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2012-02-23, 10:49 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
The actual fluff of the feat is that you sift through waste psychic energy, the vestiges and energy that radiates from all conscious minds. More powerful minds don't necessarily have more confined thoughts. You're not actually entering their mind, and so there's nothing to really resist in much the same way they can't make a grapple check to prevent you from picking up a cigarette they dropped. That's why you're only able to detect what the character is actively thinking about, and have absolutely no chance to get anything out of them like secrets or memories. I based it less on the mind-probing mind reading and more on the kind of mind reading that is usually shown as a super power; the empath can read just about anyone or anything that passes too close, oftentimes whether the mind reader likes it or not.
If you are unhappy with those rules, you're free to introduce a Will save to resist like Telekinesis allows.
The Sanity loss caused by psionics isn't Otherworld-related, in the same way that the Sanity loss for watching a friend be killed in a gruesome car accident isn't. Insanity triggered by psionics does not grant Forbidden Lore. You're twisting and bending your own mind in ways it was never meant to twist or bend, and that causes trauma, whether or not it was voluntary.
The ability to trade Sanity loss for ability burn would probably tip the game more towards "psionic sorcerer" and away from "things man should never know," which may or may not work for your game. It's essentially allowing the player to take temporary damage in place of more permanent damage. However, if you aren't playing a zombieapocalypse game, or if your players otherwise have lots of time in between missions to recover their Sanity, the difference is likely academic, since either way the party will be completely refreshed soon after using the power.
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2012-02-26, 03:29 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
Ah ok, that makes sense.
I also have another question: Why does Halot-Labo + Yghaz-legh (Shock Therapy) restore sanity? Why wouldn't Ystharnotag + Otharsaz do that? I would think that "Absorb Electricity" would be a way to recharge or power electrical devices.
Secondly, if I feel like homebrewing Utterances, would you be opposed to me submitting suggestions, if I put them in the same format as your own Utterances?My wonderful Avatar is by licoot.
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2012-02-26, 04:24 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
"Restore Mind" is indeed an obvious choice, but that would involve the magick directly healing the target's mind in much the same way Asklepios heals the body, and a spell that directly restores Sanity is mechanically broken. Likewise, there's no magick that heals ability damage. I fiddled with a few different ideas on how to allow Sanity healing without breaking the spell mechanic, but couldn't find one that wasn't arbitrary or wonky. I then, during research, read about shock therapy, and how it is fairly iffy in how well it actually works. I decided that would be an excellent way to have Sanity be restored by a spell, and so Absorb Electricity was the best fit, since that's literally what the spell does. You take electricity from a source, and force the target to absorb it in hopes it makes them better.
Enchant Item (Imbue Object) already powers electrical devices as one of its many uses, rendering such a spell redundant.
EDIT: On a progress note, I added some laser sights to the game and edited some new stuff for the latest PDF.Last edited by Kuma Kode; 2012-02-26 at 04:24 PM.
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2012-02-26, 06:02 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
Right, and I don't want to argue with you about your setting, it is your setting after all. But to my mind, I do not see why "restore mind" could not be just as dangerous as electroshock therapy, by inducing a seizure in the brain. To a person who understood those two whispers, making an utterance out of the two to attempt to cure someone makes sense.
Secondly, I knew that Enchant Item already did that, but does that seem to you to be a bit of an overly-useful spell? Maybe, maybe not.
By the way, I have an idea for a "corrode self" spell that is not just a suicide spell. More later, when I actually have it written up in the proper format.
EDIT: If indeed Absorb Electricity is used for shock therapy, wouldn't it make sense to have it be used for other sources as well, such as turning the caster into a living battery and allowing him to imbue his melee attacks with electricity damage, perhaps?
EDIT: Why not include rules for mundane shock therapy?
EDIT: Mantle of Rot/Purity (possible utterence)
Spoiler
Mantle of Rot/Purity
Lot-aug + Uggot
Corruption Cost: 2 Constitution Damage, 2 Charisma Damage, 2d4 Sanity
Casting Time: One full-round action
Range: personal
Target, Area, or Effect: You
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no
By placing a foot in the grave, you can gain much. By falling in, you can loose much more.
Upon completing this utterance, on your turn, you become a Tainted One. You assume the Tainted subtype and all it entails, including Child of the Black, Cold Immunity, Sunlight Vulnerability and Darksight. Entities and Tainted Ones assume you are just like them and will not attack you, radios under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant and psychics detect you as a Tainted One. However, a creature with the Second Sight feat can see you as you truly are.
Even though you are to all appearances a Tainted, this does not guarantee instant acceptance by other Tainted Ones or Entities. If they have reason to doubt your Tainted nature, you must make a Bluff check to convince them that you are a Tainted, by your words or body language. If they observe you treating humans as allies, you suffer a -4 penalty on the check, and if they observe you casting the spell, you suffer a -10 penalty on the check. In any case, if you attack a Tainted, or are locked in combat with one when you cast this spell, all Tainted and Entities immediately treat you as an enemy.
You become the type of Tainted One that you would become if you were actually Tainted. If you are 2-4 level, you become the 2nd level itineration of your assumed form, if you are 5-9 level, you become the 5th level itineration, 10-14 the 10th level itineration, etc. Any multiclassing within the basic classes will change your assumed form, but multiclassing into an advanced class will not.
So, a 3rd level fast hero would turn into an Edward, while a 3rd level Tough Hero/3rd level Dedicated Hero would turn into an Inevitable. However, a 3rd level Smart Hero/ 2nd level Occultist would simply turn into a Demiliche.
When you turn into your new form, you are in all ways like your assumed form except for the following:
- You retain your original ability scores.
- You retain your original number of Vitality and Wound points.
- You retain your original HD.
- You retain your base save and base attack bonuses.
- Your original skills and feats gained from levels do not change. However, you loose any racial bonus feats or skill bonuses, and gain any bonus feats or skill bonuses that your Tainted form gives.
- You retain a Sanity score, although you are immune to insanity while in your new form. Any Sanity damage that you take while in your new form is delayed until you return to your original form.
- Your Allegiances do not change.
- You do not gain the ability to detect Fallen. You are not "in the know" with regards to the Otherworld, despite what other Tainted Ones may think.
Because of this, your new form has the basic personality of your original form, even if it may lack the mental capabilities. Your new form is incapable of speech unless it is a wight or an itineration thereof. You feel the urge to kill and eat humans, but you know that it is wrong and can resist doing so. You gain all the Special Qualities and Special Abilities of your new form, however, you may not learn any new whispers, murmurs or utterances merely from transforming. Upon casting this spell for the first time, you gain 2 ranks in Knowledge (forbidden lore,) owing to the experience of being a Tainted One.
If you experience the Green Thunder while under this spell, you must succeed on a DC 20 Will save as the eldritch powers of the Otherworld infuse your body and attack your very soul. If you succeed, the spell immediately ends and you assume your normal form and must make a Sanity check for 1/1d8 Sanity. If you fail, your allegiance changes to the Otherworld, you are permanently a Tainted One and your character is now an NPC under the control of the GM. If you are reduced to Wound 0 while under the influence of the spell, and the duration has not run out by the time the Reanimation happens, you must still make the Will save. If you succeed, you are dead as normal, but if you fail, you rise as a Tainted One NPC.
A demiliche is unable to raise you if you are reduced to Wound 0, even if the duration of the spell has not yet expired.
As an extended example, Joshua is a 6th level Smart Hero who knows the whispers Lot-aug, Uggot, Ith-ys, E'migubbor and an unknown whisper that he has on his character sheet as Whisper 5, which happens to be Ngthlh-ddh. He knows the utterences Mantle of Rot and Imbue Object.
He casts Mantle of Rot and becomes a Demiliche. His intestines tear themselves from his body, as do strips of skin around his ankles and wrists. He gains all Tainted traits, and the abilities Black Lotus, Lifetap and Dark Magician. He gains Spell Resistance 16, because the Demiliche has Spell Resistance 10+HD, and he has 6 HD. He looses his bonus Human feat and his nine bonus Human skill points but retains all his other feats, and he gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat for wights and their itinerant forms. His attack bonus and save bonuses remain the same, as neither his ability scores nor his base save & attack bonuses change. Likewise, his wound and vitality points remain the same, despite the mutilation of his body.
With the Dark Magician ability, his Caster Level increases from 3 (half his HD) to 6 (his HD). However, he does not learn any new whispers, even if he were to roll 2d4 and get a number greater than 5. He does not learn that Whisper 5 is actually Ngthlh-ddh, nor does he learn that by combining Lot-aug and E'migubbor he can cast Unmake, even though the Dark Magician ability description says that Demiliches know 2d4 whispers and all the possible Utterances thereof.
While in his Demiliche form, Joshua casts Enchant Item on his machete. He pays 2 Intelligence damage when he casts it, but does not take 1d4 Sanity. The duration of Joshua's Enchant Item spell is 6 minutes because he cast it while as a Demiliche, but the duration of his Mantle of Rot spell is only 3 rounds, because he cast it as a human and became a Demiliche on the end of his turn, immediately after casting his spell. He attacks with his machete next and then uses his Black Lotus ability on his third round, returning to his normal form immediately after he completes his turn. His intestines return to their normal place with no sign of having been disturbed, but the 3 Vitality damage he took as a Demiliche remains, as do the 2 Vitality points he healed of himself by Lifetap. The Corrupted One he raised as a Demilich remains alive, but turns on him, even though he ordered it to not attack any humans for the rest of the day. Also, he takes 1d4 Sanity loss immediately upon returning to his normal form for casting Enchant Item while being a Demiliche.
For Tainted Ones casting this spell, they shed their Tainted nature for a while, and the spell is called Mantle of Purity. The spell works in reverse (a wight casting this spell becomes a human 2nd level Smart Hero, for example.) From the point of view of any Tainted Ones or Entities, the Tainted magician is now a Fallen, and they will not attack it. Tainted Ones retain their ability to detect Fallen while in their new form.
Echelon 1: This spell works as above.
Echelon 2: The duration is 1 minute/caster level.
Echelon 3: The duration is 10 minutes/caster level.
Echelon 4: The duration is 1 hour/caster level, and if you beat the Will save to resist Reanimation by 5 or more, you are returned to full Wound and Vitality points and may remain in your assumed form. However, if you died before the Reanimation, you stay dead.
Echelon 5: As Echelon 4, except that the duration is 1 day/caster level, and the Reanimation can bring you back to life. If it does, you take pentalies as if affected by Black Lazarus, but delayed until you return to your normal form.
By the way, is the spell resistance of the Demiliche a flat 15 or is it 10+HD? The issue arises in the extended example I give for Mantle of Rot.Last edited by The Anarresti; 2012-02-27 at 12:49 PM.
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2012-02-27, 05:33 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
I was actually mildly concerned about making Restore too damn useful. You're free to swap them for your own game. I was really just trying to kind of divvy up some of the utility to different runes so each one has uses. I ran into that difficulty with Project, where a ton of spells could reasonably fall under it (especially the elemental attack spells). While it is certainly reasonable to actually have them divided up that way, with project being the "attack" whisper and restore being the "heal" whisper, I also had the option of mixing them up so each rune has a little bit of everything. Don't worry, you're not offending me, I understand my magic system does lead to some awkward situations. I've had a few spell ideas where I look at the runes and think "There is nowhere to put this spell."
Secondly, I knew that Enchant Item already did that, but does that seem to you to be a bit of an overly-useful spell? Maybe, maybe not.
That was my idea, anyway. I haven't actually gotten the chance to playtest these spells, so they may very well be wonky.
EDIT: If indeed Absorb Electricity is used for shock therapy, wouldn't it make sense to have it be used for other sources as well, such as turning the caster into a living battery and allowing him to imbue his melee attacks with electricity damage, perhaps?
EDIT: Why not include rules for mundane shock therapy?
EDIT: Mantle of Rot/Purity (possible utterence)
Spoiler
Mantle of Rot/Purity
Lot-aug + Uggot
Corruption Cost: 2 Constitution Damage, 2 Charisma Damage, 2d4 Sanity
Casting Time: One full-round action
Range: personal
Target, Area, or Effect: You
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: none
Spell Resistance: no
By placing a foot in the grave, you can gain much. By falling in, you can loose much more.
Upon completing this utterance, on your turn, you become a Tainted One. You assume the Tainted subtype and all it entails, including Child of the Black, Cold Immunity, Sunlight Vulnerability and Darksight. Entities and Tainted Ones assume you are just like them and will not attack you, radios under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant and psychics detect you as a Tainted One. However, a creature with the Second Sight feat can see you as you truly are. If you case this spell while locked in combat with a mindless Tainted One, it will immediately cease to attack you and treat you as an ally. In fact, if you attack a mindless Tainted One while under the influence of this spell, it will not make any move to defend itself. However, a more intelligent Tainted One may see through your subterfuge if given reason to doubt it, and will defend itself using lethal force if you attack it, as there is no such thing as truly lethal force to a Tainted One.
You become the type of Tainted One that you would become if you were actually Tainted. If you are 2-4 level, you become the 2nd level itineration of your assumed form, if you are 5-9 level, you become the 5th level itineration, 10-14 the 10th level itineration, etc. Any multiclassing within the basic classes will change your assumed form, but multiclassing into an advanced class will not.
So, a 3rd level fast hero would turn into an Edward, while a 3rd level Tough Hero/3rd level Dedicated Hero would turn into an Inevitable. However, a 3rd level Smart Hero/ 2nd level Occultist would simply turn into a Demiliche.
When you turn into your new form, you are in all ways like your assumed form except for the following:
- You retain your original ability scores.
- You retain your original number of Vitality and Wound points.
- You retain your original HD.
- You retain your base save and base attack bonuses.
- Your original skills and feats gained from levels do not change. However, you loose any racial bonus feats or skill bonuses, and gain any bonus feats or skill bonuses that your Tainted form gives.
- You retain a Sanity score, although you are immune to insanity while in your new form. Any Sanity damage that you take while in your new form is delayed until you return to your original form.
- Your Allegiances do not change.
- You do not gain the ability to detect Fallen. You are not "in the know" with regards to the Otherworld, despite what other Tainted Ones may think.
Because of this, your new form has the basic personality of your original form, even if it may lack the mental capabilities. Your new form is incapable of speech unless it is a wight or an itineration thereof. You feel the urge to kill and eat humans, but you know that it is wrong and can resist doing so. You gain all the Special Qualities and Special Abilities of your new form, however, you may not learn any new whispers, murmurs or utterances merely from transforming. Upon casting this spell for the first time, you gain 2 ranks in Knowledge (forbidden lore,) owing to the experience of being a Tainted One.
If you experience the Green Thunder while under this spell, you must succeed on a DC 20 Will save as the eldritch powers of the Otherworld infuse your body and attack your very soul. If you succeed, the spell immediately ends and you assume your normal form and must make a Sanity check for 1/1d8 Sanity. If you fail, your allegiance changes to the Otherworld, you are permanently a Tainted One and your character is now an NPC under the control of the GM. If you are reduced to Wound 0 while under the influence of the spell, and the duration has not run out by the time the Reanimation happens, you must still make the Will save. If you succeed, you are dead as normal, but if you fail, you rise as a Tainted One NPC.
A demiliche is unable to raise you if you are reduced to Wound 0, even if the duration of the spell has not yet expired.
As an extended example, Joshua is a 6th level Smart Hero who knows the whispers Lot-aug, Uggot, Ith-ys, E'migubbor and an unknown whisper that he has on his character sheet as Whisper 5, which happens to be Ngthlh-ddh. He knows the utterences Mantle of Rot and Imbue Object.
He casts Mantle of Rot and becomes a Demiliche. His intestines tear themselves from his body, as do strips of skin around his ankles and wrists. He gains all Tainted traits, as well as Spell Resistance 15 (or 16 if it is 10+HD) and the abilities Black Lotus, Lifetap and Dark Magician. He looses his bonus Human feat and his nine bonus Human skill points but retains all his other feats, and he gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat for wights and their itinerant forms. His attack bonus and save bonuses remain the same, as neither his ability scores nor his base save & attack bonuses change. Likewise, his wound and vitality points remain the same, despite the mutilation of his body.
With the Dark Magician ability, his Caster Level increases from 3 (half his HD) to 6 (his HD). However, he does not learn any new whispers, even if he were to roll 2d4 and get a number greater than 5. He does not learn that Whisper 5 is actually Ngthlh-ddh, nor does he learn that by combining Lot-aug and E'migubbor he can cast Unmake, even though the Dark Magician ability description says that Demiliches know 2d4 whispers and all the possible Utterances thereof.
While in his Demiliche form, Joshua casts Enchant Item on his machete. He pays 2 Intelligence damage when he casts it, but does not take 1d4 Sanity. The duration of Joshua's Enchant Item spell is 6 minutes because he cast it while as a Demiliche, but the duration of his Mantle of Rot spell is only 3 rounds, because he cast it as a human and became a Demiliche on the end of his turn, immediately after casting his spell. He attacks with his machete next and then uses his Black Lotus ability on his third round, returning to his normal form immediately after he completes his turn. His intestines return to their normal place with no sign of having been disturbed, but the 3 Vitality damage he took as a Demiliche remains, as do the 2 Vitality points he healed of himself by Lifetap. The Corrupted One he raised as a Demilich remains alive, but turns on him, even though he ordered it to not attack any humans for the rest of the day. Also, he takes 1d4 Sanity loss immediately upon returning to his normal form for casting Enchant Item while being a Demiliche.
For Tainted Ones casting this spell, they shed their Tainted nature for a while, and the spell is called Mantle of Purity. The spell works in reverse (a wight casting this spell becomes a human 2nd level Smart Hero, for example.) From the point of view of any Tainted Ones or Entities, the Tainted magician is now a Fallen, and they will not attack it. Tainted Ones retain their ability to detect Fallen while in their new form.
Echelon 1: This spell works as above.
Echelon 2: The duration is 1 minute/caster level.
Echelon 3: The duration is 10 minutes/caster level.
Echelon 4: The duration is 1 hour/caster level.
Echelon 5: The duration is 1 day/caster level.
By the way, is the spell resistance of the Demiliche a flat 15 or is it 10+HD? The issue arises in the extended example I give for Mantle of Rot.
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2012-02-27, 08:06 AM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
Sure, feel free to take anything I post. I'd appreciate it if you'd give me a little credit in your first post, or a footnote in the spell description saying where the idea came from though.
I did notice the "get out of combat free" thing, but that only really works with Tainted Ones stupid enough to not figure out what's going on, that is, Corrupted Ones only, really. Additionally, the Corruption Cost is so high (2 Constitution, 2 Charisma and 2d4 Sanity) and the duration so low, (1 round/level) that I think it is balanced.
EDIT: I changed the extended example to reflect that, as well as adding some caveats to the upper Echelons to make a duration of 1 day/level actually useful.
Yes, that is true, but that is why I absolutely love your magic system. Instead of treating magic like an easily-obtained commodity, this is a magic system that plays by its own rules, whether or not it is convenient for humans. It also very much preserves the feel of magic in myths and legends, that is, none of this "per day" nonsense but instead it takes a toll on your mind and body. Also, the power is inherent in knowing the rituals, so that anyone can learn a spell, and so spells are more like tools you acquire through effort than entitlements you gain by leveling.
Likewise, your psionic feats much more preserve the feel of psychic abilities in urban legend or "magic powers" in old myths. With your permission, whether or not I run a Shadow Theory game in the future, I would love to use your magic and psionics systems.
By the way, am I correct in assuming that only wights and their evolved forms can speak?
EDIT (again): After looking over the Corrupted template, and scanning the descriptions of the Tainted Ones, I came to the conclusion that most of them (Int>4) will attack you if they observe you casting the spell, many of them (Int>9) will attack you if you appear under suspicious circumstances or act strangely, such as defending or helping humans, and those with Int>14 they will automatically be suspicious of you, because Tainted that intelligent know their territory very well, and will be suspicious of suddenly-appearing undead that they were previously unaware of. All of them (Int>0 or -) will defend themselves if attacked. You know how the Tainted are supposed to act, though, but what I said makes sense to me. So, it is not a get-out-of-combat free card, and I have changed the original post to accomodate this.
By the way, how do the Tainted communicate with each other? Especially if a survivor is going to use higher Echelons of this spell to enter deep cover and infiltrate the enemy, having mechanics for Bluff and Gather Information checks against the Tainted would be very useful.Last edited by The Anarresti; 2012-02-27 at 12:57 PM.
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2015-10-01, 03:42 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Utterances
RevealProjectProtectSummonAbsorbDispelDominateDeceiveRestoreImbueCorrodeShadow -------Mind --------Self ---------Object ----Venom----Creature --------Electricity --------Fire -------Cleanse the Sin-Area --------Soul ---------Death --------Body --------Light ---------
I know I'll be using it, even if no-one else will, so here we go.Last edited by arccos; 2015-10-03 at 11:11 AM.
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2021-02-02, 08:27 PM (ISO 8601)
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Re: Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)
This is really cool. Does anyone have the pdf of the rules?
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