A question: van Richtem Family traits...

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The Dark One
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A question: van Richtem Family traits...

Post by The Dark One »

I got a trouble... after i used legacies of blood on the group that i am running, i got a player who wants to be a paladin from the Van Richtem family.

Alright some ppl won't agree but i am planning to accept this character, so i got some trouble with the family traits... i am going with:


Bonus feat: Insight - everytime you are facing one monster studied by van Richtem u got a chance to discover a weakness or one mean of destruction of this creature. - 1 time against one creature - Ability check: 10 + monster HD vs. D20 roll + character inteligence.


Disvantage: You see you friends die - curse - all allies in your presence got a -1 penalty on all saves.

What u ppl think?
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Post by Alanik Ray »

Only Rudolph was cursed, his family members weren't affected by it. :wink:
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Post by Jester of the FoS »

I have to side with Alanik on this one, but I honestly can't think of anything better.
Perhaps being drawn to the dark side, a temptation for knowledge, especially the forbidden kind. That might make Rudolph Van all the more special as he resisted this inherent flaw in his bloodline.
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Post by The Dark One »

The other option of curse was

"forbiding curiosity"- everytime you feel a compulsion in explore the unkown -

But which effects this would have in game mechanics (i don't want a fanatic kamikaze paladin)?

that's my trouble...


PS: About Van Richtem curse being a personal one... you never know how extensive the vistani curse maybe :twisted:
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Post by Jester of the FoS »

Okay, possible alternatives for a van Richten bloodline:

Benefits:
Knowledgable: At character creation the character can select two knowledge skills that are always considered class skills. Additionally, the character gains a bonus skill point each level that must be put into a knowldege skill.

This would work towards van Richten's intelligence and the extra ranks would apply when hunting monsters but would also work for other skills.

Disadvantages
Temptation: The character must make a Will save to avoid being compelled to learn a new piece of information relating to their 'field' or put a theory into practical use. The rarer the information the harder it is to resist. This compulsion leads those who study the dark arts into further darkness. Even those whose study noble arts are invariably tested.
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Post by The Dark One »

David of the FoS wrote:Okay, possible alternatives for a van Richten bloodline:

Benefits:
Knowledgable: At character creation the character can select two knowledge skills that are always considered class skills. Additionally, the character gains a bonus skill point each level that must be put into a knowldege skill.

This would work towards van Richten's intelligence and the extra ranks would apply when hunting monsters but would also work for other skills.

Disadvantages
Temptation: The character must make a Will save to avoid being compelled to learn a new piece of information relating to their 'field' or put a theory into practical use. The rarer the information the harder it is to resist. This compulsion leads those who study the dark arts into further darkness. Even those whose study noble arts are invariably tested.
Hmmm..... quite deadly for a paladin, but.... maybe usefull :twisted:
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Post by Undead Cabbage »

Disadvantages
Temptation: The character must make a Will save to avoid being compelled to learn a new piece of information relating to their 'field' or put a theory into practical use. The rarer the information the harder it is to resist. This compulsion leads those who study the dark arts into further darkness. Even those whose study noble arts are invariably tested.
Especially if your paladin was to come across the raiments of clarity.

Seriously there should be a RL t-shirt that says:

"I eat Paladins for breakfast"
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Post by Charney »

Alanik Ray wrote:Only Rudolph was cursed, his family members weren't affected by it. :wink:
For that matter, only one member of each family presented in Legacies of the Blood was cursed too...
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Post by Jester of the FoS »

But most of those cursed bloodlines are somewhat descended from the original cursed individual or the relevant darklord is merely the latest in a line of bad seeds.

Rudolph van is different as only he was cursed and he never had any decendent. His curse was also lifted near the end of his life.

So the relevant traits for possible pros-n-cons are:
* His scholarly attitude
* His scientific curiosity
* His herbal and medicinal skill
* His unwavering dedication

It is too bad we know so little about the other van Richtens such as his son. Presumably, Eramus was good looking and intelligent as well, which leans towards the 'brains as a bonus' idea.
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