use Inflict Light Wounds and Bane at will.
Read Magic: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may use Read Magic at will, but only if they show the sign.
"A Death Book"
"That is correct. And what was contained within the Death Book?"
"Names...."
-A little snippet of a Literature class my friend was in. The Questions were posed by the teacher about a selection they had just read. My friend and I are big Death Note fans, and although no references to the anime were made in the selection itself, the resemblance in quite hilarious.
The Death Books
Rare artifacts from a time and dimension long lost, the Death books are a set of seemingly normal notebooks. No one knows how the Death Books came to be, but it is said that the demons of the lowest parts of the Abyss keep them, and use them to torment the world. The Death Books have one simple power, they kill. There are three types of Death Books, each more powerful than the last, and each granting the user more power over death and humanity itself. Treat the two lesser Death Books as Minor Artifacts, and the Major Death Book as a Major Artifact.
The Rules of the Death Books:
1. The creature (The types that are affected depend on the power of the book) whose name is written in this book will die (Be affected by Slay Living, but still may save, the saves are dependent on the book). SR applies to the Slay Living. The Slay Living will affect the creature, regardless of the distance from the writer, even if they are on a different plane.
2. This Book will not take work unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. In addition, the full name must be known, nicknames and such prevent the book from being effective. The subject's face must have been seen in full at least 1 year ago.
3. The Minor and Medium power Death Books have a limited number of pages, with a number of lines on each. Writing a name takes 1 line, specifying a time of death takes another line, and for the Medium book, writing a suggestion takes another 2 lines. The Time of Death must be written within 8 rounds of the name, and the suggestion must be written within 6 minutes. If no time of Death is inscribed, the subject is affected within 2d10 minutes. A page of a Death Book has 20 lines on it.
4. The name, time of death, and suggestions may all be written in any visible substance, be it blood, mud, or ink.
5. A Possessor of a Death Book may trade half their remaining life span (Or, if playing with the Bio-Mage, half their remaining Life Points) in exchange for the Demon eyes. These eyes allow the wearer to be affected by True Seeing, Caster level 20 at all times, and may know any person's name (Except another Death Book carrier), Remaining Life Span, and Remaining LP (if any) by looking at their face. The Demon eyes are an Extraordinary effect that cannot be disrupted.
6. A time of death may not be more than 1 month from the Inscription of the name, save for the Major Death Book, which has no limit.
7. If a Truenamer knows the Truename of the Creature they wish to kill, they may use that instead of the Creature's given name, and the Save to avoid dying and the Will save to avoid bending to the user's will are each +10 DC more.
8. Any creature that attempts to kill a creature via, or even writes a creature's name in the Death Book, even unwillingly may not return to life once they die, and cannot go to any sort of afterlife, and are instead condemned to the Void of Vestiges.
9. A single line or multiple lines may be torn from a Death Book. Those lines have the same power as the book itself.
10. Writing a full entry (A name, time of death, and suggestion) in the Death Book always takes a Standard Action, regardless of how much is written. This action provokes an Attack of Opportunity, and is subject to a Concentration check if the writing is disrupted. If the check is failed, the lines involved are ruined, and the effect fails.
Death Book, Minor
Although the weakest of the Death Books, the Minor Death Books are still powerful indeed. Each Minor Death Book has ten pages. This Death Book only affects pure Humanoids, not Augmented or Monstrous Humanoids. The DC on the Fortitude Save to prevent dying is DC 20. The Slay Living produced by this book should be treated as a Spell-Like Ability. The Minor Death Book may only be used 3 times per week, regardless of the user. Attempts after that fill up lines in the Death Book, but do not have any effect. The Caster Level of this book's Slayer Living is 10.
Death Book, Standard
Carried by some of the Elite Demons of the Abyss, the Standard Death Book is a herald of Death and a weapon of immeasurable power. Each Standard Death Book has thirty pages. This Death Book affects all Living Creatures, except for Outsiders with more than 15 HD, Plants, Creatures Immune to Death Effects, and Living Constructs. The DC on the Fortitude Save to prevent dying is DC 25. The Slay Living produced by this book should be treated as a Supernatural effect. A person writing in a Standard Death Book may attach a Suggestion to the Slay Living, which may demand an action that takes no more than 1 full Round action. The Suggestion takes place before the Slay Living, and is a DC 25 Will save to prevent. The Standard Death Book may only be used 10 times per week, regardless of the User. Attempts after that fill up lines in the Death Book, but do not have any effect. The Caster Level of this book's Slay Living is 15, as is the Suggestion Spell.
Death Book, Major
Also known as the DeathGiver, the Reaper, or the Ender, there is only 1 Major Death Book. The Major Death Book is the same size as any other Death Book, but has unlimited pages. This Death Book affects all creatures. Creatures normally not affected by Death Effects are instead turned into dust, even Undead and Constructs. The DC on this Fortitude Save (Will save for Creatures with no Constitution) is 35. The Slay Living produced by this book should be treated as an Extraordinary effect. A person writing in this book may force the creature about to die to preform 1 or a series of actions, the total time of which may not exceed 10 rounds. The Will save to avoid preforming the actions is only given at the onset, and is a DC 35 Will Save. The Major Death Book may be used with no limit, but due to the pure power of the Book, any one user may only use it 25 times per week. After that, a DC 35 Will save may be more to use it again in that week, but each time the user succeeds, the DC is upped by 5. If the User fails the will save, they take 10d10 damage, and may not use the book until the week is over. The Book is so powerful, it ignores SR, and because it transcends normal magic, is cannot be stopped or destroyed by anything less than the full cooperation of at least 5 Divine Rank 16+ Creatures, or by being thrust into the Centers of Celestia, Valhalla, the Abyss, and Hell.
Plot Hooks
1. Important members of the City Council are dying at seemingly random, find the perpetrator, and stop them.
2. One of the Party's old enemies has escaped incarceration, and is in possession of a Death Book. Luckily, it has been over a year since the party met him/her, and they must not avoid recognition, and take him down secretly.
3. A cult of Vecna has their hands on the Major Death Book, and is killing all those opposing them. The Party must avoid being killed, retrieve the book, and garner the cooperation of the greatest of deities to finally destroy the book.
The Book-5th level Vestige.
Legend: Legend has it that the Book is not actually just 1 Vestige, but the combined Vestige of every Creature to have even written in the Death Books. When they died, their Souls were trapped inside this book that floats along in the Void.
Summoning: When the Book is summoned, it appears as a single word, written in space inside the Pact Circle. That word is Death. Then, the Book appears as a simple leather-bound notebook. Suddenly, the book flies open, as the names of thousands of individuals, all those whose lives were taken by the Death Books. Accompanied by the fluttering of pages is the screams of those trapped inside the book. Finally, the book opens to an empty page, and as the binder makes his pact, the books pages fill with the agreements and counteroffers.
Influence: The Book is a culmination of those who made the mistake of using the Death Book, and then died. A Binder Influenced by The Book becomes obsessed with two things, the Death Books, and staying alive. A Binder influenced by this Vestige must spend any free time searching for and researching the Death Books, and must seek (Not necessarily receive) healing once 1/4 of their HP is gone, or suffer the wrath of this Vestige.
Sign: When bound to this Vestige, a Binder's skin both feels and looks like paper, and if they bleed, their blood looks like fresh ink.
Powers Granted:
Slay Living: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may use Slay Living once every 5 Rounds at a caster level of their effective Binder level.
Voices of the Thousands: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may call upon the Creatures that were tempted to use the Book to end the lives of others, and force them to assist him mentally. While making the Pact, the Binder chooses Charisma, Wisdom, or Intelligence. He gains a +3 to all skill checks that depend on that attribute for as long as the Pact lasts.
Demon Eyes: A Binder Bound to this Vestige gains Demon Eyes for free, without losing their Lifespan or LP. When the Pact ends, the Demon Eyes dissipate.
Little Deaths: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may use Inflict Light Wounds and Bane at will.
Read Magic: A Binder Bound to this Vestige may use Read Magic at will, but only if they show the sign.