Empath Negative
First Post
Goes a little something like this.
Choose any race you like and start as a first level character.
You must choose the Unsympathetic Saga feat as your first level feat.
Henceforth you have a circumstance penalty to all ability scores equal to your level adjustment and racial levels, to a minimum of three. Supernatural, spell-like and extraordinary abilities have a circumstance penalty equal to your your level adjustment and racial levels. For example, if a character could normally cast charm person three times per day and had a level adjustment of four they would not be able to cast charm person. If a character had 10/cold iron and had a level adjustment of six they would instead have dr 4/cold iron. Characters who may normally use supernatural, spell-like, or extraordinary abilities at will treat those abilities as though they are normally usable three times per day.
At level three and every three levels thereafter the character may choose "Unsympathetic Saga" as a feat. At each new level after the first this reduces the characters circumstance penalty to ability scores, supernatural, extraordinary, and spell like abilities.
For example, a pixie normally has a level buyoff of four. The first use of "Unsympathetic Saga" allows her to play the Pixie with the penalties associates with the feat. If she were to choose Unsympathetic Saga at levels three, six, nine, and twelve (sacrificing four feats) she would no longer have any Unsympathetic Saga penalties.
Characters may never use bonus feats to select Unsympathetic Saga.
Consider a pixie using this system.
At first level, using the elite array 15, 14, 13, 12, 10,
and with modifiers of -4 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +6 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +6 Charisma.
The character, we'll say a pixie sorcerer would begin with 3 Strength, 17 Dexterity, 10 Constitution, 14 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom, 17 Charisma.
These aren't game breaking stats for a first level character.
Their supernatural abilities:
Damage reduction 10/cold iron: Reduced to 6/Cold Iron at level 1
Greater invisibility: Unusable until ninth level at the earliest.
Spell resistance equal to 15 + class levels: 11+Class Levels, so 12 for a first level character, an advantage against spellcasters but not overwhelming.
Spell-Like Abilities: Spell-Like Abilities
1/day—lesser confusion (DC 14), dancing lights, detect chaos, detect good, detect evil, detect law, detect thoughts (DC 15), dispel magic, entangle (DC 14), permanent image (DC 19; visual and auditory elements only). Caster level 8th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Note: None of these will be available until level three, and all but Permanent Image and Dispel magic are available by then to most casters.
Though it may not be completely effective for all level buyoffs, it would work extremely well for most. It would reduce the players power out of the box, diminish their power overall (through loss of feats). But not make them unplayable.
The basis for calling this "unsympathetic saga" is that your character, though she actually has 21 Intellect, as in the case of the pixie above, is simply extremely unfortunate and the world is against her. Or she simply has not managed to master her gifts. She's not actually stupider than other pixies, she's just not reached her place yet... and only by questing may she find it.
Choose any race you like and start as a first level character.
You must choose the Unsympathetic Saga feat as your first level feat.
Henceforth you have a circumstance penalty to all ability scores equal to your level adjustment and racial levels, to a minimum of three. Supernatural, spell-like and extraordinary abilities have a circumstance penalty equal to your your level adjustment and racial levels. For example, if a character could normally cast charm person three times per day and had a level adjustment of four they would not be able to cast charm person. If a character had 10/cold iron and had a level adjustment of six they would instead have dr 4/cold iron. Characters who may normally use supernatural, spell-like, or extraordinary abilities at will treat those abilities as though they are normally usable three times per day.
At level three and every three levels thereafter the character may choose "Unsympathetic Saga" as a feat. At each new level after the first this reduces the characters circumstance penalty to ability scores, supernatural, extraordinary, and spell like abilities.
For example, a pixie normally has a level buyoff of four. The first use of "Unsympathetic Saga" allows her to play the Pixie with the penalties associates with the feat. If she were to choose Unsympathetic Saga at levels three, six, nine, and twelve (sacrificing four feats) she would no longer have any Unsympathetic Saga penalties.
Characters may never use bonus feats to select Unsympathetic Saga.
Consider a pixie using this system.
At first level, using the elite array 15, 14, 13, 12, 10,
and with modifiers of -4 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +6 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom, +6 Charisma.
The character, we'll say a pixie sorcerer would begin with 3 Strength, 17 Dexterity, 10 Constitution, 14 Intelligence, 10 Wisdom, 17 Charisma.
These aren't game breaking stats for a first level character.
Their supernatural abilities:
Damage reduction 10/cold iron: Reduced to 6/Cold Iron at level 1
Greater invisibility: Unusable until ninth level at the earliest.
Spell resistance equal to 15 + class levels: 11+Class Levels, so 12 for a first level character, an advantage against spellcasters but not overwhelming.
Spell-Like Abilities: Spell-Like Abilities
1/day—lesser confusion (DC 14), dancing lights, detect chaos, detect good, detect evil, detect law, detect thoughts (DC 15), dispel magic, entangle (DC 14), permanent image (DC 19; visual and auditory elements only). Caster level 8th. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Note: None of these will be available until level three, and all but Permanent Image and Dispel magic are available by then to most casters.
Though it may not be completely effective for all level buyoffs, it would work extremely well for most. It would reduce the players power out of the box, diminish their power overall (through loss of feats). But not make them unplayable.
The basis for calling this "unsympathetic saga" is that your character, though she actually has 21 Intellect, as in the case of the pixie above, is simply extremely unfortunate and the world is against her. Or she simply has not managed to master her gifts. She's not actually stupider than other pixies, she's just not reached her place yet... and only by questing may she find it.
