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wkndwor13 12-07-05, 06:50 PM

Alright this may be confusing but thats why i'm posting it; for revision. Let me know what you think. Baisicaly i wanted rules for characters looking in bad places for great power. so here they are. Sorry about the length. Oh, and i think i use the term "possession" a little loosly. For the sake of this article treat it more to mean obsession or another word you like better. Possession and the Three Evils Some people want power. Those people will give anything for a taste of it. To find power people turn to one of the three evils, the three possessions. Out of the hells come the endless whispers of the devils and demons. They want nothing but the sanity and souls of those searching for power. There are those who gaze into the abyss, looking for the secrets death can provide them. Constant association with the abyss drains the life out of power seekers, and they must be careful or there soul could be lost in the infinite darkness of the Abyss. Finally, there is the night and darkness. Power seekers look to the night for strength, yet they find themselves burning in the light of the sun. There are many reasons a person would want power, the hooks can be various. In a campaign an villain can be possessed or a character could be tempted and fall for the corruption that awaits them. Characters need to be careful, the three evils want nothing but their own agendas. Possession is a trap, but smart character and villains can overcome the possession and be more powerful for it. Possession: In whatever form the character chooses, possession is dangerous but powerful. A character need only contact the chosen form of corruption. Night is the easiest, a character need only spend the night awake in vigil with its intention in mind and covered in the blood of a loved one and Night will feed its power to the character. For demonic or devilish possession a character needs to commune or talk to a demon or devil, and strike a bargain; the characters soul for power. The abyss is the hardest to gain power from. A character needs to gaze into the Abyss, some form of planner travel or another means will allow a character the powers and the secrets of the Abyss. Rules of Possession: Possession functions as a class that a character needs to multiclass with. However, the possession does not function as multicasting for the sake of multicasting restrictions. Thus a paladin can still be possessed by a demon and still be a paladin, sort of. The exact line of is evil or not is determined by individual DMs. Personally, I believe that a paladin could start as a paladin, get seduced by say a succubus, become possessed, continue for a few levels of paladin before either killing himself, atoning, or becoming a blackguard. A character who meets the requirements to become possessed then takes the first level of the chosen possession. The first level the character gains no BA, no new save increases, no new HP, or skills. In affect, the character takes one blank level. In exchange, they are now on the path to of power, and they gains one new ability as well as accruing any negative affects of the possession. Once a character starts being possessed, they cannot stop. The character must take all 10 levels of possession. Only atoning and renouncing the abilities gained can take away all negative affects of the possession. A wish or miracle spell will serve to take away the negative affects of the possession, but also only if they give up the positive side as well. A wish or miracle spell can also stop a character from gaining furthur levels in a possession. If the character atones or wishes for atonement, they will never gain back the “blank level.” Characters can be possessed by more than one of the three evils. If a character does this, they can interrupt one possession for a blank level of another possession, and continue every level gaining levels in both Possessions. The character only gains the +1 to exciting class once, though. For instance, Shaezer is a level 3 wizard who becomes possessed by a demon. He take the one blank level at level 4, and by level 10 he is effectively a level 9 wizard with 6 levels of demonic possession. When he gains another level, he takes the blank level for the Death possession. So at level 11 he is a 9th level wizard (effectively) 7th level of demonic possession and 1st level of the death possession. Many characters want power and they want it in different forms. This is shown in the ability to choose what powers are gained from possession. What is shown below are merely guidelines, discuss with you DM before choosing or making a new ability. Higher-level characters can only gain higher-level abilities. For instance, if a character wants to be able to cast a 5th level spell, they need to be 9th level. The exception to this is once per possession a character can decide to double the negative affects to get an ability that would normally be two levels above them. If a character wants an ability granted normally by another class, the character must be of equivalent level of a character of the other class. Thus, Shaezer at level 4 could gain a mount like a paladin’s. Class abilities like sneak attack and rage are gained starting at the lowest point. Thus at 5th level Shaezer could only get sneak attack 1d6. If Shaezer continued to gain sneak attack every level of possession, he could not go above a rogues sneak attack of the same level. Every level that a character takes in a form of possession beyond the first gives that character +1 to an exiting class level. This ability gives the character the skill progression, BA, saves and abilities of one of the classes that that character had progressed in before. This also increases any abilities that rely on class level. Essentially the character gains a level another class as well as a level of possession. It is possible to multiclass while being possessed if the character has no restrictions against it. For instance Shaezer is level 3, 2 wizard 1 demonic possession. The next level he gains he decides to use the +1 to existing class to go up a level of rogue. He is now a level 4 character, 2 wizard 1 rogue and 2 levels of demonic possession. Demonic and Devilish Possession: Requirements: Must contact and make a bargain with a devil or demon. The jist of the bargain must be the characters soul upon death for power. Bonus: Allows for all types of power, save the power to conquer death or prolong life. (sorry, really long paragraph) Drawback: Every level a character takes of this possession drains them of their sanity and the endless whispers of the demon or devil causes the character to act in the devils favor. A character has a number of sanity points equal to their wisdom score. Every level their sanity score drops by one. When the sanity score is down by two points, the character begins to distrust everyone and begins to behave irrationally. As a characters sanity decreases, so does their ability to avoid the promptings of the possessor. Demons and devils want the same thing, the soul of the possessed. The demon cannot simply force the character to kill themselves, but they can make it tempting. Every level gained in this possession the demon or devil tries to control the subject through a geas/quest spell. Use the characters sanity score instead of their wisdom score for determining the bonus given to the characters will save. The quests are never above the characters ability level, and they usually involve the desecration of good temples (or temples dear to the character), meaningless slaughter, or assassination of people close to the possessed. When the characters sanity score is reduced by 5, the demon is constantly whispering that the possessed should kill themselves. Every night they are affected by the nightmare spell. Use the characters sanity score instead of their wisdom score for determining the bonus to will for the save. Once the characters sanity score is reduced by ten, everyday the possessor can try to influence one decision of the possessed that day. Once a day the demon affects the character with a suggestion spell to hurt, harm, and destroy others around the possessed. Use the possessed sanity score instead of wisdom score for determining the bonus to the will save. If the characters score ever reaches 0, the character commits suicide. Another note on sanity, the simple act of murder and killing of loved ones weigh heavily on a character. The DM may want to incorporate the rules for sanity from Unearthed Arcana. Death Possession: Requirements: Must gaze into the abyss. The secrets shown there are imparted to the character, who remembers what they saw for life. Bonus: The death possession grants the character access to most abilities, but also is the only possession that can conquer death and extend life. Another bonus is that the character rolls 1d12for their HP from then on, plus an additional 1d8 for every level of death possession the character takes. Drawback: Death is the most destructive force to mess with. Every level gained in this possession drains one point of constitution from the Character. If a characters constitution ever drops to 0 the character dies. When a character dies their soul is immediately sucked into the abyss and they cannot be resurrected. Only a wish or limited wish can bring the character’s soul out of the abyss to be able to be resurrected. Night Possession: Requirements: A character must sacrifice a loved one to the night, then stand vigil with their loved one’s blood covering them. Bonus: The possession of Night is the less powerful of all the other possessions, as it only grants a certain number of powers, most of which only function at night. However the first level taken in the Possession of the Night gives the character vampirism. Drawback: The character can no longer safely go out in the sun. The first round a character is exposed to the sun they lose all but one HP and only can make a partial action. If they do not escape the sun they are utterly destroyed. If the character dies, of natural causes or in violence, or by the sun their souls are absorbed into the essence of night, and they can never be resurrected. Not even a wish or miracle spell will bring them back. Demonic Possession Level Special 1 -1 sanity, Ability 2 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 3 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 4 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 5 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 6 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 7 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 8 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 9 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class 10 -1 sanity, Ability, +1 to existing class Demonic Possession Abilities: Another class ability of equal level (Sneak attack, rage, ect. Cannot be above the equivalent class (level 10 possessed character can only have a sneak attack equal to a level 10 rogue), starts at the base number (1d6, 1/day ect.) +2 to an ability Any feat that the character could normally get A spell like ability usable once per day that an equivalent spell casting class could cast (5 level possessed character could only cast a spell a level 5 wizard/cleric/druid or another class could cast.) A spell like ability usable 3 times a day that would be 1 spell level below what an equivalent spell casting class would be able to cast. (A 9th level possessed character could have a 4th level spell like ability 3 times a day.) A spell like ability usable at will if the spell would be 3 spell levels below what an equivalent spell casting class could cast or any 0 level spell. (A 9th level possessed character could have 2nd level spell ability at will.) Restrictions on abilities: the demons or devils will never grant any ability or spell like ability that prolongs life or conquers death. Death Possession Level Special 1 -1 constitution, Ability 2 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 3 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 4 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 5 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 6 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 7 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 8 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 9 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class 10 -1 constitution, Ability, +1 to existing class Death Possession Abilities Another class ability of equal level (Sneak attack, rage, ect. Cannot be above the equivalent class (level 10 possessed character can only have a sneak attack equal to a level 10 rogue), starts at the base number (1d6, 1/day ect.) +2 to an ability Any feat that the character could normally get (even if it is a restricted feat) A spell like ability usable once per day that an equivalent spell casting class could cast (5 level possessed character could only cast a spell a level 5 wizard/cleric/druid or another class could cast.) A spell like ability usable 3 times a day that would be 1 spell level below what an equivalent spell casting class would be able to cast. (A 9th level possessed character could have a 4th level spell like ability 3 times a day.) A spell like ability usable at will if the spell would be 3 spell levels below what an equivalent spell casting class could cast or any 0 level spell. (A 9th level possessed character could have 2nd level spell ability at will.) Special Abilities: Longer Life: Must be level 3rd level death possession: quadruple the characters normal life span Dead life: Must give up another point of constitution and be 5ht level death possession: The character gains fast healing 4, Damage reduction 10/Bludgeoning, and lighting and cold resistance 10. Second life: Must be level 10th death possession and give up another point of constitution: After the character dies, he returns to life 1d3 minuets later at half HP with half the spells and daily abilities at half rounded down. If the body is significantly destroyed the character does not return to life and is dragged into the abyss. Significant destruction is the body is torn to pieces, burned or otherwise completely mutilated. If the characters head is removed, the body does not decay and the character’s soul stays in a state of limbo until the head is placed next to the body, then 1d3 minutes later the character rises as specified above. Restrictions: Death Possession never allows the character to get any ability that would increase their constitution, nor any spell with the healing type. Night Possession Level Special 1 Weakness, Vampirism 2 +1 to existing class 3 Ability, +1 to existing class 4 +1 to existing class 5 Ability, +1 to existing class 6 +1 to existing class 7 Ability, +1 to existing class 8 +1 to existing class 9 Ability, +1 to existing class 10 +1 to existing class Night Possession Abilities: (all only function at night) +2 to ability Another class ability of equal level (Sneak attack, rage, ect. Cannot be above the equivalent class (level 10 possessed character can only have a sneak attack equal to a level 10 rogue), starts at the base number (1d6, 1/day ect.) Special Abilities: Fast healing 2 that kicks in when the character is below ½ HP and only functions untillt eh character is back up to ½ HP +4 natural armour Damage Reduction 10/silver Immunity to poison Immunity to all diseases (even magical ones) Vampirism: The character no longer needs to eat or sleep. The character gains a bite attack that does 1 point of constitution damage that the character gains back as 1d6 HP. Every week the character must kill a humanoid with his bite attack or the character begins to be affected by the effects of hunger. And there they are, the rues for possession