Purity and Taint – Mechanics

all material on this page is under threat of severe and serious revision by the DM

Every character begins the game with a Purity score of zero, and a Taint score of zero. As they interact with the shards and their inhabitants, they may find their scores increasing, and may take efforts to reduce them, but neither score can ever drop below zero.

Gaining P/T

Purity and Taint are acquired one point at a time. A character can be involuntarily exposed to Purity or Taint in four types of situations:

• Spending time in a Pure/Tainted area, or carrying a Pure/Tainted object involuntarily exposes a character. To avoid gaining P/T, the character must make a Fortitude save. The DC is 10+relevant modifiers. If the character fails the save, the character’s P/T score increases by one. If the character makes the save, and the exposure continues for another 24 hours, the character must again attempt the save, but the DC is increased by 5. This process continues until the exposure ends or the character fails a save. A character can only absorb P/T from an object or place once.
• Spending time in the company of a creature with the Pure/Tainted subtype also involuntarily exposes a character. To avoid gaining P/T, the character must make a Will save. The DC is 10 + half the creature’s hit dice + creature’s charisma modifier + miscellaneous modifiers (if any). If the character fails the save, the character’s P/T score increases by one. If the character makes the save, and the exposure continues for another 24 hours, the character must again attempt the save, but the DC is increased by 5. This process continues until the exposure ends or the character fails a save. A character can only absorb P/T from a specific creature once.
• Targets of Pure or Tainted spells are involuntarily exposed. To avoid gaining P/T, the character must make a Will save. The DC to avoid gaining P/T is the save DC of the spell.
• Casting Pure or Tainted spells constitutes involuntary expousre, and the caster must make a Will save at a DC of 10+spell level – caster level. The spellcaster cannot voluntarily fail this save.
• Any energy drain attack that gives a character a negative level also involuntarily increases the character’s Taint score by 1. This Taint remains even if the character later eliminates the lost level through a saving throw. The save DC to avoid this Taint is the same as the DC to eliminate the negative level.

A character can also voluntarily increase her P/T scores. To do so requires the character to invite some aspect of P/T into his/her self. This can happen in a number of ways:

• Learning the Celestial (Pure) or Fiendish (Tainted) language
• Participating in Pure or Tainted ritual
• Voluntarily failing a save to avoid P/T in a situation where a character is entitled to one.

Reducing P/T

There are a number of ways for a character to attain a low Purity or Taint score.

Absorbers

Firstly, a character may carry absorbers – bits of semiprecious stone about the size of a finger. Taint absorbers are generally made of jade, and Purity absorbers of obsidian. Each must be specially prepared, and the cost is 100 gp. An absorber can absorb five points of Purity or Taint before burning out. A character carrying more than one absorber will only benefit as if carrying one, but all will wear out at the same rate as if the character only had one. If a character carrying a Taint absorber voluntarily increases her Taint, or one carrying a Purity absorber voluntarily increases her Purity, the absorber does not absorb the P/T, and instead instantly burns out.

Lead cases are also effective at blocking Purity and Taint, but for them to be effective they must be completely airtight. Thus, they are useful for transporting goods, but almost completely ineffective at protecting living creatures.

Cleansing

A number of spells can reduce a character’s P/T scores. For the spell to be effective, the character cannot currently be exposed to the relevant emanation. No character can have her P/T scores reduced by any particular spell more than once per day (though different spells can reduce a score if cast on the same character in the same day). No caster can reduce a character’s P/T score below the caster’s own score for the same emanation. None of these spells automatically reduce P/T scores – doing so is at the caster’s discretion.

• Atonement: This spell can remove P/T, but with limits. First, it always requires a quest. Second, the caster decides how much P/T to remove when casting atonement, up to a maximum equaling the caster’s level. This use of atonement costs the caster 500 XP. Atonement can reduce a character’s P/T score to zero.
• Heal: This spell can reduce a character’s P/T score by 1 point per three caster levels, but it cannot reduce the score below 1.
• Miracle, Wish: These spells cannot remove P/T except by duplicating the effects of other spells mentioned here.
• Remove Curse, Remove Disease: These spells can reduce a character’s P/T by 1 point, but they cannot reduce a score below 1.
• Restoration: This spell reduces a character’s P/T score by 1 point per four caster levels, but it cannot reduce a score below 1.
• Greater Restoration: This spell reduces a character’s P/T score by a number of points equal to the caster level of the cleric casting the spell. Greater Restoration can reduce a character’s P/T score to zero.

Rituals and Retreats

Some of the phyles have access to rituals that can reduce a character’s P/T scores. These typically involve a fair amount of time, and some cost (both in gold and XP) to the character. There are also special locations on some shards that can reduce a character’s P/T score – the relevant score is lowered by one point per day spent resting in the location. Either of these methods can reduce a character’s P/T score to zero.

The Equalizer Feat

(See the feats page)

Effects of P/T

Purity and Taint have a number of types of effects on characters. Some of these effects are keyed to the character’s P/T score itself, others are keyed to the character’s P/T modifier, which is the P/T score divided by the character’s level. Effects include:

• Access to certain classes and phyles
• Increased or decreased Standing for some phyles
• Access to exalted (Pure) or vile (Tainted) feats
• Spellcasters apply their Purity modifier to the Save DC when casting Pure spells, and the Taint modifier when casting Tainted spells.