Blood Pact RPP Spend

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Revision as of 16:58, 5 May 2023 by Riptide (talk | contribs) (Part One of Blood Pact Refresh)
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About Blood Pact Spends
Rpp exclusive.gif The Blood Pact RPP spend involves an agreement with any outsider, such as one from a djinn - to other minor planar beings - including a previous ancestor. This page refers to this personage as the Entity. Some pacts are not made willingly. Pacts may not be made with deities, but are in some cases instead made with their servants. Player characters arrange the price for their abilities in some IC way as part of their own story. Divine characters may select a servant of their deity for this spend.

Characters who choose this spend typically bear a mark of some sort. The nature, look, and other aspects of this mark is up to them to determine, though it should reflect the nature of the being they made the pact with in some way. The skill check to identify a blood pact mark is a DC 20 Spellcraft or an Entity-appropriate Knowledge check.


Rpp exclusive.gif Rpp tiered.gif Blood Pact
Tier Benefit Cost

T1

Entity Revealed: Fill out the Blood Pact Entity Template and send it with your +request/spend to staff.

Pact-Bound Affinity: The sign of your blood pact upon your skin is enough for creatures of your Entity’s ilk to recognize you. You receive a +2 insight bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Perform checks made to interact with creatures that are your Entity's creature type.


10 RPP

T2

Blood Sacrifice Pool: Drawing powers from your pact requires sacrifice. You learn from your Entity the ritual words and gestures you need to sacrifice some of your own energy in order to draw on the power of your pact.

You gain the ability to sacrifice hit points (HP), in the form of nonlethal damage to yourself, to activate Blood Sacrifice powers. (Blood Sacrifice powers are indicated by (Blood Sacrifice) after the power's name.) However, your ability to sacrifice is limited by the depth of your pact; you may only sacrifice an amount of HP that is equal to your Tier in this spend per day. For example, a character with a T7 Blood Pact Spend is only able to sacrifice up to 7 HP total (7 nonlethal damage) per day. The action time to commit a Blood Sacrifice depends on the Blood Sacrifice power that you use.

The sacrifice is mostly symbolic. A Blood Sacrifice is typically only a drop or two of blood, and a wound created for a Blood Sacrifice heals just as any other wound would in normal gameplay, with the exception that healing leaves an invisible scar that lingers for 24 hours. This scar is visible to any detect magic spell or similar effect, such as true seeing.

Energy Surge (Blood Sacrifice) (Su): The bond between yourself and your Entity thrums with life, though also with a sort of raw freshness. As part of a move action, you can commit a Blood Sacrifice and draw energy from your Entity to temporarily increase your base speed by 10 feet. This effect lasts for X rounds, where X is the number of HP you sacrifice (which may be up to your Tier in this spend per day).


10 RPP

T3

Pact-Bound Affinity II: You take on more influence from your Entity, and creatures of your Entity’s creature type acknowledge this strengthened commitment to your Entity. Your bonus from Pact-Bound Affinity to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Perform checks to interact with creatures of the Entity's creature type increases to a +3. In addition, due to the nature and increased depth of the pact, your alignment may, if you choose, shift 1 step towards the Entity's along an axis. Finally, you learn the language associated with your Entity’s creature type, if any.

Otherworldly Knowledge: Your pact with your Entity increases your knowledge of other realms. You receive a +2 insight bonus to Knowledge/The Planes skill checks.


10 RPP

T4

Pact-Bound Defenses (Blood Sacrifice) (Sp): By drawing upon your blood pact, you ask your Entity to protect you from those who work in direct opposition to your Entity by granting you a protective aura as a swift action and by spending 1 HP as a Blood Sacrifice. For example, if your Entity is Chaotic Good, then you may summon an aura that works as the protection against evil spell or the protection against law spell. You may choose what the aura defends against each time that you activate this Blood Sacrifice ability. If your entity is True Neutral, then you may select if this ability works as the protection against law or protection against chaos spell. This aura lasts for a number of rounds equal to your Tier in this spend.


10 RPP

T5

Ethereal Tongues (Blood Sacrifice) (Sp): As a swift action, you call upon your Entity's knowledge with a Blood Sacrifice of 1 HP or more and gain a limited understanding of other realms. Ethereal Tongues works as per the tongues spell but is limited to 1 minute per HP that you sacrifice.

Knowledge Surge (Blood Sacrifice) (Su): You draw on the magic that connects you to your Entity, gaining knowledge you did not possess. As a free action, you sacrifice 3 HP to temporarily gain the use of a combat or metamagic feat which you did not possess, but still meet the prerequisites for. Alternately, you may select combat casting, or a spell focus or greater spell focus feat. You retain the use of this feat until the start of your next turn. Using this Blood Sacrifice power is strenuous on the mind, so you may only activate Knowledge Surge once per day.


10 RPP

T6

Outsider's Resistance: You gain an understanding of your Entity's true form, and learn to guard yourself against this energy. This grants you a permanent Resistance/10 against your Entity's energy type. If your Entity does not have a specific energy type associated with its creature type, select a type which would be appropriate for the story. Once selected, you cannot change the Resistance/10.

Shared Bond: So you have learned, so you teach the ways of the blood pact. Anyone you mentor comes to their bond more easily and may receive T1 in this spend for free. In addition, you receive 5 RPPs. If the trainee is at least a level tier lower than you, you also both receive the value of a PRP that is awarded at character level.

Resist Mental Control (Blood Sacrifice): The closeness of your bond allows your Entity to lend their aid to you when you resist mental persuasion. By offering a Blood Sacrifice of 1 HP or more, you can, as a standard action, attempt an additional save against an ongoing compulsion or charm effect, even if the effect does not normally allow one. You may do this once per day. You pay the Blood Sacrifice cost whether you succeed or fail.

10 RPP

T7

Walk With Me (Blood Sacrifice) (Sp): Thanks to your Entity, you now understand the bounds of reality are no longer enough to fully contain you–provided you pay the price. By making a Blood Sacrifice of 1 HP or more, you may use ethereal jaunt as per the spell (on yourself only) for up to 1 minute per hit point that you sacrifice.


10 RPP


Pact-Bond Tokens

Pact-Bond tokens are optional abilities and opportunities available to you as part of your Blood Pact RPP spend. You must fully qualify for any token you select.

Rpp token.gif Pact-Bond Tokens
Benefit Description Cost
Outsider's Blood Outsiders do not need to eat, perhaps sustained by some otherworldly force. Now, neither do you. Once purchased, this is a permanent ability, earnable once. T4+, 10 RPP
Pact Shift Not all pacts are taken willingly. In addition, over time, a pact may shift. This spend represents making a new pact and effectively, over-riding the old one. Whether this is a peaceful process is up to you. This may be done once. Entities likely would not trust you enough to offer a third bond. 5 RPP
Invoked Tattoos Your bond has given you the ability to (temporarily) store limited energies within your skin in the form of enchanted tattoos. Each tattoo stores any spell that you know, of up to 3rd level. The number of tattoos you may possess at one time is equal to your tiers in this spend. Magic tattoos must be placed on any part of the body, though the wearer must be able to see and touch the tattoo in order to be able to activate it (this means that few tattoos are scribed on the back).

Crafting a tattoo takes one day, and costs an amount equal to 1/4 the market price of a scroll of that type, plus any additional material costs, which must be provided in the form of unusual inks, etc. When you create the tattoo, you set the caster level and any additional metamagic or effects (and pay appropriate costs).

Activating the tattoo is a standard action (or the spell's casting time, whichever is longer) although it does not provoke an attack of opportunity as a spell or scroll would. It otherwise functions as casting from a scroll. After such a tattoo is activated, the tattoo becomes instantly useless, and visibly fades from the skin after 1 round. The pact bearer may later scribe a new tattoo in its place.

Magical tattoos count as magic items for the purposes of dispel magic, and may be identified with an appropriate Spellcraft check. The spell erase can permanently destroy a magical tattoo, but the bearer of the tattoo can resist the spell with a Will save, in addition to the caster needing to make a successful caster level check to erase the tattoo. Physically removing a magical tattoo with a sharp instrument or defacing it with fire or acid can destroy it as well. Doing so is a full-round action that not only requires the target to be willing or helpless, but also provokes attacks of opportunity. At least 2 points of damage per caster level of the tattoo must be dealt to destroy a magical tattoo in this manner.

This ability is permanent once purchased.

15, T3+
Blood Lore Select a 0-level spell from the wizard, druid, witch, or cleric list. You may now use that spell as a SLA up to 3xday. You must possess at least a 10 in the requisite stat (for example, a 10 Int if you select a wizard cantrip). Once purchased, this is a permanent ability. 10 RPP, T2+
Mindscar When a humanoid attempts to read your mind via a magical effect, the reader must attempt a will save opposed by your Wisdom or Charisma check (your choice). If they fail this check, they are shaken for 1 round. If the reader fails by 10 or more, they are instead frightened for 1 round, then shaken for 1 round. Once purchased, this is a permanent ability. 10 RPP, T4+
Lingering Auras Your pact heightens your awareness of the other world. You receive a +2 insight bonus to Perception checks when trying to locate ethereal or invisible creatures. Once purchased, this is a permanent ability. 10 RPP, T2+
Seance You gain the ability to conduct a seance. This is a ritual for you, and allows you to communicate with the Entity you bonded with, and possibly spirits beyond. Performing the ritual takes 10 minutes, and requires some flattery of the Entity in question--the other world does not work for free. Its effects are otherwise similar to Augury. Once purchased, this is a permanent ability. 10 RPP, T2+
Bound Soul Your spirit guards your soul jealously. Once per day when reduced to 0 hit points or below, you may convert a number of hit points equal to your tiers in this spend to nonlethal damage, as an immediate action. If you are at negative hit points due to lethal damage, you immediately stabilize. Once purchased, this is a permanent ability. However, using this ability is draining. Your Entity will expect payment at the earliest opportunity. That is, the next ability you use will cost 1 higher sacrifice, which counts against your total for the day. This does not stack with abilities such as Guarded Life. 15 RPP, T4+

Developing Your Entity

Uncovering your character's entity is a process that happens at the pace of story. A full reveal can or cannot happen early on, with the character exploring it through RP. The Entities interact primarily through their Pact--sort of like an extraplanar broker. They have wishes and desires, but aren't necessarily going to force your character to follow them. In a sense, you're paying them for the goods with your blood. Eventually, they'll have exerted some influence on you (through the alignment change).

This means that they're more of a back-of-the-mind presence for most purposes, though you can certainly work with a DM, or RP the Entity to bring them forward. Typically this is through the use of signs, and so on.

Many players feel it helps to develop a mission for their entity. If this is a route you'd like to take, we suggest something broad and simple that would let you explore and deepen over a period of time. For example: your entity was a guardian of a civilization's great libraries, one of the few who could read and write. When your character comes across important knowledge, he has a hard time destroying it, and instead might seek to recover it to an appropriate place. Over time, your character might learn which of the libraries the entity guarded, or perhaps uncover a more specific mission.

Alternately, your entity could have been one of the final defenders of a lost nation. You might decide your character has a hard time responding to members of that ancient, conquering race, and so on. The story could then develop from there.

Developing a mission in this way gives you room to explore, as well as a means to react to a variety of situations. This is only one approach however.

Character Page Badges

Want to show off your Blood Pact on your Character Page? Use the following wikicode! (More badges here!)


Blood pact.png

(RPP) Blood Pact PC Badge
Entity: With whom?
The Contract: What about it?
History: Your history together. How did the contract occur?
Other Landmarks: What landmarks have you accomplished? Tokens grained or unique training achieved?


{{Badge}}
{{Badge-Icon|Blood_pact.png}} 
{{Badge-Content}}
{{Badge-Title|(RPP) Blood Pact PC Badge}}
{{Badge-Entry|Entity}}With whom?
{{Badge-Entry|The Contract}}What about it?
{{Badge-Entry|History}}Your history together. How did the contract occur?
{{Badge-Entry|Other Landmarks}}What landmarks have you accomplished? Tokens grained or unique training achieved?

{{Badge-End}}