New/Revised Talents

Adept Learner (Greater) Adept Learner (Major) Adept Learner (Minor) Arcane Adept Arcane Dabbler Arcane Ineptitude Changeling Charismatic The Curse of Iron Divine Grace Elemental Blood (Element) Extended Adolescence (Greater) Extended Adolescence (Major) Extended Adolescence (Minor) Favored Skill Favored Skill Category Favored Sphere (Major) Favored Sphere (Minor) Unholy Vibration Sense (Range)

The following are talents that are either revised to fit the World of Whent, or new and unique to Whent. You will find that a number of these talents are more along the lines of Flaws. I am including these "Flaws" here for the purpose of completeness. (And I am not allowing characters to take flaws - at least in general. Characters with superbe backgrounds that include what may be construed to be a flaw may gain some GM consideration.) A number of the talents below are Racial Talents and as such may not be bought by characters through the expendature of development points. Characters may only gain these talents if they are from a race listing the talent as part of the racial description. The Cost of these talents is listed as "N/A" but I have included the DP cost I used when balancing the talents that each race starts with in parens there after. Lastly a number of these talents are specific to the Professionless HARP varient that I use and they are listed on both pages.

New/Revised Talent Descriptions

Adept Learner (Greater)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent – human races typically.
The character is from a race that possesses a natural facility for learning. He or she gains 5 bonus ranks at each level that may be spent on any favored skill(s) of the character’s choice.
Cost: N/A (65)

Adept Learner (Major)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent such as Bae’urgh (Gnomes).
The character is from a race that possesses a natural facility for learning. He or she gains 3 bonus ranks at each level that may be spent on any favored skill(s) of the character’s choice.
Cost: N/A (40)

Adept Learner (Minor)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent.
The character is from a race that possesses a natural facility for learning. He or she gains 1 bonus rank at each level that may be spent on any favored skill.
Cost: N/A (10)

Arcane Adept
This talent represents a character's initial familiarization with the principals of spellcasting. Arcane Adepts have a deeper understanding and much broader familiarization with the art of spellcasting than those who only dabble in the art.
The character gains access to the spells listed in one Major Spell Sphere of choice as well as the spells within the Universal Sphere. The character may learn these spells as favored skills. Any other spell may also be learned by the character but these spells are not considered favored skills (and the character must somehow find a teacher or other resource to assist him in learning the spell).
Prerequisites: The character must have have the Mystic Arts as a favored category, must have the Sense Magic talent and must meet the requirements (if any) listed under the Major Spell Sphere that they are gaining access to. [See the Arcane Spell Casting and Divine Spell Casting areas of this World Guide for for descriptions of the various Arcane Spheres.]
Special: Any character who purchases this talent automatically gains the Tap Personal Mana talent as described in the College of Magic. They also gain two Spell Focus Style talents of choice. Note that this talent gives access to learn the character's first Major Spell Sphere. After learning their first Major Spell Sphere additional Major or Minor Spell Spheres may be learned using the Favored Sphere (Major/Minor) talent(s) at those talents' lower DP costs.
Cost: 30

Arcane Dabbler
This talent represents a character's initial familiarization with the principals of spellcasting within the narrow confines of their chosen specialty.
The character gains access to the spells listed in one Minor Spell Sphere of choice and may learn these spells as favored skills. The character also gains access to and may learn any spells from the Universal Sphere but these spells are not considered favored skills unless the character buys the Arcane Dabbler or Favored Sphere (Minor) talent specifically for the Minor Spell Sphere - Universal.
Prerequisites: The character must have at least one rank in PP Development and must meet the requirements (if any) listed under the Minor Spell Sphere that they are gaining access to. [See the Arcane Spell Casting and Divine Spell Casting areas of this World Guide for for descriptions of the various Arcane Spheres.]
Special: Any character who purchases this talent automatically gains the Tap Personal Mana talent as described in the College of Magic. They also gain two Spell Focus Style talents of choice. Note that this talent gives access to learn the character's first Minor Spell Sphere. After learning their first Minor Spell Sphere additional Minor Spell Spheres may be learned using the Favored Sphere (Minor) talent at that talent's lower DP cost.
Cost: 15

Arcane Ineptitude (Sphere)
This 'Flaw' is primarily racial in nature and represents a particularly poor ability to work certain magical effects. When applying this 'Flaw' choose one Spell Sphere. The character may never develope any spell from that sphere as a favored skill. Further they suffer a -10 to all spell casting rolls to cast such spells and a -10 to all RRs made to resist spells from that sphere.
Cost: N/A

Changeling
The character has been raised within a culture that is normally foreign to members of the character's race. During character creation the player does not have to choose one of the Adolescent Skill packages common to their character's race but may instead choose any Adolescent Skill package. [See the Adolescent Skill Development page for descriptions of the Adolescent Skill packages available.]
Prerequisites: The character's background must support the player's choice of Adolescent Skill packages and the player must have GM approval.
Special: Characters are normally limited to one of the Adolescent Skill packages listed as common for their race. See the listing given at the bottom of the description of each individual race in the Races section of this web site. Cost: 10

Charismatic
The character gains +10 to all Influence skills.
Cost: 10

The Curse of Iron
Long ago during the conflict between the Gorron (Dwarves) and the Elven Empire (primarily the people who would come to be known as the Ruc Eressea) a curse of epic proportions was crafted through a ritual three years in the casting. The ritual was worked by the Ruc Eressea and fueled with the immense power of the Unnamed and sought to bring down the entire Gorron race in a manner most foul. A small clan of Gorron, dedicated to combining the Arcane Arts and Spycraft learned of the ritual and set out to turn the Ruc Eressean plan against them. The tale is known to few if any but the results caused the curse to rebound and effect the principal allies of the Empire and sent the Empire reeling and paved the way toward the Gorron victory. Unfortunately no member of the Gorron clan survived to tell the tale.
Those affected by this curse find themselves particularly vulnerable to attacks made by weapons made of ferrous metals (iron, steel, etc.). Such attacks made against those suffering under this curse are considered to be one attack size larger than normal when determining the damage cap for that weapon. The curse does not increased by the weapons Critical Modifier.
Cost: N/A

Divine Grace
This talent represents the favor that a particilar deity holds for the character. Typically this is a result of the character's time spent studying the proper worship of the deity and serving the deity. In return the deity grants the character the ability to draw mana from their divine patron and learn the spells sacred to the deity's worship. Each deity has their own list of spells and this talent allows the character to learn and cast only those spells specific to their god's worship. See Divine Spell Casting for a list of the gods, more information on their proper worship and the lists of spells they grant knowledge of to their faithful.
Prerequisites: None per se although the character must meet any requirements mentioned for priests of their chosen god.
Special: Any character who purchases this talent automatically gains the Tap Granted Mana talent as described in the College of Magic. They also gain two Spell Focus Style talents that fit their religion. Note that this talent does not allow the character to gain access to any of the Arcane Spell Spheres through the use of the Favored Sphere (Major/Minor) talent(s) - and indeed many deities frown upon their worshippers seeking knowledge outside of that specifically noted as sacred to their worship. Possession of this talent is no indication of any particular knowledge or facility with the manipulation of magic and indeed many priests are completely ignorant of the arcane forces they are 'manipulating'. Their focus is upon the proper performance of the prayers and rituals they have been taught with the sure knowledge that if they perform correctly their god will bless them with a particular outcome.
Cost: 20

Elemental Blood (Element)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent such as the Elven races.
The character is from a race that possesses an intimate connection with one particular element and gains the following benefits :
1. Element Sense – The character may attempt a free normal Perception maneuver to notice unusual details with regard to their associated element. Those with an association with Air might notice the presence of poison gas, magically controlled winds or weather, etc. Those with an association with Earth might notice stone that conceals flaws, traps or hidden doors. Those with an association with Fire might notice unusual fuels being burned or magical influence over fire. Those with an association with Nature might notice corrupted or otherwise unnatural growth or animals, or unnatural presences in natural areas. Those with an association with Water might notice pollutants or magically controlled or unnatural currents.
2. Elemental Grace – The strong presence of the associated element benefits characters with this talent. When surrounded by their element the character gains a +20 to their Stamina RR and +5 to all other maneuvers, and gains the benefit of the Accelerated Healing talent. Any character with this talent will not be harmed by the natural effects of their associated element. A landslide of cave-in will bury but not crush a character associated with Earth, Water will not drown, fire will not burn, etc. If a character is placed in a situation where they cannot breath or would otherwise kill the character their association with the element causes them to go into a deep trance. Assuming no other problem they will remain alive but in hibernation until rescued or until they die of old age. Magically manipulated elemental effects or attacks against a character with this talent may harm the character however such attacks suffer a -25 on all maneuver rolls or grant the character a +25 to DB and RRs as appropriate.
3. Elemental Magic – The character is considered to possess the Blood Magic Talent for 4 of the spells that fall within the Major Spell Sphere of the character’s element. The character is considered to have additional Latent Blood Magic Talents for all of the remaining spells from their associated element. These Blood Magic talents may be gained at half the normal cost (unmodified by subtracting the 5 DPs usually paid to purchase the Latent Blood Magic talent). The character must develop a separate Use Blood Magic for each of these blood magic abilities but gains a +20 modifier to each such skill and, when applicable, the durations are increased from 'rounds' to 'minutes'. The character also gains the ability to Tap any Fixed mana present in an object strongly related to their element.
4. Elemental Adaptation – The character is considered to be so attuned to his element that any negative movement or other maneuver modifiers as a result of a natural environmental effect are ignored by this character. E.g., the Gorron suffer no negative modifiers when walking/marching/running on loose sand as opposed to a smooth stone floor, the Eressea and Ruc Eressea are unaffected by strong natural winds, the Allarin swim, see and fight underwater as well as they do on firm ground and the Teleri move through woodlands as easily as a Human does along a road. (Note that movement modifiers do apply if the character with this talent is mounted and the mount does not possess this talent.)
5. Elemental Weakness – When attacked by a force from an opposing element any character with this feat suffers a -10 to their maneuver rolls (including attacks and RRs) and to their DB. Any such attack increases its normal damage threshold by +10 as well.
Cost: N/A (80)

Extended Adolescence (Greater)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent such as the Eressea (High/Wind Elves).
The character is from a race that has an extended period of adolescence that allows for greater initial growth and learning. He or she gains an additional 45 bonus ranks at first level that may be spent on any skill (favored and non-favored). No more than 3 ranks may be applied to any one skill.
Cost: N/A (60)

Extended Adolescence (Major)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent such as the Gorron (Dwarves/Stone Elves).
The character is from a race that has an extended period of adolescence that allows for greater initial growth and learning. He or she gains an additional 25 bonus ranks at first level that may be spent on any skill (favored and non-favored). No more than 2 ranks may be applied to any one skill.
Cost: N/A (35)

Extended Adolescence (Minor)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent such as the Bae’urgh (Gnomes).
The character is from a race that has an extended period of adolescence that allows for greater initial growth and learning. He or she gains an additional 15 bonus ranks at first level that may be spent on any skill (favored and non-favored). No more than 1 rank may be applied to any one skill.
Cost: N/A (20)

Favored Skill
The character chooses any one skill. That skill is hereafter considered a favored skill for that character.
Special: A character may buy this talent multiple times. Each time this talent is chosen a different skill is added to the character’s list of favored skills.
Cost: 15 DP

Favored Skill Category
The character chooses any one skill category. The skills within that category are hereafter considered favored skills for that character.
Special: A character may buy this talent multiple times. Each time this talent is chosen a different skill category is added to the favored skill categories for that character, however each time a character chooses this talent the DP cost to purchase this talent doubles. I.e., 30 DP for the first category, 60 DP for the second, 120 for the third, etc. Favored Skill Categories gained as part of a character's Racial Talents do count as Favored Skill Categories gained through this talent and the cost of additional Favored Skill Categories are increased accordingly.
Cost: 30 DP+ (varies)

Favored Sphere (Major)
The character gains access to the spells listed in one Major Spell Sphere of choice and may learn these spells as favored skills.
Prerequisites: The character must have favored access to one Major Spell Sphere and must meet the requirements (if any) listed under the new Major Spell Sphere that they are gaining access to.
Cost: 15

Favored Sphere (Minor)
The character gains access to the spells listed in one Minor Spell Sphere of choice and may learn these spells as favored skills.
Prerequisites: The character must have favored access to one Minor or Major Spell Sphere and must meet the requirements (if any) listed under the new Minor Spell Sphere that they are gaining access to.
Cost: 10

Unholy
The character is steeped in the unholy aura of the Unnamed. The Character gains a +10 to spell casting rolls when casting a spell from the Black Magic (Curses) Spell Sphere but detects as Unholy and is subject to the increased effects of a "Holy" attacks as if the character was a demon. The character does not detect as a demon - just as Unholy - or as it is more often termed - Corrupted. Additionally the character may not choose to allow any 'Holy' spell to affect them. The character must roll a RR vs. Magic and the spell effects them only if they fail their RR. Holy spells include all spells included in the Master Healer and White Mage Spell Spheres. The GM may rule that other spells are 'Holy' as well.
Cost: N/A

Vibration Sense (Range)
This racial talent is not available to be purchased by characters. It may only be possessed by characters of a race that starts with this talent such as the Durri.
The character is from a race that is particularly sensative to vibrations and can sense any object within the given range. This does allow sensing even inanimate or non-moving objects since they absorbe and/or distort other vibratory 'images'. In conditions where those with this talent are unable to use other senses or wish to particularly emphasize this sense they often tap the ground, whistle or otherwise increase or sharpen the vibratory 'image' they are recieving. Normally there is no penalty to sense objects and activities within the characters range. Characters must make perception rolls to successfully sense objects at any greater range at a penalty of -2/foot beyond their normal range. Sensing through solid barriers is possible but requires a perception roll regardless of the range made at -20 plus and additional -5 per inch of the material. GMs may assign further penalties as appropriate.
Cost: N/A (20 + 1 per foot of range over 10 feet)

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