Sem, the Sin-Eater.

   First up for today it’s another character for the Atheria Campaign, which is coming off hiatus. In this case, it’s an eccentric paladin-type. Like all our characters, these are built using the classless d20 Point-Buy rules from Eclipse: The Codex Persona and the spells from The Practical Enchanter. Both are available in shareware versions: just follow the links.  

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“Grievous-Sin-Against-My-Gods” Sem

   He-Who-Bears-The-Sins-And-Vows-Of-Others, Atheria Campaign

   It’s been six thousand years. Despite – or perhaps because of – the magic of purity in their blood, and the power of the Oath of Remembrance to bind their spirits, that’s long enough for a lot of weird beliefs to creep into the various groups of monks who live at the edges of the Mri desert.

   Many fanatical splinter sects and odd religious orders have sworn restrictive vows in that time – and, as with most ritually-sworn oaths on Atheria – such vows are binding.

   They’re also a terrible pain. Some centuries ago, someone discovered that – if you found a willing victim – you could ritually bind those bothersome oaths to him or her; as long as he or she lived up to them, and accepted that burden, no one else had to.

   Sem was raised by for that purpose – and has accepted as his burden a wide variety of oaths, restricting himself to water, boiled or parched grains, and wild greens, to sleeping without a mattress or pillow and with only a canvas sheet for “warmth”, to refraining from sex, games, and recreational reading apart from sacred texts, to spending several hours a day praying, and so on. In fact, he alternates between his eccentric services to his gods and wanting to resurrect them so that he can assault them – which is why he’s currently accompanying Fauve to Chelm: he may find some artifacts which might lead him to his gods, or he might be killed. Both good…

Mri Desert Human: Solar/Purity Birthright (30 CP, +0 ECL):

• Action Hero/Stunt: Specialized in Solar/Purification effects only (double effect: they gain [4 + 2x Level] AP each time they gain a level, may accumulate up to [4 x Level + 20] AP at any one time, and may briefly gain 12 CP worth of Solar/Purification abilities by spending one (6 CP).
• Immunity to “Contamination” (e.g – poison, negative energy effects, possession, etcetera. Common/Major/Minor: this provides a +4 bonus on relevant saving throws, 6 CP).
• Innate Enchantment (5000 GP value, 6 CP): Resist Fire and Heat (provides resistance 10, 1400 GP), Resistance (+1 Resistance bonus to all saves, 700 GP), Dancing Lights (at will, 1000 GP), Sustenance (has only one-quarter the usual need to eat, sleep, drink, and breathe, 1400 GP), and Eyes of the Sun (cannot be blinded by bright lights, 700 GP).
• Inherent Spell with Bonus Uses (12 CP, a L3 effect 5 times per day): Any first level Solar or Purification effect.

   Available CP: 72 (L2 Base) +10 (Disadvantages: History, Unluck, and Outcast [mostly due to that oath against bathing]) +8 (4/Level from Duties [must uphold his lengthy list of restrictive vows, including his vow of poverty] and two Restrictions [may not use armor or manmade weapons]) +12 (L1 and L2 Feats) + 4 (Experience) = 106. Level-Based Attribute Bonuses: L2/+1 Str.

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Basic Attributes	Value	Modifier
Strength	16	+3
Dexterity	14	+2
Constitution	14	+2
Intelligence	13	+1
Wisdom	9	-1
Charisma	16	+3

 

Basic Abilities (50 CP):

• Hit Dice: Level One; d20 (16 CP), Level 2 d10 (6 CP, 10). +16 Bonus HP (Relic). HP: 50
• BAB: +6 (Specialized in Unarmed Combat and Rocks, 18 CP)
• Proficiencies: Rocks (1 CP)

Saving Throws	Purchased	Attribute	Bonuses	Total
Fortitude	+1 (3 CP)	+2 (Con)	+1 Res	+4
Reflex	+1 (3 CP)	+2 (Dex)	+1 Res	+4
Will	+1 (3 CP)	-1 (Wis)	+1 Res	+1

   +4 versus “contaminating” effects, such as poison and corruptive magic

   Wealth Level: Destitute. One Charm, +2 Circumstance Modifier to Disguise and Knowledge/Local, +2 Wealth Bonus to Diplomacy, Gather Information, Search, and Sense Motive, +2 SP/Level gained at this wealth level for those skills. Characters at this wealth level would normally suffer attribute penalties, however Sem’s birthright includes near-immunity to hunger, cold, and most of the normal frailties of the flesh, ergo this penalty has been waived.

   Usual Charm/Stone of Sins. This heavy rock has the same effect as “holy water” on whatever it hits three times per day and provides a +1 bonus to damage in “unarmed” combat. Sem normally carries this as a part of his penance, representing the weight of his vows and the misdeeds of the world.

Combat Abilities:

• Armor Class 10 (Base) +2 (Dex) = 12
• Unarmed Attack: +9/+4 (+6 BAB +3 Str), 1d8+4 (+3 Str +1 Stone), Crit 20/x2. May Whirlwind.

Purchased Abilities (47 CP):

• Adept (3 CP, Specialized in Knowledge/Religion and Diplomacy):
• The Inner Light/Channeling (38 CP): All channeling powers Corrupted: Will only function as long as Sem remains a good person, a champion of the weak and helpless, and otherwise “worthy” (2/3’rds cost): (3 + Cha Mod +4 Bonus Uses) uses per day (10 CP), +8 Intensity (12 CP).
  • Divine Wrath Path:
    • Smite (4 CP, adds [Cha Mod] to an attack roll and [Intensity] to the damage) and
    • Wrath (4 CP, adds [Magnitude] touch damage to an attack).
  • Tides of Light and Darkness Path:
    • The Reaching Hand (4 CP, raises base range to 120′) and
    • Repulsion (4 CP, sweep away up to [Magnitude] targets weighing up to [Intensity x 100] pounds each, forcing them back 120 feet).
  • Base Intensity: d20: 1; 4, 3-4; 5, 5-7; 6, 8-10; 7, 11-13; 8, 14-16; 9, and 17-20; 10
  • Base Magnitude: 2d6+5 (+4d6, see The Litany of Illumination, below).
• The Exaltation of the Light/Berserker (6 CP): +8 Channeling Level (both Intensity and Magnitude) for (3+Con Mod) rounds (Level+3)/3 times per day. He is Fatigued afterwards.
• In theory, Sem also knows some of the techniques of Enchantment and Spell Storing that were used in the Ancient World. Unfortunately, these don’t normally work on Atheria, and cannot yet be used. If he ever does get enough CP invested in them to use them (he’ll need both Spell Storing and Harvest of Artifice), he’ll still find that such items are unstable on Atheria and will decay sooner or later. Given that this makes them a lot less useful, the disciplines involved will all count as being Specialized.  

   Starting Relic/The Litany of Illumination (3 CP): The thin and worn pages of this modest tome contain the daily sacred litanies of the Ancient Gods, the catechism of the church, and a broad selection of other religious information (+15 bonus to looking up the litanies and such). While he bears it, Sem enjoys the benefit of:

• Enhanced Channeling Intensity IV (+4d6 Magnitude, 12 CP) and
• Innate Enchantment (6 CP/5000 GP Value): This provides him with free use of:
  • Lens of Rey: Converts a Turn attempt into a positive energy ray which has +4 Intensity and does [magnitude + 1d6] points of healing.
  • Sunfury: Expends two turn attempts at a time, providing a +3 bonus on the Intensity and doubling the magnitude), and
  • Unlimited Automatic Personal Use of Immortal Vigor I, providing 12 + 2x Con Mod bonus HP.

   Yes, the monks who loaded him up with his vows very much want him to stay alive. If he dies, they’ll have to stick with their vows until they can find someone else to unload them on.

   Skill Points: (Int Mod) x (Level + 3) + 6 CP +(2 x Level -2) for Wealth for Diplomacy, Gather Information, Search, or Sense Motive = 13 SP.

Skill	SP	Att	Bonuses	Net
Knowledge/Religion	2*	+1		+5
Diplomacy	2*	+3	+2W	+8
Martial Arts / Ghost Busting Technique	5	+3		+8
Knowledge/History	1	+1		+2
Knowledge/Local		+1	+2C	+3
Disguise		+3	+2C	+5
Gather Information	2	-1	+2W	+3
Search		-1	+2W	+1
Sense Motive		-1	+2W	+1

• *Half Cost due to Adept.
• Knowledge/Religion provides a +2 bonus on Turning Checks. This has already been included on the Base Intensity roll chart provided above.
• Martial Arts Techniques Known: Strike (1d5 base, always considered armed, 1d4 base damage), Power II (1d8 Base “Unarmed” damage), and Whirlwind Attack.
• Languages: Ikunn (Native) and Havril,

   Usual Equipment: Loincloth, Rope Belt, Crude Bag (containing his grain, wooden begging bowl, wooden spoon, wooden cup, and sacred texts), a Square of Canvas/Blanket, his Stone of Sins (tied to one arm), his Wooden Holy Symbols, a battered Water Bag, and a Spare Piece of Rope (to re-lash his loincloth or the Stone of Sins if the old rope breaks).

 

   Sem may not be entirely correct: this version is based on the information I have at the moment – but I don’t have the player’s notes, and thus had to reroll the attributes and may be wrong on most of the details. Regardless, this is still a functional character for the setting, and I’ll leave it here even if the original version gets put up as well.