aberrant dragonmarks [Archive] - Wizards Community

aberrant dragonmarks [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
BenjaminBinder
04-24-05, 11:19 AM I can't find much about aberrant dragonmarks in the ECS. What's the deal with them? Are they illegal? Will you be hunted down and killed if people know you have one? What can a PC do with one? Can it be enhanced with items, spells, feats, PrCs? How does a person with an aberrant dragonmark become badass?
ieattrollsforbreakfast
04-24-05, 01:21 PM I can't find much about aberrant dragonmarks in the ECS. What's the deal with them?
Aberrant dragonmarks come in two types, the first are formed when members of different dragonmarked families have children, and the second occur spontaneously. They are mechanically identical and are granted by the feat Aberrant Dragonmark in the ECS. Like regular dragonmarks, they do not appear from birth.
Are they illegal?
Nope, there is nothing illegal about that. Thats not to say people wont find other reasons to arrest you if they discover you bear one.
Will you be hunted down and killed if people know you have one?
Most likely. The War of the Mark's purpose was to erradicate aberrant dragonmarks, and for good reason. If you overtly display an aberrant dragonmark, you attract the wrong kind of attention.
What can a PC do with one?
The feat enables its bearer the use of a single, often harmful, spell-like ability that, unlike least dragonmarks, improves its caster level as you increase your character level.
Can it be enhanced with items, spells, feats, PrCs?
There are none in any official source yet, but its likely there will be in the future.
How does a person with an aberrant dragonmark become badass?
By joining House Tarkanan :)
Isran_Imrador
04-24-05, 02:47 PM Also if you need a cooler Aberrant mark you could make an PrC called Heir of Khyber..... :)
Just another user
04-24-05, 03:07 PM Also, people don't trust very much persons with aberrant Dragonmark, there is some rumor the the mark is a manifestation of some more deep abverration, something wrong with that person's soul, so to speak.There nothing certain, of course, but many believe it.
The Livewire
04-24-05, 06:58 PM I'm curious about the aberrant marks myself. I mean are/were they really aberrant or is it a matter of the victors writing history? Maybe the so called 'House' is on to something.
Wren
04-24-05, 07:14 PM Well... aberrent marks are for sure to be a worry to most of the Dragonmarked houses... the represent something outside of the Norm and outside of "House" control.
Greyson
04-24-05, 08:01 PM Keith Baker's novel, The Dreaming Dark Book One: City of Towers, has some detail about abberant dragonmarks. I don't want to give the novel's plot away, so I'll leave it at that. But, I did learn alot about dragonmarks (abberant and consanquineous), the War of the Mark and the perception of abberant dragonmark bearers.

It's a great book, and sheds a lot of light on this exact question. Pick it up, it's good stuff.
Edymnion
04-24-05, 09:21 PM The general idea of the Abbarrent Marks is that they are bad news.

The Abbarrent Marks used to be much more powerful than they are now (one baddie was supposed to have been able to level entire cities with their abbarrent mark, and another could cause massive plagues with theirs). The War of the Mark was had, which killed off most of the abbarent marks, leaving only the weaker ones (generally speaking) behind.

Those that carry abbarrent marks these days are usually damaged by them, either mentally, physically, or both. They may suffer from dimentia, paranoia, etc, the skin around their mark may be red and inflamed, or with boils and blisters, or they may have more full body effects from them. Using the marks is typically a painful experience (one from the City of Towers novels has a Burning Hands abbarrent mark, and its described as feeling like his blood is set on fire while its still in him, and he then funnels the pain into his hands in the form of the burning hands ability). Another had a more powerful mark, and the pain from using it was nearly enough to knock him unconcious when he did so.

Abbarrent Marks are essentially this setting's version of leprocy. Its considered unclean, you don't interact with anyone that has one, and anyone that does have one is most likely to be shunned and treated like a criminal, if they did anything wrong or not.
BenjaminBinder
04-25-05, 10:22 AM Okay. Thanks, all, for your answers.
Vharuck
04-25-05, 10:29 AM Also note that there are 12 Aberrant mark powers. This further makes one wonder if the aberrant marks were the same as the House marks, but more violent?

Except the mage armor one. That's not violent.
Wren
04-25-05, 11:13 AM or the Tenser's...
Mike Czaplinski
04-25-05, 12:25 PM As far as the powers that Aberrant Marks allow:

The ones listed in the ECSB with the feat are not the only ones. I
recall that elsewhere in the AKB thread it was mentioned that the
'standard' ones were included for reasons of PC game balance, and
that DMs could make their owns if they so chose.

ISTR (and this may be from the CITY OF TOWERS novel) that slowly
over the past few centuries aberrant marks have been getting more
powerful again.

In my game, I'm going to be including a special aberrant mark called
a 'corrupted' mark. The right-hand of my big baddie is going to be a
Duergar. Since he is a dwarf, he is eligable for the Mark of Warding,
but because he serves a daelkyr (the duergar were created by this
particular baddie to serve her) her influence has warped the mark
into granting Wall of Stone X times per day (I don't have my notes,
I think its 1 or 2 times a day). Nothing major, grant you, but still
an interesting extension of the principle.

MikeC
ThatOneMonk
04-25-05, 12:49 PM question: are all bearers of abberrant marks evil? I had an idea for a monk from Aundair (drunken master, the monk organization that's as famous for it's strength in arms as it is for it's wine) who has an abberrant mark but tries not to show it. It's almost overly joyful, loves the nature of innocence, but knows that because of his curse he can no longer be truely innocent. Kind of a tragic character, really, but plenty of dimension. Would something like that make sense?
MarkB
04-25-05, 12:52 PM question: are all bearers of abberrant marks evil?
No. There is a massive stigma attached to bearing the mark, and it is widely believed to cause sickness and/or madness, but a character who bears an aberrant mark may display none of these symptoms.
ThatOneMonk
04-25-05, 12:54 PM No. There is a massive stigma attached to bearing the mark, and it is widely believed to cause sickness and/or madness, but a character who bears an aberrant mark may display none of these symptoms.

so my character concept works? He'd just be extremely saddened, due to the stigma which you have just described?
MarkB
04-25-05, 01:19 PM so my character concept works? He'd just be extremely saddened, due to the stigma which you have just described?
Sounds fine to me. How he's affected by finding that he bears the Mark will depend upon how much he buys into the common perception of them.
Blue Sky
04-25-05, 02:22 PM Another (relatively minor) difference between aberrant marks and regular marks is that the "good" marks are a royal blue/purple-ish color, and aberrant marks are, well, any other color.
Wren
04-25-05, 02:25 PM where is this discribed?
ieattrollsforbreakfast
04-25-05, 03:47 PM Another (relatively minor) difference between aberrant marks and regular marks is that the "good" marks are a royal blue/purple-ish color, and aberrant marks are, well, any other color.

I believe the Aberrant marks in City of Towers are described as being pitch black, like a brand. Then again, it has been a couple of months since I read it, so I could be dreaming that up.
The Designated Rogue
04-25-05, 05:09 PM Tell me more about...House Tarkanan... ;)

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BenjaminBinder 04-24-05, 11:19 AM	I can't find much about aberrant dragonmarks in the ECS. What's the deal with them? Are they illegal? Will you be hunted down and killed if people know you have one? What can a PC do with one? Can it be enhanced with items, spells, feats, PrCs? How does a person with an aberrant dragonmark become badass?
ieattrollsforbreakfast 04-24-05, 01:21 PM	I can't find much about aberrant dragonmarks in the ECS. What's the deal with them? Aberrant dragonmarks come in two types, the first are formed when members of different dragonmarked families have children, and the second occur spontaneously. They are mechanically identical and are granted by the feat Aberrant Dragonmark in the ECS. Like regular dragonmarks, they do not appear from birth. Are they illegal? Nope, there is nothing illegal about that. Thats not to say people wont find other reasons to arrest you if they discover you bear one. Will you be hunted down and killed if people know you have one? Most likely. The War of the Mark's purpose was to erradicate aberrant dragonmarks, and for good reason. If you overtly display an aberrant dragonmark, you attract the wrong kind of attention. What can a PC do with one? The feat enables its bearer the use of a single, often harmful, spell-like ability that, unlike least dragonmarks, improves its caster level as you increase your character level. Can it be enhanced with items, spells, feats, PrCs? There are none in any official source yet, but its likely there will be in the future. How does a person with an aberrant dragonmark become badass? By joining House Tarkanan :)
Isran_Imrador 04-24-05, 02:47 PM	Also if you need a cooler Aberrant mark you could make an PrC called Heir of Khyber..... :)
Just another user 04-24-05, 03:07 PM	Also, people don't trust very much persons with aberrant Dragonmark, there is some rumor the the mark is a manifestation of some more deep abverration, something wrong with that person's soul, so to speak.There nothing certain, of course, but many believe it.
The Livewire 04-24-05, 06:58 PM	I'm curious about the aberrant marks myself. I mean are/were they really aberrant or is it a matter of the victors writing history? Maybe the so called 'House' is on to something.
Wren 04-24-05, 07:14 PM	Well... aberrent marks are for sure to be a worry to most of the Dragonmarked houses... the represent something outside of the Norm and outside of "House" control.
Greyson 04-24-05, 08:01 PM	Keith Baker's novel, The Dreaming Dark Book One: City of Towers, has some detail about abberant dragonmarks. I don't want to give the novel's plot away, so I'll leave it at that. But, I did learn alot about dragonmarks (abberant and consanquineous), the War of the Mark and the perception of abberant dragonmark bearers. It's a great book, and sheds a lot of light on this exact question. Pick it up, it's good stuff.
Edymnion 04-24-05, 09:21 PM	The general idea of the Abbarrent Marks is that they are bad news. The Abbarrent Marks used to be much more powerful than they are now (one baddie was supposed to have been able to level entire cities with their abbarrent mark, and another could cause massive plagues with theirs). The War of the Mark was had, which killed off most of the abbarent marks, leaving only the weaker ones (generally speaking) behind. Those that carry abbarrent marks these days are usually damaged by them, either mentally, physically, or both. They may suffer from dimentia, paranoia, etc, the skin around their mark may be red and inflamed, or with boils and blisters, or they may have more full body effects from them. Using the marks is typically a painful experience (one from the City of Towers novels has a Burning Hands abbarrent mark, and its described as feeling like his blood is set on fire while its still in him, and he then funnels the pain into his hands in the form of the burning hands ability). Another had a more powerful mark, and the pain from using it was nearly enough to knock him unconcious when he did so. Abbarrent Marks are essentially this setting's version of leprocy. Its considered unclean, you don't interact with anyone that has one, and anyone that does have one is most likely to be shunned and treated like a criminal, if they did anything wrong or not.
BenjaminBinder 04-25-05, 10:22 AM	Okay. Thanks, all, for your answers.
Vharuck 04-25-05, 10:29 AM	Also note that there are 12 Aberrant mark powers. This further makes one wonder if the aberrant marks were the same as the House marks, but more violent? Except the mage armor one. That's not violent.
Wren 04-25-05, 11:13 AM	or the Tenser's...
Mike Czaplinski 04-25-05, 12:25 PM	As far as the powers that Aberrant Marks allow: The ones listed in the ECSB with the feat are not the only ones. I recall that elsewhere in the AKB thread it was mentioned that the 'standard' ones were included for reasons of PC game balance, and that DMs could make their owns if they so chose. ISTR (and this may be from the CITY OF TOWERS novel) that slowly over the past few centuries aberrant marks have been getting more powerful again. In my game, I'm going to be including a special aberrant mark called a 'corrupted' mark. The right-hand of my big baddie is going to be a Duergar. Since he is a dwarf, he is eligable for the Mark of Warding, but because he serves a daelkyr (the duergar were created by this particular baddie to serve her) her influence has warped the mark into granting Wall of Stone X times per day (I don't have my notes, I think its 1 or 2 times a day). Nothing major, grant you, but still an interesting extension of the principle. MikeC
ThatOneMonk 04-25-05, 12:49 PM	question: are all bearers of abberrant marks evil? I had an idea for a monk from Aundair (drunken master, the monk organization that's as famous for it's strength in arms as it is for it's wine) who has an abberrant mark but tries not to show it. It's almost overly joyful, loves the nature of innocence, but knows that because of his curse he can no longer be truely innocent. Kind of a tragic character, really, but plenty of dimension. Would something like that make sense?
MarkB 04-25-05, 12:52 PM	question: are all bearers of abberrant marks evil? No. There is a massive stigma attached to bearing the mark, and it is widely believed to cause sickness and/or madness, but a character who bears an aberrant mark may display none of these symptoms.
ThatOneMonk 04-25-05, 12:54 PM	No. There is a massive stigma attached to bearing the mark, and it is widely believed to cause sickness and/or madness, but a character who bears an aberrant mark may display none of these symptoms. so my character concept works? He'd just be extremely saddened, due to the stigma which you have just described?
MarkB 04-25-05, 01:19 PM	so my character concept works? He'd just be extremely saddened, due to the stigma which you have just described? Sounds fine to me. How he's affected by finding that he bears the Mark will depend upon how much he buys into the common perception of them.
Blue Sky 04-25-05, 02:22 PM	Another (relatively minor) difference between aberrant marks and regular marks is that the "good" marks are a royal blue/purple-ish color, and aberrant marks are, well, any other color.
Wren 04-25-05, 02:25 PM	where is this discribed?
ieattrollsforbreakfast 04-25-05, 03:47 PM	Another (relatively minor) difference between aberrant marks and regular marks is that the "good" marks are a royal blue/purple-ish color, and aberrant marks are, well, any other color. I believe the Aberrant marks in City of Towers are described as being pitch black, like a brand. Then again, it has been a couple of months since I read it, so I could be dreaming that up.
The Designated Rogue 04-25-05, 05:09 PM	Tell me more about...House Tarkanan... ;)