on the quest for a specific chosen [3.5] - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

on the quest for a specific chosen [3.5]

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
xpochian
Aug 02, 2009 21:22:56 considering that most demipowers are between divine rank 1 and 5, would it be safe to assume that, by the time a cleric is around 10th or higher level, they're probably almost on a first-name basis with said cleric?

furthermore, assuming that a demipower has a relatively small amount of faithful worshippers (less than 25,000 a good number?) anyone at 15th or higher may well be considered their chosen?

*********************************

finally, does anyone have a reliable template for the "chosen of sharess"? i realize she's not a powerhouse, or commonly worshipped deity, but i'm curious, for the above reasons.
#2
LordManshoon
Aug 02, 2009 21:27:14
considering that most demipowers are between divine rank 1 and 5, would it be safe to assume that, by the time a cleric is around 10th or higher level, they're probably almost on a first-name basis with said cleric?

furthermore, assuming that a demipower has a relatively small amount of faithful worshippers (less than 25,000 a good number?) anyone at 15th or higher may well be considered their chosen?

*********************************

finally, does anyone have a reliable template for the "chosen of sharess"? i realize she's not a powerhouse, or commonly worshipped deity, but i'm curious, for the above reasons.

I'm not sure about the first part of your question, but as for the second part, I would say no. A deity, even a demigod, needs to especially bless a specific character with a part of his/her divine essence. It isn't a "Ding! Level 15? Welcome to the Chosen Club!" (at least, not to my knowledge. But there is that whole new Epic Destiny nonsense...

This is from last edition. It is not mine, so whoever wrote it up, credit goes to you:
TEMPLATE: CHOSEN OF SHARESS

“Chosen of Sharess” is a template that can be added to any female humanoid creature (hereby referred to as the “character”). A Chosen of Sharess uses the character’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. A Chosen of Sharess only has its powers at the will of Sharess; should the Dancing Lady decide to remove Chosen status from the character, he reverts to his original abilities. Sharess usually has as many Chosen as her divine power can afford, the better to preach the message of joy and sensual fulfillment.

Special Qualities: A Chosen of Sharess retains all special qualities of the character and also gains the following.

Bonus Spells (Su): Constant – Expeditious Retreat, Nondetection. At will – Aura of Glory, Calm Emotion, Charm Person, Claws of the Beast, Disguise Self. 5/day – Cat’s Grace, Celebration, Suggestion. 3/day – Charm Monster, Confusion, Dimension Door. 1/day – Aura of Vitality, Dominate monster, Geas/Quest
Feline Reflexes (Ex): A Chosen of Sharess has an innate ability to avoid all kinds of attacks. A number of times equal to the Chosen’s Charisma modifier (minimum 1), whenever the Chosen would have been hit by any kind of attack (physical, magical, trap, etc.), the Chosen can make a Reflex save to negate all damage. The save DC equals the damage she would have otherwise received – the Chosen’s Charisma modifier (or half the Chosen’s Charisma modifier in the case of a physical attack).
Immunities (Ex): A Chosen of Sharess is immune to aging, disease and polymorphing effects. Any polymorphing powers the Chosen might have work normally on itself.
Feline Skill (Ex): A Chosen of Sharess gets its Charisma modifier (if positive) as a bonus on all Balance, Bluff, Climb, Disguise, Jump, Move Silently, Perform and Spot checks.
Extreme Speed (Su): A Chosen of Sharess can reach unconceivable speed, to the point that all other creatures seem not to be moving at all. This works exactly as the Time Stop spell, usable once per day as a 20-th level caster.
Tantra (Su): A Chosen of Sharess can perform a special massage, by which the receiving subject relaxes its body and experiences intense pleasure, to the point that it actually alleviates the pains of its body. This works as a Heal spell, usable a number of times per day equal to half the Chosen’s Charisma modifier, as a Cleric with Caster Level equal to half the Chosen’s Character Level. The Chosen can’t use this ability on itself.
Charm of the Gods (Su): A Chosen of Sharess can use her unmatched powers of seduction and beguiling to entice large masses of people. Once per day, the Chosen can use Mass Charm Monster (Caster Level equals Character Level).
Saves: Same as the character.
Abilities: Increase from the character as follows: Dexterity +2, Charisma +6.
Skills: Same as the character.
Feats: Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes

Climate/Terrain: Same as the character.
Challenge Rating: Same as the character +4.
Alignment: CN, CG, NG.
Treasure: Same as the character.
Advancement: Same as the character.
#3
lord_karsus
Aug 02, 2009 23:24:32
considering that most demipowers are between divine rank 1 and 5, would it be safe to assume that, by the time a cleric is around 10th or higher level, they're probably almost on a first-name basis with said cleric?

-I've always envisioned that priests and priestesses are "on a first name basis" from day one, the second the deity gives it's divine power to the priest/priestess, in the ability to cast Divine magic. Deities, even the really weak ones, have limited awareness over their portfolios, and over their followers (and senses of both). As evidenced in Finder's Bane, Finder Wyvernspur, who was at the time a very, very, very minor deity, very intimately knew both of his Clerics at the time, Joel the Rebel Bard and Copperbloom.

furthermore, assuming that a demipower has a relatively small amount of faithful worshippers (less than 25,000 a good number?) anyone at 15th or higher may well be considered their chosen?

-I'd consider 25,000 a fairly large number of worshipers, as opposed to a fairly small number of worshipers. I'd consider a small number anywhere less than 1,000 people. But, that's neither here nor there.

-A deity, regardless of their statue, can choose to invest some of their divine power in a mortal individual, to make them their Chosen, proxy, seraph, whatever you want to call them. It can be a Level 20 Epic powerhouse, or a Level 1 "newbie". The deity doesn't have to do that, though, to demonstrate that the priest/priestess is important to him/her/it, though. Take Finder Wyvernspur and Joel the Rebel Bard and Copperbloom again. For a time, they were his only two Clerics. Obviously, because of that fact, they were both very important to him. He never bestowed upon them formal 'Chosen' status, however. If he wanted, in theory, he could have, but that's not a necessity to demonstrate to the worshiper that they're important in the eyes of the deity.

finally, does anyone have a reliable template for the "chosen of sharess"? i realize she's not a powerhouse, or commonly worshipped deity, but i'm curious, for the above reasons.

-You can find a homebrew write-up for a Chosen of Sharess HERE.
#4
xpochian
Aug 03, 2009 3:21:37 the reason i was curious about the chosen of sharess, is because in a campaign i'm running, a fairly average clerical cohort of one player is devoted to sharess, and nearing 10th level. normally, this means nothing, but the campaign arc is "the return of a great and ancient evil", and the characters are near the spine of the world, and very far from sharess' normal centers of power. said evil loathes deities and is in fact the fell offspring from a made-up pairing of shar and cyric, a few decades prior to the spellplague; an insane demideity that managed to remain relatively hidden from both parents as it was born of smallest sliver of shar's portfolio of 'loss and forgetfulness' and the merest hint of cyric's 'illusion and deceipt'. i imagined it as ghaundaur crossed with tharizdun, except with a poor enough memory that it cannot always recall exactly how far its master plans of total annihilation have progressed. it reasons that if all creation were to end, it's failing memory wouldn't be taxed so hard, as black nothingness is easy to remember.

i figured that as shar tainted bastet with the darker side of pleasure, so too did bastet's influence perhaps warm shar - albeit temporarily - to the joys of companionship. shar would consider a child a liability and banished all thought of the happening, and cyric is...cyric and hasn't really noticed or cared.

i figured that said demideity used his mother's knowledge of the underdark - bit of a stretch, but she did consume illbrandul - to amass artifacts or powerful items from the fallen age of netheril, in order to remain alive. being quite insane, this demideity has no worshippers as of yet, and essentially has no way to remain in existence, before expiring. the campaign arc is that, hopefully once they're all 17th+, it will die, only to return as an shadowy-undead-something-or-other (think of it as a graduation present from mommy, who now amused perhaps sees it as potential competition) in order to have the campaign's ending BBEG.

**********************************

at any rate, i wanted to have the campaign reveal that, within a specific area, the pcs would be some of the only people that are aligned with the forces of good, and over 11th level. i'm basically considering how i could undeniably demonstrate that they've curried favour with good deities, in a way that's memorable. one of which was the chosen template, even if it is later lost. the other would be given the benefits of the 'half-celestial' template, again, temporarily, ect.

either or, thanks for everyone being a wonderful sounding board!

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 xpochian Aug 02, 2009 21:22:56	considering that most demipowers are between divine rank 1 and 5, would it be safe to assume that, by the time a cleric is around 10th or higher level, they're probably almost on a first-name basis with said cleric? furthermore, assuming that a demipower has a relatively small amount of faithful worshippers (less than 25,000 a good number?) anyone at 15th or higher may well be considered their chosen? ********************************* finally, does anyone have a reliable template for the "chosen of sharess"? i realize she's not a powerhouse, or commonly worshipped deity, but i'm curious, for the above reasons.
#2 LordManshoon Aug 02, 2009 21:27:14	considering that most demipowers are between divine rank 1 and 5, would it be safe to assume that, by the time a cleric is around 10th or higher level, they're probably almost on a first-name basis with said cleric? furthermore, assuming that a demipower has a relatively small amount of faithful worshippers (less than 25,000 a good number?) anyone at 15th or higher may well be considered their chosen? ********************************* finally, does anyone have a reliable template for the "chosen of sharess"? i realize she's not a powerhouse, or commonly worshipped deity, but i'm curious, for the above reasons. I'm not sure about the first part of your question, but as for the second part, I would say no. A deity, even a demigod, needs to especially bless a specific character with a part of his/her divine essence. It isn't a "Ding! Level 15? Welcome to the Chosen Club!" (at least, not to my knowledge. But there is that whole new Epic Destiny nonsense... This is from last edition. It is not mine, so whoever wrote it up, credit goes to you: TEMPLATE: CHOSEN OF SHARESS “Chosen of Sharess” is a template that can be added to any female humanoid creature (hereby referred to as the “character”). A Chosen of Sharess uses the character’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. A Chosen of Sharess only has its powers at the will of Sharess; should the Dancing Lady decide to remove Chosen status from the character, he reverts to his original abilities. Sharess usually has as many Chosen as her divine power can afford, the better to preach the message of joy and sensual fulfillment. Special Qualities: A Chosen of Sharess retains all special qualities of the character and also gains the following. Bonus Spells (Su): Constant – Expeditious Retreat, Nondetection. At will – Aura of Glory, Calm Emotion, Charm Person, Claws of the Beast, Disguise Self. 5/day – Cat’s Grace, Celebration, Suggestion. 3/day – Charm Monster, Confusion, Dimension Door. 1/day – Aura of Vitality, Dominate monster, Geas/Quest Feline Reflexes (Ex): A Chosen of Sharess has an innate ability to avoid all kinds of attacks. A number of times equal to the Chosen’s Charisma modifier (minimum 1), whenever the Chosen would have been hit by any kind of attack (physical, magical, trap, etc.), the Chosen can make a Reflex save to negate all damage. The save DC equals the damage she would have otherwise received – the Chosen’s Charisma modifier (or half the Chosen’s Charisma modifier in the case of a physical attack). Immunities (Ex): A Chosen of Sharess is immune to aging, disease and polymorphing effects. Any polymorphing powers the Chosen might have work normally on itself. Feline Skill (Ex): A Chosen of Sharess gets its Charisma modifier (if positive) as a bonus on all Balance, Bluff, Climb, Disguise, Jump, Move Silently, Perform and Spot checks. Extreme Speed (Su): A Chosen of Sharess can reach unconceivable speed, to the point that all other creatures seem not to be moving at all. This works exactly as the Time Stop spell, usable once per day as a 20-th level caster. Tantra (Su): A Chosen of Sharess can perform a special massage, by which the receiving subject relaxes its body and experiences intense pleasure, to the point that it actually alleviates the pains of its body. This works as a Heal spell, usable a number of times per day equal to half the Chosen’s Charisma modifier, as a Cleric with Caster Level equal to half the Chosen’s Character Level. The Chosen can’t use this ability on itself. Charm of the Gods (Su): A Chosen of Sharess can use her unmatched powers of seduction and beguiling to entice large masses of people. Once per day, the Chosen can use Mass Charm Monster (Caster Level equals Character Level). Saves: Same as the character. Abilities: Increase from the character as follows: Dexterity +2, Charisma +6. Skills: Same as the character. Feats: Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes Climate/Terrain: Same as the character. Challenge Rating: Same as the character +4. Alignment: CN, CG, NG. Treasure: Same as the character. Advancement: Same as the character.
#3 lord_karsus Aug 02, 2009 23:24:32	considering that most demipowers are between divine rank 1 and 5, would it be safe to assume that, by the time a cleric is around 10th or higher level, they're probably almost on a first-name basis with said cleric? -I've always envisioned that priests and priestesses are "on a first name basis" from day one, the second the deity gives it's divine power to the priest/priestess, in the ability to cast Divine magic. Deities, even the really weak ones, have limited awareness over their portfolios, and over their followers (and senses of both). As evidenced in Finder's Bane, Finder Wyvernspur, who was at the time a very, very, very minor deity, very intimately knew both of his Clerics at the time, Joel the Rebel Bard and Copperbloom. furthermore, assuming that a demipower has a relatively small amount of faithful worshippers (less than 25,000 a good number?) anyone at 15th or higher may well be considered their chosen? -I'd consider 25,000 a fairly large number of worshipers, as opposed to a fairly small number of worshipers. I'd consider a small number anywhere less than 1,000 people. But, that's neither here nor there. -A deity, regardless of their statue, can choose to invest some of their divine power in a mortal individual, to make them their Chosen, proxy, seraph, whatever you want to call them. It can be a Level 20 Epic powerhouse, or a Level 1 "newbie". The deity doesn't have to do that, though, to demonstrate that the priest/priestess is important to him/her/it, though. Take Finder Wyvernspur and Joel the Rebel Bard and Copperbloom again. For a time, they were his only two Clerics. Obviously, because of that fact, they were both very important to him. He never bestowed upon them formal 'Chosen' status, however. If he wanted, in theory, he could have, but that's not a necessity to demonstrate to the worshiper that they're important in the eyes of the deity. finally, does anyone have a reliable template for the "chosen of sharess"? i realize she's not a powerhouse, or commonly worshipped deity, but i'm curious, for the above reasons. -You can find a homebrew write-up for a Chosen of Sharess HERE.
#4 xpochian Aug 03, 2009 3:21:37	the reason i was curious about the chosen of sharess, is because in a campaign i'm running, a fairly average clerical cohort of one player is devoted to sharess, and nearing 10th level. normally, this means nothing, but the campaign arc is "the return of a great and ancient evil", and the characters are near the spine of the world, and very far from sharess' normal centers of power. said evil loathes deities and is in fact the fell offspring from a made-up pairing of shar and cyric, a few decades prior to the spellplague; an insane demideity that managed to remain relatively hidden from both parents as it was born of smallest sliver of shar's portfolio of 'loss and forgetfulness' and the merest hint of cyric's 'illusion and deceipt'. i imagined it as ghaundaur crossed with tharizdun, except with a poor enough memory that it cannot always recall exactly how far its master plans of total annihilation have progressed. it reasons that if all creation were to end, it's failing memory wouldn't be taxed so hard, as black nothingness is easy to remember. i figured that as shar tainted bastet with the darker side of pleasure, so too did bastet's influence perhaps warm shar - albeit temporarily - to the joys of companionship. shar would consider a child a liability and banished all thought of the happening, and cyric is...cyric and hasn't really noticed or cared. i figured that said demideity used his mother's knowledge of the underdark - bit of a stretch, but she did consume illbrandul - to amass artifacts or powerful items from the fallen age of netheril, in order to remain alive. being quite insane, this demideity has no worshippers as of yet, and essentially has no way to remain in existence, before expiring. the campaign arc is that, hopefully once they're all 17th+, it will die, only to return as an shadowy-undead-something-or-other (think of it as a graduation present from mommy, who now amused perhaps sees it as potential competition) in order to have the campaign's ending BBEG. ********************************** at any rate, i wanted to have the campaign reveal that, within a specific area, the pcs would be some of the only people that are aligned with the forces of good, and over 11th level. i'm basically considering how i could undeniably demonstrate that they've curried favour with good deities, in a way that's memorable. one of which was the chosen template, even if it is later lost. the other would be given the benefits of the 'half-celestial' template, again, temporarily, ect. either or, thanks for everyone being a wonderful sounding board!