Could Trance be a ritual instead of a racial.

Eladrin Trance

Eladrin have a trance state they can use to supplant sleep need, but honestly I picture this as a martial artist (aka martial practice sans healing surge or perhaps a crappy skill roll and you are down one surge for the night - hey that kind of makes sense) or various kind of mages activity (ritual), definitely not just a race bound ability.

Note the ability also means they 'can' act as humanoid versions of the alarm ritual... and perhaps that gives a clue. Perhaps the materials for the trance state ritual is 5gp of incense or an herb or alchemical conjuration you put under your tongue etc.

Additionally it would be appropriate if some sort of mastery of the ritual allows one to do it without components.

The Eladrin would then simply begin play as masters of the trance ritual, but maybe so might some other character be.

Flavor - This martial practice allows one to enter an aware trance state . It is often seen as associated with breath control and general awareness or control over your own bodies state.

Transcendental mediation : (Heal or Perception)
Martial Practice
cost:special
duration:special.

effect: you enter a trance from which you gain the extended rest benefits.

9 or less: you may spend a healing surge to remain aware throughout orther-wise after 2 hours of awareness you drift into normal sleep. (6 hours total still grant the benefits of a normal rest)

10 to 20: You remain aware throughout your rest. You may spend a healing surge to complete your rest in 4 hours.

21 plus : You remain aware throughout your rest. You may spend a healing surge to gain complete rest in 2 hours or 4 hours otherwise.

If you spend a healing surge you awaken down 1 from your maximum surges.


Not entirely certain about wording and such.

- OK it turned into another design a Martial Practice thread (but I like those)

Yeah, this is again where I like the approach I've taken in my game, where things have been placed into 'boons', which are a lot like feats, but are a bit of a bigger package, so they can contain a practice, ritual, power(s), etc. Really whatever is appropriate. The point being that the Eladrin's trance ability simply becomes a racially keyed boon, but then anyone can take it, assuming the GM is cool with that and there's a narrative to explain it, and it can be flavored however you want.

AbdulAlhazred said:

. The point being that the Eladrin's trance ability simply becomes a racially keyed boon, but then anyone can take it, assuming the GM is cool with that and there's a narrative to explain it, and it can be flavored however you want.

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Sure the opening everything up as Boon/GMT's is pretty interesting... that kind of flexibility is a feature of HERO btw. Does the Knight get a boon for Berzerk burst is it divinely inspired or self hypnosis (the mechanics do not care). I think 4e made each attribute more broadly valuable than the last version of HERO that I interacted with and I like 4e role encouraging mechanics, translating some of that to HERO seems possible but work intensive.

I definitely think this concept makes for a perfect martial practice (and sure not bad as a ritual either) and I am kind of enjoying the association of Heroic effort (spending healing surges) with the martial power source.

Though if I do that trick of collapsing item dailies into HS (everone gets a HS for each item daily normally available) but spends them to trigger an items daily, this opens up flexibility and would apply to GMT and boons as well.

Martial Practice idea somewhat related but a bit silly or too realistic

Sleeping in the saddle AKA Catnap expertise.

Allows you to recover healing surges periodically during the day essentially by sleep walking or nodding off during simplistic activities like riding, during unplanned moments - requirement something must have interfered with recovering healing surges during your normal sleep.

Garthanos said:

Could Trance be a ritual instead of a racial.

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It could be a Racial Ritual?

Eladrin have a trance state they can use to supplant sleep need, but honestly I picture this as a martial artist (aka martial practice sans healing surge) or various kind of mages activity (ritual), definitely not just a race bound ability.

Click to expand...

Doesn't sound like a terrible idea. Maybe there'd be some limit on how long you could go without real sleep?

Oh, and the magely/ritual version? Should have Black Lotus as the components.

Tony Vargas said:

It could be a Racial Ritual?

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I am considering racial rituals and racial practices like making Lembas and racial/background cantrips.

Tony Vargas said:

Doesn't sound like a terrible idea. Maybe there'd be some limit on how long you could go without real sleep?

Click to expand...

And I thought having a skill check and working healing surges in to it was a tad complicated.

Tony Vargas said:

Oh, and the magely/ritual version? Should have Black Lotus as the components.

Click to expand...

Sure

Ofcourse since the monk is neither martial nor arcane ... the class most suited... must be that Martial Artist

Aura Manipulation

There is a ritual that allows one to hide ones or anothers Dragon mark until one uses it... kind of a narrow focus ritual but
I may have an idea akin to it but perhaps a little more generalized or only so because of some house rules ideas I have in mind.

Houserule Idea: Insight checks can be used to check the "level" of adversaries and it sometimes it goes both ways sometimes its useful to present as who you are in more than one way.

Aura Manipulation.
cost 1 healing surge
time 10 minutes
level 1
market value 50gp or kp
Skill: Healing

Generally speaking heroes ripple with with power between their inherent luck and perhaps stronger than natural life-force and various rare feats they are marked from head to lower chakra even when not wearing magic items these inherent gifts exude.

By meditative techniques you can suppress this and augment any disguise of being a meeker subject, +5 bonus on your bluff, this will work on you or perhaps a guided companion or the whole party with a good skill check, seem more innocuous. Your Magic items even may take on a gaudy bauble feel to the perceiver. (this increases the arcana check to sense magic items that are part of your gear by 5 as well). This ability might even make one seem a minion, or hanger on in spite of how awesome you otherwise appear.

If you wish to enhance your seeming awesomeness this is more difficult benefits gained are +2

Using an active power ends the effect, as your aura blazes forth.

One thing I consider is that the rituals and practices in you game can affect the flavor of it considerably. There are many many rituals in 4e including some I might not include in a particular game world. Some of the rituals i have seen are way too costly or high level for what they do. Heck classically I double the level of the raise dead ritual/spell.

It would be really really nice to have enough martial practices that doing that controlling access to martial practices felt a viable thing.