A tainted forest located within a manifest zone connecting the Shadowlands to the Negative Energy Plane.
Taint
Overview
In the shadowed depths of the Negative Energy Plane, a place consisting entirely of the essence of evil, a force known as Taint infiltrates the world through manifest zones. These zones are marked by the presence of Negative Planar Crystals, pure and undiluted negative energy in crystalline form, which inflict their corruption upon all living beings in proximity and their environment.
These dark crystals cast a pall of Corruption over the land. Flora succumbs to withering death, fauna is either struck down by disease or twisted into unnatural forms, and waters turn foul and deadly. This blight of Corruption festers in the heart of forests, fields, and streams, despoiling the natural vitality of the land.
In tandem, a shadow of Depravity invades the minds of those dwelling too close to these malevolent crystals. It is a quagmire of despair and aggression that ensnares the soul, distorting thoughts and wills toward darkness. Those afflicted hear the whispers of madness and are plagued by visions of their darkest fears, driving them to acts of cruelty and malice that mirror the chaos of the Negative Plane.
Though a paladin might remain entirely virtuous in their actions and thoughts, long years of struggle against the forces of evil can erode their body and soul. True heroes refuse to allow the taint of evil to spread, warding it off through magic or penance. Sometimes, however, even well-intentioned characters embrace the taint within them, using it to increase their physical or mental power.
A creature's effective level of Taint is the combined total of their Corruption and Depravity scores.
Taint and Alignment
While characters with a minor amount of taint aren’t necessarily evil, they probably are. The more taint they acquire, the more evil they become. However, all evil characters accrue some form of Taint in one way or another. Characters with the Evil subtype at creation have a Corruption score equal to ½ their Constitution mod and a Depravity score equal to ½ their Wisdom mod. Evil non-humanoids always have a Corruption score equal to ½ their Constitution mod and a Depravity score equal to ½ their Wisdom mod.
A character's alignment can be affected by acquired taint. As characters acquire more corruption, particularly as they acquire more and more depravity, they are increasingly inclined toward evil acts. The stench of evil clings to a character with at least moderate taint, causing them to register as evil to a detect evil spell. Any actual alignment change is up to the DM's discretion, but as a rule of thumb, characters with moderate taint are neutral at best, while characters with severe taint are usually evil.
The Paladin's Detect Evil ability also detects Taint.
Deities and Codes of Conduct
Clerics of good deities risk divine displeasure if they acquire too much taint. Divine warnings might begin when a cleric acquires moderate levels of corruption or depravity, or perhaps even sooner. If a cleric of a good deity acquires severe levels of taint, they are considered to have grossly violated the deity's code of conduct and loses all spells and class features until they atone and reduce their taint to at most moderate levels.
A paladin who acquires moderate levels of taint loses all paladin spells and abilities and cannot advance further as a paladin until they atone and reduce their taint to at most mild levels.
Becoming Tainted
Characters can acquire taint by entering a place suffused with evil, coming into contact with a vile object, through the attacks of certain monsters, and performing vile acts. This taint can manifest physically, in which case it is called corruption, or mentally, in which case it is called depravity. Both corruption and depravity are measured in points. Typically, characters acquire 1 point of Corruption or Depravity from exposure to taint.
Every 24 hours spent in a tainted place or carrying a tainted object can bestow an additional 1 point of corruption or depravity for every 24 hours of exposure. In most cases, a character can attempt a saving throw to resist the effects of taint. Corruption allows a Fortitude save, while depravity allows a Will save. The base DC is 10 + 5 for every 24 hours of consecutive exposure. Multiple simultaneous exposures (such as carrying a tainted weapon in a tainted place) increase the DC by +5 per source of exposure every 24 hours. If the character fails their saving throw, their Corruption or Depravity score goes up by 1, depending on the nature of the taint.
Any time a character acquires more points of corruption at one time than half their current Constitution score (rounded down), they must attempt another Fortitude save (DC 15 + points of corruption acquired). If this save is successful, they are sickened for 1d4 rounds; if they fail, they are nauseated for 1d4 rounds. Similarly, any time a character acquires more points of depravity at one time than half their current Wisdom score (rounded down), they must attempt another Will save (DC 15 + points of depravity acquired). If this save is successful, they are shaken for 1d4 rounds; if they fail, they are panicked for 1d4 rounds.
Any immunity to these effects is ignored. Creatures without a Constitution score are immune to the effects of gaining massive amounts of Corruption at once. Similarly, creatures without a Wisdom score are immune to the effects of gaining massive amounts of Depravity at once.
Evil and Taint
Simply having an evil alignment is no defense against taint—it is too profound an effect for personal beliefs or moral codes to ward it off. Creatures with the Evil subtype and undead creatures are immune to any negative effects from taint. They automatically have effective corruption and depravity scores equal to one-half their Charisma score, +1 for undead or +2 for outsiders. They take no penalties due to these taint scores, but they can use them to qualify for feats or prestige classes.
Evil creatures can become tainted by good. Sacred places and objects taint evil creatures, while the inverse is also true. For example, creatures with the Good subtype are immune to the effects of taint in sacred places, but those sacred places would rot away creatures of the Evil subtype.
Alternative Saving Throws
Often, fantasy literature portrays characters who delve into ancient, lost, or forbidden knowledge as becoming warped by their exposure to such knowledge. When a creature is subjected to an effect that would cause Depravity, they are subjected to a Will saving throw, and a creature that is subjected to something that would accrue Corruption they will need to make a Fortitude save.
Whether a Fortitude save or a Will save is used, clerics, druids, and monks are equally resistant to taint, which supports the genre conceit of horrible secrets hidden in inaccessible temples and monasteries. Rogues are vulnerable either way, explaining how thieves often appear in the genre as unwittingly releasing horror on the world when they steal something that was better left lost and protected.
Tainted Places and Locations
Tainted locales have additional effects beyond increasing the taint of characters who enter them. Whenever a character casts a spell with the evil descriptor in a tainted area, she gains +1 effective caster level but must make a Will save (DC 15+ spell level) or have their depravity score increase by 1. Whenever a character casts a spell with the good descriptor or a spell from the healing subschool in a tainted area, she takes -1 effective caster level. Occasionally, entire planes may inflict taint. Mildly evil-aligned planes inflict taint, as outlined in Becoming Tainted (see above). On strongly evil-aligned planes, the saving throw DC increases by +5 every 12 hours instead of every 24 hours.
Some locations are so suffused with evil that simply entering them exposes a character to corruption or depravity, and lingering there deals increasing taint. For example, an evil temple that has hosted hundreds of human sacrifices, a portal to an evil plane, the crypt-home of a powerful lich, or the site of a mass murder might all harbor some degree of taint. Entire planes of existence might also be suffused with taint.
Depending on the nature of the site, a tainted location can bestow either corruption or depravity upon characters who enter it. Sites strongly associated with the undead and with death often bestow corruption, while sites linked to evil outsiders and human evil more often bestow depravity. In general, initial exposure to such a tainted place increases a character's taint score (either corruption or depravity) by 1 point. If the evil of the place is very great, it could increase the character's taint score by 1d3 or even 1d4 points. Characters can attempt a saving throw (Fortitude to resist corruption, Will to resist depravity) to avoid this taint or reduce the size of the increase to their taint scores. The DC ranges from 20 for a typical site up to 25 or 30 for extremely malevolent locales.
Other environments, such as Dread Effects and Haunting Presences, may affect the amount of Taint in an area.
Detect Taint
Divination
Level: Cleric 1
Components: V, S,
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 ft
Area: Cone-shaped emanation
Duration: Concentration, up to 10 min./level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
You can sense the presence of taint in nearby objects and creatures. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject:
1st Round: Presence or absence of taint within the area.
2nd Round:Number of tainted creatures in the area and the strength of the strongest tainted aura present. If you are free of taint, if the strongest tainted aura is overwhelming (see below), and if the strength of the tainted aura is at least twice your character level, you are nauseated for 1 round and the spell ends.
3rd Round: The strength and location of each tainted aura. If a tainted aura is outside your line of sight, you discern its direction but not its exact location.
Aura Strength: The strength of a tainted aura depends on the corruption or depravity score (whichever is higher) of the creature you are detecting, or the amount of taint bestowed by an object, location, or creature without a taint score. If an aura falls into more than one strength category, you learn about the stronger of the two.
| Taint Score | Taint Bestowed* | Aura Strength |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0* | Faint |
| 2–6 | 1 | Moderate |
| 7–14 | 1d2 or 1d3 | Strong |
| 15+ | 1d4+ | Overwhelming |
* An object or location that is tainted in some way but does not bestow taint generally has a faint aura strength. | ||
Length Aura Lingers: How long the aura lingers depends on its original strength:
| Original Strength | Duration of Lingering Aura |
|---|---|
| Faint | 1d6 minutes |
| Moderate | 1d6 × 10 minutes |
| Strong | 1d6 hours |
| Overwhelming | 1d6 days |
Each round, you can turn to detect things in a new area. The spell can penetrate barriers, but 1 ft of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 ft of wood or dirt blocks it.
Spell is unedited, HoH 128
Cleansing Taint
It is possible to remove taint from characters in several ways, including through the use of spells, the performance of good deeds, and cleansing in a sacred spring. Taint cannot be removed unless the tainted character wants to be cleansed. If an increase in taint causes a character's corruption or depravity score to cross over into a higher taint level (for example, shifting from mild to moderate), neither taint score can be reduced to a lower taint level unless quickly treated (within 24 hours) or through use of an atonement, miracle, or wish spell (see below).
Cleansing Tainted Places: The hallow spell can remove taint from an area, but it takes time. The spell must remain intact for an entire year to remove the taint. If, during that time, an opposing character casts unhallow on some or all of the area, the effort is lost and must be reinstated by another casting of hallow. The hallow spell only affects a 40-foot-radius area, so large areas could require many clerics working simultaneously to cleanse them completely.
Spells
The following spells can reduce taint scores when cast outside tainted areas. No character can have a taint score reduced by any particular spell more than once per day, although different spells can reduce taint if cast on the same character on the same day.
Atonement: This spell can remove taint, but with limits. First, it always requires a quest. Second, the caster chooses a number up to their caster level when he casts the atonement, and the spell reduces the target's corruption and depravity scores by that amount. This use of atonement, which costs the caster 500 XP, can reduce taint to a lower taint level.
Heal: This spell reduces a character's corruption and depravity scores by 1 point per three caster levels. If used within 24 hours of the target's acquiring enough taint to qualify as mild or moderate taint, heal can reduce taint below that threshold.
Miracle or Wish: These spells remove sufficient taint to place the target at the highest threshold of the next lower taint level, regardless of how much time has passed.
Remove Curse: This spell reduces the character's depravity score by 1.
Remove Disease: This spell reduces the character's corruption score by 1.
Restoration: This spell reduces the character's corruption and depravity scores by 1 point per four caster levels. If used within 24 hours of the target's acquiring enough taint to qualify as mild taint, it can reduce taint below that threshold.
Greater Restoration: This spell reduces the character's corruption and depravity scores by a number of points equal to the caster level of the cleric casting greater restoration. If used within 24 hours of a taint threshold being crossed, it can reduce taint to below that threshold.
Good Deeds
Simple good deeds are not enough to remove taint. A character wishing to reduce their depravity score through good deeds must undertake a specific ritual under the guidance of one of their deity's clerics. The ritual prepares the character to undertake the deed.
Each deity's faith has a list of ritual good deeds the faithful can perform to prove their dedication to the deity. For example, the faithful of a deity can choose to put on garments sacred to their faith (and which identify their faith to anyone who sees them) and patrol a particular part of their home as part of the militia or city guard. Adventuring is never part of such a good deed, and a character who undertakes an adventure prior to completing their deed must begin again with the ritual (but see the alternate option below).
The good deed must be repeated every day for a week. On completion, the character's depravity score is reduced by 1 point. The character can continue the deed for another week to continue losing depravity or return to the temple to undertake the ritual again and begin a different deed.
Alternatively, good deeds might be quests undertaken on behalf of the deity. After the quest ends, the character's depravity score is reduced by 1 point per week required to complete the quest.
Sacred Springs
Springs sacred to a particular deity or cause are located in remote regions and can be reached only by long and dangerous travel. For each day a character spends resting and cleansing himself at a sacred spring, their corruption score is reduced by 1 point. A character using this method to reduce their corruption score can undertake no activities other than resting, eating, sleeping, meditation, and normal conversation.
Resisting Taint
There are natural substances that absorb taint and thus protect those who carry them. Some examples include a locket containing holy scriptures, a book containing holy and pure imagery, an intricately crafted silver ring, or a silk sash. Regardless of the shape or substance of the item, taint-absorbing items must contain a stabilized Positive Planar Crystal. The amount of taint an object absorbs is determined by the purity of the Planar Crystal that it features.
As the crystal absorbs taint, it darkens, becomes brittle, and gradually dissolves into nothing. During this time, it absorbs all taint to which the carrier is exposed up to a number of points determined by its purity. Multiple items protect a character from more taint, but only to a point, as described in the Multiple Items table. If a character carries multiple taint-absorbing items, they all decompose gradually at the same time, distributing the absorbed taint among every item carried. The presence of multiple items seems to amplify the taint even as the items absorb it, causing them to decompose more rapidly.
Taint-Absorbing items may be crafted using the Taint-Absorbing Items table. The item the crystal is being put into will determine which craft skill will be used.
| Items Possessed | Points Absorbed |
|---|---|
| 1 | * |
| 2 | Total Points − 2 |
| 3 | Total Points − 3 |
| 4 | Total Points − 4 |
| 5 | Total Points − 5 |
| 6 | Total Points − 6 |
| 7 or more | ** |
* Points absorbed are determined by the purity of the crystal incorporated into the item, as shown on the Taint-Absorbing Items table. ** Subtract the number of taint absorbing items from the total amount of points absorbed. Multiple Items | |
| Purity | Absorption | Craft DC | Craft Cost | Market Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Least | 3 | 20 | 50gp | 150gp |
| Lesser | 7 | 25 | 100gp | 300gp |
| Greater | 10 | 30 | 150gp | 450gp |
Taint-Absorbing Items | ||||
Effects of Taint
Both corruption and depravity manifest in mild, moderate, and severe symptoms. The relationship between a character's taint scores and their Constitution and Wisdom scores determines the severity of the physical and mental manifestations of their taint. A character with a high Constitution can acquire more corruption before displaying physical symptoms, while a character with a low Wisdom quickly manifests mental symptoms of their depravity.
To determine the severity of a character's taint symptoms, first find their Constitution score in the leftmost column of the Taint Threshold table and read across until you find the column to the right that includes their current physical corruption score. The top of that column indicates the severity of their physical taint symptoms. Then repeat the process with their Wisdom score and their depravity score to determine the severity of their mental taint symptoms.
No Taint: A character with no taint manifests no symptoms.
Mild Taint: A character who gains their first point of taint crosses the threshold into mild taint and must receive a restoration, heal, or greater restoration spell and have their taint reduced to 0 within 24 hours or be permanently afflicted with mild taint. If a character retains mild taint after 24 hours, they manifest one minor physical or mental symptom from the descriptions below. A character with mild depravity and mild corruption manifests one physical symptom and one mental symptom. Once a character manifests a minor symptom, only a miracle or wish spell can remove the symptom and return the character's taint to 0.
Moderate Taint: A character who gains enough taint to cross the threshold into moderate taint must receive a heal or greater restoration spell and have their taint reduced to mild taint level within 24 hours or be permanently afflicted with moderate taint. If a character retains moderate taint after 24 hours, he manifests one moderate physical or mental symptom from the descriptions below. A character with moderate depravity and moderate corruption manifests one physical symptom and one mental symptom. Once a character manifests a moderate symptom, only a miracle or wish spell can remove the symptom and return the character's taint to mild. A character with moderate taint keeps the symptoms he gained from mild taint in addition to the new ones gained from moderate taint.
Severe Taint: A character who gains enough taint to cross the threshold into severe taint must receive a greater restoration spell and have their taint reduced to moderate taint level within 24 hours or be permanently afflicted with severe taint. If a character retains severe taint after 24 hours, they manifest one severe physical or mental symptom from the descriptions below. A character with severe depravity and severe corruption manifests one physical symptom and one mental symptom. Once a character manifests a severe symptom, only a miracle or wish spell can remove the symptom and return the character's taint to moderate.
For example, Regdar has a Constitution of 14 and a Wisdom of 8. If he acquires 4 points of corruption and 4 points of depravity, he displays only mild physical symptoms (one mild physical symptom), but moderate mental symptoms (one mild mental symptom and one moderate mental symptom). When their corruption and depravity scores each reach 12, he has moderate corruption (and manifests a moderate physical symptom) and severe depravity (and manifests a severe mental symptom).
If a character's corruption score ever exceeds the severe taint threshold, she dies, and 1d6 hours later, they rise as a tainted minion-a hideous, evil creature under the control of the DM.
If a character's depravity score exceeds the severe taint threshold, they go irretrievably mad. He gains the tainted raver template and (if a player character) falls under the control of the DM.
As terrible as the effects of taint are upon the living, they are even worse upon the dead. Any creature that dies while exposed to taint animates in 1d4 hours later as a hideous, evil creature under the control of the GM. What creature it becomes depends on the amount of HD it had before dying. Burning a corpse protects it from this effect. The type of creature is found on the Tainted Reanimation table.
To determine the exact nature of a character's physical or mental taint symptoms, roll 1d10 and look up the result on the accompanying Corruption Effects and Depravity Effects tables. If the character later gains more taint and crosses the threshold into a higher level (mild to moderate or moderate to severe), he gains the next symptom to the right on the table. For example, if Regdar's mild level of corruption is expressed as the mild physical symptom "feet curl," then if their corruption score rises to moderate, he will also manifest the symptom "joint pain."
| Con/Wis Score | No Taint | Mild Taint | Moderate Taint | Severe Taint | Dead/Insane |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–4 | — | 1–4 | 5–10 | 11–18 | 19+ |
| 5–8 | — | 3–6 | 7–12 | 13–20 | 21+ |
| 9–12 | — | 5–8 | 9–14 | 15–22 | 23+ |
| 13–16 | — | 7–10 | 11–16 | 17–24 | 25+ |
| 17–20 | — | 9–12 | 13–18 | 19–26 | 27+ |
| 21–24 | — | 11–14 | 15–20 | 21–28 | 29+ |
| 25–28 | — | 13–16 | 17–22 | 23–30 | 31+ |
| 29–32 | — | 15–18 | 19–24 | 25–32 | 33+ |
| 33–36 | — | 17–20 | 21–26 | 27–34 | 35+ |
Taint Threshold | |||||
| HD Before Death | Transforms Into |
|---|---|
| 2 or less | Ghoul |
| 3–5 | Ghast |
| 6–8 | Wraith |
| 9+ | Bodak |
Tainted Reanimation | |
Physical Symptoms
Corruption manifests as physical symptoms: muscular degeneration, illness, frailty, and the like.
Mild Corruption Effects
Dead Eye: Your eyes begin to cloud over, obscuring your vision. In combat, every time you attack an opponent that has concealment, roll your miss chance twice. If either or both results indicate that you miss, your attack fails.
Ear Scabs: Your ears fill up with a crusty, scabrous substance. You take a -2 penalty on Listen checks.
Feet Curl: Your feet warp and curl inward. Your speed is reduced by 5 ft
Gums Swell: Your gums swell, bleed, and rot. You have difficulty pronouncing words clearly. Whenever you cast a spell with a verbal component, you must succeed on a DC 15 + Spell Level caster level check, or the spell fails to activate.
Lumps: Burning hot lumps rise up all over your body. You have a constant fever. Every time you try to run or charge you must make a DC 20 Fortitude Save or become fatigued.
Odor of Decay: You give off an unhealthy odor of decay. Animals find your smell repellent. You take a -2 penalty on Handle Animal, Ride, and wild empathy checks.
Palsy: Your muscles are prone to tics and quivering shakes. You take a -2 penalty on ranged attack rolls.
Skin Seeps: Your skin seeps greasy, yellow ichor. You add a +2 circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks and on grapple checks made to resist or escape a grapple or to escape a pin. You take -2 on your Climb and Sleight of Hand checks. Opponents add +2 to their attack roll when attempting to disarm you.
Skin Sloughs: The skin on your face peels off in long, papery strips, leaving unsightly red patches. You take a -2 penalty on Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Perform checks.
Winded: You are constantly short of breath and feel like you can't get enough air. Starting on the third round of combat, you must make a DC 15 Fort save or be fatigued for that round. The DC increases by 1 for each subsequent round of combat.
Moderate Corruption Effects
Blood Eruption: In moments of intense activity, blood gushes from your nostrils and ears. At the beginning of any combat encounter, you must make a DC 15 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1d4 rounds.
Bones Thicken: Your skeleton warps and thickens. Raise your Strength score by 2, and reduce your Dexterity score by 4.
Chronic Illness: You are plagued with a phlegm-laden, wracking cough. You also suffer occasional bouts of vomiting, often at specific times of day. You take a -2 penalty on Fortitude saves.
Eruption of Sores: Open, painful sores, some leaking blood or pus, erupt on your body. You take a -1 penalty on Strength and Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks.
Fingers and Toes Fuse: Your fingers and toes web and fuse. You take a -2 penalty on your attack rolls. Whenever you cast a spell with a somatic component, you must succeed on a DC 15 + Spell Level caster level check or the spell fails to activate.
Joint Pain: Your joints, particularly your knees and elbows, sometimes flare up in sharp pain. You take a -2 penalty on Reflex saves.
Lips Shrink: Your lips pull back into a frozen rictus, exposing your teeth and gums at all times. You take a -2 penalty on Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks.
Paralyzed Face: Your facial muscles grow so feeble that you can no longer smile, frown, or show any emotion. Food dribbles from the corners of your mouth when you eat. Gain a +1 bonus on Bluff checks and take a -1 penalty on other Charisma-based ability checks or skill checks.
Skin Thickens: Your skin thickens, cracking and turning leathery. You gain +1 natural armor, and take a -2 penalty on Dexterity-based ability checks and skill checks.
Uncontrollable Seizures: You suffer from uncontrollable seizures that wrack your body with spasms. You take a -4 penalty on initiative rolls.
Severe Corruption Effects
Great Swollen Growths: Great swollen growths appear on your body. You take a -2 penalty to your Armor Class.
Internal Corruption: Though your corruption is not visible to others, the inside of your body is a festering cesspool of corruption. Bloody pus pools in your body cavities, strange growths develop on your organs, or tiny limbs or heads bud beneath your skin. Reduce your Constitution score by 2.
Some prestige classes allow a character to take this symptom in place of any other one. This symptom allows you to hide your corruption because it is all internal. This symptom can even be taken to replace a mild or moderate symptom if desired. No extra bonus feat is granted if this symptom is taken to replace a mild symptom.
Lich Eyes: Your eyes rot away, leaving eerie green flames in their empty sockets. You gain darkvision out to 60 ft, or add 30 ft to the range of your existing darkvision. You also gain light blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds you for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, you are dazzled as long as you remain in the affected area.
Lungs Eaten Away: Your lungs are eaten away from the inside, resulting in wet, labored, painful breathing. Your physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution) are each reduced by 1.
Nose Rots: The flesh of your nose rots away, leaving skull-like openings. Reduce your Charisma score by 2.
Shriveled Flesh: Your flesh shrivels and clings to your bones, making you unnaturally gaunt. When you manifest this symptom, subtract your Hit Dice from your hit point total. Thereafter, subtract 1 from the number of hit points you gain at each level. This effect can reduce the number of hit points you gain to 0 (but not below).
Skin Lichen: A black, lichenous growth spreads across your skin, causing a constant itching that interferes with any physical activity. You take a -2 penalty on Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution-based ability checks and skill checks.
Skull Deformed: Your skull becomes enlarged, distorted, and deformed. Reduce both your Intelligence and Wisdom scores by 2. You also take a -2 penalty on Will saves.
Spine Twists: Your spine twists and your back hunches. Reduce your Dexterity score by 2.
Wrigglers: Parasitic worms protrude from your sores, sapping your strength. Reduce your Strength score by 2. You gain a +2 bonus to Intimidate checks and take a -4 penalty on other Charisma-based checks.
Corruption Effects
| d10 | Mild | Moderate | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dead eye | Lips shrink | Lich eyes |
| 2 | Ear scabs | Fingers and toes fuse | Shriveled flesh |
| 3 | Gums swell | Bones thicken | Great swollen growths |
| 4 | Feet curl | Joint pain | Spine twists |
| 5 | Lumps | Eruption of sores | Wrigglers |
| 6 | Odor of decay | Paralyzed face | Nose rots |
| 7 | Palsy | Uncontrollable seizures | Skull deformed |
| 8 | Skin seeps | Blood eruption | Internal corruption |
| 9 | Skin sloughs | Skin thickens | Skin lichen |
| 10 | Winded | Chronic illness | Lungs eaten away |
Mental Symptoms
Depravity manifests as mental symptoms: growing paranoia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and other problems that could be described as madness. It is important to note that madness in fantastic horror is not an illness that afflicts good and evil alike: It is an expression or a result of evil gnawing away at the mind and soul.
Mild Depravity Effects
Aggressive: You are easily angered and cannot hide your feelings. In combat, you try so hard to hurt your enemies that you neglect your own defense. You gain a +2 bonus to initiative and you take a -1 penalty to Armor Class.
Bestial: You take on a ferocious, wild demeanor. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Handle Animal, Ride, and wild empathy checks. You take a -1 penalty on other Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks.
Compulsive: Pick a compulsive ritual to adopt. For example, you and your equipment are never clean enough. You can only break out of the compulsive pattern by eating bugs, which sometimes disagree with you. Once each day, make a DC 10 Fortitude save; if you fail, take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage.
Crazed: You can no longer easily cope with sudden changes in circumstances. If you are surprised at the outset of an encounter, you have a 50% chance of doing nothing other than cowering and babbling incoherently on your turn.
Disoriented: You lose track of events. If you are surprised at the outset of an encounter, you are dazed for 1 round.
Mildly phobic: You gain a mild phobia, which requires you to succeed on a Will save or become shaken whenever you encounter the object of your phobia. The DC of the save equals 12 + the CR of the challenge that is the object of the phobia. (Treat CRs of less than 1 as 0.)
Neglectful: You disregard hygiene and cultural mores. You take a -2 penalty on Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks.
Opinionated: You are so wrapped up in commenting on everything you hear that you are often caught off-guard. You are always flat-footed in the first round of combat.
Prophetic: Your dark dreams torment you with strange visions of things that might occur in the future. You zealously proclaim a different prophecy each week, making sure everyone you meet knows what is about to transpire. Your DM determines what prophetic insight you envision each week (10% are actually accurate!). In addition, you take all the usual ill effects of continual nightmares.
Sycophantic: You fill the air with a torrent of unctuous flattery of your companions, opponents, or imaginary friends. You take a -2 penalty on Listen checks and Spot checks. Enemies gain a +2 bonus on Listen checks to hear you.
Moderate Depravity Effects
Delusional: You're convinced that the world is an illusion and that you and your companions are being controlled by inhabitants of a distant, alien realm. You take a -2 penalty on Wisdom-based ability checks and skill checks.
Deranged: Your grasp upon reality becomes tenuous. You take a -2 penalty on Intelligence-based ability checks and skill checks.
Distracted: You pay more attention to the whispers in your mind than to your surroundings. You take a -2 penalty on skill checks.
Hallucinating: You see things that aren't there, and often have trouble sorting reality from your imagination. You take a -6 penalty on initiative checks.
Hysterical: Everything you meet is hilarious. It takes a short time to perceive the humor; then a laughing jag overwhelms you. During the second round of a combat encounter, you can take only a single move action or standard action.
Jittery: You are easily startled and spooked. If you are hit while flat-footed, you become panicked.
Moderately Phobic: You gain a moderate phobia, which requires you to succeed on a Will save (DC 14 + the CR of the challenge) or become frightened whenever you encounter the object of your phobia. This symptom replaces your previous symptom of mild phobia.
Solipsistic: You believe that you are the only thing that matters in the universe. As a result, whenever you are struck in combat, you have to make a DC 20 Will save. If you fail the save, you take an additional 1 point of damage per die of damage received.
Treacherous: Any time the chance to make an attack of opportunity presents itself, whether against an opponent or an ally, make a DC 20 Will save. If you fail the save, you must make the attack of opportunity, even if the target is your closest ally. If presented with multiple targets, determine randomly which you attack.
Weak-Willed: The constant presence of demonic voices whispering in your ears has sapped your will. You take a -3 penalty on Will saves.
Severe Depravity Effects
Apathetic: You withdraw into yourself, losing contact with the world. Reduce both your Charisma and Wisdom scores by 2.
Craven: You become a lily-livered coward. When casting, you must always cast defensively. When attacking, you must always fight defensively.
Enthralled: You are drawn to and fascinated by evil. You no longer have the will to strike it down. Whenever you fight an evil opponent, you always attack at -4 and any damage you do counts only as nonlethal damage.
Fatalistic: You become oppressed by negative, defeatist thinking and are convinced there's little you can do to save yourself from a horrible fate. Take a -3 penalty on your saving throws.
Hubristic: You regard yourself as superior to all things, even the deities. Divine healing has no effect on you.
Murderous: You experience irresistible murderous urges. If an opportunity to deliver a coup de grace is available, whether against an opponent or an ally, make a DC 20 Will save. If you fail the save, you must make the coup de grace.
Paranoid: You grow overly suspicious, even of your closest companions. In combat, you cannot avoid watching for signs of treachery. Whenever one of your allies engaged in combat makes an attack and fails to hit, you become suspicious that the ally is secretly a traitor to your party. You take a -1 penalty to any rolls you make during that turn, since some of your attention is focused on monitoring the suspected traitor's activities. If more than one ally fails to hit, the penalty is cumulative.
Severely Phobic: You gain a severe phobia, which requires you to succeed on a Will save (DC 16 + the CR of the challenge) or become panicked whenever you encounter the object of your phobia. This symptom replaces your previous symptom of moderate phobia.
Unbalanced: Your unstable mind makes you unpredictable, particularly in combat. You are automatically confused on your first turn in any combat and every other turn thereafter.
Unresponsive: Your senses are dulled and you lose the ability to discern the truth of the world around you. Reduce your Wisdom score by 2.
Depravity Effects
| d10 | Mild | Moderate | Severe |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aggressive | Treacherous | Murderous |
| 2 | Bestial | Deranged | Unbalanced |
| 3 | Compulsive | Hysterical | Unresponsive |
| 4 | Crazed | Jittery | Craven |
| 5 | Disoriented | Hallucinating | Paranoid |
| 6 | Mildly phobic | Moderately phobic | Severely phobic |
| 7 | Neglectful | Distracted | Enthralled |
| 8 | Opinionated | Solipsistic | Hubristic |
| 9 | Prophetic | Delusional | Apathetic |
| 10 | Sycophantic | Weak-Willed | Fatalistic |