[Template] Lakarns: Creatures driven by one of the Seven Deadly Sins
Right then, these are an original creation for my Aheka setting that I've had for a while now, but recently I've increasingly become of the opinion that I need to streamline and scale them better, and since I'm having particular trouble with bringing two of them (Greed and Pride) in line with the rest I thought I'd post them up again and get some opinions.
Lakarns What exactly makes a Lakarn no one is quite sure, but it is widely believed that Ciin (she's the third one in that post) or her children (all listed below her in the above link) are responsible for the birth of most of them, while others later become Lakarns through serving them (such as through the Envoy prestige class) or by spending too much time upon the demi-planes controlled by the Seven (each of whom are effectively deity-level lakarns themselves). Regardless of the source of their powers, Lakarns are dangerous and powerful beings who's emotional state is so intense that they can influence those around them, from causing them to fly into a rage to becoming enarmored with the Lakarn. Only with time and training do they learn to shut off this innate influence and, eventually, gain some control over who they effect with it.
Lakarn is a template that can be applied to any sentient creature capable of feeling emotions (so Constructs and Animals generally can't become Lakarns, but a Living Construct, Dragon or Magical Beast typically could), hereby referred to as the base creature. Lakarns benefit from all the abilities and benefits of the base creature's race, as well as the benefits listed below.
When making a Lakarn you must choose one of the 7 'emotions' detailed later on which cannot be changed or altered later on.
Universal Abilities
All Lakarns possess the following abilities, regardless of the emotion they were born of:
Resist Disease/Poison +4. Lakarns are naturally hardy and have a resistance to poisons and diseases (both natural and magical).
Creature Size: As base creature.
Creature Type: Change type to Outsider with the Native subtype, unless already an Outsider, in which case they keep their previous subtypes (if any).
Land Speed: As base creature.
Alignment: Any, though usually non-Good and non-lawful.*
* - Certain emotions are noted as having other tendencies, however as a rule, Lakarns can be of any alignment, although most tend to be evil (about 50%). Neutral Lakarns are fairly common (about 40%) but Good Lakarns (especially Lawful Good ones) are rare (about 10%).
In addition, all Lakarns possess an "Aura of.." ability that radiates 30ft away from them that will effect those that stay within range for a certain amount of rounds and continue to effect them for a certain amount of rounds or minutes thereafter, all of which have the following things in common unless stated otherwise:
A Lakarn can not effect another Lakarn with their aura, as their respective emotional states essentially protect them from the abilities of other Lakarns.
All Lakarn Auras are mind-effecting abilities that only work against sentient creatures (minimum 3 Intelligence).
A Lakarn can not effect a creature that is incapable of feeling emotion, such as most animals, constructs and vermin.
Any susceptable creature that remains within the radius of a Lakarn's aura for a number of rounds greater than the creature's current Wisdom Modifier (minimum 1 round) must pass a Will Save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 the Lakarn's HD + Lakarn's Charisma Modifier or be subject to the effect/s of their aura.
If a creature makes their save then they are also immune to that specific Lakarn's aura for 24 hours thereafter.
The effects of the aura persist for as long as the creature remains in its presence + 1D4 + the Lakarn's Charisma Modifier rounds or minutes (depending on the individual Lakarn) after leaving the Lakarn's presence (the radius of their aura). If a Lakarn suppresses their aura (see below) then treat them as having left their pesence even if the aura is resumed.
Upon gaining 5 HD a Lakarn learns how to better control their aura, allowing them to suppress or resume it at will as a Free Action.
Upon gaining 10 HD a Lakarn masters their control of their aura, allowing them to exempt a number of 5ft areas equal to their HD within their aura that are not subject to its effects. Designating these areas takes a free action and can be done once per round. They typically use this to prevent their aura from effecting allies.
A Lakarn can tell if/when another Lakarn enters the radius of their aura, however they can not pinpoit their location nor tell how many there are, they just become aware that there is one or more Lakarns nearby.
Lakarn of Greed
Lakarns of Greed tend to be massive hoarders, whether of money, valuable/magical items or just about any other form of material possession. They are incredibly cerebral and have an uncanny knock for dealing with items of worth, however they lack mental hardiness and have a tendancy to be impulsive and reckless.
Skills: +4 bonus on any and all checks that involve the purchasing, selling or trading of material goods (though material goods are most often objects, they can be living things such as horses or even slaves/servants). For example, a Lakarn of Greed would gain this bonus on a Bluff check made to exagerate (or outright lie) on the qualities of an item just as much as they would gain the bonus on a Sense Motive check to detect a similar lie.
Mercantile Sense (Su): Lakarns of Greed can constantly detect any item worth 100gp or more within 30ft of them so long as they can perceive it in some way (i.e., through sight, sound, touch etc.). This only reveals the items' rough directions from their current position (somewhat like a compass), so finding such items requires them to move around to get a feel for the location of the various items or by concentrating (see below).
Upon gaining 5 HD a Lakarn of Greed can focus their attention to an individual item that they can perceive with their Mercantile Sense (see above) by concentrating for one round. This reveals the value of the item (to the nearest 500gp, minimum 500gp) as well as its exact location (which square it is in), though it does not reveal anything else about the item (such as magical properties). A Lakarn of Greed gains an additional +4 bonus to appraise checks on any item they haved focussed on in this way (as already knowing their rough value narrows it down somewhat).
Level Adjustment: +3.
Lakarn of Hate
Very few creatures can compare to the overwhelming and consuming hatred of a Lakarn of Hate, whose whole being revolves around destroying their hated foes, whether they have to destroy everything else in the process too. While not necccessarily evil or chaotic, they have a very bad reputation made worse by their inability to control their anger at times (and their influence on others, particular when younger). That is not to say none can, as Jester is an example of a Lakarn of Hate who focuses his hate squarely on his foe's, the only backlash people getting from this being his sarcastic and often derrogatory comments and attitude towars others.
Skills: Lakarns of Hate can always choose to use their Str bonus instead of their Cha bonus for the Intimidate skill. In addition, a Lakarn of Hate is so naturally intimidating that when they successfully intimidate someone they do not become less friendly so long as the Lakarn of Hate remains nearby (the same town, city, village) and even if the Lakarn leaves the local area, they remain friendly to them for an amount of weeks equal to the Lakarn of Hate's character level, after which (if the Lakarn of Hate has not returned) they will become less friendly as described in the Intimidate skill.
Feats: Lakarns of Hate receive Diehard as Bonus Feat at 1st Level even if they do not have Endurance.
Hatred (Ex): Lakarns of Hate must chose a Favoured Enemy at 1st Level which functions just like the Ranger ability except that if the Lakarn of Hate gains further Favoured Enemies and bonus' to Favoured Enemies his first choice must always be the 'primary' one (i.e. it must have the highest bonus) if the Lakarn has any choice in the matter.
Aura of Wrath (Su): A creature that fails their will save (see universal rules above) against a Lakarn of Hate's Aura of Wrath is subject Rage spell, with a duration of rounds after the creature leaves their presence (see universal rules above).
Level Adjustment: +3.
Lakarn of Lust
Despite the impression given by their colloquial name, Lakarns of Lust also have an insatiable desire to feed their souls, whether that is physically, spiritually or both. In a way they are similar to Lakarns of Greed except that they place little value of objects (non-living objects anyway) and far more on hedonistic satisfaction of their desires. Like any Lakarn, they are not neccessarily a slave to their emotional state, however even those capable of reigning in the pull of their natural emotional state find it almost impossible to hide, and prefer to simply embrace it, moving about if needed.
Skills: +4 bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks. Aura of Lust (Su): A creature that fails their will save (see universal rules above) against a Lakarn of Lust's Aura of Lust is subject to the Charm Monster spell, with a duration of minutes after the creature leaves their presence (see universal rules above).
Upon gaining 15 HD a Lakarn of Lust also gains the ability to Dominate creatures nearby an amount of times equal to their Charisma bonus (though no more than half their HD, rounding up). A Lakarn of Lust must take a Standard Action to focus their influence on a single target (which need not already be effected by the Aura of Lust) which must then make a will save with the same DC as the standard Aura (albeit with a +5 bonus if it is already Charmed by the Lakarn) or be subject to the Dominate Monster spell for the same duration as the standard Aura of Lust. A creature dominated in such a fashion that is then released (or the duration ends) is aware it was dominated (or otherwise mentally coerced), but it is not automativally aware that the Lakarn of Lust was responsible for it.
A Lakarn of Lust can only have one creature dominated at a single time with this ability. If they dominate another creature while one is still under the Lakarn's influence then the first Lakarn is freed from the domination (though only if the domination is successful). A creature that makes their save against this domination effect (not including those released from it) is immune to any further attempts from that specific Lakarn for 24hrs.
Level Adjustment: +3
Lakarn of Despair
Lakarns of Despair exude an aura that saps the willpower of those nearby and gives them a feeling of intense despair by making them relive painful moments in their lives, see their worst nightmares unravel before their eyes or a host of other things that make Lakarns of Despair horrific to be around for even a short while, let alone for extended periods of time. As a result, Lakarns themselves tend to feel despair, which further fuels their dislike of others and/or wish to be accepted, which often causes problems.
Sapping Presence (Su): All sentient creatures (minimum 3 Intelligence) except for other Lakarns of any type within 30ft of a Lakarn of Despair suffer a temporary -2 Wisdom Drain for as long as they remain within 30ft of the Lakarn of Despair. Should a creature be unfortunate (or foolish) enough to be in the presence of more than one Lakarn the effects are cumulative. A Will Save with a DC of 10 + 1/2 Lakarn of Despair's HD + Lakarn of Despair's Charisma Modifier negates the drain makes them immune to that specific Lakarn of Despair's Sapping Aura for 24 hrs.
Note that this is not the Lakarn of Despair's main 'aura' ability, and therefore is not subject to the universal special rules for such auras listed above.
Aura of Despair (Su): A creature that fails their will save (see universal rules above) against a Lakarn of Despair's Aura of Despair is subject to the Crushing Despair spell, with a duration of minutes after the creature leaves their presence.
Level Adjustment: +3
Lakarn of Pride
Lakarns of Pride are not so much dangerous (compared to other Lakarns that is), as incredibly grating. They are arrogant, snide and unpleasant (even the 'good' ones) and perceive themselves as perfect, while everyone else is a worm hardly worthy of their attention, but despite all this: they tend to have the largest followings of all the other Lakarns put together. Despite this, they tend to attract followers wherever they go, though typically those much weaker than them.
Skills: +3 bonus on any two Knowledge, Perform or Profession skills of the Lakarn of Pride's choosing at 1st level. In addition, a Lakarn of Pride is always considered to be trained in these skills, even if they have no ranks in it. This choice can not be changed thereafter.
Feats: Upon reaching 6 HD a Lakarn of Pride gains followers as if they had the Leadership feat (though they do not gain a Cohort). Should they later gain the Leadership feat (or a similar ability that replaces it) then they instead increase their leadership score by +3.
Self-Belief (Ex): Lakarns of Pride never suffer from self-doubt like others do, even if proven wrong, and this gives them a great confidence in certain aspects of their lives, allowing them to 'take 10' on a single 1st Level Class Skill which can not be changed at a later date. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter they may 'take 10' on one additional Class Skill, though it must be a Class Skill for that level. For example, a Rogue 4 Lakarn of Pride with Hide as it's 1st chosen 'Self Belief' skill that took it's 5th level in Fighter would not be able to select Move Silently, only from the class skills they have available upon taking their 5th level.
Aura of Pride (Su): A creature that fails their will save (see universal rules above) against a Lakarn of Pride's Aura of Pride suffers from 1d4 points of temporary ability drain to Charisma which can never lower a creature's Charisma below 1. This Charisma drain stacks when multiple Lakarns of Pride are present and has a duration of rounds after the creature leaves their presence.
Upon reaching 15 HD a Lakarn of Pride deals 1d8 points of temporary ability drain to Charisma instead of 1d4.
Level Adjustment: +3
Lakarn of Envy
Like the Lakarns of Lust and Despair, Lakarns of Envy have a rather insidious ability that affects those around them, however, while the Lakarns of Lust and Despair's abilities tend to calm or pacify those around them Lakarn's of Envy sow disorder and jealously wherever they go.
Ability Scores: +4 Constitution, +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma and -4 Wisdom. Lakarns of Envy are incredibly hardy physically, as well as naturally agile, but due to their own unstable and envious nature have very little willpower and are prone to rash behaviour.
Skills: +4 bonus on Disguise and Spot checks. Lakarns of Envy have a natural talent for dissapearing and are unusually observant compared to other Lakarns.
Aura of Envy (Su): A creature that fails their will save (see universal rules above) against a Lakarn of Envy's Aura of Envy or they will suffer from 1d3 points of temporary ability drain to wisdom, which can never lower a creature's wisdom score below 1, which stacks when multiple Lakarns of Envy are present and has a duration of rounds after the creature leaves their presence.
In addition, those affected will become suspicious/jealous/envious of everyone around them as long as they are within their presence and for minutes after leaving their presence, resulting in a -4 penalty to all teamwork related activities and (in the case of NPCs) become one category less friendly to everyone (including family and the closest of friends). This penalty does not stack when multiple Lakarns of Envy are present.
Upon gaining 15 HD a Lakarn of Envy instead deals 1d6 points of temporary ability drain to Wisdom, the penalty to teamwork related activities increases to -8 and NPCs become two categories less friendly to everyone. As before, only the Wisdom drain stacks when multiple Lakarns are present.
Level Adjustment: +3.
Lakarn of Gluttony
Lakarns of Gluttony suffer from the same problems as Lakarns of Envy and Despair, as their natural abilities are very detrimental to those around them and it takes them many years to refine their control. They tend to be over-eaters and heavy drinkers and many of them become addicts to various substances or activities, however their bodies seem specially designed to cope with this and they rarely seem to feel or show the detrimental effects of such activies (such as getting fat or getting drunk) without taking it to true extremes. Lakarns of Gluttony tend to have have addictive personalities and find breaking any old habits (physical or mental) they have next to impossible, from alcoholism to pinching their nose when stressed.
Ability Scores: +6 Constitution, +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Strength and -4 Wisdom. Lakarns of Gluttony are incredibly tough, but they are the least charismatic of the Lakarns and suffer from a weak will like most of their kin.
Saves: Lakarns of Gluttony are immune to all mundane forms of poison, as well as any similar mundane substances that cause harm (such as alcohol). They also gain an additional +4 bonus on saves against any form of magical poison (or similar substances), which stacks with the standard Lakarn resistence to poison (and disease if applicable).
Aura of Gluttony (Su): A creature that fails their will save (see universal rules above) against a Lakarn of Gluttony's Aura of Gluttony suffers from 1 negative level with a duration of rounds after the creature leaves their presence. This negative level is temporary and will never result in the permenant loss of a level and it can also not result in the death of a creature (i.e. it can not effect creatures with only 1 HD or negative levels equal to their character level -1), although there is nothing stopping them from using Enervation or similar spells against said target, which can end up killing the creature**. Multiple Auras, coming from different Lakarns of Gluttony, stack but even if a creature failed the will save of 120 Lakarns of Gluttony's Devouring Presence (the maximum amount of medium creatures that could surround a Medium-sized creature, taking up every space within 30ft of them) it could never die as a result of their Aura of Gluttony alone.
Upon reaching 15HD a Lakarn of Gluttony's Aura of Gluttony gives 1d3 negative levels (roll for each individual creature effected) but otherwise follows the same rules.
** - Basically: Aura of Gluttony can never, by itself, kill anything through negative levels (i.e. make a creature have as many negative levels as they have character levels/HD) but if a target with 4HD had a single negative level due to this and then had 3 negative levels inflicted upon it by an Enervation spell it would immediately die (as the Enervation spell resulted in the creatures' death, not the Aura of Gluttony).
Level Adjustment: +3.
And here's the idea's I've had/things I need help with/questions I have:
Eliminate the universal disease/poison immunity because I've forgotten why I put it there in the first place and it needlessly ups their power.
Change Greed's aura ability to something more like the others (i.e. something that effects those around it).
Give all the Lakarns an improvement to their Aura once they reach 15 HD (Lust, Envy, Pride and Gluttony already have such improvements, I'm not sure how I should improve Hate or Despair).
Should I switch the 10th and 15th level aura improvement progressions (i.e. they gain an improved version at 10th and the ability to shape it at 15th, or keep it as it is now)?
Is a Charisma drain or Wisdom drain more inkeeping for Pride (currently it drains Charisma)? I originally thought Wisdom would be better, but I didn't want to step on Envy's toes with it.
Are the Aura rules too complicated/can anyone think of a way to streamline them without having to resort to x/day abilities (which I want to avoid at all costs)?
And most importantly, are they all more or less equally balanced?
Anyway, any/all suggestions, questions and comments are more than welcome and thanks to Blue for helping with changing Pride and Envy to bring them more in line with the others, as well as some general suggestions .
well i personally think a wisdom drain, but you don't like stepping on your own toes :P maybe they nauseate their foes from their more then likely chance of being alcoholics or overeaters.
Resist desease/poison works okay, as they're outsiders. But otherwise doesn't really fit with the classes (templates?).
@Aura - remove the 2d4 rounds modifier for how long it takes to be affected by an aura. Just 'a number of rounds equal to the creature's wisdom modifier'
@Greed - definitely need to make their aura something that affects others, though it's hard to say exactly what. Perhaps something a little more combat oriented, similar to a suggestion spell 'you may not expend any non-rechargable resource', meaning that nobody fighting a Larkan of Greed could drink a potion / use a wand etc in their presence. Strong, but not too powerful I think. Probably.
@Pride/Envy - I don't think score drain works perfectly - the other ones are all a static effect... How about 'will not use any ability that affects others' or similar?
This is exactly the problem I've had - some of the 'sins' are easy to come up with abilities for (Lust = Charm Monster, Hate = Rage and Despair = Crushing Despair, all of which are 3rd or 4th level spells) while the rest don't really have an existing spell or effect to represent them, which is why I went with ability damage for them.
I had thought of perhaps streamlining them even more, such as giving all of them a wisdom draining aura with additional effects depending on the sin they represent, however even then I've had difficulty in how to mechanically represent such additional effects. Lust, for example, could simply become something like the Attraction power, albeit only towards people (while Greed's could work like that, but only for Oojects). Similarily, Envy could function something like the Aversion power, albeit towards people in general.
But that's where it falls short again, as I'm not sure what the others could be, if I go for a lower-level equivelent effect.
Despair isn't one of the generally recognised deadly sins - Sloth (or laziness) is a fairly different thing - probably sapping strength rather than wisdom.
Actually, the original version of sloth (Acedia) is more about inaction due to despairhopelessness/faithlessness, rather than simple laziness, it just later became that, particular in media which tends to personify the sins like this (e.g. Full Metal Alchemist). Acedia itself (the word for the sin in Latin) means 'lack of care'/'carelessness' rather than being lazy (which, to me at least, has a very different connotation).
I called them "Despair" to make it clear I was using this interpretation of it and to make sure it isn't confused with simply being lazy or doing things half-arsed, since that's not what it's about (plus, the Sloth domain's granted ability is being able to act normally while prone, which wouldn't fit them).
From the Wiki article (I know, not the best source) on the sin of Sloth: "Sloth is defined as spiritual or emotional apathy and being physically and emotionally inactive".
Gluttony: They are compelled to consume or imbibe something every round or succumb to starvation. Either they become starved right away or under this aura (or spell as it would make a cool HUNGER SPELL) turns days into rounds when determining if they are starved.
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Super Awesome Staff | Take 1 | Take 2 | Catching up on some RL stuff, posting will not be as heavy for a while.
That's a very interesting mechanic idea ST, although I'm not sure it'd work for this, as it'd take, for an average person (Con 10), 11 rounds to effect them even after the variable number of rounds it takes for the aura's to begin effecting people (a mechanic I decided on to try and make their otherwise constant aura abilities less powerful).
As an aside, I've changed the complicated variable for when the aura activates (originally 2d4 + susceptable creature's wisdom bonus rounds) to simply being delayed by a number of rounds equal to the susceptable creature's wisdom bonus in rounds (with a minimum of 1 round) before they have to save/it takes effect.
Options:
_You can just start them starving when the aura hits them. They must eat or take effects as if they had failed a check to avoid starvation: 1d6 non-lethal + fatigued.
_You may change starvation's Con check to a Fort Save based on the Larkan's Aura DC
Editing Note/Errata: Aura of Envy you have "...against a Lakarn of Pride's Aura of Pride or..." where instead of Pride I think you meant to put Envy.
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Super Awesome Staff | Take 1 | Take 2 | Catching up on some RL stuff, posting will not be as heavy for a while.
08-10-2010, 01:25 PM
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