Confessor (class idea) from Terry Goodkind Books/Show

[SmootRK]

"Fatigue" is not well defined in BFRPG. Are there a specific mechanics you have seen that would work?

I still need to look into the whole Gaze Attack thing to see how I might approach it.

One thing I don't want is this sort of character getting to CONFESS every other person in an adventure... but I don't want to hamper the character from being able to adventure otherwise too much either. Constitution loss seems like a decent middle ground; a full night of rest puts the character back up to max, likely even if I change the restore rate to 1/hour of rest (assuming they are not extremely high scoring in CON but somewhere near average). The fear of losing CON, including resulting HP losses (from either loss of bonus or dropping so low as to have penalty) should keep characters limited to using the power judiciously.

Agreed on the Detect Lie skill... Wis Skill Check p.141 (with additional bonus based upon level, tbd)

I think a flat +2 on saves vs. charms (or mind control/reading, or similar abilities) will suffice for protection against the same abilities used on them.

I would go "Cleric Sub-Class", but I think I already warmed up to the idea that there are other 'sorts' of Confessors than just the style of Kahlan. I think Q-class will work better for that, especially since I utilize other Quasi-classes in our campaign already.

[Dimirag]

AD&D Uses "Fatigue" for barbarian's fury: It reduces the PC STR to 5.

3.5 uses as follows:
Fatigued: A fatigued character can neither run nor charge and takes a –2 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. Doing anything that would normally cause fatigue causes the fatigued character to become exhausted. After 8 hours of complete rest, fatigued characters are no longer fatigued.

Exhausted: An exhausted character moves at half speed and takes a –6 penalty to Strength and Dexterity. After 1 hour of complete rest, an exhausted character becomes fatigued. A fatigued character becomes exhausted by doing something else that would normally cause fatigue.

Using a flat mod reduces mathematics, but using a flat penalty gives characters with better Characteristics to resist the effect.

My idea: Every time the character makes something fatiguing he/she suffers a -2 cumulative Fatigue Penalty to fisical task, and hal for mental ones. Each hour of rest reduces the penalty by 2pts.

Spellcasting while fatigued... well thats another matter....

[SmootRK]

So, what if I use a sort of combination? This would eliminate the x times per day thing.

Confessing an Individual:
-- Basic 'Confess' affects one individual who meets the character's gaze, causing the individual to be affected as if charmed, like the spell Charm Person, lasting 1 hour only. The creature gets a save vs. spells to resist the effect. The Confessed individual will instantly realize that the Confessor character is someone to be obeyed and protected, although he or she does not become an automaton under complete control. The Confessed will turn and attack his comrades if he thinks they will harm his 'new friend'. Orders or instructions that completely defy the individual's sense of believability will negate the Confess condition. For instance, telling him that a ring of fire is really a cool pool of water will not work and will negate the effect.

When used, the Confessor temporarily loses 1d4 points of Constitution (along with resulting losses of HP if applicable) and becomes 'fatigued' resulting in -2 penalty to attacks, damage, or ability checks. Fatigued characters cannot run and move at half their normal speed. Confessing another individual will result in additional Constitution loss and cumulative fatigue penalties. Fatigue penalties persist until the character can rest for a full 10 minutes, removing 2 points of penalty; multiple 10 minute periods are necessary to fully recover from using the ability multiple times. Constitution losses are recovered at a rate of 1 point per hour of rest.

-- A stronger form of 'Confess' can be used by Confessors of Xth level and above. The stronger version works like Charm Person, lasting a day or more in duration, just as the spell specifies (lasting days, weeks, or even longer). Again, the creature's senses are not modified, only his or her perception of the Confessor Character as someone who should be implicitly obeyed, and in this case, will be more inclined to place himself into danger or even sacrifice himself to protect the confessor.

Using the stronger 'Confess' causes the standard 1d4 points of Constitution loss, however the fatigue penalty is double (-4 penalty to attacks, damage, or ability checks). Losses are recovered at the standard rates given above.

more later... gotta watch movie with wife now.

[Dimirag]

I like it.
The stronger Confession could be at Lvl9 (named, so when one turns a real "Confessor" or "Fighter Confessor", etc)

[SmootRK]

My daughter was pestering me to write this up lately... I gotta get it done now. Any other commentary or ideas to consider here?

[Joe the Rat]

Hmmph, need to get mine started on the basics. She did enjoy fighting a horde of goblins... as a dragon.
As you weigh this in, keep in mind that this is effectively charm person X times/day - and balance accordingly.

Charm person is a good model - and allowing periodic resaves reduces the power.

Stick with Gaze - it gives more versatility (and modest range), and keeps you from having to start in to the books.

[SmootRK]

OK finally got around to finishing up a good draft of this idea:

Feel free to critique, suggest, or otherwise help me find my mistakes or related wackiness.

[SmootRK]

Already noticed that I forgot to mention the Detect Lie thing. Just ability check bonus is what I have in mind for this. Also the minor bonus against Charms should be in there somewhere. (fixed)

I also failed to include any details of range... the Confessor must be in melee range. Surprise is mentioned, but the Confessor must get to melee range to initiate the ability during the surprise round. Otherwise, they must be in melee range, but the target has the option to fight defensively with eyes averted (and these details were emulated from the Medusa monster entry so that mechanics are consistent). (fixed)

Any other missing details that should be ironed out?

Edit, updated the downloads in the previous post to newest draft.

[SmootRK]

I have not had any commentary on this 'finally written up' document... anyone care to shred my ideas up and critique it harshly?? just kidding, but any input from the masses of dedicated BFRPG followers would be appreciated.

Also, for what it is worth, I would not expect this Supplement to be universally accepted. It is just a little niche thing for those whom like the show/books... not to mention it probably infringes on the Intellectual Property angle a little bit. To make it more appropriate for sharing via BFRPG site, it would need to be sanitized a bit from the source material and terms changed (no Confessor name, change confess ability term, etc.).

My daughter wants this dearly, so I may actually have some playtest info in the future to share.

[Dimirag]

I like it very much, the idea of lossong Con points instead of suffering non.lethal damage allows for no favoritivs allong the different classes.

Go ahead and give it a couple of game play test, I think it will result favorable.