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Helgraf
2006-10-11, 01:32 AM
[Indigo Prophet]
At the lines that mark the end of things, the lines that separate A from B, life from death, sanity from madness, much knowledge has been lost; some by intent, some by accident and happenstance. Some people have managed to sway across these lines, crossing but returning; of these, a few have brought something back with them from the experience. And a few of these, having done so once, seek to do so again, to snatch more of what has been lost, hidden and obscured in these places.

Creating an Indigo Prophet
Indigo Prophet is an acquired template that can be added to any non-mindless non-undead creature. Additionally, the creature cannot possess the Pseudonatural template. If the creature becomes an undead, or gains the pseudonatural template, all benefits of the Indigo Prophet template are suppressed until such time as these conditions no longer apply. The creature must have met one of the following criteria:

A) The Threshold of Death - The creature must have been brought from positive HP to exactly -9 HP by an attack, and then survive without becoming dead. Being reduced to any less than -9 HP and then bleeding does not count; neither does dying and being brought back. While the character is unconscious, she manages to grasp some underlying meaning or insight into reality, as represented below.

B) The Threshold of Madness - The creature must have been brought to 1 WIS by Wisdom drain or damage. If it is caused primarily by Wisdom damage, at least half of the creature's wisdom must be regained through nonmagical healing. If the damage is primarily drain, at least a week must be spent before being restored to full Wisdom. It is during this time of recovery that the character is occasionally gripped by hallucinations and ultra-vivid dreams; from these he gleans insights about reality, as represented below.

It is still not known exactly how these insights are gained; some prophets claim that voices in the dark whispered things to them, words that they understood yet could not grasp, nor repeat to others. Others claim that all creatures possess the knowledge already within themselves, but it is only in pushing their minds and bodies to their ultimate limits that brings them to the surface, as a sort of final defense. What is known, among those few who acknowledge their existence, is that many Indigo Prophets have died or succumbed to permanent insanity in their attempts to learn more of these ... indigo secrets.

Helgraf
2006-10-11, 01:35 AM
Size and Type
Size remains unchanged. Animals become Magical Beasts [Augmented Animal], others are unchanged.

Special Qualities
The Qualities gained are based on which way the Indigo Prophet met the requirements for the template.

The Threshold of Death
Those who survive the Threshold of Death gain two advantages; the first is knowledge of a skill from the Threshold of Death list; they gain 4 ranks in the skill chosen regardless of whether it is in class or cross class for their current level (or their monster/racial HD).

Threshold of Death: Autohypnosis, Concentration, Heal, Knowledge (the Planes).

Should the Indigo Prophet already have all four skills at Rank 4 or higher, he gains 4 skill points to spend on in-class skills instead, with the normal skill maximums in effect.

The second benefit gained by a survivor of the Threshold of Death is access to one of the Secrets of Death.

Secrets of Death:
An Indigo prophet who survives the Threshold of Death (or who gains the template that way) may choose one of the following abilities. The same ability cannot be chosen twice.

1. Indigo Clarity: Gain Skill Focus in one of the skills listed under Threshold of Death. You must have at least 1 rank in the skill. You may select the same skill you chose for your Threshold benefit. All normal rules for Skill Focus apply.
2. Indigo Awareness: Gain the Alertness feat as a bonus feat.
3. Indigo Voice: The prophet may cast Speak With Dead 1x/week.

The Threshold of Madness
Those who survive the Threshold of Madness gain similiar advantages, drawn instead from the Threshold of Madness skill list and an ability from the Secrets of Madness. In all other ways, this functions the same as it does for those surviving the Threshold of Death.

Threshold of Madness: Appraise, Craft (any one), Sense Motive, Speak Language (any one).

Secrets of Madness: An Indigo prophet who survives the Threshold of Madness (or who gains the template that way) may choose one of the following abilities. The same ability cannot be chosen twice.

1. Indigo Clarity: Gain Skill Focus in one of the skills listed under Threshold of Madness above. You must have at least 1 rank in the skill. You may select the same skill you chose for your Threshold benefit. All normal rules for Skill Focus apply.
2. Indigo Insight: 1x/day, add your Wisdom modifier as an insight bonus to a skill check you make, provided that you have at least one rank in the skill.
3. Indigo Whispers: The Prophet may cast the Message spell 1x/day per time this trial has been completed.

Seeking Secrets: An Indigo Prophet who survives one Threshold and later meets the requirement of the other may then immediately gain the benefit of that threshold as well as the first. Once an Indigo Prophet has survived both the Thresholds of Death and Madness, he may put his life and sanity at risk by attempting again to put himself on one of those razor-thin boundaries, and may complete them up to a maximum of 3 times each. (e.g., he can, for purposes of benefits of this template, complete each trial up to 3 times - but he cannot complete either Trial more than once until he has done both at least once.) Each time he completes one of the trials, he gains the appropriate Threshold and Secret bonuses; he does not gain any of the other effects of the template again.

Secrets of True Indigo: An Indigo Prophet who has survived both Thresholds may, on completing his third or successive Threshold, choose his secret either from the regular list based on the kind of Threshold survived, or the list below. These secrets are more powerful, but also extract a toll; the darker secrets of indigo require greater sacrifice. Indigo Mastery may be taken more than once; the other two abilities can only be selected once each.

1. Embrace the Indigo: When the Indigo Prophet draws closer to death; her mind and body instinctively act to protect her. When she is at half or less of his maximum hit points, she gains DR 3/-. This follows the normal rules for DR stacking. However, the same strange forces she taps into to gain this resistance also warp effects of the healing subschool; subtract 3 points per die (to a minimum of 1 point per die) from the result of any healing spell cast on her or that affects an area that includes her; though in the latter case, only she suffers from the reduced healing.

2. Draw the Indigo Line:
An Indigo Prophet who has brought themselves to the brink repeatedly comes to hate those beings whose existence straddles the lines of death and madness, seeing them as a defilement. The Indigo Prophet that learns this secret gains the Bane quality against Undead and creatures of madness or the Far Realm (the Pseudonatural template also qualifies) with their melee strikes and melee touch spells. They suffer a -4 penalty to any attempt to interact with such creatures using any Charisma-based skills save for Intimidate. In their pursuit of monsters they leave behind something fundamental of their nature, however, and they lose a number of HP equal to their current level + Racial HD (if any).

3. Indigo Mastery: An Indigo Prophet may take one of the following skills as a class skill for any class he takes from that point on. (This includes monsterous advancement, if it normally advances in that manner).
Autohypnosis, Concentration, Craft (any one), Heal, Knowledge (any one), Sense Motive. Furthermore, if he currently has 0 ranks in that skill, he automatically gains 4 ranks in the skill. Their countenance becomes more unsettling, however, and they take a -2 penalty to all Charisma based skill checks. This secret can be taken more than once, but a different skill must be selected each time.

Abilities
Wis +2, Cha -2. The lost secrets gained and the trial survived strengthens the will, but the creature gives off a subtle aura that discomforts others socially. These benefits are gained only when the Indigo Prophet first gains the template.

Skills
See above.

Challenge Rating
+1 for the basic template; if the creature has completed 3 or more trials (to the maximum of 6), +2.

Level Adjustment
+1 (due to the high risks involved in acquiring the template benefits, I reduced this from an initial +2).

Core Considerations
Making this template completely Core-compliant is as simple as removing all references to the Pseudonatural template; the Draw the Indigo Line ability functions only against Undead in that case. At the GMs discretion pseudonaturals could be replaced with the Abberation type. As the pseudonatural template is not required to gain this template, no non-Core books are required to make this template function.

The Glyphstone
2006-10-11, 10:58 AM
Interesting. I can see this being a decent template for a psionic character - it may not give many directly psionic benefits, but a psion or psychic warrior could qualify for the template very easily and at far less risk than normal. Psychofeedback (gainable at Egoist 9th, via Expanded Knowledge at 12th, or Psychic Warrior 13th) would let them deliberately damage their Wisdom to 1, and the feat Mind Over Body would let them recover their ability damage in only a few days. Granted, that only allows them to qualify for Secrets of Madness, but PsyWarriors could definitely use the Insight bonus to a skill check 1/day, and it comes with a Wis bonus.

Mike_Lemmer
2006-10-11, 11:13 AM
You might want to format that. The lack of bolds & italics makes it hard to follow the sections.

Second, shouldn't it be "Wisdom damaged to 1 or less"? A Wisdom of 0 just knocks you unconscious; it doesn't kill you.

Third, I can't shake the feeling this would work better as two subtemplates. I'll look into it more later.

Helgraf
2006-10-11, 11:44 AM
Firstly, thank you for your feedback.


You might want to format that. The lack of bolds & italics makes it hard to follow the sections.

Agreed - Formatting added.


Second, shouldn't it be "Wisdom damaged to 1 or less"? A Wisdom of 0 just knocks you unconscious; it doesn't kill you.

As this is an acquired rather than inherent template, I was striving to make the acquisition process difficult while still thematic to the idea of borders. Since you can't be reduced below 0 Wis by an attack setting the threshold to 0 Wis would actually make it very easy to qualify for the Madness Threshold part of the template; thus my decision to require being reduced to 1 Wis; also precisely because 0 Wis basically puts you in a catatonic coma, I wanted 1 Wis - you're still conscious, but your awareness has been significantly alerted by the damage inflicted to your psyche (as represented by the Wis damage/drain).


Third, I can't shake the feeling this would work better as two subtemplates. I'll look into it more later.

I'd thought about doing it as two seperate templates, or two templates and a third that could only be acquired once the prior two had been earned, but it just felt more organic -to me- to do it in this fashion. Mechanically, I can see where it might have been easier to seperate into, say, Indigo Mind [Insanity] and Indigo Body [Death], though.

Helgraf
2006-10-11, 11:48 AM
Thanks for your input - comments below.


Interesting. I can see this being a decent template for a psionic character - it may not give many directly psionic benefits, but a psion or psychic warrior could qualify for the template very easily and at far less risk than normal. Psychofeedback (gainable at Egoist 9th, via Expanded Knowledge at 12th, or Psychic Warrior 13th) would let them deliberately damage their Wisdom to 1, and the feat Mind Over Body would let them recover their ability damage in only a few days. Granted, that only allows them to qualify for Secrets of Madness, but PsyWarriors could definitely use the Insight bonus to a skill check 1/day, and it comes with a Wis bonus.

I suppose it's reasonable that a psion or psychic warrior would have a slightly easier time exploring madness and returning from that brink, so I don't feel too bad about that fact.

It was meant to be primarily a skill-based template, but the Wis bonus definitely aids divine spellcasters and certain other classes, including the psywar and the monk. The 'True Indigo' abilities give the template some versatility of function, for those who have pushed themselves to the brinks of death and madness repeatedly.

All of this said, I don't see too many combat-types looking to acquire this template unless A) They really want more skill benefits, or B) They're aiming for the DR or Undead/Far Realm Bane abilities way down the line.

Carmichael
2006-10-11, 12:21 PM
I actually like this entry. It's short, it's sweet, and has -- I think -- a lot of potential in a campaign. If I have two quibbles, it's that A) there is a bit of reliance on non-core material (e.g. pseudonatural-ness comes up), and B) I wouldn't mind seeing some context and backstory worked in.

(Also, while the form of the entry is nice, I at least twice spot typos.)


Second, shouldn't it be "Wisdom damaged to 1 or less"? A Wisdom of 0 just knocks you unconscious; it doesn't kill you.


I personally like the idea that the person has to reach a specifically low number (-9 hp, 1 Wisdom), since the template seems to stress going between life and death, madness and sanity. Also, it makes it more difficult for characters who desire go "further" in the template.

Helgraf
2006-10-11, 12:34 PM
Firstly, thanks for the input.


I actually like this entry. It's short, it's sweet, and has -- I think -- a lot of potential in a campaign. If I have two quibbles, it's that A) there is a bit of reliance on non-core material (e.g. pseudonatural-ness comes up), and B) I wouldn't mind seeing some context and backstory worked in.

On the plus side, the pseudonatural thing is a limitation, not a required addition to qualify, so if you don't have access to the neccesary works (Tome and Blood, Epic Level Handbook, et al), it doesn't affect the playability of the template. It can be run in Core with ease; just drop the pseudonatural part from the Bane ability and from the limits on what can gain the template.

As for context and backstory, yes, I do need to give it a bit more flavour and possibly a sample character; I've been trying to keep it somewhat generic just so that it takes little effort to adapt into any GM's game setting, but I may have gone too far in that direction.

Lemme see what I can come up with.


(Also, while the form of the entry is nice, I at least twice spot typos.)

Entry spellchecked and lightly grammar-alighned. Thanks for the heads-up.


I personally like the idea that the person has to reach a specifically low number (-9 hp, 1 Wisdom), since the template seems to stress going between life and death, madness and sanity. Also, it makes it more difficult for characters who desire go "further" in the template.

You've hit the nail on the head for the feel of the template. Mechanically, this was part of the tradeoff for why the level adjustment is only +1 - it can be quite difficult (and in the case of the Death Threshold, very risky) to go 'further' in the template, and obtain the advantages that would have earned it a higher LA if you got all the benefits right out of the hat.

Mike_Lemmer
2006-10-11, 03:08 PM
Ah ha, I've found what's bugging me. It's the layout.

First, you don't need to write down any fields that aren't changed by a template. That means you can remove Speed, AC, and the Attacks/Special Attacks.

Second, the Seeking Secrets, the base of the piece, needs some rearranging. The Secrets of Madness/Death should come first, then the Seeking Secrets should come next (where you explain they can acquire abilities from both paths).

Third, remove the Skills section. It's a double split; it's split between the two categories, but removed from the main split in the piece (the Secrets of). I'd move the Skills notes under the Secrets section and leave a note saying "See Above" in the Skills section.

Also, there's a good possibility of confusion between the mandatory Gain 4 Ranks in Untrained Skill and the optional Gain Skill Focus. Perhaps you could remove the Gain 4 Ranks and replace it with the Skill Focus?

Helgraf
2006-10-11, 10:59 PM
Ah ha, I've found what's bugging me. It's the layout.

First, you don't need to write down any fields that aren't changed by a template. That means you can remove Speed, AC, and the Attacks/Special Attacks.

Second, the Seeking Secrets, the base of the piece, needs some rearranging. The Secrets of Madness/Death should come first, then the Seeking Secrets should come next (where you explain they can acquire abilities from both paths).

Third, remove the Skills section. It's a double split; it's split between the two categories, but removed from the main split in the piece (the Secrets of). I'd move the Skills notes under the Secrets section and leave a note saying "See Above" in the Skills section.

I agree with your general analysis of the layout and have modified it accordingly so the benefits of each type, where they differ, are grouped together.



Also, there's a good possibility of confusion between the mandatory Gain 4 Ranks in Untrained Skill and the optional Gain Skill Focus. Perhaps you could remove the Gain 4 Ranks and replace it with the Skill Focus?

Hmmm. In passing the Threshold, they learned a considerable amount about the skill; which is why I went with the 4 ranks (counted as if in class) initially. I think I'd meant to say the character had to have ranks in the skill in which the Skill Focus was applied to, but it seems to have slipped somewhere in editting. I think I shall go fix that.

Mike_Lemmer
2006-10-11, 11:59 PM
Excellent. I have two more questions:
1. Do they get 4 ranks every time they reach a Threshold?
2. Do they need to achieve both Thresholds before they can get multiple benefits from one Threshold?

Helgraf
2006-10-12, 12:12 AM
Excellent. I have two more questions:
1. Do they get 4 ranks every time they reach a Threshold?
2. Do they need to achieve both Thresholds before they can get multiple benefits from one Threshold?

1. Yes (though the rule requiring you to have less than four ranks will keep them from selecting the same skill twice). Yes, technically this means they could gain six skills at rank 4, and if they wanted to maximize the skill impact, take skill focus for each secret selection to effectively get +7 to two of the six chosen skills; to an extent, this is mitigated by the fact that the skills, though useful in specialized situations, arent as broadly useful as, say, Spot, Listen, and Tumble); Skill Focus can only be taken once on each path because you cannot repeat the same secret (with the sole exception of the Indigo Mastery secret of True Indigo).

2. Yes (relevant text under Seeking Secrets as follows: Once an Indigo Prophet has survived both the Thresholds of Death and Madness, he may put his life and sanity at risk by attempting again to put himself on one of those razor-thin boundaries, and may complete them up to a maximum of 3 times each. (e.g., he can, for purposes of benefits of this template, complete each trial up to 3 times - but he cannot complete either Trial more than once until he has done both at least once.)

Helgraf
2006-10-17, 01:27 PM
Sample Indigo Prophet

Dharvoil's first brush with the Indigo came when he was at a tavern the whole of which was struck down by a case of poisoning - striped toadstool caused many of the patrons who had the stew that night to become less cautious, and some, Dharvoil among them, became raving lunatics; their ability to determine the real from the unreal severely damaged. But for Dharvoil, the experience was different; as he descended into a fundamental state of awareness/unawareness, he felt he could see, like tiny indigo cobwebs, tendrils that reached out through every person and living creature there, and out into the world beyond. In his delusional state he tugged upon the strings, and found he was able to determine the reasons behind his fellows strange behaviors. As the effects slowly began to wear off, he fought to ensnare the indigo webbery, fought to retain this strange yet fascinating new facility. When, at last, many days later, his mind had managed to shake off the worst of the trauma of the experience, he found that, though he could no longer see the indigo 'webbing', he had somehow retained a portion of the gift; he was ever after more skilled at reading the motivations of those he interacted with. He also began to make subtle realizations when undertaking skills he was familiar with, small improvements he could make to his technique, insights that he could only presume were lingering aftereffects of the events of the prior eve. All of this by itself he might have chalked up to some 'magical strangeness', and for a time he did just that. But a year later, fighting gnolls in deep forest, a second event occured. Bursting into a small clearing, he came face to face with one of the gnoll chieftains. A fierce battle ensued, as he tried to draw the monster out after him, back toward where he'd remembered his companions were last. The monster's blows rained down on him, and at the last, he could not turn one aside and the creature's massive club crashed into his skull. All went black. In the blackness, he could hear the slow thudding of his heart, could feel each beat as it came, more sluggishly than the last. He felt a strange weightlessness, wondered if this was how insects felt in flight. As his body bled in silence, he could not explain what he did next; his consciousness expanded, and saw the truth - he balanced finely on a needle between life and death; and there it touched other minds, other consciousnesses, felt for the briefest section every soul crossing the border of life and death in the world, the countless numbers going in the one direction ... and the tiny handful returning, like a great indigo tide that engulfs him and carried him upon it. Though he had no way of knowing it, his body had, against long odds, managed to stablize itself, keeping just enough blood to sustain him. While his body attempted desperately to repair itself, his mind continued to drift in the indigo; unconsciously seeking out others going and coming along the divide whose voices spoke of healing, sharpening his senses in the attempt to glean the knowledge his body needed. Again, as in the tavern, he felt something larger, something beyond that his mind encapsulated and was folded into. Again, as he felt he was gaining true understanding, he was suddenly drawn out of it .. plunged back into cold and wet and pain.

As the cleric finished his prayer of healing, Dharvoil's eyes opened and he screamed in equal parts pain and frustration. Since that time, he has honed both his defensive combat techniques, and has begun to search for others who may have experieced as he has, other Indigo Prophets.

Dharvoil Evishant
Medium Humanoid (Human) Indigo Prophet Ftr4
Hit Dice: 4d10+8 (30 hp)
Initiative: +1
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares)
Armor Class: 22 (+8 armor, +3 shield, +1 dex), touch 11, flat-footed 21
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/+7
Attack: +8 melee (Masterwork Cold Iron Battleaxe 1d8+3 1HSl 20/x3) or +7 melee (Handaxe 1d6 LiSl 20/x3) or +7 melee (Cold Iron Morningstar 1d8+3 1HB&P 20/x2)
Full Attack:
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks:
Special Qualities: Threshold of Madness (Indigo Insight), Threshold of Death (Indigo Awareness)
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 06
Skills: Climb +3 (7r, 3Str -7 ACP), Heal +5 (4r, 1Wis), Jump +3 (7r, 3Str, -7ACP), Listen +3 (1Wis, 2 Ft), Sense Motive +5 (4r, 1Wis), Spot +3 (1Wis, 2Ft), Swim -4 (7r, 3Str, -14 SCP), Tumble -3 (3.5r, 1Dex, -7 ACP),
Feats: Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack, Alertness (b)
Environment: Any urban
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 5
Treasure: Equipment
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: +1

Equipment
Armour: Masterwork Full Plate Armour, +1 Heavy Steel Shield
Weapons: Masterwork Cold Iron Battleaxe, Handaxe, Cold Iron Morningstar, 2 flasks of Alchemist's Fire, 2 flasks of Acid, 1 Smokestick
Miscellany:Backpack, Bedroll, Winter Blanket, Crowbar, Flint and Steel, Grappling Hook, 50 ft Silk Rope, , Hammer, Bullseye Lantern, 5 flasks of oil, 8 pitons, 10 foot pole, Portable Ram, 4 sacks, Traveller's Outfit, 5 Waterskins, 2 weeks iron rations
Money: 5 gp

Threshold of Madness: Having survived the Threshold of Madness, Dharvoil has gained knowledge about the motivations of others (4 ranks in the Sense Motive skill), and insight into the skills he has developed - once per day, he may add his Wisdom bonus as an insight modifer to a skill check for skills which he has at least one rank in.

Threshold of Death: Having survived the Threshold of Death, Dharvoil has gained knowledge of the body and how to treat it (4 ranks in the Heal skill), and has learned new techniques for observing the world around him (gaining Alertness as a bonus feat).

Having survived both Thresholds, Dharvoil now qualifies, should he survive either threshold again, to learn a secret of True Indigo.

Combat: After the harrowing experiences Dharvoil has undergone in the last three years, he has become a rather unusual combatant; slow in his heavy armor, yet uncannily graceful as he slips between combatants to seek out more dangerous foes; spellcasters and archers in particular, counting as much on his armor to absorb the blows as his ability to evade them on the move. Combining Power Attack and Spring Attack, he is able to land devestating blows against spellcasters as he goes by; preferring battles where he can strike them and then continue moving to a position that provides him cover from counterattack.

Design Notes: Built using the elite monster array, with one point added since he reached 4th level, and as an NPC. If used as a PC, increase HP by 5 to represent a maximized 1st level Hit Die and add 2,100 gp in extra equipment to bring him up to spec for a character of his level.