val’Vasik – Kick Starter Special Characters

I dont necessarily see the need for new paths or talents.

We might want to include Heritage spells like the other val lines.

Also, starting backgrounds might be a little tricky. While in Bastion, I cannot imagine they would have all the same options that characters in Coryan, Milandir, etc would have the opportunity to take. We might need to go through all the ones in the Core Book and CoH to see which ones would apply.

val’Vasik Racial Traits:

Attributes: Charisma, Prowess
Primary Skill: Choose any skill and choose two of Deceit, Etiquette, 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
• A bonus Talent (selected when Talents are chosen)
• Val gain a +1 bonus to any Interaction Skill check
made to influence others of lower social standing
Automatic Languages: Altharin, Infernal, Milandesian

val’Vasik Bloodline Powers
Patience of Illiir [Racial]
Though Xabal was cast down for his losing control, he was once known as the Patience of Illiir, and some of the powers which had earned him that title have been passed on to his children.
Requirements: Hero Tier I, val’Vasik
Benefit: You gain a +1 Bonus to all Mettle: Perseverance Action Skill Rolls.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Touch Not My Children [Racial]
The forces of evil are reluctant to harm or even touch a descendant of Xabal once their identity is revealed..
Requirements: Hero Tier I, val’Vasik
Benefit: Once per day, per Bloodrank, a val’Vasik may, as a Push 2 action, boost any one of their Defenses by +2 against a single attack.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Echoes of the Master’s Voice [Racial]
As Xabal once spoke a word to free his followers from the bondage of evil, so can his children speak an echo of that word to produce a shadow of its effects..
Requirements: Hero Tier II, val’Vasik
Benefit: Once per day (Speed: 4, Range: 0′(20′ Radius), Duration: Instant) you may emit a piercing scream which causes pain in all around you. Make a Charisma Action Skill Roll, using your Bloodrank as a modifier, against the Fortitude Defence of all creatures within the effects radius. If successfully affect, they suffer d6(Ch) damage. All Infernals, Undead, Silence Touched, and practitioners of the Dissolution Arcanum suffer 2d6(Ch) damage. This power does not affect any creature incapable of hearing, except for Infernals, Undead, Silence Touched, and practitioners of the Dissolution Arcanum, who instead suffer the lesser amount of damage if they are incapable of hearing.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Harm not my Children [Racial]
As much as they might wish otherwise, the forces of evil have less power over the val’Vasik than they do over other mortals.
Requirements: Hero Tier II, val’Vasik
Benefit: Once per day as a Push 2 Action in response to a targeted attack (not an area effect spell or attack), a val’Vasik may call upon the protection of Xabal, forcing the attacker to make a Resolve Action Skill Roll against the Discipline Defense of the val’Vasik. If the attacker fails their roll, their attack automatically fails as if they missed with their attack roll.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Fear the King of the Gods [Racial]
Even though Xabal and his children are no longer in favor with Illiir, the Infernals and other fell creatures still fear the wrath of the King of the Gods.
Requirements: Hero Tier III, val’Vasik
Benefit: Once per scene (Speed: 5, Range: 30′ (1 target)) a val’Vasik may force an enemy Infernal, Shade, or Undead to make a Horror check against their Discipline Defense. This power does not affect those the val’Vasik considers to be an ally.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Discipline of Xabal [Racial]
Xabal does not tolerate those who are incapable of controlling their baser natures, and greatly rewards those who can live up to his ideal.
Requirements: Hero Tier IV, val’Vasik
Benefit: You gain +2 bonus to all Mettle: Stand Firm Action Skill Rolls. Whenever you are subject to a Horror check, you may reduce the severity of a failed check by one step. For example, if you fail a Horror check by 11 you are Helpless instead of Terrified. You may not reduce the severity of a failed Horror check beyond Shaken. Additionally, if you succeed against a Horror Check you gain a +2 to your Discipline Defense against all attacks made by the creature which triggered the Horror Check.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Searing Light of Illiir [Racial]
The val’Vasik has become the embodiment of Illiir’s protection of mankind, able to smite all foes that they see..
Requirements: Hero Tier V, val’Vasik
Benefit: Once per Scene (Speed: 5, Range: 30′ (20′ Radius), Duration: Instant) you may call down (as a Ranged: Thrown attack)a beam of light from the heavens to deal d10(Ch) stamina damage to all creatures within the power’s radius. All scions of Illiir (ie: Illiirite Valinor, val’Assante’, val’Vasik, etc) are immune to this effect.
Bloodrank: If you are a val’Vasik, obtaining this talent increases your racial Bloodrank by 1.

Heritage Spells, the val’Vasik:

Tier I – Word of Command
Tier II – Blinded by the Light*
Tier III – Bestow Curse
Tier IV – Form of Our Lord*

Blinded By the Light

Tradition: Heritage (val’Vasik) [Tier II]
Category: Base
CTN: 20
Speed (Strain): 3 (+4)
Range: 0’ (10′ radius)
Duration: Instant
Defense: Fortitude
You issue a burst of light, blinding all those around you.
Effect: All affected targets are Blinded for 6ticks and suffer Push 2.
Adaptation: You may increase the CTN by 4 and Strain by 2 to increase the duration of the Blindness condition for an additional 3 Ticks.
Adaptation: You may increase the CTN by 6, Speed and Strain by 1 to increase the radius of this effect by an additional 5′. This adaptation may be applied multiple times.
Special: Any creature affected by this spell gains a +2 to their Fortitude against all subsequent castings of the spell that scene.
Form of Our Lord

Tradition: Heritage (val’Vasik) [Tier IV]
Category: Advanced
CTN: 26
Speed (Strain): 5 (+10)
Range: Self
Duration: Special (D)
You are able to draw on the Valinoric blood flowing through your veins, manifesting a fraction of their size and power.
Effect:You and all your equipment grow one size category to Large size, imposing a -1 penalty to Avoidance, a +1 Bonus to Fortitude, and a die bump to your Might. This spell remains active for 12 Ticks, upon which time you must make another CTN roll against the original CTN needed to cast the spell, plus a cumulative +2 to the roll for every 6 Ticks beyond the first 12. Once this spell has ended, you are Exhausted for 2 hours due to the strain inflicted upon your body.
Adaptation: You may increase the CTN by 6 and Strain by 4 to add an additional +2 to all Might-based Action Skill Rolls.
Adaptation: Increase the CTN by 4 and Speed by 1 to grant yourself an additional 10 Stamina or 1 wound while this spell is active. This Stamina or Wound is immediately lost upon returning to your normal form (NOTE: If this drops the Heroes Stamina or Wounds to 0, they are considered to be Vanquished, with all the normal rules applying to their condition).
Special: This spell can only increase your size from a Medium-sized creature to a Large-sized creature.

Quick comment on, “Harm not my Children”…

The text, “forcing the attacker to make a Resolve Action Skill Roll against the Passive Charisma of the val’Vasik.” needs to be changed. A creature’s passive Charisma will be somewhere around 3 or 4. Since it’s only once per day, I suggest that a change to making the Resolve action roll against the val’s discipline defense might be good. At higher tiers, this ability seems like it would be very likely to succeed. But since it’s once per day, that sounds appropriate to me.

Scott

Nice work, Cody. I have a few comments, though…

Blinded by the Light:
– From what I can tell, I think the duration is supposed to be Instantaneous. And the blindness is a leftover from the flash that will last for 12 ticks. If you intended it differently, please let me know.
– I think that 12 ticks might be too much, especially for a tier 2 spell that can be adapted for a longer lasting effect. The majority of fights that I’ve seen last maybe 18 ticks. Many of them end right around 12 ticks. Boss fights usually last a bit longer than most. I think I’d change the effect to last for 6 ticks. I know that Diminish Senses is the spell that this will be compared against, and that it essentially lasts until the end of the fight or dispelled, but A) that spell is already considered overpowered, and B) it targets a single target. Consequently…
– …I think I’d suggest reducing the radius to 10′.
As written, one casting of this spell with a decent die roll could effectively end a combat.

Form of our Lord:
– Just for safety’s sake, I’d add something like, “This spell has no affect on creatures who are not medium-sized” Otherwise, I could see some small possibility for abuse by the time PCs get to Tier 4.

Scott

I like what I see,

Our Master Bids you Obay may be a little weak for a Tier III bloodline power, I suggest you make it a number of targets equal to half the val’s blood rank.

also

looking at Discipline of Xabal to capture the flavor text, i suggest that if they succeed against the horror check they should gain some kind of bonus against the source of that check. “and greatly rewards those who can live up to his ideal.” maybe a +1 bonus to all attacks and defenses against the source of the horror check for the rest of the scene, this bonus would have to stack with all other bonuses?

Blinded by the Light
I have been thinking of nuffing Diminish Senses in errata, making it’s effect last d10 ticks… with an adaptation to bring it up to d12 ticks.. maybe we should do the same here?

I don’t think it is THAT much of an in issue. After all, this is a Tier II spell instead of a Tier I, so the duration is more consistent (6 ticks instead of 1d10 Ticks). Hell, this would almost be good as a Theurgy spell, idealizing consistency vs. greater risk, but greater rewards

You make a good point, keep Blinded to a static # of Ticks but cap it at 12 ticks…

also I would add a bonus to the target’s defense after the first successful affected by the spell, something else I wanted to add to DS… much like what I did with some control spells (enemy of my enemy)

Another question for Henry: Are we assuming the the Bastionites were like the Mother Church, with a separated Pantheon, or are they Pantheonistic? Do we have to make up rules for a Pantheonistic Bastionite Priest? We know that the city has temples (or at least shrines) to the other Gods (presumably excluding Anshar?), with the biggest followings being Illiir, Sarish, Beltine, Saluwe’, and Larissa (Oracular). This implies that they were separate churches, but that was also in the 3.5 days.