Class: Voidchild
The Voidchild
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| Nihilism | ||||||
| Level | Special | Max Depth | Wu Wei | Max Void Debt | Mysteries | Katas Known |
| 1 | Empty Mind | Cursory | +0 | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Taint | Cursory | +1 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Cursory | +2 | 6 | 2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Taint | Shallow | +3 | 7 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Shallow | +3 | 7 | 2 | 10 | |
| 6 | Taint | Shallow | +4 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 7 | Yawning | +5 | 8 | 3 | 12 | |
| 8 | Taint | Yawning | +6 | 9 | 3 | 14 |
| 9 | Yawning | +6 | 9 | 3 | 15 | |
| 10 | Voidchild Talent | Deep | +7 | 10 | 3 | 16 |
| 11 | Deep | +8 | 10 | 4 | 18 | |
| 12 | Voidchild Talent | Deep | +9 | 11 | 4 | 19 |
| 13 | Abysmal | +9 | 11 | 4 | 20 | |
| 14 | Voidchild Talent | Abysmal | +10 | 12 | 4 | 22 |
| 15 | Abysmal | +11 | 12 | 5 | 23 | |
| 16 | Voidchild Talent | Tenebrous | +12 | 13 | 5 | 24 |
| 17 | Tenebrous | +12 | 13 | 5 | 26 | |
| 18 | Voidchild Talent | Tenebrous | +13 | 14 | 5 | 27 |
| 19 | Tenebrous | +14 | 14 | 6 | 28 | |
| 20 | Voidchild Talent | Tenebrous | +15 | 15 | 6 | 30 |
Voidchild
- "From nothing we came, and to nothing you will return."
Beyond time, beyond reason, beyond existence, there is the Void. The passage of time, the sensation of self: these things are beyond the Void, outside of its realm of understanding. Before all of existence, it will be; after all is reduced to nothingness, it was. Before the sudden event that sparked the existence of the other eight Forces of Trinity, the Void was a single entity, and - with nothing else to compare itself to - was blissful in its ignorance. It now rages against creation for having awoken it from that deep slumber, and seeks to bring an end to all of reality, every moment of time.
To some, this powerful, completely alien thing is a source of power, something to be tapped into and put to one's own ends. Some particularly hard-line nihilists believe that everything should end, and study the Void in greater contemplation in order to hasten what they see as the inevitable end of all existence. Others, however, seek to simply siphon off the powers that lie within the Void, and subject themselves to it as little as possible, while still studying its power and learning what mysteries await in the dark. Regardless of their goals or origins, these individuals can eventually become voidchildren, students of the powers of the Void.
However, power comes with a price, and the price the Void extracts is the complete and utter annihilation of the would-be nihilist's soul, every trace of their existence wiped from time and memory. Even those who have the Void's blessing - a truly rare lot - are subject to the same fate, for the Void does not care. As such, many are warned against this path, for to follow it is to play with an entity utterly beyond mortal comprehension and who wants nothing more than to see all memory of you erased completely. As the voidchild grows in power, her personal strength of will allows her to delve deeper into the mysteries of the Void, and glean yet greater and more terrible secrets: but always the threat of sudden and irreversible death looms.
Voidchildren are not commonly accepted in civil society: not necessarily for their beliefs, but because they have a terrible tendency to die suddenly and without warning, letting loose whatever horrors lurk within their souls and giving the Void a direct conduit to reality itself, which is usually not beneficial for anyone even vaguely nearby. As such, many communities will either run voidchildren out of town or, in more dire scenarios, just outright kill them before the Void does, which many see as a mercy.
Game Rule Information
Voidchildren have the following game statistics.
Force Alignment: Void.
Force Resistances: DI 5 + level, NI 5 + level.
Abilities: Charisma and Wisdom are both important to a voidchild - a higher Charisma gives her the force of will necessary to command the deepest secrets of the Void, while a high Wisdom allows her to maintain her sense of self in the face of obliteration and mask her presence from the Void as she taps into it.
Hit Points at 1st Level: Con score.
Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 3 + Con modifier.
Healing Surges: 4 + Con modifier.
Defenses: Fort +2; Ref +0; Will +2; Det +4.
Starting Age: Simple.
Class Features
All of the following are class features of the voidchild.
Proficiencies
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Weapons: Any three.
Armor: Cloth.
Implements: Spreads.
Nihilism
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Voidchildren are nihilists, which means they make use of katas, a term used for the abilities culled from the Void, and called as such because they are reminiscent of the movements of martial arts, in which one must blank one's mind - a necessary precaution before attempting to access the Void.
Void Mysteries
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| Mystery | Description |
| Auspice | The Void has always sought to understand its foes, to better undermine and destroy them; this mystery gives you access to its predictive powers. |
| Ennui | There are many reactions to nihilist philosophy, and the Void revels in all of them; this mystery gives you access to its powers over mortal minds. |
| Mockery | In its efforts to destroy existence, the Void makes mockery of it; this mystery yields powers that "create" creatures and objects, and replicate other Forces' abilities. |
| Null | At its core, the Void is nothing more than nonexistence; this mystery gives you access to abilities that manipulate that concept. |
| Twilight | The Void seeks to hasten the end of all things; this mystery gives you access to abilities that facilitate the end and entropy of life. |
| Umbral | The darkness of the Void is deeper than any shade; this mystery yields abilities that allow you to manipulate shadow and darkness. |
A voidchild can release - use - any kata they know at any time. However, when to do so, she must make a wu wei check. This check represents how much the voidchild can imitate the Void's emptiness of mind and soul; the better she is able to do so, the less backlash she suffers from the Void seeking to wrest its way into reality. The result of the wu wei check indicates how much void debt the voidchild accumulates for using that kata, per the table below. Once a voidchild has made the wu wei check, she cannot back out: the action is done, and any void debt accrued is real.
A voidchild gets a bonus to her wu wei checks equal to the bonus listed on the table, above, plus her Wisdom modifier.
Wu Wei and Void Debt
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| Wu Wei Check | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kata Depth | 1- | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37+ |
| Cursory | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Shallow | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Yawning | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Deep | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Abysmal | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Tenebrous | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ominous | 12 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
Nihilism Depths
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| Depth | Minimum Charisma |
| Cursory | 11 |
| Shallow | 13 |
| Yawning | 15 |
| Deep | 17 |
| Abysmal | 19 |
| Tenebrous | 21 |
| Ominous | 23 |
Void debt represents the pull of the Void on the voidchild: once she has accrued any amount of void debt, the Void has taken notice of the abuse of its powers and lashes out at the very existence of the creature in question. A voidchild suffers a penalty to all d20 rolls, including her wu wei checks, equal to the amount of void debt she has.
If at any time the voidchild has accrued more void debt than her max void debt, she is immediately reduced to 0 hit points, loses a healing surge, and is dying. If a voidchild dies with more void debt than her max void debt, her death is permanent and irrevocable, and in place of her body a nihimental of her level is spawned.
A voidchild automatically reduces her void debt to 0 with a short rest.
When not in a combat or stressful situation, the voidchild can opt to take 10 on her wu wei check when using a kata.
To release a kata of a given depth, you must meet its minimum Charisma requirements, per the table on the right.
The voidchild begins with four known katas. She gains knowledge of additional katas each level, as per the class table, above. At fourth level and every four levels after, she can trade out up to two katas for new katas from any mystery she can access, of any depth she can access.
If you would gain access to a mystery, you can choose to instead gain a bonus feat, which must be a feat for which you qualify. If you would gain access to a mystery and already have access to six mysteries, you gain a bonus feat instead.
The voidchild's key ability for her void attacks is her Charisma.
Feats
EXTRA MYSTERY [Void]
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| You have studied more varied secrets of the Void than your experience would suggest. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist, access to five or fewer mysteries. |
| Benefit: You gain access to another void mystery of your choice. You can take this feat multiple times; its effect stacks. |
KATA FOCUS [Void]
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| Your ability to wield the powers granted by one mystery are greater. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist. |
| Benefit: Choose one mystery you can access. You gain a +2 feat bonus on void attacks with gifts of that suite. You can take this feat multiple times; each time you do, select a mystery you can access for which you have not taken this feat. |
KATA KNOWLEDGE [Void]
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| You have studied your mysteries in greater detail, gleaning more secrets. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist. |
| Benefit: You gain knowledge of two additional kata of any grade you can access, of any mystery you can access. You can take this feat multiple times; its effect stacks. |
KATA STUDY [Void]
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| You have further studied the mysteries of the void, giving you greater access to its power. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist. |
| Benefit: You gain knowledge of one additional kata of any mystery you can access of a grade one grade higher than you can currently access. You now have access to that higher grade. |
| If you would later gain access to a new kata grade and already have access to it by virtue of this feat, you gain access to the next higher grade instead. |
| Special: You can take this feat multiple times. You cannot use this feat to gain access to ominous kata. |
MOROI [Job]
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| You've touched the darkness... and it touched you back. |
| Prerequisites: No levels in a nihilist class. |
| Benefit: You gain access to a single void mystery, and learn two cursory katas of your choice from that mystery. You have a wu wei bonus of +0, plus your Charisma modifier, and a max void debt of 3. |
| Special: If you take a level in a nihilist class, you must immediately retrain this feat; the new feat cannot be a [Job] feat. |
RESILIENT SOUL [Void]
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| Your soul has been hardened against the dangers of the Void. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist. |
| Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to your max void debt. You can take this feat multiple times; its effect stacks. |
STILL MIND [Void]
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| You are adept at silencing your thoughts. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist. |
| Benefit: You gain a +1 feat bonus to your wu wei checks. You can take this feat multiple times; its effect stacks. |
UNLOCK OMINOUS [Epic, Void]
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| You have unlocked the secrets of a kata that lies deeper than the traditional depths of power. |
| Prerequisites: Nihilist, ability to release at least one tenebrous kata, 21st+ level. |
| Benefit: You can learn one ominous kata of your choice from a mystery you can access. You can take this feat multiple times; each time, you can select a new ominous kata to learn. |
Design Notes
Full rebuild.
The prior version of the voidchild had... some really large numbers, and some very Trinity-specific effects. Here, the accounting has been reduced significantly, and the number of Trinity-specific effects has been reduced to exactly one (spawning a nihimental if you die with more void than your max).
Also, I get the sense that the prior version did not feel... dangerous enough. While you certainly had some dangerous shit going on if you went over your threshold rating, you could just not do that, and you'd be fine. Now every time you call on the Void, there's a chance that things might not go your way; in the vast majority of cases, "failing" one check won't kill you, but it will definitely put a damper on your ability to do things, and if you keep trying to do Void things, it'll just keep pushing you closer and closer to the breaking point.
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