February 8, 2011

Demonic Traits

In my current campaign, The Children, the characters are all half demon/half human offspring of a demon invasion. One of the things I did was have demonic powers manifest with the characters as they grew older. This was done so I could include visual signs that the characters were different, partly so later I could add the theme of alienation. Here are the traits for each type of demonic trait (each character has a unique trait).

The traits are currently in 3 stages. There is a basic form, given to the characters soon after they hit puberty, a power they discovered they can use soon thereafter, and another power they gained access to once they reached the Heroic tier. I will add another iteration of the trait when they get to the Paragon tier. Of note, the Blood Point mentioned in the power’s description is a mechanic I added. It is a measure of their demonic side taking over control of their bodies. I outlined this in another article which can be found here. The power listing includes the character’s name that has the power; I am too lazy to create a new “clean” version for posting here.

These traits can be used if one of your characters has been given a curse or are themselves manifesting a genetic trait; perhaps some ancestor dabbled with demonic forces. You could also use the concepts found here to make up something similar for your own campaign.

[More]

Tentacle
One of the arms of the character begins to turn into a tentacle. At first this manifests as the fingers growing together until they are completely fused. The arm begins to elongate. Eventually the arm is 4’ long and the end can be wrapped around things which allows the character to still manipulate things with the tentacle, such as weapons or other items.

Your tentacle is about 4’ longer than your arm. You can not be disarmed. You also gain access to Tentacle Grab. At 11th level you gain access to Tentacle Grapple.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Horns
Sterotypical demon horns begin to manifest on the character's head. At first it starts as severe headaches. Soon small bumps appear. Eventually the bumps break the skin and given more time they grow into full horns.
 
The bumps on your head have become full blown horns. They are about 3 inches long with a slight curve. They narrow to a rounded point. The front of your skull is bonier to compensate and you gain +1 AC. You also gain access to Head Charge. At 11th level you gain access to Gore Charge.



















Eyes
This one is slightly different, as it not a "traditional" demonic power. This started with the character's vision turning blurry over time. One morning he woke up not being able to see at all and the other characters witnesses his eyes leaking out of his head. After a few days of not being able to see his new form of sight came into play. 

Your eyes are missing and the sockets are black pits. However, you can see normally, but with a slight grey haze. You gain Darkvision. You also gain access to Demon Sense. At 11th level you gain access to Meta Sense.





















Tail
This started with a pain in the character's rump. It began to hurt whenever he sat down. Eventually the tail began to grow from its intial nub into a full blown size.

Your tail is now 3’ long. It ends in a tapered point. It is prehensile and can pick up a single object up to your Strength bonus in pounds. You also gain access to Tail Spike. At 11th level you gain access to Poison Tail.



















Skin
The character's skin began to turn a shade of red. It started with a patch of deep red on only a portion of his body, his left shoulder, and slowly spread over his entire body.

Your skin is a blood red color and thicker than normal, more leathery than skin-like. You gain +1 AC. You also gain access to Demonic Resistance. At 11th level you gain access to Resistance.

















Wings
This started with a pain on her back. Soon blood began to leak from her back, but she couldnt see her back so it was frightening. In her case her mother tried to cut the wings out but to no avail as they just kept growing back.

You have small, leathery wings on your back. Each wing has a span of 3’. When used they give you +1 Speed. You also gain access to Short Flight. At 11th level you gain access to Flight.









1 comment:

Paolo Cecchetto said...

Ok, I've missed the original "temptation" post, but I think you managed to get this right. I think that I will use a variation of your rule to handle the cursed objects and use the blood points to "posses" my PCs and make them act agains their will.

scifically I intend to use this with the sword I'm about to give them.
This one:
http://atoolongurl.blogspot.com/2011/01/d-4emagic-object-warmonger.html