Val’Baucisz

Henry was going to re-read the val’Baucisz section of the PGtA, then get back to me. I was thinking some obfuscation/illusion stuff, but we will see.

Henry was going to re-read the val’Baucisz section of the PGtA, then get back to me. I was thinking some obfuscation/illusion stuff, but we will see.

I never quite understood “Black Prince of Night” in terms of the val’Baucisz being able to shapechange into a bat or a rat. When I had first read the published adventure “In the Shadows of the Devil”, it made sense at the time since the val’Baucisz and their ancestral home of Dhakavaar had a ‘Transylvanian’ vibe about them. In some ways, they still do. However, their totem/patron animal has always been the cat. In my past Metra mods and even the current one that was released to the public, I had the local Undir populace live in fear of felines as a black cat strolling down an alley way could be one of the family’s spies or even worse, a val’Baucisz herself.

If we want to completely nix the shapechanging aspect of the val’Baucisz, including the feline form, perhaps it can be replaced with a Bloodline ability where a val’Baucisz is able to see through the eyes of a bonded feline from X miles away or something of that nature.

So, after reading through all of this, the one thing that popped into my mind was, “Is this balanced?”

With most of the Val bloodlines, it’s a bit of a choice… Do I use my Talent to increase my bloodrank and gain this neat ability or do I But when I read through these bloodline Talents, I find myself wondering why any val’Baucisz wouldn’t take these bloodline abilities. There’s not a sleeper in the bunch. Any one of them taken individually does not seem broken, but the group of them together seems to me like they might be the “best” (very subjective term) set of bloodline Talents out there. Every one of them is useful in more than just a single situation. (Admittedly, I have not gone back to my books to compare them. But that’s the feeling I get right now.) I think they might need to be toned down a bit.

Scott

For Word of the Oathmaker, the original Bloodline power suggested that you could scribe stuff on different things. Maybe make that a Tier IV ability and move the Dark Prince power to Tier III, and make it so you can simply scribe a rune containing the contingent spell. That way you could theoretically use it as a trap, which fits the fluff better.

Slight Cody-pass suggestions:

Original Proposed Rules
1st Batch of Edits/Additions
2nd Batch of Edits/Additions
3rd Batch of Edits/Additions

Val’Baucisz
Attributes: Logic, Charisma
Skills: Any skill of your choice, as well as two of Deceit, Etiquette, and Persuasion.
All Val have a Bloodrank. This affects the use of certain spells and Talents. Typically this Bloodrank is equal to the number of Bloodline Talents possessed.
Choose a Bloodline Talent.
Choose one bonus Talent
Val gain a +1 bonus to any Interaction Skill check made to influence others of lower social standing.
Automatic Languages: High Coryani, Native Nation.

Val’Baucisz Bloodline Powers
Consort with the Master’s Pets [Racial]
The cat is the sacred animal of Sarish, placed upon Arcanis as His minion to aid the adepts of magic.
Requirements: Hero Tier I, val’Baucisz
Benefit: You gain the ability to communicate with any feline creature as though you shared a common language. Additionally, should you take Loyal Companion (ta) you may choose any form of Common Level, Tier I Feline for your companion and do not need to purchase the animal.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Visage of the Damned [Racial]
Mish, the Shadow of Sarish, manifests himself in a val’Baucisz, allowing him to call upon a black rage inside himself. This distorts his face into a viscious mask of hate that instills dread into the hearts of those who gaze upon it.
Requirements: Hero Tier I, val’Baucisz
Benefit: Once per day (Speed: 5, Duration: Instant, Range: 30′ (1 Target) you may force one target to perform a Horror Check against your Discipline defense.
Special: Mindless creatures and any targets who are blind or otherwise cannot see the val are immune to this effect.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Thy Kindred Shall Protect and Serve Thee [Racial]
The Binder of Demons gives many gifts to his children, but few are greater than the ability to summon and control the Infernal.
Requirements: Hero Tier II, val’Baucisz
Benefit: You may now cast the spell Summon Infernal, Lesser as if you possessed ranks in the appropriate Arcanum skill (using Charisma as the Primary Attribute) equal to double your Bloodrank.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Tale of Blood [Racial]
While the val’Mehan have the ability to track a creature using its blood, the val’Baucisz are able to see its true nature.
Requirements: Hero Tier II, val’Baucisz
Benefit: By tasting (or, if you have a feline Loyal Companion, your companion) you may learn intimate details of the owner of that blood. After consuming the blood, you must succeed on a Challenging (TN: 20) Insight Action Skill Roll with your Bloodrank added to the roll to identify the identity of the blood’s original owner. For every +5 above the given TN listed above, you identify one additional piece of information about the original blood owner. Information that can be gathered includes: Given name, Val line (if any) or surname, race, age, Bloodrank (if any), profession (archetype or background), nationality, fealty (for example, a Milandesian who is actually a Coryani agent). You may not attempt to learn about the same target more than once in a 24-hour period, but you may use this ability once per day, per Bloodrank.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Black Prince of the Night [Racial]
While the val’Baucisz do not allow others to uncover their family mysteries, they are more than adept at unraveling the secrets of those around them, due in a large part to their ability to observe without being seen.
Requirements: Hero Tier III, val’Baucisz
Benefit: Once per scene, as a Complex (Speed 4) action, you may turn into a cat, rat, or bat, as if you possessed the Innocent Appearance monstrous quality. All animal forms are normal for their species with the exception of being completely jet black in fur, skin, and claws. While in bat form, you gain Fly 20′ (Clumsy). While in rat form, you gain Burrow 10′ (loose). While in Cat form, you gain the Acrobatic Talent. Returning to your normal form is another Complex (Speed 4) action.
When you change into animal form, all of your equipment melds into your new form (becoming unusable for the duration of this ability). While in animal form, you may not cast spells or communicate. Additionally, you utilize either a d6 or your regular Attribute die (whichever is lower) for all physical Attributes.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Word of the Oathmaker [Racial]
The val’Baucisz guard their family secrets, never willingly allowing another to pry into their shadowy pasts.
Requirements: Hero Tier IV, val’Baucisz
Benefit: Once per day, you gain the ability to inscribe a unique Rune out of your own blood on the surface of any inanimate object such as a door or a wall, but not a weapon or garment. This Rune functions as a Continent spell, activated by the approach of anyone but yourself coming within 5′ of the Rune or touching the item possessing the rune, but can only hold any spell you can cast from the Diabolism, Wards, Blood, Heritage (val’Baucisz), or the Summon Infernal, Lesser gained through Thy Kindred Shall Serve and Protect Thee (ta). This rune takes one hour to inscribe (as per the Contingent Spell), and lasts a number of days equal to double your Bloodrank. You may only have a number of such Runes active equal to your Bloodrank.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Your Blood Will Be Mine [Racial]
The Valinor Mish was associated with the Sarish’s aspect as the God of Blood, and his arcane heritage carries through with the val’Baucisz family. Alas, the way that this ability has manifested is in their ability to create monsters.
Requirement: Hero Tier V, val’Baucisz
Benefit: You gain the ability to to use Sarish’s skills in blood to bind other creatures to your will, converting them into the vile val’Baucisz Vampyre. If you have access to a live captive, you may perform a sorcerous ritual (Speed: 1 Hour) involving bleeding the victim and, just before death, forcing them to feed upon your own divine blood. You can create a single Tier III Elite val’Baucisz Vampyre (Arcanis Bestiary Volume 1, pg 26) by sacrificing a wound which cannot be healed until such a time as the Vampyre (and all of its spawn) have been killed. The Vampyre is bound to your will, and though it has a mind of its own it will obey your every command (though that does not mean it will not do something you have not expressly forbidden). You may only possess a single Vampyre at any given time, though it can be used to create up to two common-level Vampyres, and they up to two groups of four minion-level Vampyres of their own accord (all requiring fresh victims). Should you ever be Vanquished, you lose all control over the Vampyre (and its spawn) until such a time that you have been returned to either full wounds (minus the wound need to create the Vampyre) or full stamina.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Baucisz, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

I tend to agree with Scott that the bloodline abilities feel overpowered compared to others. I like the dark sense about them and I agree that limiting the ability to actually change into a feline may make more sense. Now, there’s nothing to say that the myths and legends around the val’Baucisz may not also mention bats and rats, but that they’re simply false.

Viseage of the Damned – Broken in my opinion. Horror checks are incredibly powerful. PCs have the option of using Fate points to help, NPCs rarely do. This will break encounters. One way to fix this could be to tie the maximum Horror effect to the Tier of the character.
T1, T2 – Shaken
T3 – Frightened
T4 – Terrified
T5 – Helpless

Another way to do it would be to limit the maximum effect to the difference in Tier.
If Character’s Tier <= Target, Max effect is Shaken If 1 Tier higher, Max Effect is Frightened If 2 Tiers higher, Max Effect is Terrified If 3 Tiers higher, Max Effect is HelplessEither of these I think could work.Tale of Blood - Identifying fealty is too much especially without some way to resist it's effects.Word of the Oathmaker seems more balanced than the original write-up. I think I'd be Ok with it in it's current form if you're limited to one Rune active at a time. By the time you get it you could have up to 12 Runes active at a time and with them all being Tier IV spells and below is huge.Your Blood Will Be Mine To a certain extent the existing of the creatures and description in the Bestiary almost make this the requirement for Tier V. It feels overpowered, but I don't know that I've got enough information to be able to say for certain. Perhaps some sort of "cost" could be added for the ritual either in material components for it, or in a toll on the caster. Does the val'Baucisz effectively operate down 1 Wound for the creation of the Elite version, with the ability to summon forth back the creator's lifeforce if the creature is within a certain range? Alternatively you could use Stamina as a cost instead of Wounds. Just trying to think of a mechanical balance while maintaining the flavor and the ability. In terms of power it creates 11 Tier 3 creatures (1 Elite, 2 Common, 8 Minion). Compare this against the other Tier V Bloodline abilities that summon something:val'Borda - The Grasping Darkness; Once per day Speed 8, duration Scene: summon a Shadow Fiend. Can't find the stats on it, so not sure how it compares. The Speed 8 is a challenge especially given how long combats last, it's interruptable and the Fiend must stay to the shadows or be destroyed. val'Delenov - The Earth is My Ally - Once per day Speed 8, duration Scene summon a Rumbling Titan. Don't have the stats on the Titan. The Titan must stay within 20' or do nothing but try and get back within 20'. If it doesn't it dissapates.Unless the val'Borda and val'Delenov creatures summoned are significantly stronger than the group summoned by the val'Baucisz, it's not balanced. Especially when you factor in that the val'Baucisz is a minor bloodline. I think adding some sort of cost would be the balancing factor.The other thing to compare it against is the T3 Deity Spell, Blessed Protector. Can't find the stats for the Celestial Shield Maiden so not 100% sure of how it stacks up vs. the vampyre. It is a binding spell granting 1 creature though not 11.In terms of Living Arcanis, at a minimum use of this ability should have the character removed from play in Living Arcanis. I would even strongly consider that simply selecting it would be enough as that shows intent. This part of the evaluation is largely irrelevant to the discussion though as it will be a long time before any character is Tier V and able to take it.With a sweep of his...Hat

In a meeting/conversation with Henry on Sunday, he had come up with a great idea for a Tier V bloodline which either Matt or I will present to the group. Otherwise, we will use the newly edited (thanks, Cody) writeup of the val’Baucisz as the base and Henry can give his nod of approval for each bloodline power before putting to bed. This new ability, once we translate it from creative concept to mechanics should be done by end of this week.