[ HOMEBREW ] Talents System, or non-combat bonuses every x levels

[ProfessorCirno]

So, one thing I've been cobbling together for a future game in a setting I've been equally cobbling together is something I called the "talents system" because I'm uncreative. The idea is that every x levels (I'm not sure how many, yet, I might even say you choose three at level 1 and that's it) the players get to choose a "talent" either from a general list or a racial list. The idea is to give players an extra game option that not only gives them a cool toy to fool around with, but it gives their background a bit more depth with something to back it up, and it helps cement them in the setting, as only the general talents aren't a part of the setting lore/mythlogy. I thought I'd put up the ones I currently have, and will add to them and/or tweak them as I go.

Also, yeah, some of them supercede feats. It's intentional.

Non-mechanical talents are one that provides a social benefit. So, a former (or current) member of the Armigers of Mikhael could use his talent to drum up support for a cause of his, or use it to give his word more "oomph." At the same time, it also means his public image is more widely known, so doing horrible things would reflect far more on him then others. Likewise, a female dwarf who takes Golden Eyes will be treated with awe and reverence by other dwarves, but if she decides to be horrible, evil, and directly acts against Arkaratath, rather then simply denounced as a criminal, she will be seen as a practitioner of the highest heresy.

GENERAL
All races
Ritual Caster: Gain the appropriate feat
Linguist: Gain the appropriate feat
Skill Focus: Gain the appropriate feat
Skill Training: Gain the appropriate feat
Ritualist: Learn one ritual
Physical Adept: Learn one martial practice

RAVANI
Half orcs, half elves, and humans from Ravani
Language of Trade: You learn two languages.
Merchantborn: You were born or were adopted to one of the central trading families of Ravani, and are still on good terms with them. This is a non-mechanical talent. Must be taken at first level.
Saintborn: You can trace your lineage back to one of the minor saints of Elam. This is a non-mechanical talent. Must be taken at first level.
Favored of the Greater: You have favored one of the greater saints strongly enough, and have lived your life in such accordance to their ideals, that you have joined either the Armigers of Barrachus, the Hands of Mikhael, or the Magoi of Gabriel.
United in Blood: You gain a +2 bonus to all skill checks that involve other humans, half-orcs, or half-elves, gain an additional +2 when they aid you in skill checks, and they gain an additional +2 when you aid them in skill checks.

GTR
Gnomes
Body of the Machine: You have taking your beliefs of the transcendent gnomish soul one step further then most, and have replaced a limb with a mechanical prosthetic powered by your choice of bound elemental. This is a non-mechanical talent.
Mechanical Trickery (Requires Body of the Machine): Your limb has enough space to hide a small item or implant a small weapon, which can be extracted or retracted as a minor action.
Overload (Requires Body of the Machine): As an at-will, you can overcharge the bound elemental as a melee attack. The attack is an attack vs reflex that deals 1d4 damage of the appropriate element and uses a prime stat of your choice.
Inventor: You have made a tiny golem out of a subserviant elemental that obeys you and serves as a helping hand. Note that it is fragile and not very powerful; using it in combat is not advised.

ARKARATATH
Dwarves
Golden Eyes (female only): You were born with gold eyes, a sign of Arkanth's favor. This is a non-mechanical talent. Must be taken at first level.
Knowledge of the Faith: Learn two rituals that use religion
Dwarffriend: You are a well known member of the Dwarffriend controversy. This is a non-mechanical benefit.
People of War: You learn one martial practice that uses athletics regardless of your class - this practice no longer uses a healing surge

GNASSARI
Dragonborn
Rainbowscaled (male only): Your scales are very clearly brighter and more beautiful then anyone you've ever seen - you were lucky enough to be born with naturally bright scales. No shimmerscale lotion for you! This is a non-mechanical talent. Must be taken at first level.
Sheikh: You are known as a powerful leader of others and warrior of culture and knowledge. This is a non-mechanical talent.
Servant: Through your campaigns you have earned the loyalty of a servant - potentially a former slave - to ensure your lodgings are well prepared and your supplies well furbished. They can be of any race, but they aren't a warrior, and will likely die horribly and quickly if they don't hide (if they don't stay out at all).
Culture of the Scale: You learn one ritual and one martial practice regardless of your class

ACLOHAN
Elves, half-elves of Aclohan
The Gods Provide: Learn two rituals that use either religion or nature
Leader in the Old Ways: While many elves have begun doubting the old religion, you are not only steadfast in them, you are loud about it. This is a non-mechanical talent.
Power Demands Blood: As an at-will, you can deal damage to any creature (including yourself) with any weapon that cuts the skin, taking 5 gold worth of materials out of the cost of any ritual for every one point of damage dealt. At paragon level it becomes ten gold worth of ritual materials, and at epic level it becomes 100. At least 5 points of damage must be dealt. This must be done ritualistically and as a part of the ritual, ensuring unwilling targets must be defenseless.
Divine Blood: Your lineage traces back to the god-kings of the old empire. This is a non-mechanical talent. Must be taken at first level

 

[ravenheart]

Looks interesting!

I always liked the idea of extra quirks and perks for your character, really helps you define your PC! Having said that, I do have a few suggestions:


1) I think a talent should be something you gain on more of a plot specific progression rather than being dependent on level. So you gain a few to start out with, say 3, and then after every story arc, chapter or similar plot conclusion you gain 1 or 2 additional talents (this may be level dependant, as in on how extensive the adventure arc was - 1 talent for an adventure that took the PCs from 1st to halfway through 2nd level, 2 talents for an adventure that took them all the way to 4th, etc.).

Talents seem like gradually increased benefits, even more so than powers or feats do. Therefore they are a natural fit for something gained during downtime between story arcs. And I don't see why certain talents would only be available at character creation; what if I discover my lineage late in life or become associated with a powerful organization as a culmination of the quest I had undertaken for them - couldn't that improve my reputation and status in society? Or what if my eyes suddenly turned golden or my scales took on a scintillating hue as I was bathed in dragon blood- wouldn't that be even command even greater respect and authority, as the boon was granted due to my actions or excellence?


2) Skill Focus and Training can be quite powerful feats in the right hands, and having them as choices among other more spicy-but-non-mechanical options might entice the more cautious player to pick the more bland variety. There is also a point in characters not being trained in every skill, as it allows every part of the group to shine in different situations - allowing extra trained skills might make challenging the group as whole more difficult.

One idea could be to make Skill Training/Focus a Talent only benefit, as in not being available as feats (skills gained through multi-classing would be an exception, of course). This might seem to go against everything I just said, but hear me out - what if you separate them into two groups: Talents and Traits, where talents are such things as skill training/focus, rituals, martial practices etc., and traits are more flavourful, non-mechanical social and plot derived benefits? Then you could, by using my 1st suggestion, alternate between the two (or give them option of either) whenever the characters experience some downtime.

If you really want to hand out Talents (and maybe Traits) and emphasize a slightly simulationist aspect, you could disallow skill retraining, and only allow power and feat retraining during downtime (the lack of opportunities could be compensated with not limiting the retraining to just a single choice, maybe 3 or even unlimited?). To help counter situations where no one in the group is trained in a particular skill you could devise a talent such as this:

Collective Study
Benefit: Whenever you would make an untrained skill check in a skill which none of your conscious allies are trained in, you gain a +5 feat bonus to that skill.

3) Some more suggestions to round things out for the general talents: Alchemist, Experimenter (Learn one formula), Practiced Study. You could possible even add other ritual adding feats here, such as Herbalist or Wild Sage. I guess some of the more flavourful (ex. Heritage feats) or other resource dependant (ex. Mounted Combat) feats could be added to this list as well. And if you separate Skill Training/Focus from feats, I guess you might aswell separate all Talents from feats.

This would create more of a trinity of character defining perks; Feats being strictly mechanical, combat and class related, Talents being resource demanding, utility and/or skill related and finally Traits being flavourful boons that are roleplaying and story related.



Well those are my thoughts, feel free to use them! I might pilfer this idea for my own game aswell, I seem to have been inspired... :d

EDIT: One more thing, you might want to take a second gander at the internal balance of these talents. Language of Trade (2 languages) is far inferior to Linguist (3 languages, can be taken multiple times) as it stands now. Maybe LoT could have an additional benefit, something like a +2 to Bluff, Diplomacy and Insight when using these particular languages? Perhaps a completely non-mechanical benefit would be more suitable?