New Mechanic: "Gifts"

GIFTS

“GIFT BASICS”

Throughout the world, individuals are sometimes born with special Gifts. These Gifts allow for extraordinary abilities and powers, such as firestarting, animal mindspeech, empathy, and many others. There are no set mechanics to these Gifts, other than player and DM discretion. To find out if your character is Gifted, do the following:

1. Roll a percentile. If you get 81—100%, you are Gifted.

2. If you are Gifted, that means that you have access to the new Mind (MND) ability score, and the new Shield (SHLD) defense. To determine the strength of your MND ability score, you must roll 1d20.

1-2 = 10
3-5 = 12
6-10 = 14
11-15 = 16
16-18 = 18
19-20 = 20

If you have a rolled MND ability score, it will automatically increase by 1 at 4th, 8th, 14th, 18th, 24th, and 28th levels (unless you possess both a rolled MND and a rolled MAG ability score; then, you choose which of the two will increase at those levels).

3. Roll 1d6 to determine how many Gifts your character has.

4. Roll 1d12 a number of times equal to your d6 roll, to determine which Gifts you have. If you roll the same Gift more than once, reroll until you get a different Gift. If you roll Player’s Choice, you may wait to choose your Gift until all of your other Gifts have been rolled for.

1 = Animal Mindspeech
2 = Bardic Talent
3 = Dreamspeech
4 = Earthsense
5 = Empathy
6 = Farsight
7 = Fetching
8 = Firestarting
9 = Mage Talent
10 = Thoughtsensing
11 = Touchreading
12 = Player’s choice

If you receive Mage Talent as a Gift, this gives you access to the new Magic (MAG) ability score. Repeat the steps used to determine the strength of your MND ability score to determine the strength of your MAG. If you have a rolled MAG ability score, it will automatically increase by 1 at 4th, 8th, 14th, 18th, 24th, and 28th levels (unless you possess both a rolled MND and a rolled MAG ability score; then, you choose which of the two will increase at those levels). You may use the higher of the two to fuel your SHLD defense.

“GIFT DESCRIPTIONS”

Animal Mindspeech: You can speak telepathically with animals.

Bardic Talent: You are very skilled in all things music-related, including singing, playing an instrument, composing verse, etc. When you are singing or playing for a crowd, you may use “Gift” in place of “Perform” for any related skill checks.

Dreamspeech: You can send messages and speak through your dreams with any person that you’ve met, regardless of distance. Both parties must be asleep for this Gift to work.

Earthsense: You are intimately connected to and are able to sense any distress or wrongness from the earth beneath your feet.

Empathy: You are sensitive to the emotions of others, and you can project or manipulate emotions as well.

Farsight: You are able to view places and persons from long distances.

Fetching: You can use your Gift to pick up and manipulate objects in your line of site.

Firestarting: You can start fires with your mind, igniting even non-flammable objects. The target of your firestarting must be within line of site.

Mage Talent: You are able to sense and manipulate the forces of magic.

Thoughtsensing: You can sense and read the thoughts of people and animals.

Touchreading: You can glean information from an object, such as where it’s been, who’s been handling it, the former handler’s intentions, etc.

“PSIONIC CLASSES AND MIND”

Any class using the psionic power source automatically receives a MND ability score and access to the SHLD defense, even if they roll lower than the required percentage to possess a Gift. Follow step 2 of the “Gift Basics” above to determine the strength of your MND ability score.

“BARDS AND BARDIC TALENT”

Bards are considered to have Bardic Talent, even if they roll lower than the required percentage to possess a Gift. In this situation, your MND ability score will be the same as your CHA ability score, increasing as it increases and so on.

If your character ends up with one or more Gifts along with Bardic Talent, you will follow the steps used to determine the strength of your MND ability score. A bard who possesses a rolled MND ability score may choose to use MND in place of CHA when using a bard power or bard paragon path power.

“SORCERERS AND MAGE TALENT”

Sorcerers are considered to have Mage Talent, even if they roll lower than the required percentage to possess a Gift. In this situation, your MAG ability score will be the same as your CHA ability score, increasing as it increases and so on.

“WARLOCKS AND MAGE TALENT”

Warlocks are considered to have Mage Talent, even if they roll lower than the required percentage to possess a Gift. In this situation, your MAG ability score will be determined as below, and will increase as it increases and so on:

Dark Pact/Fey Pact: Charisma
Infernal Pact/Star Pact/Vestige Pact: Constitution

“OTHER ARCANE CLASSES AND MAGE TALENT”

All other arcane classes are considered to have Mage Talent, even if they roll lower than the required percentage to possess a Gift. In this situation, your MAG ability score will be the same as your INT ability score, increasing as it increases and so on.

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This information will also be featured in the "Elaria Player's Guide," coming soon!

AMdG