Ability Spotlight: Time Manipulation

 It's been such a long time since I've posted anything, I promise I'm not dead, and I am still working on Providence! As evidence, I'm periodically going to do these Ability Spotlights, just so's everyone can see what I'm working on, and get a feel for the kind of game I'm aiming toward.

Today's Ability Spotlight, and the first Ability Spotlight ever, is Time Manipulation;

Time Manipulation

   You have the power to control your own personal time, appearing and disappearing from one moment to the next. As your mastery of time expands, you can rewind time, slow time for your enemies, and even cull fragments of lost time for yourself.

 

   Your Hit Points per level rises by 2.

   Your Skill Points per level rises by 2.

   You gain a +1 bonus to Will.

   You can use Time Manipulation for a number of rounds per day equal to your History skill. Whilst under the effect of Time Manipulation, you gain a +2 bonus to Speed. As a Minor action, whilst under the effect of Time Manipulation, you may teleport a number of squares up to half your Speed. Time Manipulation can be ended as a free action.

   When you end the effect of Time Manipulation, you become Fatigued for a number of rounds equal to twice the number of rounds you spent manipulating time. You can't activate your Time Manipulation whilst Fatigued. If you become Fatigued during your Time Manipulation, the Time Manipulation continues as normal.

Ability Synopsis

   Time Manipulation is a character ability that was modelled from the old Shadowdancer class, and by extention, the pre-rework Darkness Affinity ability. The ability focuses on high mobility and makes extensive use of teleportation, allowing characters that utilise it a fast paced hit-and-run playstyle. The ability can be used by mage or rogue style characters to chase, reposition, or escape, while heavier characters can make use of the increased speed and teleportation to gain Combat Advantage or stick to a Marked target.

   Time Manipulation is one of several Round Per Day (RPD) abilities, and so its actual in game use tends to be limited at the beginning of a campaign. Many players do no choose talents that increase skills, so a 1st level character will have approximately 8 RPD of use of this ability. Unlike Berserk Rage or Bardic Song, where choosing talents to increase duration are encouraged to compensate for this early deficite, Time Manipulation's bonus to speed doesn't offer a direct numerical advantage in combat.

   However, as the campaign continues, Time Manipulation becomes more and more impactful. The bonus to Speed, while seemingly small for the limitations of an RPD ability, allows for outmaneuvering enemies that would otherwise be impossible to pin down.

   Without any other buffs or Talents, a Human character has a base speed of 6. This rises to 8 under Time Manipulation, and when combined with the Teleport move, a character can cross 12 spaces and still make an attack. If the character decides to move again as a Standard Action, that's 20 spaces. If the character makes a Run action for both of their moves, the character can cover a whopping 24 spaces. For reference, that pretty much crosses the whole board in a turn. In real life terms, that's almost 15 mph!

  The teleportation aspect of Time Manipulation is representative of your character slipping out of time to move faster, and is a large part of the ability. Teleportation allows you to move between obsticles easily or flank foes that would otherwise be impossible to get around. Huge creatures or creatures with the Reach trait can be treacherous to flank given their extended attack of opportunity range. With the ability to teleport at a whim, you do not provoke such attacks, and by using multiple minor actions, you can teleport twice to get out of attack range as well.

   A lot of utility is tied up in the teleport move. Even though you're moving through time, the normal rules for teleporting apply, namely you can teleport in any direction, including vertically, and you need to see where you are going. You can hop between the bars of a jail cell or on the back of a giant, and then just as easily teleport away if that move turned out to be a bad idea.

Key Talents

   In keeping with the themes of speed and maneuverability, the Talents found in Time Manipulation improve your speed, and find more creative ways to use your teleport.

  Teleporting Stride allows you to change your basic move action into another teleport, this time at your regular speed. While it may seem silly on its own ("Why teleport the distance I can walk, in the same time that I walk it, when I can just walk?"), it allows you freedom of movement, and interacts with other talents that only work when you Teleport.

   Dimensional Snatch is one such ability. The premise is very simple; when you teleport, pick one adjacent willing ally or one medium-sized enemy that grants Combat Advantage to you. That target teleports with you, landing in any square you choose. This allows you to reposition key members of your party around the battlefield, such as rescuing the wounded or setting up unlikely ambushes. When combined with Lethal Jump, which makes enemies you teleport next to you grant Combat Advantage, you can theoretically leap to the other side of the dungeon, grab the enemy boss wizard, and teleport him back to the awaiting arms of your party members.

   Rewind is one of the few Powers available to Time Manipulation. It can only activate it whilst using Time Manipulation, and even then it costs an additional RPD to activate. When a d20 roll is made involving you, you can choose to reroll that d20. There is no limit to how many times that dice can be rerolled, but each attempt costs another RPD. While this may sound game breaking, and indeed this power has no hard per day limit, all of the powers of Time Manipulation require RPD to work. At early levels this power is especially taxing because of how few RPD you have access to, and against multiple attacks you must pay that cost for each d20 roll against you. On the other hand, Rewind works with any d20 roll, including attacks, saving throws, or skill checks so long as the roll involves you in some way. Just fluffed the critical jump across the chasm? Rewind. Missed the attack that can kill the boss? Rewind. Failed to save against full petrification? Rewind as hard as you can!

   Overdrive is perhaps one of the most influential Powers in the game. When activated, you roll Initiative again, and may act on both Initiative steps. The cost of this is (you guessed it) you spend an RPD to activate it, and your new turn counts as exactly that - a new turn. This means that you burn through RPD at twice the speed, buffs and debuffs last for half the time, and you can potentially do twice as much damage or move twice as fast. As far as fluff is concerned, the actions are taken at the same time, so if it were real life, you'd be blinking backward and forward in a blurr of activity! Remember that speed example earlier? Your character could move at 30 mph (48 spaces in 6 seconds). That is insanity. While this frenetic pace is incredible and great for ending encounters quickly, the toll of time adds up. Once the effect of Time Manipulation ends, you become Fatigued for a number of rounds equal to twice the amount you spend under the effect, a penalty only exacerbated by Overdrive. For every round in effect, you will suffer a -2 penalty to Speed and Attack Rolls for 4 rounds. Use this Power wisely, for time is of the essence...

   Although not key Talents by themselves, the Force elemental boosting family of Talents lies within Time Manipulation. What few damaging options available to Time Manipulation all deal Force damage, and as such the ability has good synergy with Force based spellcasters.

Recommended Builds

   Time Manipulation benefits from a good set of Hit Points and Skill Points per level. Along with the hard to find bonus to Will, this means the ability is fairly splashable with many other abilities. However, there are some that stand out amongst the crowd. These are just a few ideas, there are hundreds of builds to tinker with, especially with such a flexible ability.

The Ghost Hunter (Time Manipulation + Hunter's Quarry + Radiant Affinity)

  Historically, ghost and banshees and such have proven to be the bane of many an adventuring party, given they ignore most attacks, and only take half damage from the rest. Time Manipulation's high mobility kit allows it to keep up with Incorporeal and Insubstantial targets, while the Force elemental talents allow a character to deal full damage to such targets. The extra damage from Hunter's Quarry and its accompanying Talents will help confirm kills and ignore any Resistances. Radiant Affinity builds on this, as the Radiant family of talents can help exploit the weakness to Radiance most undead creatures possess.

The Efficient Berserker (Time Manipulation + Berserk Rage + Bound Weapon)

   A previously unmentioned Talent, Attainment, increases the RPD of any RPD ability you possess by 2. If you only possess Time Manipulation, it becomes 4 instead. With Berserk Rage RPD spamming still a thing, stacking Attainment early on can offset some of the restrictions on the ability's usage. This Talent is also very cost effective, allowing your Berserk Rages to continue for longer, and thus deal more damage. All of this, and you can still hop around terrain and surprise your foes. Keep in mind that Berserk Rage and Defensive Formation share the Fatigue aftereffect of Time Manipulation. Since you cannot activate any of these abilities whilst Fatigued, you have to be careful when you activate them independantly of each other. Yet, if you activate them at the same time and they both go into their Fatigue state, you become Exhausted instead. If you get caught while Exhaused, it's pretty much game over. Bound Weapon plays up to the efficiency of this combination, allowing you to customise your weapon as you grow. Although the early campaign may be something of a grind, as you progress your can perpetuate Berserk Rage and Time Manipulation for as long as you need with a weapon that should be well ahead of the damage curve.

The Force Mage (Time Manipulation + Sorcery/Spellbook + Arcane Soul)

   With the normalisation of Spells, spellcasters have become very utility based, often choosing a selection of similar damage spells to capitalise on any particular weaknesses rather than sticking to one particular theme. Because Force elemental attacks have no natural resistances nor vulnerabilities, they are often used as a middle ground spell, one to learn in case you don't have a particular enemy weakness in your repitoire. However, by focussing on empowering Force spells with Time Manipulation's Force family Talents, the term "jack of all trades" becomes "always effective megadeath spells." Time Manipulation allows you to move out of harms way whilst still allowing you to bombard your enemies, so flavour your slippery spellcaster to taste with the power or Sorcery or the utility of Spellbook. Arcane Soul isn't required, but the consistent damage and further buffs to spellcasting it offers is very difficult to offset.

The Time Thief (Time Manipulation + Sneak Attack + Animal Companion)

   With Lethal Jump providing easy Combat Advantage, Time Manipulation lends itself easily to Sneak Attack. If there was one detractor, the Combat Advantage granted by Lethal Jump does not last past the turn, so you must keep jumping around a target to continue to benefit from Combat Advantage. This means you cannot perform a Full Attack Action off the back of Lethal Jump, but you can always deal double damage when you teleport. Knowing that, it would be better to take Axeman, Thug, or Swordsman from Sneak Attack to use stronger weapons. Animal Companion is a utility choice. With so many movement and combat options build into Animal Companion, and the teleportation granted by Dimensional Snatch, you can build a highly mobile duo. Canines and Felines can benefit from Combat Advantage moreso than other pet families, although you can create an interesting combo with a Raptor pet and Shared Vision. With Shared Vision allowing you to see what your pet sees, you can have your pet fly overhead to grant yourself full vision. This allows you to teleport over walls and obstructions you otherwise couldn't.

  

Thank you for reading so far, if there's anything more you want to see let me know what you think in the comments section below!

Tinkering

One of the more recent problems I've encountered with the System is skills. I had already removed and condensed a few from D&D in the 1st edition, and the skills carried over. Now, I'm thinking that there needs to be some editing, and here's why.

The skills in 1st ed. were much like the skills in 3.5; each class has a set number of skill points per level which is increased by an Intelligence modifier, and these skill points were spent on skills relevant to the class. There was room for customisation, room to breathe if a character, say a wizard or some such class, was on horseback for a long stretch of a journey. Even though the DC to ride a horse normally is only 5 our hero might not have the skill points to do it consistantly, and as a result may fall off from time to time. Certainly, if the party is ambushed they might end up doing a Gimli-son-of-Gloin and face planting into the mud. Thus, our Wizard might drop a few points into Ride when next he levels up, a symbolic feature suggesting his horsemanship is increasing over the course of his adventure.

One aspect of skills I disliked in 4th edition D&D was the distillation of the skills list. In retrospect I understand why it was done; the length of skills in 3.5 was cumbersome and colossal, and it meant that certain specific skills would be left by the wayside and ignored. Use Magical Device is a good example, as it can be used to tinker with magical requirements, disable traps, use artefacts and other awesome stuff. The 4e skill list removed something from character creation, and I sought to address in this project.

When Providence was first conceived in strength, the list was compiled from 3.5 with a few adjustments, the biggest of which was the addition of Endurance and Perception, the removal of Spot, Balance, Search and similar skills. As time has ground on and campaigns have been tested, it occors to me that the new edition doesn't fit a skill list very well.

The old skills points worked because you had a large selection of skills to choose from and a few points to spend every at every new level. Growth was fluid and natural, and diversifying your skills added a bit of neat customisation. With the new straight up bonuses from Character Abilities, this element of customisation doesn't exist anymore.

Each skill is represented evenly, there are none that have been ignored or neglected. However, unless a character chooses a talent that increases a skill, 2.0 skills tend not to grow. The exception to this is the increase to ability scores, and even then the increases are negligible.

This change in dynamic has forced a change to the meta game as well. In the current testing campaign, skill check difficulty has had to slow significantly. The skills, the strength, the quickness of characters has not grown quickly, and in two cases, not at all.

As 4th level characters, I feel a simple locked wooden door with metal bracing shouldn't be so much of a problem. Give it a trap, and it's a nice little road bump in a dungeon. However, whereas a 1st ed. Character's Disable Device skill (we assume) has risen by 4  at this point, there's no guarantee that a 2nd ed character's score has risen in any way. The trapped door becomes even more difficult, and unless the heroes can think of a way to bypass it, they may be forced to walk a road they don't want to. Alternatives, such a beating the door down and taking the trap to the face, become an easy fix. 

I wouldn't expect this door to be a problem forever. At the end of the day, I couldn't beat down as door like that, and I'm not dexterous enough to even consider disabling its defences, but our heroes can.

However, there is a danger of our heroes, when they reach their maximum level that same level where they're supposed to challenge gods and knock on the doors of greater demons, will still have that average Disable Device ability.

For a Rogue esque character, the chances are slim. The trend to put Ability score points into DEX almost guarantee Disable Device growth. If we assume this god-tier rogue maxes out, then Disable Device will get a +10 bonus, in addition to any bonuses achieved through talents. If we assume our Rogue is something of a monkey, and chooses Sneak Attack, Quarry and Lightning Affinity, then he can gain a +6 bonus to Disable Device from starting abilities alone. With the Skill Tricks, Skill Focus and Thief talents, our Rogue can benefit from a +8 bonus. This totals a whopping +24 to Disable Device, a minimum of 25 if we include the d20 roll. A 25 is enough to auto-success most of the complicated traps ever seen in dungeons, with an average of 33-36 to deal with the endgame traps such as acid floods or accidental Spheres of Annihilation. 

And here we reach a problem. If we assume the player is experienced enough to recognise the need for Talents that increase or enhance skills, he must also realised that, in order to get to that level, he has wasted three of his talents and consumed his skill bonuses to the exclusion of everything else. The rogue will never be as good at sneaking, stealing, backstabbing, sniping, conning or looking good than another rogue who has generalised. One might argue that this is the point of specialising in something, but consider that the rogue's skill with any of the above might not have improved much since 1st level. If a Providence character specialises, I would want it to be at the exclusion of a handful of things and not of everything else.

So, what to be done?

For starters, the skill list needs to be truncated. Not much, mind you. Although I love it with a passion, Use Magical Device will be rolled into Spellcraft and Knowledge (Nobility) will become one with Knowledge (History). I have no idea what to do with Professions. Probably drop them altogether, since they never get used, and I'm at a loss as to what to do with certain DEX based checks.

In terms of skill growth, I have no idea what to do. The variables we have to consider are thus; ability scores are going to go up as characters grow, increasing skills as they do so.

Skills are used in combat to perform actions against enemies and for allies. In 1st edition, this created characters who could auto-trip and auto-tumble boss monsters, due to the difference in size between a skill and a defence. 

The difficulty of dungeons is variable, but generally has an upward curve. The DC to pick a lock will rise if it has been made and enchanted by dwarves, or go down if it's a rusty, dirty thing scrounged up by Kobolds. 

DC modifiers tend to be realistic - a colossal reinforced iron door with defensive spells and trapped with an electric keyhole will require multiple high-end checks to disable or damage.

Types of people don't change, but their attitudes do. At 1st level a barbarian wouldn't be able to intimidate the tyrannical baron into lending his party aid, but their slick-tongued bard might be able to convince or connive resources from him. Only later, when that barbarian is known as a slayer of dragons and wrestler of ogres does his intimidation have any weight. Even then it will be a difficult sell to rattle a hardened and feared ruler. Thus, the skill check changes from 'Impossible' to 'Very Hard' (to the 30's).

I'm open to ideas. The goal is to have a skill system that rewards a player with scale and options, but doesn't overpower combat or fall beyond the realms of reality. Play your favorite tabletop games, see what they did, see what you would change.

On Character Creation in 2.0

'With the new version comes a new way of generating characters. On paper, it is vastly different to the first iteration of the game, but in actuality the process is very similar.

In the original, a character recieved the following; six ability scores, racial bonuses, defence bonuses, hit points, and the typical plethora of armour and weapon proficiencies, skill points, spell growth, attack growth and healing surge count.

Providence Classes were built on the concept of three abilities to define a class and its play style. Paladin had Divine Aura to detect alignments, Divine Challenge to control and tank targets, and Domain of the Order for their class- orientated growth. Here, the aura and the challenge can identify and isolate enemies, while your domain choice and the traits within that choice will alter the way that character is played. As an example, this Paladin is a smiting heathen guy, so he choses the War domain, from the War Domain, he chooses access to a permanent melee damage bonus, the ability to fly into a divine rage, and improved AC. On top of all that, he also gets a 1st level feat, gear selection and so on and so on. Let us call this knightly paragon Sir Roderick of Ormley Fields, hunter of the wicked and defender of the weak!

In the new version the three abilities per character is still in effect, and is the main method of creating your character.

To recreate this character in the new edition, we select the three abilities suited to the class we want to make. Firstly, Divine Soul is functionally identical to Divine Aura, so choosing it gives Sir Roderick his ability to hunt out alignments. Divine Challenge has been replaced by Challenge; both abilities are marking tools, the new ability lets Roderick make free move actions instead of auto-damage. This makes him sticky, tanky, and surprisingly mobile. Lastly, we choose Divine Magic to allow Roderick access to a handful of Divine Spells.

So far, Roderick handles almost the same between the editions, the only major change is the mechanics of his marking tool. However, here is where the divergences begin to appear.

Hit points are not determined by class, but by which abilities where chosen. To calculate Roderick's 1st level hit points, we add the bonuses provided by the abilities to his CON score.

Roderick is a healthy man, boasting a CON of 16. Roderick generates 6 Hit Points per level (2 from Divine Soul, 3 from Challenge and 1 from Divine Magic), and so his starting Hit Points become 22.

When Roderick levels up his Hit Points will rise by 6, and his CON modifier will be added to that. Since his CON score of 16 gives us an ability score modifier of +3, his Hit Points rise by 9 for a total of 31.

Defences and skills are similar in that each ability comes with stock bonuses. Both Divine Magic and Divine Soul grant Roderick a +2 bonus to Will and Challenge offers a +1 bonus to Fortitude. However, these bonuses will never rise or change. The only way for defences to rise is through ability score adjustment.

Each ability comes with a +2 bonus as standard. Challenge offers a Nobility bonus, Divine Magic grants Spellcraft, and Divine Soul allows the choice of any skill. On top of these bonuses, we may choose from another selection of skill bonuses limited by our ability choices. Not having abilities befitting of a skill monkey, we choose Religion and Endurance for Roderick to play to his religious and knightly strengths. Other abilities would have granted him a greater selection of skills. Sneak Attack grants a Stealth bonus and an additional three bonuses from its list. However, the obvious trade off is fewer hit points per level and a list of skills that may not fit into Roderick's play style. What use is a sneak attack if he needs to be in the open, challenging things to mortal combat?

With this in mind, these particular abilities could make a funny, dishonourable knight, the kind that jumps out from the bushes and stabs a man in the back, and only then shouts "I challenge you!" Combined with some of the stealthier and sneaker Divine Spells, you can really abuse the bonus movement from Challenge to stick to the poor, poor victim.

Replacing Feats and class based growth are Talents. Each Ability comes with its own list of Talents to choose from, which in turn is supplemented with a General Talents list that offers options anybody can take. A character chooses three talents at 1st level, and they gain another one at every level thereafter.

However certain options are no longer available - in this case the Divine Rage ability doesn't exist.  If one were to make a holy warrior with a violent streak, Divine Magic could be replaced with Berserk Rage to capitalise on melee attacks and the inherent speed granted by Challenge, but Sir Roderick is not that man. Sir Roderick is a man of Divine purpose! Great, unmitigated justice! Say it again - JUSTICE~! Roderick's strengths are his speed and smiting power in a well armoured package, backed by his spells.

The first Talent Roderick chooses is Tactical Break; by ending the effect of his Challenge, Roderick can make a move action for free. This means he can move forward into challenge range, challenge his target, end the challenge and break forward, letting him get to melee range and going in for the kill. It can also be used defensively if he needs to get away. Say Roderick's Wizard friend is under threat. By shifting back and using Tactical Break, he can gain ground on the attackers and rescue his erstwhile companion.

Secondly, Roderick chooses Attacking Aura. This grants a +1 bonus to all attack and damage rolls for Roderick, and anyone in his Aura. By taking it again for his third talent, this +2 offence bubble provides Roderick and his allies a forward base, as it were, to benefit from his attack bonuses and capitalise on the protection he grants them.

So, between the editions, what's new?

Roderick is less aggressive and more supportive, although the aura and abilities could be built with killing in mind and provide even more damage instead. With the change to Challenge, Roderick can move significantly faster, and in theory, provide more coverage for the party. The number of spells he possesses have not changed, nor have the majority of their effects. However, character growth has slowed significantly.

Any defence, attack or skill increases are all talent based, it's up to the player to decide where their characters should grow. So between the two versions, the characters are pretty much equal at 1st level, minus one feat and a some increased skills. However, the difference between levels is more jarring. Character growth is a slow, natural evolution rather than a set of sudden power jumps.

In the endgame, 2nd ed characters will be weaker than their 1st edition counterparts, but their growth is more varied. Magic items and customisation selection are more important, and Sir Roderick as a character will, or at least should, grow into the man the player wants.

What do you think of fully customisable characters? We're still very much in a beta phase, but more abilities and talents are being continuously added! I see exciting times!

Shadow Classes: Doomguard

Doomguard

 

            “This is my hurt, my madness, my unrequited hatred! This is my power, and I am coming for you.”

            At the dawning of the world, the Primordials took the parts of it that were too bright to allow creation, and flung them aside. To keep the balance, they took the aspects of the world that were too dark, and threw them away. The brightness and the darkness culminated in parodies of the world, known as the Feywild and the Shadowfell. Although the Feywild is dangerous, it is a world of light, magic and verdant power. The Shadowfell is not so blessed.

The Shadowfell is the plane that all dead spirits pass into before they ascend, fall, or disappear into the Outer Realm. Here, the darkness of the plane twists the weak willed into ghosts, or the horrors force them to become monsters that wreak havoc on those few that dwell there.

There is no true sanctuary, and it is in this hopeless world that the Doomguards hail from. The brotherhoods of the Doomguards perform the role of protection, but theirs is not the joy of battle of a Fighter, or the dedication of a Paladin. Doomguards are nihilists, knowing that, in time, all will be destroyed. In turn, the only way keep that which matters in tact is to destroy everything else. They have no qualms with hiring Shadowdancers as assassins, or striking an unarmed man. A Doomguard’s prerogative is the survival of those under his protection, and any Doomguard worth their salt will not stop to think of morals or shy away from any foe they face.

Each Doomguard is initiated into a brotherhood by a certain rite of passage. The rite involves having the animus, that which binds the soul to the body, carved out with a knife made from Ghost Iron and bound into a weapon of the initiate’s choosing. The weapon is forever part of them. The more the Doomguard grows into his role, the more crooked and vicious his weapon will become, granting him almost unrivalled power with which to cause suffering to his foes. However, this Hideous Weapon is both a constant reminder of his duties, and the darkness that lies in the hearts of all beings.

In truth, many of the dreary occupants of the Shadowfell are as much afraid of the brotherhoods as they are of the countless undead of the plane. Although an undead beast is only monstrous after death, the Doomguard brotherhoods represent monstrosity in the living.

Class Traits

¨      Role: Doomguards are nihilistic, brutal warriors. They choose a target and squash its powers with the aim of crushing it before it can threaten anyone else, whilst being extremely resistant to more exotic forms of attack.

¨      Alignment: Any.

¨      Power Source: Shadow

¨      Key Abilities: Strength, Constitution, Intelligence.

¨      Armour Proficiencies: Light, Medium and Heavy Armour. Light shields and Heavy Shields.

¨      Weapon Proficiencies: Simple Melee, Military Melee

¨      Bonuses to Defence: +1 Fortitude and Will

¨      Hit Points at 1^st level: 2d8+ Constitution score

¨      Hit Points per level gained: d8+ Constitution modifier

¨      Healing Surges per day: 10+ Constitution Modifier

¨      Skill Points at 1^st level: (2 + Intelligence Modifier) x4

¨      Skill Points per level: 2 + Intelligence Modifier

¨      Attack Growth: 6 levels

¨      Class Skills: Appraise, Climb, Endurance, Handle Animal, Jump, Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Planes) Knowledge (Religion), Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, Swim.

Class Features

Scorn (1st level)

As a minor action, one target within three squares of you becomes the target of your Scorn. Targets of your Scorn are Marked. As a Standard Action, you can target 2 enemies as your Scorn. As an Advanced action, you can target 3 enemies as your Scorn.

If an adjacent target of your Scorn shifts, you may shift a number of squares as a free action equal to 1/2 of your CON modifier.

If an adjacent target of your Scorn hits an ally with an attack that doesn't include you, the target takes damage equal to the damage it inflicted to your ally.

The Hideous Power (1st level)

At 1st level, you choose a Hideous Weapon. This weapon is chosen from one weapon you have proficiency with. The Hideous Weapon is imbued with your soul's animus, the bond that ties the soul to the body. This bond is both a gift and liability to the Doomguard; if you are separated from your Hideous Weapon, you die. The maximum distance, in miles, and the number of hours you can remain separated is equal to your level. If you are ever slain, save for old age, your Hideous Weapon counts as a body part for the sake of resurrection spells. If the Hideous Weapon is ever broken, you can repair it with a touch, so long as you have at least a shard of metal of the blade.

The Hideous Weapon counts as a magical weapon, although it can never be augmented or destroyed by a crafting check. Equally, the Hideous Weapon only activates its power for you. Anyone else wielding it gains no benefit, and it is treated as a mundane weapon until you retrieve it again. At 2^nd level and every 4^th level thereafter the Hideous Weapon adds a +1 to its enchantment bonus to a maximum of +6.

Brotherhood (1st level)

As a Doomguard, you belong to a group of like minded individuals known as a Brotherhood. Each Brotherhood gives a unique bonus to your Scorn. Choose one of the following groups to join. Once the choice has been made, it cannot be changed.

The Breaking Spirit: Against targets of your Scorn, you use CON as the modifier for your melee attack and damage rolls.

The Burning Chain: Targets of your Scorn cannot shift.

The Cracking Sky: Targets of your Scorn with an Immortal, Elemental, or Aberrant background suffer a penalty to all defences equal to 1/2 your INT modifier.

The Damning Love: Targets of your Scorn suffer a -1 penalty to saving throws.

The Encroaching Denial: You gain a bonus to AC equal to your CON modifier against the target of your Scorn.

The Flowering Hatred: Targets of your Scorn grant Combat Advantage to you.

The Hungering Doom: Targets of your Scorn suffer a penalty to all skill checks equal to your level.

The Shining Darkness: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against the target of your Scorn equal to your INT modifier.

The Weeping Father: The target of your Scorn is knocked prone when hit by your opportunity attacks.

The Creeds (2nd level)

At 2nd level and every 4th level thereafter, choose a Creed for the Doomguard to follow. The selection of Creeds to choose from increases as you grow in level.

2nd level

No Corruption Shall Blemish My Glory: You are immune to the effects of diseases. You can still contract them and pass them on to others.

No Demon Shall Avoid its Fate: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against Elementals equal to your Hideous Weapon's proficiency bonus + any magic weapon bonuses it has.

No Devil Shall Elude My Gaze: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against Immortals equal to your Hideous Weapon's proficiency bonus + any magic weapon bonuses it has.

No Immaterial Fiend Shall Be Spared: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against Fey equal to your Hideous Weapon's proficiency bonus + any magic weapon bonuses it has.

No Malevolent Spirit will Oppose Me: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against Undead equal to your Hideous Weapon's proficiency bonus + any magic weapon bonuses it has.

No Sin Shall Go Unpunished: The AC and Reflex bonuses you get from your shield rises by 1+ the number of bonuses of your Hideous Weapon.

6th level

I Shall Always Defy My Fate: Your Scorn removes one Action Point from the target, if it had one.

I Shall Know No Fear: You gain a +5 bonus to Saving Throws against Fear, Illusion and Domination effects.

I Shall Never Cease My Duty: If you become Slowed, Immobilised, Restrained or become unable to shift, you can make an immediate saving throw to end the effect.

I Shall Never Yield To The Witch: You gain a +1 bonus to all defences against magical attacks.

I Shall Not Go Quietly Into Darkness: You gain a +2 bonus to death saving throws.

10th level

Caution Provokes Cowardice: You gain a + 6 bonus to AC whilst charging. This bonus lasts until the beginning of your next turn.

Death Bares Victory: When you reduce an enemy to 0 hit points or fewer, you gain temporary hit points equal to your level.

Duty Requires Discipline: You do not sleep. Instead, you need only to remain inactive for 4 hours a day to benefit from an extended rest. Whilst inactive, you are aware of your surroundings and can react to them normally

Innocence Proves Nothing: As an advanced attack action, you can make a basic melee attack. If the attack hits a target, all enemies that can see you become Rattled until the end of your turn.

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Might Makes Right: Add your STR modifier to Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate and Sense Motive skill checks.

14th level

My Despair Shall Be Stifled: You can reroll failed saving throws any number of times in a turn, but at a cumulative -1 penalty for every attempt. The penalty resets at the beginning of your next turn.

My Gaze Shall Be Far: You can see 10 feet further than you otherwise could in areas of clouded vision. You may reroll Perception skill checks once per encounter.

My Transgressions Shall Be Cleansed: When you use your Second Wind, you can spend a second healing surge to make a saving throw against 2 negative effects you currently suffer from.

My Trust Shall Be Unbreakable: You gain Resist against all attacks made by your allies equal to your level.

My Wrath Shall Be Furious: You gain a bonus to damage rolls equal to the bonus of your Hideous Weapon against targets that damage you. That bonus lasts until the end of your next turn.

18th level

Until Darkness Takes Us: You gain a bonus to damage rolls equal to your INT modifier +3 for every unconscious ally you can see or have seen.  

Until My Final Breath: When you reach 0 Hit Points, you do not fall unconscious for as many rounds equal to your CON modifier, but you still make death saving throws.

Until The End of Time: You no longer age, and cannot die of old age unless you will it.

Hideous Augmentation (4th level)

At 4th level, and every 4th level thereafter, your Hideous Weapon gains an augmentation from the following list. You cannot choose the same power twice, unless otherwise stated.

Agony: Your Weapon gains the Brutal 1 trait, or increases an existing Brutal trait by 1.

Believing: Your Weapon becomes Holy. You must be of a Good Alignment to choose this Hideous Augmentation.

Bleeding: The damage your Weapon inflicts counts as Bleed damage.

Covetous: Your Weapon gains the Defending power.

Despairing: Your Weapon becomes Unholy. You must be of an Evil Alignment to choose this Hideous Augmentation.

Freeze: Your Weapon inflicts Cold damage.

Fury: Your Weapon gains the High Crit ability.

Greed: Your Weapon returns to your hand from up to 20 squares away as a minor action.

Grit: Your Weapon gains the Versatile trait.

Hungry: Your Weapon gains the Seeking power.

Jealousy: Your Weapon damages anything that holds it other than you. This is Shadow damage, and the damage inflicted is equal to the damage die of your current weapon.

Lawbringer: Your Weapon becomes Axiomatic. You must be of a Lawful Alignment to choose this Hideous Augmentation.

Lawless: Your Weapon becomes Anarchic. You must be of a Chaotic Alignment to choose this Hideous Augmentation.

Melt: Your Weapon inflicts Acid damage.

Might: Your Weapon gains the Stout trait.

Murderous: Your Weapon gains the Vicious trait.

Pity: Your Weapon becomes Merciful.

Power: Your Weapon's damage dice rises by one.

Rage: Your Weapon deals +2 damage. You can choose this augmentation once per tier.

Roar: Your Weapon inflicts Sonic damage.

Ruin: The critical threat of your Weapon rises by one.

Scorch: Your Weapon inflicts Fire damage.

Sharp: Your Weapon gains the Keen power.

Shock: Your Weapon inflicts Lightning damage.  

Slaying: Your Weapon counts as being crafted from either Blessed Steel, Cold Iron, Disturbing Steel, Malefic Steel, Negasteel, or Silvered Steel.

Wrath: Your Weapon gains an additional +2 to attack rolls. You can choose this augmentation once per tier.

Zephyrus: Your Weapon gains the Thrown power.