PFRPG: LeShay Archetypes: Fáidh

Fáidh (Oracle; LeShay)

The fáidh (fahy) are leShay who sever their connection to their leShay weapon in order to gain access to an additional mystery.

A fáidh has the following class features.

Recommended Mysteries: Any except for the metal mystery.

Mystery: A fáidh selects two different mysteries, one of which must be the lore (APG) or the time (UM) mystery. However, serving two mysteries is trying, and has its drawbacks.

Oracle’s Curse: In addition to choosing a normal curse at 1st level, a fáidh also looses access to her leShay weapon. As well as the obvious disadvantage this imposes, a fáidh takes a –2 penalty on Charisma-based checks (except for Intimidate) against animals, fey, and humanoids with fey ancestry (i.e. elves, gnomes, and half-elves) because “something” seems asynchronous about her. This penalty increases to –4 against other leShay since to one of her own race it would seem as if she had willingly amputated part of her soul. These penalties translate to bonuses (+2 and +4, respectively) on Intimidate checks against the relevant creature types.

Class Skills: A fáidh adds Linguistics, Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (nature), and Perception to her list of class skills. These replace the addition class skills from her mysteries.

Bonus Spells: A fáidh may select her bonus spells from either of her mysteries. The fáidh also has the choice to learn a lower-level bonus spell she did not choose in place of a higher-level bonus spell she would normally gain. Lower-level bonus spells learned this way always use the spell level they would be if the fáidh had learned them with the appropriate bonus spell.

Example: A 4th-level fáidh with the lore and nature mysteries has the choice of learning tongues or barkskin as her mystery bonus spell. If she selected tongues as her 4th-level bonus spell, at 6th level she could use her new bonus spell to learn barkskin instead of locate object or speak with plants, and she would add it to her list of 2nd-level spells known (just as if she had learned it as her 4th-level bonus spell).

Revelations: At 1st, 3rd, 7th, 11th, 15th, and 19th levels, a fáidh may select revelations from either of her mysteries. In addition, she gains a new revelation at 5th level and 13th level.

Final Revelation: At 20th level, a fáidh’s racial damage reduction improves to 10/magic and cold iron and she gains immunity to disease and poison. In addition, she is under a constant supernatural effect that mimics the foresight spell (she is never surprised or flat-footed and gains a +2 insight bonus to AC and on Reflex saves). The supernatural foresight is lost whenever she is in contact with any sort of metal other than mithral. This replaces the final revelations of both of the fáidh’s mysteries.

Drawbacks: A fáidh has one fewer spell known at each level (including orisons) than is presented on the oracle spells known table. Furthermore, the conflicting desires created by the divergent callings of the fáidh’s mysteries forces her to constantly take some mental effort just to remain focused on her current situation and needs. This leaves her with less mental resolve to deal with external threats. A fáidh always takes a –2 penalty on Will saves.

PFRPG: Plane of Færie Gazetteer: Déscaradh

I apologize for the tardiness of this post. I asked a friend of mine if he was interested in contributing to the blog, and he was excited to. He had the article to me on time, but I forgot to post it yesterday. Anyways, here is it. Please enjoy!

Déscaradh, by Adam Frank

The realm of Déscaradh (DAY-skar-ah) in the plane of Færie is separated into three distinct parts: the White Kingdom, the Red Kingdom and the Chessboard. The White Kingdom is the lair of the White Queen and her subjects. It is a place where freedom and creativity are treasured. The Red Kingdom on the other side is a place of slavery ruled by the Red Queen and where fun is seen with cruel tricks. Creativity is treasured there as well, but looked upon more favorably the crueler it is.

White Kingdom

The White Kingdom is a place of eternal beauty. The White Queen, a beautiful Azata of incredible power is in dominion over it. She celebrates freedom and creativity of the most beautiful kind. The art of nature is abundant here yet constantly flowing: sculpted gardens, fountains that pour crystal from their spouts, even paintings done in living flowers are here. The Queen loves art and the artists that produce it.

The White Queen is always experimenting with something new and is rarely seen in the same shape twice as her form is shifting with her mood. Two things that remain static though are her incomparable beauty and the theme of white in her being and outfits. She is flighty and pleasant to deal with unless it comes to the war where she becomes as serious as stone; at her core she has become a warrior for her cause and her kingdom.

Within the court proper there are seven other very powerful Azata all of whom share the queen’s love of beauty and freedom. One named for each of the seven pieces on a chessboard: two Rooks, two Bishops, two Knights, and a King. What many don't know is that the King himself holds all the power despite being the least powerful there as the White Queen must review all her plans through him.

The weather is always shifting but is mostly considered enjoyable and fair from a light rain to a beautiful summer morning, even sometimes the floor will be dusted with snow. The weather is at the beck and call of the realms queen.

The Red Kingdom

The Red Kingdom tends to mirror its white counterpart with some very stark changes. While beauty, creativity and freedom are such huge precepts within the White Kingdom the Red Kingdom is rather the opposite. The Red Kingdom reveres the beauty of cruelty and perfect hate, the creativity of torture and pain, and it reveres slavery rather than freedom.

Ruled over by the Red Queen a Demon of unimaginable power, she is in a form that befits beautiful cruelty. She does not change form though many believe she has the ability. She is constantly seen as an elven woman with an elaborate red dress and a beautiful face she always caries a weapon of some sort on her and is quick to use it. The one thing she respects is her war with the White Kingdom. She has been known even to offer help, though it normally is detrimental in the end, to a new warrior of the White Kingdom.

The Red Kingdom itself is all sharp corners thorns and jutting rock. The weather though never extreme is always oppressive or overbearing and the screams of the victims of the Red court can be heard from almost anywhere in the Red Kingdom.

The Red Court like the White is made up of seven demons: again two Rooks, two Knights, two Bishops, and finally a King. Though powerful the King is consistently berated and put down, sometimes even to the point of him being tortured. His power lies though in his ability to veto much of what the queen says so she is careful never to push him over the edge.

Chessboard

Between the two kingdoms lies an expanse of land exactly 80 miles wide and 80 miles long. It serves as battleground, center of power and home for the inhabitants of Déscaradh. This expanse is called the Chessboard. Similar to an actual chessboard in several ways it had very stark defining lines every 10 square miles.

The color schemes in these squares are designed to be able to tell them apart: white squares and black squares. Each white square has a different environment dictated by the queens. Some are snow covered, some are deserts, while others are an expanse of brilliant white and blue crystal harder than mithral when set yet more malleable than gold in its raw form, there are 40 white squares each one stark and lacking many inhabitants. The black squares differ in this in that they aren't all black; in fact most of them are lush and vibrant. These squares vary from farmlands to cities grown from trees, to deep and foreboding forests. Most of the denizens of this plane dwell either on these squares or in the kingdoms proper.

On the Chessboard you will find the overall climate ideally suited to the specifics of each individual square. Some are freezing, so cold that a person would freeze without a heavy coat, others, sometimes the next square are perfectly temperate with frolicsome fey children enjoying the perfect weather that their queens have blessed their square with.

The one consistent fact about every single square is that it is constantly at war. Some of the fighting is obvious, with huge soldiers battling it out with each other bloodying the field; other squares are less overt, and the battle being fought there is quiet with spies and silence, information being transferred from one hand to the other. Everyone who lives on the plane from the biggest meanest troll to the sweetest looking sprite is a warrior and everyone who enters a square is considered to be a warrior.