Making More Of Talents

In the previous post, I made mention of some new talents and promised to elaborate, so here goes... But first, a bit of preamble: one of the things I really like about Pathfinder is the archetype system, whereby different abilities of a class are swapped out or modified to reflect a variation on the core theme of a class. I sought to incorporate something similar in my RMFRP campaign, but soon decided that I didn’t really want to spend time modifying the skill costs of RMFRP professions (or designing new training packages which fulfill an archetype-like function). Instead, I settled on a simpler solution: creating a wider role for talents. In addition to creating a whole bunch of new talents, and sourcing more, I compiled talent packages: linked talents available at a small discount if fulfilling certain conditions, usually some pertinent combination of profession, race/culture and, occasionally, training package or ‘alignment’.

As a bit of a preview of things to come later, I’d like to offer the following samples. The two talents below are the ones mentioned in the table pertaining to the Chaos-Blighted Apple. it should be noted that the first ability, Protean Awareness is usually only available to Channeling users from certain cultural backgrounds who follow Chaos, whilst Chaos Shield is generally only available to some Chaos-worshiping or 'Chaotic' Mythics:

Protean Awareness (Skilled (Lesser) + Combat Reflexes + Peripheral Vision)

                             Key to a proper appreciation of Chaos is perceptual openness – an uncanny awareness of all that is going on around you, without the stagnant filtering of senses that most people use to order their experience. A true initiate of Chaos dwells in Chaos, their awareness embracing all that they perceive. Although it is possible that too much awareness may eventually lead to madness, new acolytes of Chaos certainly feel the benefit of this expanded perception, gaining a +5 bonus to the Awareness•Perceptions skill category. In addition, their hyperawareness means that if they are attacked from the front or rear, the bonuses gained by their attackers are reduced (to +5 flank and +15 rear). Finally, they gain a special +5 to OB and DB, and when rolling for initiative they roll three dice rather than two, and choose the dice that make up their initiative number.

Chaos Shield (Special Ability (Conditional))

                        Mythics are more capable of dealing with rogue spellcasters than most, but they, as anyone, can be caught unawares by a spell attack. Some Chaotic Mythics, more closely attuned to the essence of Chaos, have – after long practice – internalised some of that essence in their own aura, such that they can dissipate the energy of the first spell cast against them each day. This power is subconsciously activated whenever an aggressive spell (types E, DE, BE, F and all spells with the ‘m’ subtype) is cast on the Mythic. 

The spell makes a RR (with the spell level not the caster’s level being the target level, and the Mythic’s level being the attack level). If the spell fails the RR, it is dissipated by the chaotic energies bound to the Mythic’s aura. This is always accompanied by a burst of varicoloured light and cacophonic sound, and expends 3d10 Exhaustion Points. If the spell makes the RR, it has its effect as normal, there is no expenditure of Exhaustion Points but the power is lost until the next full sleep or meditation period. The Mythic can learn to control this ability at high cost, developing Spell Mastery skill (Chaos Shield), but the skill is developed as a Restricted Skill. When the ability is activated, the Mythic may attempt a Spell Mastery roll to prevent either a) activation or b) the accompanying sound and light show. If activation is prevented, the power is still expended (but not the Exhaustion Points).

A few things should be apparent for someone used to RMFRP's talent system: a) I didn't list any costs and b) the Chaos Shield ability is Conditional. The talents listed above do have costs, but they'll appear in a future document, along with the justification for the costs. As to the Conditional nature of Chaos Shield, this is an importation from the Fantasy Hero system which was also modified for use in RMFRP, appearing in an article in The Guild Companion. Long story short, the power is made cheaper by the existence of constraints upon its operation (requires Exhaustion Points, and affects only the first spell on any given day).

In any case, I've created quite literally hundreds of variant talents, linked talent packages and new talents, and some of these will be relevant to the material that appears in this blog. As a final comment, the above talents refer to Chaos and being 'Chaotic': this does indeed draw on the alignment system that appears in other systems, but isn't a wholesale importation. As usual, there'll be more on this later. The talents Skilled, Combat Reflexes and Peripheral Vision can be found in RMFRP Character Law.

All RMFRP material referred to above is copyright; 2002-2017 by Iron Crown Enterprises Ltd. All rights reserved. No reproductions without permission.