The Codex Persona :

Web Expansion One

Standard Race Builds:
! Dwarves
! Elves
! Humans
! Gnomes
! Half-Elves
! Half-Orcs
! Halflings
Sample Exotic Race Builds
! Elan
! Satyrs
! Centaurs
Sample L1-L20 Build: The
Merchant
Playing Without Experience
Playing Without Levels
Out-Of-Game CP Bonuses
Errata and FAQ
Art Credits and OGL

A Distant Horizons Games Product.

Cover Art from Princess Parizade Bringing Home The Singing Tree, by Maxfield Parrish, 1906.
Copyright 2005-2008, Paul M. Melroy.
Distant Horizons Games Logo Trademark Distant Horizons Games.

An Open Game License Product: The following items are hereby designated as Product Identity in accordance
with section 1 (e) of the Open Game License, versions 1.0a: The commentary on the Races, and Merchant Builds,
the rules and chart for Levels without XP, the rules for No XP, no Levels, the bit on Out-Of-Game CP Bonuses,
and the Errata and FAQ sections.
Generic 3.5 Races:
Dwarves:
! Attribute Shift (+2 Con, -2 Chr, 6 CP). In worlds which half
the cost of Self-Development this should be converted to a
simple +2 Con.
! Occult Sense/Darksight (6 CP)
! Occult Sense/Stone (Specialized: Requires a reflexive Search
check, 3 CP)
! Speciality/Search/Stone (1 CP, corrupted to +2 bonus only -
not that this saves anything)
! Proficient with Dwarven Cultural Weapons (Specialized:
Simply reduces Exotic dwarven weapons to Martial ones, 1
CP)
! Specialist x2: +4 to resist being Bull Rushed or Tripped
(Both Specialized: defensive only, Corrupted: only when
standing on the ground, 2 CP)
! Resistance/+2 on Saves versus Poisons (3 CP)
! Resistance/+2 versus Spells and Spell-Like Effects (3 CP)
! +1 Warcraft (BAB) (Specialized versus versus Orcs,
Half-Orcs and Goblinoids only, Corrupted: does not add to
iterative attacks, 2 CP)
! Defender/+1 AC (Double Specialized: only versus monsters
AND only versus giants, for +4 AC, 6 CP)
! +2 Appraise (Specialized in Stone and Metal items, 1 CP)
! Speciality/Craft/Stone and Metal (1 CP, normally corrupted
to +2 only, but that doesn't actually save anything)
! Speak Dwarven as an extra language (1 CP)
! Disadvantages: Slow: Reduce base land movement by 10', but
this penalty does not stack with those for armor or
encumbrance (-3 CP) and Accursed (Has a wide selection of
rarely-useful bonuses (-3 CP).
Dwarves have a net cost of 30 CP - just under the 31 CP +0 ECL
limit - however the “Favored Class: Fighter” restriction corrupts the
entire package, reducing the cost to either 20 or 18 CP, depending on
whether the GM decides that the same limitations apply to the
Disadvantages. Of course, since the “Favored Class” modifier is
generally meaningless in point buy games, this is something of a moot
point.
Elves:
! Attribute Shift (+2 Dex, -2 Con, 6 CP). In worlds which half
the cost of Self-Development this should be converted to a
simple +2 Dex.
! Immunity/Sleep Effects (Uncommon / Minor / Major, 3 CP)
! Resist/+2 on Saves vrs Enchantment Spells and Effects (3
CP)
! Occult Sense / Low-Light Vision (6 CP)
! Proficiency with Elven Cultural Weapons (A narrow group,
3 CP)
! +2 on Listen, Search, and Spot (6 CP)
! Occult Sense/Detect Secret Doors (Specialized: requires a
Search check and passing within 5 feet, 3 CP)
! Speaks Elven as an extra language (1 CP)
Elves have a net cost of 31 CP out of the 31 CP allowable for a
+0 ECL race. If taking this race restricts the variety of abilities you
can have - as in "Favored Class: Wizard" - the entire package is
Corrupted, for a net cost of 21 CP, leaving room for assorted variant
elves. If favored class does not apply to a pure point-buy game,
they’ll do nicely as they are for a +0 ECL race.
Humans:
! Fast Learner, Specialized in Skills (3 CP)
! +1 Bonus Feat (6 CP).
My, humans are dull. In point-buy, where anyone can buy extra
feats and skills if they so desire, they’re also underpowered, even if
having “Fast Learner” in a template allows them to get it twice -
which is why so many alternative humans show up. Of course, they
are the most flexible of the basic species. In standard games a well-
chosen feat can be a substantial bonus towards the exact design you
want.
Gnomes:
! Attribute Shift (+2 Con, -2 Str, 6 CP). In worlds which half
the cost of Self-Development this should be converted to a
simple +2 Con.
! Shrinking I (Corrupted: Reduces base movement to 20', 8 CP)
! Occult Sense: Low-Light Vision (6 CP)
! Proficient with Gnomish Cultural Weapons (Specialized:
Reduces them to Martial Weapons only, 1 CP).
! Resist/+2 on saves versus Illusions (3 CP)
! Ability Focus/Illusion Magic (Specialized, adds +1 only, 3
CP)
! +1 Warcraft (BAB) (Specialized versus versus Kobolds and
Goblinoids only, Corrupted: does not add to iterative attacks,
2 CP)
! Defender/+1 AC (Double Specialized: only vrs Monsters,
only vrs giants, for +4 AC, 6 CP)
! +2 Listen and +2 Craft/Alchemy (4 CP)
! Speaks Gnomish (1 CP)
! Occult Talent (Normally allows Speak With Animals,
Dancing Lights, Ghost Sound, and Prestidigitation, 6 CP)
Gnomes are surprisingly expensive, with a total cost of 46 CP. Of
course, they spend most of those points on a contradictory variety of
items - several bonuses principally useful to combatants and several
others principally useful to illusion specialists. There are two ways
to handle this in point-buy: you can either consider the entire
package Corrupted thanks to its diminished utility and flexibility (and
thus come out with a net cost of 31 CP, just right for a +0 ECL race)
or characters can simply buy the set of abilities they want and skip
the rest.
Half-Elves:
! Immunity/Sleep Effects (Uncommon/Minor/Major, 3 CP)
! Resist/+2 on Saves vrs Enchantment Spells and Effects (3
CP)
! Occult Sense/Low-Light Vision (6 CP)
! +1 each to Listen, Search, and Spot (3 CP)
! +2 on Diplomacy and Gather Information (4 CP)
! Privilege: Treated as Elves wherever this is advantageous (3
CP)
! Speaks Elven (1 CP)
With a total of 24 CP, Half-Elves are a perfectly respectable -
and rather boring - type to play, but really don’t excel at much of
anything. Still, at least they don’t suffer from a “Favored Class”
limitation.
Distant Horizons Games
Half Orcs:
! Attribute Shift/+2 Str, -2 Int (6 CP). In worlds which half the
cost of Self-Development this should be converted to a
simple +2 Str.
! -2 Cha (-12 CP) (this is half value, since penalties are less
important than bonuses).
! Occult Sense/Darkvision (6 CP)
! Privilege: Treated as Orcs wherever this is advantageous (3
CP)
! Speaks Orc (1 CP)
! Disadvantage: Suspect Social Outcasts (-3 CP).
With a net cost of 1 CP, there’s virtually no advantage to playing
a half-orc - even their “Favored Class: Barbarian” limitation is
pointless; it doesn’t save a thing on a net cost of 1 CP. That’s
probably why you almost never see any.
Halflings:
! Attribute Shift/+2 Dex, -2 Str (6 CP). In worlds which half
the cost of Self-Development this should be converted to a
simple +2 Dex.
! Shrinking I (Corrupted: Reduces base movement to 20', 8 CP)
! +2 on Climb, Jump, Move Silently, and Listen (8 CP)
! Resistance/+1 on each Save (9 CP)
! Resistance/+2 versus Fear (Corrupted, is considered a Morale
bonus, 2 CP)
! +1 Warcraft (BAB. Specialized in Ranged Combat,
Corrupted: Thrown Weapons and Slings only, 2 CP)
! Speaks Halfling (1 CP)
With a net cost of 36 CP - or 24 after being Corrupted by
“Favored Class: Rogue” - Halflings are slightly over the limit for a
+0 ECL race in straight point-buy. Of course, in straight point-buy,
they’d probably be buying Adept (Climb, Jump, Move Silently, and
Listen) instead of skill bonuses and - if they actually live as described
- the disadvantage “Commonly regarded with suspicion”, for -3 CP,
turning them into a (slightly improved) +0 ECL race.
Sample Exotic SRD Races:
For a few slightly-more exotic options, here are the Psionic Elan,
the Fey Satyrs, and Centaurs - a trio of the more popular requests.
Unlike most of the official conversions, these are built with their
“monster levels” stripped off, so that they can be played at
considerably lower levels.
Elan:
! -2 Charisma (-12) (this is half value, since penalties are less
important than bonuses).
! Immunity/Spells that affect humanoids only, such as charm
person or dominate person (Uncommon/Major/Great, 12 CP).
! Mana/+1d6 Power (2 CP)
! Resistance +4 to all saves: Specialized: counts as a
supernatural ability, requires the expenditure of one power
point when used to activate through your next action,
although this can be done as an immediate action. (18 CP).
! Innate Enchantment (Psionic Variant): Vitality Diversion (L2,
May divert damage to Power reserves, at 2 HP to 1 Power,
8400 GP for Personal Only, 9 CP as Innate Enchantment).
! Bonus Psionic Spell, Non-Augmentable (2 CP): Repletion,
L1, lets you go without food and drink for 24 hours.
! Immunity to age (uncommon/minor/major, 3 CP).
! Disadvantage/No natural reproduction (-3).
The Elan are an artificial species - humans psionically rebuilt
into near-immortals. With a net cost of 31 CP, they function perfectly
well as a +0 ECL race. The original SRD writeup provides them with
a Favored Class limitation, but it really isn’t necessary.
Satyr:
! Self-Development (60 CP): +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, +2
Intelligence, +2 Wisdom, and +2 Charisma.
! Celerity/+10 Land Movement (6 CP)
! Occult Sense/Low-Light Vision (6 CP)
! Martial Arts (1d6 Natural Weapons, Specialized: Headbutt
Only, 3 CP)
! Damage Reduction 5. (Specialized: physical only, Corrupted:
penetrated by Cold Iron, 4 CP)
! Adept (Hide, Listen, Perform, and Spot), Specialized: only
works on skills bought as part of the template, not later
expenditures. double effect (1 SP per +4). (6 CP).
! Skill Bonuses: +4 to Hide, Move Silently, and Perform, +6 to
Listen and Spot (9 CP with Adept)
! +4 natural armor bonus (Defender, 24 CP)
! Innate Spell, Corrupted (Requires Pipes, 3 spells), Charm
Person, Sleep, and Fear, 2/Day Each (6 CP). The fear spell is
a minor variant which does not work on other Satyrs.
! Metamagic/Area and Glory, Corrupted (Requires Pipes),
Specialized in Innate Spells (4 CP).
! Disadvantages: Hedonistic and Lustful. They are easily
tempted with good food, drink, and sex (-6 CP)
Satyrs are expensive, with a base cost of 122 CP. Fortunately for
their would-be players, the entire package is corrupted (obvious fey,
animalistic form, poor reputation, have a hard time with armor and
equipment), for a net cost of 81 CP - well under the 95 CP limit for
a +2 ECL template even without the “Favored Class: Bard”
modifier. In worlds where Self-Development costs are halved, basic
Satyrs cost 61 CP - making them a +1 ECL template. With minor
tweaks, the Satyr template also works as the basis for a generic fey
template:
Centaurs:
! One level of Growth (48 CP, includes +8 Str, +4 Con, -2 Dex,
and +2 Natural Armor)
! Extra Limbs/Legs (Includes +10 land movement, 6 CP)
! +4 Dexterity (24 CP).
! Attribute Shift/-2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom (6 CP). In worlds
which half the cost of Self-Development this should be
converted to a simple +2 Wis.
! Celerity (6 CP) +10 Move.
! Occult Sense/Darkvision (6 CP)
! Defender/+1 natural armor bonus (6 CP).
! Speaks Elven (With Sylvan as their usual base language) (1
CP)
All of a Centaur’s abilities are Corrupted: they’re monstrous
humanoids, obvious creatures, cannot use normal clothing, need
massive amounts of food, etcetera, reducing their base cost of 103 CP
to 69 CP - a +2 ECL race. They could easily be brought down to a
+1 ECL race (63 CP) with a little tweaking or simply by dropping the
dexterity bonus down to +2 (an effective total of +0) - which seems
reasonable enough for something the size of a horse anyway.
Distant Horizons Games
Elareth Vars,
Human Merchant
As developed by “Ed”
For this excursion in character development, we’re going to
take a look at some of the moderately exotic options in the point-
buy system and design a character of a type that’s rare in gaming:
the Merchant-Adventurer. While such men were common enough in
the great ages of exploration, most of which was driven by the
search for new trade routes, new products, and new resources,
most games concentrate more on short-term adventures.
Scion of a wealthy merchant house, this youngster intends to
follow the usual path of aspiring merchant princes: working as an
assistant and guard on trading trips and caravans initially, moving
up to running long-range caravans, bandit and monster hunting
later, then graduating to exploration and opening trade routes, and
finally going into politics. Along the way, the house can act as a
patron and initial employer for the other characters.
Presuming that things do go roughly as planned, the character
is going to be tough in a fight at lower levels, but will lean
increasingly towards trade-related skills and minor magical abilities
at the middle levels and political influence at higher ones.
Still, how often do things go as planned? With this class we’re
going to take a look at the way a free-choice point-buy character
might actually develop.
Since Elareth is a pure point-buy character, we’ll stick with the
theme by using the standard point-buy attribute generation. This
gives him Str 10, Dex 9, Int 16, Wis 8, Con 14, and Chr 14.
Level 1 : 48 Character Points (Base) + 2 CP (Duties) + 10
CP (Disadvantages) + 12 Skill Points (Int 16) + 4 SP (Human Skill
Point Bonus) and +12 CP (Initial and Human bonus Feats), for a
total of 72 CP and 16 SP.
Hit Die : 1d20 (16 CP)
Saves : +1 Ref (3 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (The usual BAB for a combative character, 6
CP)
Special : Adept (Mercantile Skills: Elareth may buy
Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive for half cost, 6 CP),
Professional Skill (For Diplomacy, to get an extra bonus, 6 CP),
and Favored Commodity (initially fibers and cloth, 6 CP)
Skills : 5 CP + 16 SP = 21. 8 go to buying rank 4 in each
of the four skills he’s taken Adept for, 4 more go to knowledge:
Geography, (spending another one for a +3 speciality in Trade
Routes), and two other skills of choice at 4 ranks each (most likely
Gather Information and either Spot or Survival - but we’ll leave
him some secrets). Thanks to having an Intelligence bonus he
speaks three extra languages for free.
Initial Proficiencies: Light Armor (3 CP), All Simple and
Martial Weapons (9 CP)
Duties (+2 CP/Level): Elareth’s membership in the house
entitles him to excellent tutors, backing, and the best of equipment
- but comes with a fairly extensive array of obligations. As a
member of the house, Elareth is going to be either working for
them, or accepting responsibility for his juniors, for his entire
career.
Three Disadvantages (for 10 extra CP to spend): History (Ed’s
going to write up a description of his merchant house, and his
personal history, over the first few sessions), Recorder (Ed’s going
to keep a careful list of all the named NPC’s the group meets and
make sure the GM gets a copy. This will be really helpful in
tracking the minor NPC’s who pop up during each session), and
Obligations (Elareth owes several favors to other members of his
house and has a contracted marriage coming up in a few years. This
may severely complicate his life later on).
Ed’s had too many starting characters die from one lucky hit,
giant ant bites, and falling into simple 10 foot pits. Finding this
notably disappointing he’s determined not to have it happen this
time - and is skimping on the skill points and saving throws to
make THIS starting character as physically tough as he can afford
to be at level one. It’s a bit of a stretch for a merchant kid, but Ed
inserts a bit of background about intensive combat training from
his uncle, a retired caravan guard, and the GM decides to go
along with it.
The use of Adept is a minor red flag as well - but the skills Ed’s
selected don’t really seem likely to break the game. Secondarily,
most of the other characters want to take it as well. At least it will
give them some identity.
Favored Commodity is one of the many possible variants on
Favored Foe. It provides bonuses on any Appraise, Sense Motive,
Knowledge, or Bargaining (Diplomacy) checks involving the
chosen commodities. This is unusual, but quite acceptable. Ed had
wanted to start with Gems and Jewelry instead of cloth, but
accepted the advice that he wouldn’t be dealing with much of that
until a bit later on - and cloth was one of the major goods his
house dealt in anyway.
That just leaves the 12 CP for his initial bonus feat and human
bonus feat. Ed was considering taking Grant of Aid and Bonus
Uses - giving him a substantial amount of healing magic which
would act automatically to keep him alive - or some Damage
Reduction, but the GM advises him that this is starting to get silly.
Elareth is already extremely tough for first level without adding a
notable mystical blessing or guardian spirit. Ed settles for a minor
(but well-chosen) gift - an Occult Sense that allows him to detect
counterfeit money and goods (6 CP) and a bit of basic magical
training. While he wasn’t the best of students, he did pick up the
knack of using magic wands (Device Use, 6 CP). Not only does this
set up a foundation for buying some magical skills later on, but a
few GP expended on wands with one or two charges left each will
let him keep a trump card literally up his sleeve.
So much for first level. Unsurprisingly, Elareth makes it
through his first few adventures - both because he’s remarkably
tough and because the Game Master chooses some investigative
work around the town over a major combat scenario. There was
some violence, but Elareth was more than capable of absorbing a
few dagger and shortsword blows.
Distant Horizons Games
Level 2 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d10 (6 CP)
Saves : +1 Ref, +1 Will (6 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Equipage (May produce 2 GP/week worth of minor
gear as needed, simply by rummaging around in his pockets.
Corrupted; does not work if he’s had no chance to stock his pockets
or has been strip-searched. 4 CP)
Skills : 4 CP plus 4 SP. 2 go to raising his Adept skills as
usual, 3 more go to keeping up his other skills, leaving 3 to invest
in a few specialities and specific knowledges.
Elareth is still leaning heavily towards combat skills - but his
ability to spot forged letters of credit, counterfeit money, and low-
quality goods is already attracting the attention of the local
caravan masters and trade representatives. He’s now receiving a
small house salary and has a knack for putting just the things he’ll
need later in his pockets, bought as a Corrupted (and thus a bit
less expensive) version of the Equipage ability. Ed is considering
ways to recharge wands, but that’s a difficult trick.
Level 3 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d10 (6 CP)
Saves : +1 Will, +1 For (6 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Damage Reduction 2/- (3 CP) and a Contact (a
caravan master who’s come to rely on his talents, 1 CP)
Skills : 4 CP plus 4 SP. As at level two, five go to keeping
his skills up, leaving 3 to expand his range of abilities.
Another straightforward level, although Ed realizes that it will
shortly be more effective to start boosting his Constitution instead
of buying larger hit dice. He has started building his network of
commercial contacts and may well wind up concentrating there
instead. His choice of bonus ability is more complicated. Given
that he wants to build a foundation for minor magical talents later
on, he elects to take Mana (1d6 points) and selects the Spell
Enhancement option - gaining a modest reserve of personal
magical power. That won’t do him much good at the moment, but
he can expand upon it and learn to use it later.
Level 4 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d8 (4 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort (3 CP). Currently, that puts all three
categories at +2.
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Elareth has become extremely adept at spotting
opportunities to trade and make money, an effect bought as Occult
Sense (Business Opportunities, 6 CP). He’s also begun laying the
foundation of the network of contacts which will support his later
career, buying the Multiple modifier on his contacts. From now on
each CP spent on contacts will get him three of them - and he gets
to add two more for the one point he spent last level (6 CP).
Skills : 3 CP plus 4 SP. With 5 pre-committed he only has
two available to buy secondary skills at this level.
Now THAT Occult Sense could be annoying - but the GM is
willing to give it a try. He’ll mention occasional hidden
opportunities to the player. Ed’s still wanting to make Elareth
tougher, so he decides to apply the free level of Self-Development
he gets at level four to Constitution.
Level 5 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d8 (4 CP)
Saves : +1 Ref, +1 Will (6 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Elareth has learned to link his personal energies to
those of old wands, allowing him to use them without expending
their last few charges. This is purchased as Empowerment
(Specialized in Wands with no increase in uses per day, thus
reducing the cost. 3 CP). He’s also put an additional 1 CP into
contacts, adding three more. He rounds things out with the Well-
Traveled contacts modifier, allowing him to trade them around
more quickly if and when the family assigns him somewhere else (3
CP).
Skills : 5 CP + 4 SP. This neatly makes up for going a
point short last level - not that there’s any requirement for
consistency, but it makes it easier to track skills.
Well, that doesn’t actually let Elareth recharge wands for
resale, but it does let him stretch them a lot further, substituting 1
point of Mana from his 5-point reserve per charge that he’d
normally spend from their reserve. He hasn’t really needed the
Well-Traveled modifier yet - but that marriage contract is coming
up. Sadly, finding old wands has been harder than Ed thought it
would be; mages mostly just use them up and, even if someone
does find an old one, they usually aren’t worth enough to bother
using Identify spells on. Even with his connections and skills, he’s
been having trouble with con artists and simple mislabeling.
On the bright side it’s time to select his second favored
commodity; he can get Gems and Jewelry now.
Level 6 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d8 (4 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort (3 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Wanting to make shopping easier, Elareth buys the
Purchasing option on Equipage, allowing him to buy gear without
actually having to go get it (Specialized; requires 1d4 days -
although minor items (up to 250 GP/Level) are always available, 3
CP). Since he’s begun using his Mana reserve the basic recovery
rate of 1-2 points a day no longer suffices, so he takes Rite of Chi
to speed it up (6 CP).
Skills : 4 CP + 4 SP.
While he’s no longer much of a match for the dedicated
fighters, Elareth can afford to use his wands fairly often now.
Unfortunately, focusing on those areas has led him to neglect his
saving throws and contacts. He’ll have to work on those next. In
any case, it’s time for a bonus feat. This time around he goes for
“Focus of Attention,” A.K.A. “Berserker.” He assigns the bonuses
as +4 to Chr and Wis, +2 on social skill rolls, and -2 on rolls
involving anything but social interactions for the duration. Do
NOT negotiate with this man when he’s on a roll.
From now on he’ll be getting another bonus skill point each
level, thanks to his Headband of Intellect +2. That’s incorrect
according to the current errata, but the Game Master has house-
ruled it.
Distant Horizons Games
Level 7 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will (Now all at +4, 9 CP)
Warcraft : ---
Special : Elareth has developed a sixth sense for bad
bargains (Occult Sense, 6 CP), three new Contacts (1 CP), and
Bonus Uses (to get beyond the usual once per day limit) on his
mana-restoring Rite of Chi (6 CP).
Skills : 4 CP + 5 SP. As usual, five are committed in
advance.
After a couple of unfortunate experiences with bad deals and
failed saves, Ed decided that Elareth could afford to lay off the
physical training for a level in favor of building up his resistances
and magical talents a bit. This could be considered multiclassing,
but he did espouse a reasonably balanced class in the first place -
and both saves and the new occult sense are definitely mercantile.
The GM lets it go this time (after all, the class description did
indicate a shift towards magic and trade-related abilities in the
middle levels), but advises Ed to make his emphasis shift a little
slower.
Level 8 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d6 (2 CP)
Saves : +1 Ref, +1 Will (6 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Cloaking (this anti-divination ability conceals his
thoughts, but is Specialized in concealing business-related
information only to reduce the cost, 3 CP), Favors (from his house
and the merchants guild, 3 CP), +3 Contacts (1 CP), and Innate
Enchantment (Specialized: it provides the equivalent of the “Handy
Haversack” effect only, 3 CP)
Skills : 2 CP + 5 SP
Since Ed feels that saving throws contribute more to
survivability at higher levels than raw hit points do, he’s leaning
more towards them at the moment - but does put the free level of
Self-Development he gets at level eight into Constitution again,
getting it up to 16. That gets him an extra 8 HP immediately and
will continue to enhance his durability from now on. Since he’s
running into the usual not-enough-points barrier, the GM expects
to see a lot more d4's and d6's in upcoming levels.
Level 9 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d6 (2 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort (3 CP)
Warcraft : ---
Special : Skill Focus: Diplomacy +1, with the Stunt upgrade
to allow supernatural effects. In his case he gets the ability to use a
minor rite to open negotiations with summonable outsiders, the
ability to “seal” a contract to make it mystically binding, and the
ability to summon forth or channel powers from outsiders who owe
him a service. Each effect costs 2 Mana. He may develop more
stunts later. 8 CP), Mana (another 1d6 points, 6 CP), and Bribery
(thanks to the house influence and slush fund Elareth can get away
with a variety of minor offenses without suffering legal
consequences. This is a fairly ordinary Privilege worth 3 CP).
Skills : 4 CP + 5 SP. While the usual five points are pre-
committed, Elareth spent most of the rest on Knowledge: Outsiders
this time. That’s probably wise.
Having mastered the art of making deals, Elareth is initiated
into the art of contacting outsiders. This is a bit of an exotic twist,
but it makes a reasonable amount of sense for a d20 merchant.
Given that Elareth still only has 8 points of Mana (he rolled a “3"
this time) available at any one time, he won’t be able to summon
massive hordes of creatures or use large numbers of spells from his
wands at any one time, however.
Elareth also gets a bonus feat at this level and settles on
Executive - allowing him to coordinate a group and so provide
bonuses on skill rolls (6 CP).
Level 10 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Ref, +1 Will (6 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Upgrade Empowerment (from level 5) to remove
the uses-per-day limitation (3 CP), +1d6 Mana (6 CP), and +3
contacts (1 CP)
Skills : 4 CP + 6 SP. Once again, several go to Knowledge:
Outsiders.
Elareth now has 14 points of Mana and can regain a total of
5d6 points per day with his Rite of Chi. Given that he’s not really a
magical specialist, that should suffice. The GM does recommend
adding a few outsiders to his contacts even if they do cost more.
Elareth is also entitled to select another Favored Commodity
at this level and chooses “spirit favors” after running it by the GM
for approval. The bonus isn’t all that large, but when you’re
dealing with outsiders every little bit helps.
Finally, he’s gotten his Headband of Intellect upgraded to +4.
From now on he’ll be getting two extra skill points per level.
Level 11 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort (3 CP) Now at +6 all around.
Warcraft : ---
Special : Tactician (an upgrade to Executive which allows
him to provide bonuses to a group in combat, 6 CP), Enthusiast
(This gives him one “floating” skill point, usually used to acquire
the local language for a while, 3 CP), Reflex Training (the general
extra actions ability) in the uses-per-day version (specialized in
summoning and wands only to double the number of uses, 6 CP),
and Self-Improvement (+1 Constitution for HP purposes only, 6
CP).
Skills : 2 CP + 6 SP
Elareth is shifting emphasis from personal combat to group
command as he begins leading his own trading expeditions instead
of working under a senior member of the house. Since his orders
provide substantial combat bonuses to a group he’s chosen to
acquire Reflex Training to allow him to get in some magical
actions while continuing to use his normal actions to provide those
bonuses.
Distant Horizons Games
Level 12 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Will (3 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Spy Network (A version of the Lore ability similar
to classical Bardic Lore. It’s Corrupted; he has to have either gotten
a recent report or have time to contact his agents to use the ability,
4 CP), upgrade his house Favors to the Major level (3 CP), and
(again) a level of Self-Development (+1 Constitution for HP
purposes only, 6 CP).
Skills : 4 CP + 6 SP
As a Master Trader Elareth is now a high-ranking member of
his merchant house, and can draw on a good deal of their
resources if he must. Of course, he’s also expected to start
educating some proteges and to spend a lot of time on
negotiations. He’s entitled to both a free level of Self-Improvement
and a bonus feat worth 6 CP at level 12. He decides to upgrade his
Charisma and to take Augmented Bonus - adding his Intelligence
Modifier to his Charisma Modifier when calculating how many
contacts he gets per CP. Sadly, the GM feels that this would
require the Improved (12 CP) version, forcing Elareth to
Specialize it to reduce the cost. It will only allow him to purchase
outsider contacts as if they were normal ones from now on, it won’t
increase his multiplier on how many contacts he gets per CP.
Finally, with an effective base Con of 18 for HP calculations, he
can afford smaller hit dice from now on.
Level 13 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d6 (2 CP)
Saves : +1 Ref and Fort (6 CP), for a total of +7 all around.
Warcraft : ---
Special : Weapon Proficiency: Economic Warfare (6 CP),
upgraded Bribery (Privilege: immunity to legal consequences of
actions short of high treason, +3 CP), Skill Emphasis: Diplomacy
(yet more bonuses, 3 CP), and 6 Outsider Contacts (2 CP)
Skills : 4 CP + 7 SP
As a Master Trader, Elareth learns how to use money and
trade policies to crush opponents financially and to get out of
trouble. Fortunately for him, he has the good sense to avoid
becoming friends with evil Outsiders - although even the good ones
(who tend to want things like donations to charity and
commitments to good deeds and virtue in exchange for their
favors) can be quite a bother. He’s also gotten his Headband of
Intellect up to +6, providing an extra 3 SP per level.
Level 14 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Will (3 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Action Hero (this provides him with a limited
number of Action Points per level but, instead of taking the
common action-boosting option, Elareth selects the political
influence option. 6 CP), Reputation (he become well-known as a
fair businessman and wealthy philanthropist, 6 CP), 3 Outsider and
3 normal contacts (2 CP)
Skills : 3 CP + 7 SP
Becoming well-known for his trustworthy dealings and good
works proves unexpectedly profitable, both in material and
magical terms: it makes negotiations much easier when the one
you’re negotiating with has heard that you’re fair and trustworthy.
It even helps him exert his expanding political influence.
Level 15 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d6 (2 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort, +1 Ref (6 CP). Now at +8 all around.
Warcraft : ---
Special : Opportunist (the general take-a-particular-action
under specific circumstances ability. In Elareth’s case he’s
developed a useful knack for slipping minor additional requests
into a business negotiation. He can roll his Diplomacy skill to try to
gain an additional minor concession just after a bargain has been
concluded, 6 CP), +1d6 Mana (6 CP), +3 Outsider and 3 normal
contacts (2 CP)
Skills : 4 CP + 7 SP
While he’s a superb negotiator and businessman, Elareth has
begun to find that occasionally using a wand just isn’t enough any
more - and that it’s a bit late to be trying to catch up in terms of
magical skills. Still, he does have a new Favored Commodity and
bonus feat coming up. He eventually settles on mystical plants and
herbs - the fantasy equivalent of spices - and on acquiring the
ability to use Staves, a natural extension of his knack with wands.
Recognizing that staves are even more expensive than wands, he
goes to a great deal of trouble to use his Outsider contacts to
arrange some Unique Training for himself - acquiring 6 bonus CP
(counted against his lifetime limit of [Int] CP acquired through
such means), enough to buy Empowerment for Staves. He’ll
probably want to get some more Mana soon, since the higher-level
spells in staves will burn through his 14 Mana points in short
order.
Level 16 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Will (3 CP)
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Skill Focus (the remaining possible +2 to
Diplomacy, 4 CP), +3d6 Mana (Specialized in powering wands and
staves, cannot be used for summoning, spell enhancement, or other
purposes, 9 CP), and +3 contacts (1 CP)
Skills : 3 CP + 7 SP
Elareth is pleased to find that an additional 13 Mana, along
with the fact that most one-charge-left staves fall under his current
(4000 GP) limit for automatic availability via Purchasing (see
level 6), lets him offer his high-level friends some effective backup
again. Secondarily he gets the usual free level of Self-Development
at this level, and applies it to his Charisma, taking it to 16 - and
incidentally increasing his Contacts multiplier to x4 (Yes, he uses
charisma-boosting items. No, they don’t count towards his
permanent multiplier). Having spent 11 points on contacts, that
gives him 44 of them, freely mixing mortals and Outsiders. Ed
requests a GM ruling on whether or not the actual form of a
“staff” matters as long as they weigh about five pounds and
occupy a hand. He’s informed that no, it doesn’t. Elareth gets most
of his “staves” as chunks of crystal, “gauntlets” made of jade
plates, and similar items. He likes the look better.
Distant Horizons Games
Level 17 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Will, +1 Fort, +1 Ref (9 CP)
Warcraft : ---
Special : Leadership (having taken the position of guild
master, Elareth has assumed direct control of most of the house
resources - including its high-level employees. Unsurprisingly, he
quickly wins their personal loyalty as well. 6 CP), another 8
Contacts (2 CP), and Presence (Elareth elects to radiate an Aura of
Trustworthiness which helps him in negotiations and social
situations, 6 CP)
Skills : 3 CP + 7 SP
While this level doesn’t offer much in the way of raw power,
Leadership provides Elareth with access to a wide variety of
specialists, artificers, and spellcasters. Of course, while this is a
very valuable resource, he’s now fully responsible for the fortunes
of his house. He’s done a lot of work for them all along of course -
the points he got from taking “Duties” are in no way free - but
from here on in it will probably take up most of his time. He does,
however, take the time to research a couple of new - if very high
DC - applications for his Summoning Diplomacy Stunts; learning
to host a spirit in his own body, and so take on an appropriate
template for a while, and learning to summon a material ally as
well as Outsiders. Sadly, the GM informs him that this will only
work with major magical beings; more ordinary creatures, no
matter how powerful, offer nothing for this stunt to “grab onto.”
Level 18 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort, +1 Ref (6 CP). This results in a current
total of +10 all around.
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP)
Special : Bonus Uses (even more uses per day of his Rite of
Chi, 6 CP), Favors (from the local government(s); Elareth’s
enterprises now make up a substantial portion of the local
economy, 3 CP), and another 4 Contacts (1 CP)
Skills : 4 CP + 7 SP. As usual, five of these are devoted to
keeping his original skills at maximum.
While his combat skills are adequate, Elareth finds that -
despite his continuing studies - they’re obsolescent in any serious
confrontation, forcing him to rely on his magical talents to make a
contribution during a fight. Sadly, they’re fairly readily exhausted.
Fortunately, buying more uses of Rite of Chi allows him to make a
fairly rapid recovery. It’s also time for another bonus feat. In this
case he selects Opportunist again, this time to allow him to open,
or re-open, negotiations without penalty when he’d normally be at
a severe disadvantage - such as when being dragged off to a
starring role in an execution.
Level 19 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will (9 CP)
Warcraft : ---
Special : Elareth’s persuasive talents now transcend
language; he can freely communicate with any sentient being which
is not actively rejecting such contact (Mindspeech, 6 CP),
Returning (When his time comes at last, Elareth may attempt to
strike a deal with Death itself; if he succeeds, he gets to come back
again. Naturally enough, he would prefer to avoid putting his
negotiating ability to such a test, 6 CP), and +4 Contacts (1 CP)
Skills : 4 CP + 7 SP
Of course, with an immense network of contacts and immunity
to language barriers, Elareth is posed to expand his trade routes
across the entire known world - and possibly beyond. Justifying
Returning with Diplomacy is, once again, a bit of a stretch, but
bargains with Death have been a classical fantasy element for
millennia, and if there’s anyone who’s a good enough talker to
make it work, it’s Elareth.
Level 20 : +26 CP
Hit Die : d4 (0 CP)
Saves : +1 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will (9 CP). This gives a final
total of +12 all around.
Warcraft : +1 (6 CP) This gives a final total of +13 - not much
for a genuine warrior, respectable for a merchant.
Special : Epic Stunts (This Skill Focus upgrade allows even
more impressive supernatural feats. Sadly, each must be
“researched” independently. Elareth intends to learn to use
Diplomacy on golems, constructs, and other normally-immune
targets, to bind entire kingdoms with treaties and trade agreements,
and to talk powerful monsters into binding agreements - whether to
assist him or to simply stay out of civilized lands. 6 CP), and
another 4 Contacts (for a grand total of 64, 1 CP).
Skills : 4 CP + 7 SP
The Epic Stunts are the diplomatic equivalent of Epic
Spellcasting. Other than that, this is simply a polishing-off level,
bringing up his saving throws and combat skills. Whether or not
there’s anything beyond L20 is up to the GM, as always. If there is,
it’s probably time to start looking into other abilities. There are
still plenty of ways to boost his diplomatic and mercantile abilities,
but is there really any need?
There are still a couple of final items; Elareth’s last free level
of Self-Development and final favored commodity. He selects
Dexterity for the last level of Self-Development. Since it’s a low
score, it goes up by 2, to a total of 11. Still an odd number. Oh
well. He’d have done something about that low Dexterity earlier,
but he bought a Dexterity-boosting item years ago. As for a
Favored Commodity, it’s tempting to say something like “political
power,” but it wouldn’t make much sense. Given that his
operations are big enough to have a major impact on the economy
and coinage of the campaign at this point Elareth selects Metals,
including utilitarian, coinage, and magical metals.
Fortunately for everyone, Elareth may be a bit greedy, but he’s
fundamentally one of the good guys. He could use his abilities to
impoverish entire regions to enrich himself, but he’d rather keep
everyone prosperous and have a lot of repeat customers. The basic
concept could have gone many other ways, however.
If he’d been just a bit less ethical he could have taken
Witchcraft abilities (the line between enhancing your own skills
directly and manipulating others to make them work better is pretty
thin), applied the Traceless ability to fraud and embezzlement, or
simply been an incredible con artist.
He could have tried to use a merchant empire and the
Dominion abilities to become a literal merchant prince, traded in
slaves, or specialized in poisons and control of the underworld. He
might even have learned to steal souls and made a career of
auctioning them off to the infernal powers in exchange for magical
Distant Horizons Games
abilities. That offers a lot of easy power provided that you don’t
mind that it attracts heroes and involves an endless string of truly
grotesque acts of evil.
The real point, however, is that Elareth looks to me like he’d be
a lot of fun to play - as well as being quite unique and appropriately
balanced. That’s the reason for Eclipse - to introduce every ability
you might need to build just the character you want to play and to
make sure that there are enough options that no two characters ever
look too much alike.
! Characters may opt when created to “trade in” their level-based
bonus feats for an automatic d6 Hit Die each level, to trade in
their level-based attribute bonuses for an automatic d8, or to
trade in both for an automatic d10.
! Characters who want to create magic items should either use
Action Hero/Crafting (possibly Specialized: Double Effect.
Only covers XP creation costs), Create Artifact, Create Relic
(possibly with Enthusiast), or Create Item/Harvest of Artifice
to either create items or work with Spell Storing.
! If you have characters who are substantially behind the power
curve using this system and find this a problem, we usually
recommend awarding lower-level characters 1-2 bonus XP per
session until the disparity is resolved.

EXPECTED BONUS TOTAL

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12

01

C 02 +1
U
R 03 +1 +1 +1 +1
R
E 04 +1 +1 +1
N
T 05 +1 +1 +1

06 +1 +1 +1 +1
I
N 07 +1 +1
Levels, No Experience Points: L 08 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
If you want to continue using levels, but could do without E
keeping track of “Experience Points”, you can simply award CP V 09 +1 +1
directly - normally 2-4 per session - and count each 24 CP E
awarded as one level. You can either award intelligence-based L 10 +1 +1 +1
bonus skill points, constitution-based bonus hit points, points for
C 11 +1 +1 +1
per-level CP modifiers, bonus Feats, level-based attribute bonuses,
and the d4 hit die plus any paid-for upgrades at the 24 CP break H
12 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
points or pro-rate them. Under this system: A
R 13
! The (Level+3) limit on buying skill ranks, BAB, Magic Levels, A
and everything else goes up as soon as a character gains 1 CP C 14 +1 +1 +1 +1
towards their next level. Thus a basic level one character with T
48 CP will become eligible to purchase abilities as if he or she E 15 +1 +1 +1
was second level upon gaining one or more additional CP. R
! The number of Bonus Skill Points, Hit Points, or Character 16 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
Points available at any given time is equal to [(The Number P
O 17 +1
Expected) x (CP received in this level so far)/24]
! Since many players - given the urgency of things that come up I
N 18 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
during the game - forget to set aside points for larger hit dice
under this system, it is best to keep at least one lump-sum T 19 +1
award which occurs when the new hit die comes up.
Possibilities here include (1) points from per-level CP T 20 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
modifiers, (2) allowing characters to replace CP spent on skills O
during the past level with Int-Based bonus Skill Points to free T 21 +1 +1
up those CP for use elsewhere, and (3) allowing them to spend A
the points from level-based attribute bonuses or feats on larger L 22 +1 +1 +1 +1
hit dice.
23
! You may want to convert the usual level-based Bonus Feats to
+2 CP/Level and/or the usual Level-Based Attribute Boosts to 24 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1
+3 CP/Level. Remember that bonus points from Feats may be
freely spent outside-of-concept.

Distant Horizons Games

D20, No XP, No Levels:
Eliminating levels entirely is tricky. Levels in the game serve
several purposes - a GM tool for comparing character power
levels, as breakpoints to mark the awarding of bonus Skill Points,
Hit Dice and Hit Points, Feats, and Attribute Boosts, to measure
resistance to various spells and abilities, and as a restriction on
access to the more powerful abilities and spells. This doesn’t mean
that you can’t do it: it just means that - unless you cobble together
enough special-purpose restrictions to recreate “levels” under
another name - you’re going to wind up with a radically different
game system and less easily-portable characters. Eliminating them
means going a bit beyond the suggestions in the previous section.
Still, here are some ways of dismantling the game a bit:
Eliminating Level-Based Bonuses:
! Eliminate Intelligence Modifier based bonus skill points. Give
each character (Intelligence) skill points as a base and add their
(Int Mod) to each skill they invest at least 1 SP in. If a skill is
based on Intelligence, add the Intelligence Modifier twice.
Characters will have higher skill bases, but are unlikely to
increase them much. Many minor skills, such as Forgery, Craft,
Profession, and the more unusual Knowledges are likely to see
more use, since a point or two can give a high-intelligence
character a substantial bonus to such rolls.
! Eliminate Constitution Modifier based hit points. Give each
character (Constitution) hit points as a base and reduce the
cost of buying additional hit dice by 4 CP (to 4 + Number of
Sides), or simply have characters buy Toughness. Allow them
to heal 10% of their base HP total per day, twice that with
complete bed rest. In this variant hit dice will become far less
important save to those with innate effects which use them to
measure caster level, low-level characters will be more durable,
and high level ones will usually become more fragile.
! Eliminate level-based Bonus Feats and Attribute Bonuses. In
exchange, you may wish to (1) award occasional attribute raises
or other special bonuses based on events in the game, (2) allow
characters to start off with higher-than-usual attribute scores,
(3) simply award 3-5 CP per session rather than 2-4, or (4)
simply accept slightly-slower character progressions.
And/Or:
! Eliminate Intelligence Modifier based SP but allow characters
to buy 2 SP per CP expended. This option will, of course, make
Intelligence far less important, but favors characters who were
investing heavily in skills.
! Eliminate Constitution Modifier based HP, but allow characters
to buy Toughness at half cost and hit dice at (4 + Number of
Sides)/2 CP each. This option will make Constitution far less
important to warriors, favoring skill and finesse.
! Base the “level of use” for all abilities on either the number of
hit dice currently purchased (the usual for innate magical
powers in any case) or on the purchased caster level.
! Use Attributes directly, rather than their Modifiers, as the basis
for skill rankings and apply a -6 “unskilled” penalty on
unskilled attempts.
! For a notably higher-powered variant, base the “level of use” of
abilities directly on the user’s attributes. While this will allow
a starting character to wield his or her (rather limited) selection
of special abilities with considerable skill, it means that their
talents will increase relatively slowly, if at all. This option is
usually best for “superhero”-styled games.
! If you want to make high attributes even more useful, you can
allow characters to buy ranks of attribute-based enhancements
for fixed prices. In this case, some possible costs include:
• + (Con Mod) Hit Points for 4 CP
• + (Int Mod) Skill Points for 2 CP.
• + (Cha Mod) Contacts for 2 CP.
Of course, unless otherwise restrained, such as by levels or by
one or more of the options below, this can rapidly get out of
hand.
Controlling Character Abilities Without Levels:
While Eclipse offers a wide variety of methods for restraining
characters special abilities already, a level-free game offers some
special challenges. Just how powerful do you want a specialized
character to be able to become?
! No Limitations: This option should be obvious enough - but if
you let characters buy anything they want, it’s best to be ready
for some pretty extreme specialists and wild power variations in
any group of characters. This works well in super-hero worlds,
but tends to flow off the flavor of more “realistic” worlds.
! Inherent Cap: In this variant, a character’s rank in the “Self-
Development” ability serves as a hard cap on skill levels,
magical progressions, feat chains, buying hit dice, and all other
abilities. In general, at least the first rank of self-development
should be free: Infants, Children, Adolescents, and Adults
normally have ranks 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively at a base cost of
6 CP per rank. Self-Development also grants a +1 bonus to an
attribute every four ranks. Self-Development can be purchased
corrupted by eliminating the attribute bonus function. It may be
considered Specialized if it is also limited to raising the cap on
a limited group of abilities. Of course, in essence, this is buying
“levels” without associated abilities.
! Realistic Limitations: In this variant, characters may buy
whatever they please, whenever they please, but their purchases
are limited by their (relevant attribute modifier + 3, 1
minimum). For example, a character could buy up to (Con
Mod+3) Hit Dice, a BAB of up to (Dex Mod + 3), up to
(Casting Attribute Modifier + 3) casting levels, and up to (Int
Mod + 3) levels in skills. Feat Sequences are similarly limited
to a maximum of ([6 x Relevant Attribute Modifier] + 18) CP.
Characters in this system will tend to acquire a broad base of
abilities, and numerous special tricks, but will require immense
amounts of self-development if they wish to attain truly
superhuman levels of ability in any field.
! Unrealistic Limitations: This works like Realistic Limitations
does - but the cap is based on the total attribute value, not the
modifier.
Distant Horizons Games
Out-Of-Game CP Bonuses:
Optionally, the game master may permit players to take a set of
disadvantages to represent real-world commitments to keeping the
game enjoyable or making it easier to run. For example, a player
who always brings the chips or soda may opt to take “Snack
Master”, and thus get an extra +3 CP for all of his or her characters.
Someone who keeps detailed notes anyway may opt to run off a
few copies and hand them around at the start of the next session,
gaining some CP for “Record Keeper”. The guy who always gives
another couple of players a ride qualifies as well, as does the
person who always files an up-to-date character sheet with the GM
or the one who keeps a character diary.
Sadly, in practice, this rarely seems to work out. Good players
rarely need a boost, a few extra CP won’t be enough of a bribe to
reform the bad ones, and people with real-world reasons for not
keeping up with game-related disadvantages tend to get cranky if
they’re penalized in the game as well. Under those circumstances
they usually want to play and forget about their real-world
problems. Ergo, we don’t really recommend using this rule unless
you’ve got a very solid and committed group of players.
Errata and FAQ:
Well, there had to be some didn’t there? If you notice any
more, please let us know, and we’ll either update this supplement -
or, if it’s something major, the primary files. Currently our errata
consists of:
• Page 15: Mysticism, add “can be” before “specialized”.
• Page 31: Dominion should have a period after “72", rather than
a repeated “with the GM’s Permission”.
• Page 32: Shifting Bonuses via Expertise is a free action, but
can only be done once per round.
• Page 61: Grandiose creatures without Constitution scores can
also buy size-based bonus HP. We didn’t include these in the
base book, because such creatures are pretty much unplayable.
Still, if you want to try it, it’s +240 for Mountainous, +1000 for
Continental, +5000 for Astronomical, +30,000 for Planetary,
+200,000 for Stellar, and +2,000,000 for Nebular. Go ahead,
get into a fight with an animated galaxy. Let me know how that
works out for you.
• Page 82: Under “Occult Techniques” Healing Hand should
have a “!” in front of it.
• Page 161: To maintain alphabetical order, the “Superheroic”
template should have been put in front of the Wu Xia template.
! What are the Ranges and Usage Limitations on
Dragonfire and the Path of the Dragon?
The Path of the Dragon is designed to allow the construction
of some of the more outrageous types of characters from fantasy
fiction and superhero comics, ergo the caps were left up to the GM.
Most of our games cap spell-level expenditure on Dragonfire at
(Con) spell levels: exceeding that limitation causes 1d6 damage to
the user per additional spell level. Low-powered games may wish
to add “or (Level+3) spell levels, whichever is less”. Similarly, the
Pulse of the Dragon/Heart of the Dragon combination may allow
for unlimited use of low-level spells or the Game Master may rule
that you have to bring that power fully under control somehow first
- either by taking a round to gather it and then a round to shape it
or by actually requiring you to absorb it via the Eye of the Dragon
ability before you can shape higher level spells.
! How do I buy the Rogues special ability to detect traps and
why isn’t it listed in the Rogue class breakdown in the back?
You don’t have to buy anything. Since Eclipse doesn’t have
classes as such, there’s no distinction between characters as to how
skills work.
! How much damage does a Spirit Weapon do?
Spirit Weapons use the base statistics for any weapon available
in the setting. In modern- or future- setting campaigns GM’s may
wish to limit Spirit Weapons to classical muscle-powered weaponry
and/or to give characters using large or flashy spirit weapons an
extra die of damage just to keep everyone from making characters
with Spirit-Weapon bazookas and assault weapons.
! Why are the rules for giving all characters natural power,
mana, and generic spell level reserves buried on page 102?
Well, because they’re optional. Nevertheless, they do seem to
be popular - so if you want to give every character, whether or not
they ever use it, (Cha/2) Power and (Con/3) Generic Spell Levels -
and possibly even 1d6 Mana (if they want to use it, they’ll have to
buy something to use it on however, this does not automatically
come with a natural magic option) - go right ahead.
! What’s the Caster Level, and which Attribute do you use to
get the Saving Throw DC, for Innate Spells, the Path of the
Dragon, and similar abilities?
The Caster Level for most innate abilities is either the user’s
level or his or her number of hit dice, whichever is larger. The save
DC is based on Constitution unless the user has no Constitution, in
which case it’s up to the GM.
! How do I buy skill bonuses for Templates?
Simply put points into the relevant skills. Skill bonuses in
Templates may exceed the usual (Level+3) skill maximum.
! How many extra Hit Dice can I buy?
You can normally buy up to (Level+3) hit dice, plus any you
may have as part of a template. Yes, if you’ve got the points, you
may buy more than one per level. If you abide by these restrictions,
you may also buy d0 hit dice at 4 CP apiece.
! How can I build characters who mutate or change?
There are actually two ways to go about this: one is to simply
buy several levels of Enthusiast, which will suffice for minor
changes. If you want a more elaborate rewrite, buy Returning with
the Rewrite option and corrupt or specialize it appropriately.
! How can I buy “Per-Encounter” abilities?
Any immediate ability which can be used three or more times
per day may be considered Corrupted if it can only be used once
per “encounter”. If it could normally be used five or more times per
day and is reduced to once “per encounter” it may be considered
Specialized. Anything usable ten or more times per day may be
considered Corrupted if it can only be used 3 times per encounter
or Specialized if it can only be used twice per encounter.
! How can I eliminate Iterative Attacks?
If you just don’t want to be bothered, buy Warcraft Corrupted
(No Iterative Attacks), or Enhanced Strike/Crushing with Bonus
Uses. If you just want to inflict extra damage simply spend the
leftover points buying Augment Attack.
! How can I set up contingencies, such as having “previously
sent a message” or “having a local contact who owes me a
favor” or “knowing about a nearby safehouse”?
While the game master might let you get away with Action
Hero/Stunts despite the fact that those are normally of much shorter
duration, the most direct way to do this is to buy Mana with the
Reality Editing option, possibly specialized in this application.
! Can Power Words store spells from other sources?
Yes. This is essentially a spell (or psionic power) storing effect,
and can store spells and powers provided by other people.
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! How do I buy per-encounter rerolls for particular situations
or sets of abilities?
Simply buy Luck with Bonus Uses, corrupted and specialized -
only for use in the situation you want, and with limited uses per
encounter. See “Per-Encounter Abilities”, above.
! What are the most popular world laws?
So far, they’re:
• Halving the cost of Self-Development, allowing cheaper
Attribute Bonuses and more powerful racial templates.
• Using the Wealth Levels and Charms and Talismans rules
from The Practical Enchanter.
• Using the rules for natural Power and Generic Spell Levels,
as noted above and on page 102 of Eclipse: TCP.
! How can I make an alchemist or similar character who
creates minor magical devices for each adventure?
The easiest way to do this is to buy Enthusiast (Double):
Specialized: Can only be changed in laboratory, normally between
adventures. Corrupted: Only usable on “Innate Spell” and similar
magical gifts. The two modifiers triple the effect, providing a total
of 6 “Floating” CP to make potions and scrolls with at a cost of 6
CP. Then buy Create Relic. Specialized: only to make limited-use
items costing a maximum of 3 CP each. 3 CP. If you want to be
able to loan items to other people, add Blessing: Specialized (only
for use with items created with this package, +3 CP).
Potions, Scrolls, and Talismans are normally bought as Innate
Spell (Sometimes with Bonus Uses): Specialized (Does not
recover, Half Cost). For example:
Pouch of Fireball Dust. Innate Spell: Fireball, +4 Bonus Uses.
1 CP. For 2 CP you can have a pouch with 13 uses. For 3 CP you
get 21. The same pattern works for other L3 spells, such as Cure
Serious Wounds (L2 spells get an extra use, if you want L1 spells
you get two of them with the same number of uses each).
Unfortunately, this doesn’t bypass the level requirements for using
innate spells, so low-level alchemists may have to wait a bit before
they can start blowing things up.
Minor Scrolls: Occult Talent/Improved, Corrupted: Slots must
be preset, Effect x 1.5 (7x L0, 5x L1 spells in total). For a sample
list, this would cover scrolls of Light, Message, Detect Magic (x2),
Read Magic, Create Water, Mage Hand, Magic Missile, Silent
Image, Obscuring Mist, Entangle, and Color Spray. As usual for
“innate spells” these are cast at an effective caster level equal to the
characters total level. 2 CP
Curative Ointment. Healing Touch with Bonus Uses (5 doses
that Cure the user’s [Chr Mod x Level HP]) and
Improved/Switch/Empower with Bonus Uses (4+Level/3 total uses
of Remove Disease, Remove Blindness/Deafness, Cure Serious
Wounds, Remove Curse, Neutralize Poison, and Restoration). 3 CP
This talent has a sneaky advantage built in: not only does the
user have a plentiful supply of low-level gizmos to start off each
adventure, but he or she can pass them around and can make them
with any spell effect he or she desires: you don’t have to “learn”
spells to get them as innate spells or occult talents.
A fairly similar setup works for any minor artificer who
specializes in a particular area, such as temporarily enchanting
weaponry, granting physical feats, providing mystical senses, or
any other limited field.
! What can I use the bonuses from Berserker for?
Almost anything. For example, a cleric could buy “Righteous
Wrath” and apply a +4 bonus to his or her Turning Level, +4 to all
saves against the abilities of the Undead, and +2 to AC versus
Undead but -2 versus other attackers, who are not deterred by his or
her blazing corona of holy radiance. You could have a comic-book
style surge of strength, applying the entire bonus there. You can
even focus on being convincing, like the Merchant example earlier.
! Are Base Caster Levels (page 10) the same as Magic Levels
(page 11)?
Definitely not. Base Caster Level determines how well you can
use your learned magical talents. Magic Levels determine how
much raw power you have available to use.
Legal Stuff:
Art Credit: The “Merchant” image is a section from The
Discourse, by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1836-1912.
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