Test Page 2

This page outlines the rules for mementos for the trainer class.

Mementos

This section will outline, in general terms, how mementos work. Notable sections will be what it means for a creature to be a memento, translating creatures to mementos, memento roles, and rules specific to mementos regarding their function.

Memento Overview

Mementos are essentially very specific creatures. Like characters, mementos have classes; like creatures, they have different creature types and subtypes. However, mementos become divorced from their original stat block: once a creature becomes a memento, it follows its memento progression, and not its natural progression.

Memento Level

Mementos have levels independent of the trainer that controls them; a creature turned into a memento has a number of levels in its role equal to its HD.

Trainers can grow their mementos, giving them levels, to a maximum of the trainer's memeticist level. A memento with more levels than the trainer's memeticist level cannot be controlled by that trainer. A trainer can have any number of mementos in meme crystals, but can only have so many controlled at a time (see the trainer class for more details).

Memento Type

As with all creatures, mementos have creature types. A number of Technics exist that are specific to each type; for instance, an Animal cannot learn a Vermin technic.

In addition, only certain creature types can become mementos. The valid creature types that can become mementos are:

• Aberration
• Animal
• Dragon
• Magical Beast
• Ooze
• Plant
• Vermin

It is important to note that a creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or greater cannot become a memento. Such creatures are too complex to be imprinted into a meme crystal, and thus trainers cannot exert control over them.

Memento Role

Rather than each creature having a unique progression - which, while appropriate, would be entirely too overwhelming to author, and would also preclude new creatures from being tamable and controllable right off the bat - mementos are instead divided into roles, which dictates their progressions.

In addition, unlike classes, mementos cannot change roles once their decision is made: once a memento selects a role, they progress in that role for all of their levels.

Roles are effectively classes, though they carry more information: roles also dictate a memento's AC progression, and a memento's role can modify the effectiveness of some of their Technics.

 

Base Statistics By Role
	Skirmisher	Brute	Sentinel	Lurker	Controller	Ravager
HD	d8	d10	d10	d8	d6	d6
AC	Level + 13	Level + 11	Level + 15	Level + 13	Level + 11	Level + 13
Touch AC	-1	-3	-6	-1	-1	-2
Flat AC	-3	-1	-1	-2	-1	-1
Fort	Avg	Good	Good	Poor	Poor	Avg
Ref	Good	Poor	Poor	Good	Avg	Avg
Will	Poor	Poor	Avg	Avg	Good	Avg
BAB	Avg	Good	Good	Avg	Poor	Avg
TAB	Avg	Poor	Avg	Good	Good	Good
Technics Known	4	3	3	4	5	4

 

A memento can have any role; as this is akin to class, even two mementos of the same species may specialize in different areas, leading to different sets of abilities.

As with type, there are a number of Technics that are specific to each role; thus a Sentinel could not learn a Ravager technic, or vice versa (but see below).

Each role has a maximum number of technics the memento can know at any one time. If the memento would learn a new technic that would put its total known over its maximum number, it must immediately forget a technic to learn the new one. Trainers can voluntarily force their mementos to forget moves known at any time.

Some mementos have abilities that modify their maximum technics known, or that alter the progressions of their other statistics.

Memento Affinity

Most mementos have an affinity for a particular energy type; for normal d20 creatures, this would be an energy subtype, but for mementos, this is referred to as the memento's affinity.

Affinity plays an important role in how the memento responds to energy damage, as well as usage of their technics. Technics which have a descriptor that matches one of the memento's affinities are more effective, while effects that are strong against one of their affinities deals more damage or is otherwise more effective against the memento.

Put the table here.

Technics

All of a memento's active abilities - that is, abilities with an activation time, or otherwise defined as a "special attack" - are defined as technics. When a creature that is not a standard memento is converted into a memento, all of its special attacks are converted into technics.

All mementos begin knowing two technics, and can learn automatically learn a new technic at each even level. A memento can only select technics that have a sublibrary of the memento's Role or a descriptor that matches the memento's creature type or one of the memento's energy affinities. A memento cannot learn a technic with an energy descriptor to which any of its energy affinities are weak against, unless the memento also has that energy descriptor (e.g., a memento with the [ice] affinity cannot learn a [fire] technic, unless that memento also has the [fire] affinity).

Design Notes

Okay, so here's a thought on evolution, real quick.

What do evolutions do in the source material? Make your stats better, but slow down move progression.

So to evolve, a memento has to expend it's ability to gain a Technic instead. This automagically slows down move progression.

Now the question is... dafuq does evolution do for you?