4e Purifier Discipline + Custom Body Control Talent

Discussion on playing Earthdawn. Experiences, stories, and questions related to being a player.
Post Reply
Purplefixer
Posts:32
Joined:Thu Aug 17, 2017 3:12 pm
4e Purifier Discipline + Custom Body Control Talent

Post by Purplefixer » Thu Aug 17, 2017 3:19 pm

PURIFIER

Purifiers dedicate themselves to healing the scars left on the world by the Horrors, the Scourge, and any others who would defile its beauty. Willing to go to extremes to express the Obsidiman race's love of nature and the earth, purifiers tend to avoid heavily populated areas, preferring areas unmarred by habitation. Some Name-giver races call purifiers nature's avengers, though this label owes more to fanciful exaggeration than fact.
Though they act with extreme aggression against any who they believe to have defiled the natural order, in all other aspects most purifiers very closely resemble other Obsidimen. Only when the see the earth harmed in some way do they give in to their righteous rage, showing an even more intense anger than a typical Obsidiman at a slur against his Liferock.

Important Attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Toughness
Racial Restrictions: Obsidimen only
Karma Ritual: The purifier finds a solid object such as a large boulder or cave wall on which to focus, then chants to put himself into a trance. During the next half hour, the purifier conjures mental images of the unjustified pain and suffering he has witnessed during his lifetime. As he remembers these things, he strikes the solid object with his bare fists, slowly increasing the tempo of the pounding until his hands move faster than the eye can follow. He ends the ritual by reaffirming his oath to protect the world and fight for its renewal.


Half-Magic: Purifiers can use half-magic for tasks related to maintaining their own body against the effects of exposure (TOU), for recognizing the effects of horrors on terrain and natural features (PER), and for noticing and identifying the marks and consequences of horror or industrial taint in a region (PER).

Novice Talent Options: Anticipate Blow, Avoid Blow, Awareness, Creature Analysis, Crushing Blow, Danger Sense, Fireblood, Stealthy Stride, Steely Stare, Wood Skin

First Circle
Durability: 7
Astral Sight, Battle Shout, Body Control*, Thread Weaving (Purity Weaving), Unarmed Combat

Second Circle
Mystic Armor: The adept adds +1 to his Mystic Armor.
Discipline Talent: Suppress Curse

Third Circle
Karma: The adept may spend a Karma point on any test to remove or resist taint, or reinforce his own body (but not on recovery tests).
Discipline Talent: Temper Flesh

Fourth Circle
Defense: The adept gains +1 physical defense.
Discipline Talent: Earth Skin

Journeyman Talent Options: Blood Share, Fire Heal, Iron Constitution, Life Check, Lion Heart, Momentum Attack, Mystic Pursuit, Safe Path, Swift Kick, Waterfall Slam

Fifth Circle
Focused Strike: At a cost of 2 points of Strain, the purifier may focus all his energy into a powerful strike. When the purifier makes a successful attack using his Unarmed Combat talent he may add his Willpower step to his Damage step for the Damage Test. The purifier may not use this ability when attacking with a weapon, or in consecutive combat rounds.
Karma: The purifier may spend a Karma on recovery tests.
Discipline Talent: Elemental Tongues

Sixth Circle
Defense: The adept adds +2 to his physical defense.
Discipline Talent: Second Attack

Seventh Circle
Mystic Armor: The adept adds +2 to his Mystic Armor.
Discipline Talent: Steel Thought

Eighth Circle
Defense: The adept adds +3 to his Physical Defense.
Discipline Talent: Elemental Hold

Body Control
Step: Rank + STR Action: Simple
Strain: 1 Skill Use: No
Focusing magic into the body, an Obsidiman uses this talent to harden his stony flesh to temporary rigidity. Before he strikes, the Adept uses Body control which hardens his skin to a polished shine. The Body Control step replaces the Strength step for Unarmed Combat damage tests for a number of rounds equal to the talent ranks. In addition, the adept gains Mystic and Physical armor equal to the talent ranks or the next attack that strikes him and deals damage against either of those armor types. If the blow deals a wound, the Body Control armor bonus lasts through an additional strike. This can continue through a number of wounds equal to the Body Control rank.

Purplefixer
Posts:32
Joined:Thu Aug 17, 2017 3:12 pm

Re: 4e Purifier Discipline + Custom Body Control Talent

Post by Purplefixer » Thu Aug 17, 2017 3:25 pm

My goal here was to recreate the Purifier Obsidiman Discipline true to the flavor of the original material, and differentiate it significantly from the feel of the Beastmaster. The ideas I focused on are "One Solid Strike" and "Unstoppable Force". The Discipline doesn't rely on flashy acrobatics or rapid flurries of strikes, but instead on focusing Strength and Willpower to a single point. Truthfully, I almost made Body Control a Rank + WILL talent, because it fit the concept so well, but an Obsidiman's natural strength is not to be ignored.

Granting an increased armor buffer with Body Control as a core component of the Discipline means that Obsidimen are knocked down by strikes that wound less often. The lack of the +3 modifier in contrast with the Beastmaster's Claw Shape means that he does less immediate damage, and he never gains the claw frenzy style of rapid attacks to flurry down his enemies. Instead he moves to the center and crushes a single foe in a decisive strike, while relying on talents that increase his health, his armor, and his resistance to effects from any source and against any defense.

Post Reply