[3.5] FEAT: Ascetic Fast

[Another_Poet]

New Feat: ASCETIC FAST

Prereq: Wis 14, Con 14

When refusing food you are able to channel your hunger into spiritual practice and heighten your intuitive awareness.

Benefit: When you begin to take nonlethal damage from starvation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#starvationAndThirst), you receive a +4 insight bonus to Wisdom. This bonus remains in effect as long as you are conscious and do not eat. As soon as you break your fast or pass out from hunger or wounds the bonus is lost and cannot be regained during the same fast; you must eat and then start a new fast to receive the bonus again. During a fast you continue to take all the normal penalties of starvation.

Normal: Characters who are starving must make increasingly difficult Constitution checks each hour or take 1d6 nonlethal damage which cannot be healed by any means until they eat, and no benefits come with the damage.

[Magnor Criol]

I like it, though I'm not sure why a fast brings about greater wisdom...except I guess if you spend the time you would be eating on meditating instead, maybe that could contribute.

Perhaps to encourage staying in a fast longer you could make the benefit increase slowly. "Each (time, day?) you take nonlethal damage from starving, you gain a cumulative +1 bonus to Wisdom, to a maximum of +4"

Not that gaining the bonus all at once seems particularly problematic to me - I don't really know if it is or not - just throwing a potentially flavorful idea out there.

[Another_Poet]

That would be nice flavour, though technically you'd be up to +4 within 4 hours (you have to make the saves every hour and can voluntarily fail the save if you want) so it wouldn't make much difference in-game.

Lots of religions use fasting to gain wisdom. Some meditate while fasting, others simply believe the act of fasting itself is enough to bring clarity and insight, even visions. So that's the idea behind the feat. Would be a pretty cool choice for a Monk or Cleric.

[Lappy9000]

This could be very, very good for a monk/divine caster.

Good mechanics and interesting role-playing schick. Nicely done!

[Another_Poet]

Awww thanks :smallredface:

[DracoDei]

I really can't think of anything more to say than "Well done" and "Monks and Clerics would be very much in place both thematically and mechanically with this".

[Owrtho]

I'm not sure why, but I can't help but think the added wisdom is so they'll realize they should probly try eating something...

Owrtho

[Draz74]

Huh. I think I like this better than any of the preexisting Vow feats from BoED. It has a meaningful, but not too restrictive disadvantage.

[LunarWolfPrime]

Is every body forgetting that it would help ninjas too?

[Yucca]

I'd go with the growing bonuses, but make them start accruing when the saving throw starts being required, not when the damage starts happening.

This way they get the +4 bonus after fasting for a full week, and could maintain the bonus for a while before needing to "reset".

Flavor-wise it seems like needing the saving throw is the point when the fast has started affecting the ascetic. It's not enough to hurt them yet, but they're feeling it.

[Zeful]

New Feat: ASCETIC FAST

Prereq: Wis 14, Con 14

When refusing food you are able to channel your hunger into spiritual practice and heighten your intuitive awareness.

Benefit: When you begin to take nonlethal damage from starvation (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/environment.htm#starvationAndThirst), you receive a +4 insight bonus to Wisdom. This bonus remains in effect as long as you are conscious and do not eat. As soon as you break your fast or pass out from hunger or wounds the bonus is lost and cannot be regained during the same fast; you must eat and then start a new fast to receive the bonus again. During a fast you continue to take all the normal penalties of starvation.

Normal: Characters who are starving must make increasingly difficult Fort saves each hour or take 1d6 nonlethal damage which cannot be healed by any means until they eat, and no benefits come with the damage.

Um, they're not fort saves. Their con checks. Big difference.