Examples of Taint
From D20advanced
Here are three examples of how taint can work. These are by no means the only ones, and Gamemasters should feel free to come up with their own variations. Any or all of these examples could coexist in a setting, providing multiple forms of taint that characters can incur!
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Corruption
In this application of taint, good and evil are more than just abstract moral concepts—or at least evil is, anyway. Those who do especially wicked deeds have a stain upon their souls. This darkness can eat away at the spirit, until there’s nothing left inside but emptiness and corruption.
Acquiring Corruption
Characters acquire corruption by doing evil deeds. The exact definition of “evil” is left up to the Gamemaster, but generally means any deliberately harmful action undertaken for reasons other than the defense of one’s self or others. In some cases, you may want to limit the list of potential “sins.” For example, perhaps murder and torture are corrupting, while simple theft is not.
Effects of Corruption
Corruption dice impose mental drawbacks associated with sociopathic or even psychopathic behavior. The more corruption the character accumulates, the worse (or more numerous) the drawbacks become, and the more likely the character is to acquire further corruption, continuing the cycle. A corrupt character also loses the ability to use FX with a holy or good descriptor; the character is simply too tainted. On the other hand, a corrupt character may gain the ability to use unholy or evil FX.
Eliminating Corruption
Corruption is removed not only by refraining from doing evil deeds, but also by actively doing good deeds in an effort of redemption.
A truly good and noble act removes a corruption die. Of course, any corruption-induced drawbacks will make it more difficult to stay on the straight and narrow; the player may need to spend hero points to allow the character to overcome the drawback long enough to do the right thing.
Madness
The mind can only stand so much pressure before it breaks. There are things no one was meant to see, or do, or know, and they can bring on a creeping madness, leading to total insanity.
Acquiring Madness
Characters suffer madness from exposure to traumatic events. These events require a Will check with the Difficulty Class of the save set by the intensity of the trauma, ranging from DC 10 (suffering a painful injury or receiving a sudden shock) to DC 30 or more (prolonged torture or witnessing Things Man Was Not Meant to Know).
| TABLE 9.2: MADNESS DCs | |
| DC | Situation |
| 10 | Witness a friend killed. Kill an enemy in the heat of battle. |
| 15 | Witness a gruesome death or torture. Suffer torture. |
| 20 | Witness a friend or loved one killed in a terrible manner. Commit murder. |
| 25 | Commit cold-blooded murder. Witness death and destruction on a vast scale. |
| 30 | Encounter a terrible horror of cosmic proportions. |
In a game where the supernatural is rare and utterly horrifying, most or all supernatural beings should have ranks in the Induce Madness FX in addition to their other abilities.
A failed check results in a madness die or any number of other maladies. A successful check means there’s no effect this time.
| MADNESS | Condition |
| Fail | -1 Action + Madness die |
| Fail by 5 | -2 Actions + Madness die |
| Fail 10 | Helpless + Madness die |
After acquiring your first madness die, you must make Will check against Madness using your madness dice pool. However, unlike other dice pools, you do not lose madness dice from rolling your madness pool, and you take the lowest result when you roll your madness dice pool, not the highest. This represents a character’s slipping grip on sanity.
Derangements
Accumulated madness dice result in mental drawbacks with a point value equal to the total madness dice called derangements. The player and GM should choose these drawbacks to reflect the effects of the trauma(s) causing the madness: being attacked by a swarm of spiders may cause arachnophobia, for example. As madness dice accumulate, the character may acquire new drawbacks, or existing ones may become more severe.
Derangements are triggered by different situations, and more stressful, important situations can be harder to resist than other such situations.
| TABLE 9.3: DERANGEMENT DRAWBACK SAVE DCs | |
| DC | Situation |
| 10 | Easily avoided, low stress, minor importance |
| 15 | Not easily avoided, mild stress, some importance |
| 20 | Tough to avoid, moderate stress, definite importance |
| 25 | Difficult to avoid, high stress, great importance |
| 30 | Impossible to avoid, extreme stress, tremendous importance |
Sample Derrangements
Below are a set of example derangements. This should not be considered a comprehensive list, and GMs and players should feel free to add or modify derangements as suits their individual games or their characters.
| TABLE 9.4: DERANGEMENTS | |
| Mild Derangements (2 Madness Dice Drawbacks) | |
| Avoidance | Mania |
| Depression | Narcissism |
| Fixation | Phobia |
| Inferiority Complex | Suspicion |
| Irrationality | Vocalization |
| Moderate Derangements (4 Madness Dice Drawbacks) | |
| Anxiety | Melancholia |
| Hysteria | Obsessive Compulsion |
| Megalomania | Paranoia |
| Severe Derangements (6 Madness Dice Drawbacks) | |
| Catatonia | Multiple Personality |
| Fugue | Schizophrenia |
Mild Derangements
- Avoidance
- Depression
- Fixation
- Inferiority Complex
- Irrationality
- Mania
- Narcissism
- Phobia
- Suspicion
- Vocalization
Moderate Derangements
Severe Derangements
Madness and FX
In settings where madness is linked to certain FX (particularly psychic or magical FX) madness dice may increase a character’s level of power. For example, perhaps magical FX in the setting are only available to characters with madness dice and any individual FX can’t have a rank or point cost greater than the character’s madness dice total (or total times some multiplier like x2 or x5). In such games, FX with this limitation might have the Madness Required drawback.
Further, in settings where the supernatural is terrifying and unnerving, many (if not all) supernatural creatures have ranks in the Induce Madness FX, which allows them to actively and passively drive mortal men insane.
Eliminating Madness
Eliminating madness points takes time, rest, and usually some form of psychotherapy or psychological treatment. The Gamemaster can set an amount of time or treatment for characters to eliminate accumulated madness points, such as a month’s quiet rest, or a week (or more) of therapy. Depending on the style of the game, these times could be even longer, like months of therapy per madness point, with rest alone having no real effect. Any occasion where the patient has to make a Will save against madness again means no progress during that time.
Mutation
Life is impossibly complex, a galaxy of countless cells. It takes so little: just a small change in a DNA strand for things to alter. Such changes can spread, transforming an ordinary person into something … else. Something unnatural.
Acquiring Mutation
Characters usually acquire mutation dice from exposure to mutagens like radiation or certain chemicals. In some settings exposure to things like “chaos energy” or certain FX may also cause mutations. Characters usually get a Fortitude check to avoid accumulating mutation dice, with the DC determined by the intensity of the mutagen: DC 10 for a fairly mild to 30 or more for especially intense mutagenic sources.
Effects of Mutation
Mutations generally cause physical drawbacks equal in value to the accumulated mutation dice. Note that multiple mutations affecting appearance don’t count separately but are treated as a single more intense version of the same mutation (so long as their sole effect is the reaction others have to the character’s unusual appearance).
Mutations might also grant new or additional FX, depending on their nature, although the character doesn’t usually get much say in the nature of these FX; they may come with certain flaws or FX Drawbacks like Side Effect, Uncontrolled, or Full Power.
Exposure to mutagens can be the origin for a character’s abilities without necessarily accumulating any mutation dice. This is a plot device rather than an application of taint.
Eliminating Mutation
Mutation dice are difficult to eliminate, since they are permanent changes in the character’s physical makeup. Short of the character getting an entirely new body, the only means of removing mutation dice may be extensive (and complex) gene therapy or the use of certain FX. Perhaps Healing with the Regrowth feat (or a customized FX feat or extra) can remove mutation dice on a 1-for-1 basis. In some settings there may be no way of eliminating mutation dice!
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| Chapter VII: Combat | Combat Sequence | Combat Statistics | Actions | Action Descriptions | Damage | Tactical Movement and Options | Maneuvers | |
|---|---|---|
| Chapter VIII: Environments | Zones | Terrain Effects | Climate Effects | Conditions | |
| Chapter IX: Dramatic Interactions | Dramatic Interaction | Interaction Types | Reputation | Mental Strain | Taint | Examples of Taint | |
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