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Karma

NOTE: This is meant as a role-playing aid to add the epic and magic rich flavor of the Earthdawn world to D20 (my players don’t like to learn new systems). It should not be used as a manipulation tool or punishment by nasty/crewel GM’s or role vs. roll playing bad people (I just had a PC moment…spinal shiver)

NOTICE: All examples contained in this text use real characters at no time were any characters harmed in the creation of these rules and at no time am I making a statement about an individuals playing style.

WARNING: This will unbalance the game; the PC’s will have roughly two to three times the feats, Talents to Adepts, of non-Adapt characters. Personally I don’t care because some of the bad guys will be Adepts, very tough Adepts. You may care through, once we have play-tested the Adapt rules for a while I will post what we feel is an appropriate ECL/lowering of monster DC for/Vs. the Adapt template.

STUFF: Send all Pats on the back, this stuff sucks or we tried it this way to Christopher3808@yahoo.com I will either tell you to stuff it or thank you depending on your much appreciated and always welcome comments.

ADEPTS

Adepts, people able to use magic to power special abilities called talents. In order to become an Adept, a character must choose a Discipline. In one sense, your character’s Discipline is his profession, but a Discipline involves much more than that. Your character’s Discipline provides a metaphor for how he or she sees the world. For example, a Troubadour sees the world as a grand stage on which he can perform, while a Warrior sees the world as a vast battlefield on which he can fight for the causes he supports. 

(Stolen without permission from the 1^st Edition Earthdawn rulebook. Because know one could have said it better) 

In D20 this translates to Talents, and the ability to use Karma to boost class abilities.

At 1^st level all Adepts receive the bonus feat Karma they gain an additional bonus feat for every 2 levels after that (i.e. 3^rd, 5^th etc). Unlike common adventures even increasing beyond 20^th level is possible for an Adapt.

All 1^st level Name-Giver characters in an Earthdawn based game also get the Bonus feat of Naming. The feat can be more useful to an Adept and will be expanded upon in this text. Adepts continue to gain talents beyond 20^th level. This text will only deal with generic Adept talents that are available for up to 20^th level characters. Disciplines and Discipline talents will be out shortly.

Karma

How to gain Karma

Each Discipline includes a ritual that allows characters of that Discipline to gain Karma Points. The player does not need to make any tests to perform the Karma ritual; he or she always succeeds, unless interrupted. Each ritual takes 30 minutes to perform. Your character may only perform his Karma ritual once per day. Each Discipline’s Karma ritual is a unique talent that allows a character to receive additional Karma, which he or she can spend to increase the chances of success for specific actions. Typical Karma rituals associated with each Discipline appear above the Circle descriptions of each Discipline. I encourage players to create unique Karma rituals for their characters.

The highest-level class a character has determines his/her “Discipline” other classes can influence but to be “In Touch” and able to gain Karma you must not be out of synch with their Discipline.

Example: Bendic is, more then a dirty word used to scare children, he is a ranger with the Discipline of Scout. As he progresses he adds levels of ranger, Questor and the specialty class of Temple Guardian. When all is done his Questor and Temple Guardian levels outweigh his ranger levels. He changes over to the Questor Discipline and may now only gain and spend karma as a Questor loosing the essential contact he had to use karma as a Scout.

Ins and Outs of Karma

1pt of karma per 2 DL (minimum 1) can be gained each day during the karma ritual.

Starting Karma for all characters is your DMSB, for all 1^st level characters. Add 2 points for every discipline level beyond 1^st (because of ECL or higher level beginning characters) not to exceed maximum stored Karma.

Max Karma “stored” at one time is Discipline level x DMSB. If a character has more then one active Discipline use the greater of the two bonuses.

Max Karma spent on any one Talent unless stated in the Talent is equal to DMSB

DC to save against any Adept Talent that requires a save is

10 + DL  + DMSB = DC

Only the DL for the Discipline used count if multi Disciplined.

Mr. GM what happened I didn’t get any Karma today?

Even when the Ritual is performed karma will not be gained if the Adept has not been true to his disciplines outlook. The first time a Wizard runs into battle tossing about a two-handed sword will not stop him from gaining karma. It is when the Wizard starts to handle a majority of their problems with brawn instead of brains that the conflict occurs. If the character continues with behavior unlike their Discipline a “Discipline Conflict” can occur and the Adapt will not be able to use Karma until it is resolved. If it gets to that stage a quest will have to be made that personifies the behavior of the Discipline. (GM discretion but it should be of a DC equal to the characters level or higher by 1-2 DC. The quest can be quite difficult for higher-level Adapts who sway from their chosen path)

Example: T’ryl is a 1^st level Bard with the Discipline of Troubadour. As she progresses in level she adds levels of Bard, Rogue, Fighter, and finally the specialty class of Virtuoso. Her Bard and Virtuoso levels count towards the Discipline of Troubadour so she continues to use her Karma towards those traits. If during an adventure she handles all of her problems with her sword acting as a Warrior and disregarding her Discipline then her Karma will be out of alignment. New Karma will not be gained and if the behavior continues she could loose access to her Adept Talents

Common Uses of Karma (or why Karma is good)

Now we know the ins and outs of getting and using karma how in the heck do we use it? All Adepts in essence uses karma in a different way. There are two ways that are the same for all Adepts. And many more options that are open to all Adepts regardless of Discipline. I will go over the ways it is used by all adepts here and how each Discipline can use it in another paper.

Skills

An adept may boost any of his/her Discipline class skills with karma. All class skills for the classes listed under each discipline are considered Discipline class skills, as long as you have a level in that class. So for the Thief Discipline it’s easy the only class that adds to the Thief DL is rogue so all rogue class skills are considered Thief Discipline class skills. For the Cavalryman the ranger, paladin and druid can all count towards DL. If your Cavalryman has all ranger levels then only the ranger class skills are discipline class skills. But if your Cavalryman had levels of Ranger and levels of druid then all class skills from each would be Discipline class skills.

You may use Karma on a skill you do not have any ranks in if it is a Discipline class skill.

Each Karma used adds a +2 bonus to the skill for one use of the skill no matter how long it takes. Karma can be used with taking 10 or 20.

Example: The group knew there was a door there; they had run into it, even if they could not see it. Sys examined the area and found a keyhole. She pulls out the trusty lock picks and gets a working. She figures an invisible door will probably have a magical lock so she takes 20 and adds Karma. As Open Locks is a class skill for the Rogue class and she is of the Thief Discipline she adds Karma. She has a Dexterity of 18 giving her a +4 DMSB she adds in as much Karma as she can, 4 points for a +8 bonus.

DMS

All Disciplines can boost any statistic checks based on their DMS.

One point of Karma adds +1 to the roll.

These are the two common uses of Karma. The other ways to use Karma are your Talents. The common Adapt Talents are described below the Discipline specific ones will be in another text.  

Saves 

Each Discipline has saves listed in their description that they may use Karma to boost. 

Common Adapt Talents – and the level they can first be acquired

Karma (Free 1^st Circle)

All Adapts can use their Karma to magically boost their class abilities and fuel their Adept Talents. The bonus and amount of karma you can spend and earn per day is based on level and your Disciplines Main Statistic Bonus (DMSB). DMSB is the natural statistic bonus only. Bonuses from magic items or spells do not count for Karma usage unless specifically stated in the items/spells description. Your max Karma at any one time is derived from your DMSB and Discipline Level (DL). The DL is derived from only the character levels that count towards your current Discipline. 

(GAME NOTE: Earthdawn uses race to balance karma in D20 the races are already balanced by ECL so DL/DMSB become the balancing factors)  

Karmic Boost (3^rd Circle) 

Once a day you may spend DMSB + Discipline Level in Karma to fuel a Talent. 

This talent may be taken more then once. Each time it is taken it adds another use per day or multiplies the amount of karma able to be used by the amount of uses used.  This boost can also apply to the use of karma for Skills and DMS. It can be used with any Talent unless stated in the Talents text.

Example: Danic uses Fire Heal to cope with the beating he just took from the giant frog, with a DMSB of +2 and a Discipline level of 13 he normally can add up to 2 points of karma to the Fire Heal talent for 2d8+2 points of damage healed. Using Karmic Boost Danic could spend up to 15 Karma for a total of up to 15d8+15 points of damage healed. If he had taken the  Karmic Boost talent three times he could choose use 15 Karma three times , 15 Karma once and 30 Karma once, or 45 Karma once for one day

Bind Thread/Pattern Items (Free 4^th Circle)

Once the key knowledge is known the Adapt sacrifices 10 points of Karma per rank of the thread after 8 hours of contemplation of its pattern. If an item has a deed associated with it the karma reward is granted at the deeds completion. The Karma sacrificed can be regained in the normal fashion.

Create Thread/Pattern Items (Free 4^th Circle)

To create a Pattern item you must name it during a ritual that takes one day. To do more then increase it’s durability requires the expenditure of Karma, a lot of Karma. Only Minor Pattern Items and Group Pattern Items are created with this talent. Expenditure of karma over years, and great deeds done with the item will allow it to grow into a Major Pattern Item or Unique Named Thread Item.

When a minor thread item is created/named it is automatically a pattern item for that character whether on not he afterward attaches a thread to the item. Few adepts will create pattern items to sell or give away for that reason.

When a thread item is created it takes a sacrifice of Karma equal to the maximum level of the thread that can be attached to the item for. The sacrificed Karma may not be regained as they are used to power the item; this permanently lowers the Karma maximum for the character.

A minor thread item may only have one thread attached to it at one time. The bonus granted can be up to a +3. It is considered an enchantment bonus and as such does not stack with other enchantment bonuses.

During the ritual of naming the Adept be at his maximum amount of stored karma and must sacrifice all of it. The amount sacrifices permanently determines the potential of the item.

Minor Pattern Item

-X2 Durability and Hit Points of the regular item

-Maximum one thread (if another Adept attaches a thread to the item the first one is destroyed)

-Maximum 3 ranks to the thread (one for each point of Karma permanently sacrificed)

-The only key knowledge for the item is its name

-The bonus should be appropriate to the item (a weapon would gain a +1 to hit or damage, armor to armor bonus, lock picks to open locks, eyeglasses to search or spot, etc. What it can add to is limited only by the GM and Players imagination)

Group Pattern Item

-X2 Durability and Hit Points of the regular item

-One thread for each person in the group

-No Maximum but each person must link to only one thread

-Maximum 5 ranks to each thread (one for each point of Karma permanently sacrificed, each thread must have the same amount of ranks.) This can be quite costly with a large group.

-The item is different for each person in the group and the item must be appropriate to the type of bonus it gives. Each person in the group must pick a different ability to add to.

-Each person in the group gets all the bonuses equal to lesser then the level of their thread in the group item.

-If any one member is apart from the rest of the group by more then one hundred and one miles their bonuses are not accessible to the rest of the group but may still

-If the group is having a “bad hair day” don’t sweat it but if they are at each other’s throats none of them can use any abilities from their group item (GM call don’t abuse it you will piss off your players)

-Group members may be added to a group old members only pay for the additional thread. The new member must pay for the entire item.

-You may never have more than one group item at one time.

Example- T’Ryl, Bendic, Sys and Danic join together as a group “Searka’s Defenders” and create a group pattern item with 4 threads. They decide the maximum rank for any one thread is 5 and each sacrifice 20 Maximum karma to create the item.

T’Ryl names her lute and it adds to her Perform skill

Bendic names his Spear and it adds to damage

Sys names her Boots and they add to her movement

Danic names his Helm and it adds to his will save

If they each have a level 3 thread attached they each get a +3 bonus to all 4 items when acting as a group. If one of them only had a level one thread they would only add one to the group and get a bonus of one from the rest of the group.

If they ever add a new member they will all have to go through the ritual again with the new member present and pay 5 more permanent Karma to add the new item to the pattern. The new member would have to sacrifice 25 to join.

Karmic reserve (11^th)

When this Talent is chosen the Adapt sacrifices up to 10 karma that can be regained in the normal fashion. This Karma is stored in an object of the Adapts choosing, it is normally a previously named item or minor pattern item of the Adapts. It can be stored in a living object such as a Beastmaster’s animal companion, a wizard’s familiar or a Cavalryman’s mount. If the item is ever broken, or creature killed, the Stored karma is lost. While the karma is stored the object has extra hit points equal to the stored Karma. When the Adept is in contact with the object he may use the Karma normally or store more up to the max of 10. Stored Karma does not count towards the maximum amount of Karma an Adept may have at any one time (essentially giving the Adept 10 more Karma he may store). This Talent may be taken more than once, and the same item/creature can be used.

Naming

BONUS 1^st level Feat (not Talent) for all name-givers

-X2 Durability and Hit Points of the regular item

 This requires no sacrifice in Karma just a one-day ritual

All Name givers can name an item increasing its durability and creating a pattern. Adapts through the use of Karma may increase that pattern increasing it’s magical properties.

GAME NOTE: Naming an item that is already enchanted often destroys the enchantment on most minor unnamed magical items. (This is left vague, as it should be up to the GM.) Magical items should only keep their abilities if it will break the plot of the game for them not to. How much fun would it been if they only had to rename “the ring” instead of pitching into a pit of lava all the way across the world. Also a name never used is a name that looses its power. To name or rename places/people takes great amounts of Karma/Life/Power/Time and will not be covered in these rules

All Pattern items can be used to channel spells. An Adept must have at some time touched you and weave a thread your pattern item the she has in their possession. If these conditions are met they may cast a spell or ritual on you and there is NO SAVE. All named items and created thread items are pattern items. In your life you will have many pattern items many you will not even know about. EVIL GM GRIN