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Corruptions

Even the most pure creature can succumb to tides of darkness. What begins as a minor malady or errant idea can grow into something malignant—a spreading corruption that can obscure your morals, cloud your judgment, and ultimately devour your soul. There are a number of different types of corruptions, from the hunger of vampirism to the horrifying transformation of the promethean. Living with a corruption is often a terrifying experience, but also offers the temptation of dark gifts. Hosts sometimes choose not to fight the corruption, but rather accept it and allow it to progress. These unfortunate folk either succumb to lust for the corruption’s power or attempt to control the stain of corruption and use its gifts for some greater good.

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Promethean Corruption Source Horror Adventures pg. 32 Your body is slowly wasting away. As your body decays, you must gradually replace more and more of it with artificial components—corpse flesh, bone, wood, metal, or other exotic materials. Catalyst This corruption stems from experimentation designed to create or extend life—perhaps you were a willing participant in an alchemist’s research or brought back from the dead by an unconventional means that robbed you of your humanity. Progression Whenever you fail a Fortitude save against any effect or fall below 0 hit points, you must attempt a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level). If you fail that save, some of the living components of your body begin to fail. Within the next 3 days, you or someone you trust must spend 8 hours replacing more of your body with construct parts. If you don’t do so, you die, and even if you are brought back from the dead with resurrection or true resurrection (which are necessary since your body isn’t viable), you still must perform the operation or you die again in 3 days. After an operation, there is a 50% chance your corruption progresses to the next stage. If it doesn’t, the DC of the above Fortitude save increases by 2 until your corruption reaches the next stage. These increases stack. While your body parts are failing (after you’ve failed the Fort save but before you’ve repaired your body), you don’t have to attempt additional saves when you fail a Fortitude save or fall below 0 hit points. Once you’ve been repaired, you need to attempt saves in these circumstances again. Corruption Stage 1: The first time your corruption progresses, you fall into routines easily, performing repetitive actions. Your alignment shifts one step toward neutral. Corruption Stage 2: The second time your corruption progresses, you find you can’t bring yourself to care about things or even to love. Your alignment shifts to neutral. Corruption Stage 3: The third time your corruption progresses, too much of your body is gone for your soul to remain. You become a mindless, destructive automaton or free-willed evil construct under the GM’s control. Removing the Corruption Getting rid of a corruption requires invasive surgery to remove the artificial components fused to your body. Even these procedures might not cure your underlying wasting, so you might need to scour medical and alchemical tomes and consult divine spellcasters for a safer procedure than replacing your body parts in the way you were before. Powerful magic like miracle or wish in conjunction with regenerate might strip the components from your body and prevent the wasting. Manifestations The following are manifestations of the promethean corruption. Armored Source Horror Adventures pg. 32 Your body is unnaturally hardened against attacks. Gift: Plates bolted to your bones or flesh like leather protect your body. You gain a +1 natural armor bonus to your AC. At manifestation level 5th, this bonus increases to +2. Stain: Your take a –1 penalty on Dexterity- and Strength-based skill checks. At manifestation level 5th, this penalty changes to –2. Special: Upon receiving this manifestation, you must take both the gift and the stain, even with the useful corruption or vile corruption variants. Berserk Fury Source Horror Adventures pg. 32 The only emotion left to you is rage. Gift: You can voluntarily enter an enraged state as a free action for a number of rounds per day equal to your manifestation level; these rounds don’t have to be consecutive. Once you end this state, you can’t enter it again for 1 minute. While enraged, you gain a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls, 1 temporary hit point per character level, and a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves. You are in control of yourself during this rage, but you must still succeed at a Will save to resist losing control (as detailed in this manifestation’s stain). While voluntarily enraged, you take a –2 penalty on Will saves. Stain: When you’re hit by a critical hit or drop below half your maximum hit points, you must succeed at a Will save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level) or become enraged for a number of rounds equal to your manifestation level. You gain the benefits of this manifestation’s gift, but you’re completely out of control, making melee attacks against the nearest creature (roll randomly if there are multiple targets). Special: Upon receiving this manifestation, you must take both the gift and the stain, even with the useful corruption or vile corruption variants. Greater Armored Source Horror Adventures pg. 32 Your body is covered in thick armored plating. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 5th, armored. Gift: Your natural armor bonus to your AC from the armored manifestation increases by 2. Stain: The penalty from armored changes to –3. All your movement speeds decrease by 10 feet. Greater Shattered Body Source Horror Adventures pg. 32 Nearly all your body is replaced by artificial components. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 5th, armored, shattered body. Gift: Your body is almost entirely artificial, save for a few organic components tethering you to your original life. Your bonus on saving throws against poison and diseases from shattered body is equal to your manifestation level. You automatically stabilize when you are below 0 hit points. You no longer need to eat, drink, or sleep. You must still rest for at least 8 hours to prepare spells. Stain: Most of your internal organs have been replaced. You can no longer benefit from potions, elixirs, extracts, or any other beneficial item that requires consumption. Special: You can gain this manifestation only if you have failed another corruption progression saving throw and replaced more of your body with construct parts since the time you took shattered body. Greater Shattered Mind Source Horror Adventures pg. 33 You can understand no emotion but rage. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 6th, corruption stage 2, shattered mind. Gift: You become immune to all mind-affecting emotion effects, except those that produce emotions of rage, hatred, or anger. Stain: You have lost the ability to understand love or joy. You can’t benefit from morale bonuses or bardic performances. Promethean Transfiguration Source Horror Adventures pg. 33 You are more machine now than mortal. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 7th, corruption stage 2, armored, greater shattered body, greater shattered mind, shattered body, shattered mind. Gift: You become immune to bleed, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning. Stain: So much of your body is now gone that you struggle to remain alive. You take a –4 penalty to your Constitution score. Rampage Source Horror Adventures pg. 33 When you fly into a rage, you destroy everything nearby. Prerequisite: Berserk fury. Gift: While enraged, you deal double damage to objects and gain a +4 bonus on Strength checks to break objects. Stain: Returning from the heights of fury takes a toll on your body. You are staggered for 1 minute after ending a rage of any kind (including berserk fury, barbarian rage, and the rage spell). Nothing can remove this condition, nor does immunity to being staggered prevent it. Replacement Limb Source Horror Adventures pg. 33 One of your arms has been replaced by a prosthetic. Prerequisite: Armored, shattered body. Gift: You gain one slam attack as a primary natural weapon. This slam deals 1d6 points of damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small). Stain: You take a –2 penalty on Dexterity-based skill checks and ability checks using your hands, as well as on Dexterity-based attack rolls. Shattered Body Source Horror Adventures pg. 33 The last time you added more construct parts to your body, you reached a tipping point. Prerequisite: Armored. Gift: You gain a bonus on Fortitude saves against poison and disease equal to half your manifestation level. Additionally, you require only half as much food and water as normal, and half as much rest as normal to gain a full night’s sleep. However, you must still rest for at least 8 hours to prepare spells. Stain: You are treated as both a construct and your original creature type for spells and effects that target creatures by type (such as the bane weapon special ability or a ranger’s favored enemy class feature). Special: You can gain this manifestation only if you have failed at least one corruption progression saving throw and replaced more of your body with construct parts. Shattered Mind Source Horror Adventures pg. 33 Your transformation damaged your psyche. Prerequisite: Corruption Stage 1 or 2. Gift: Your dulled emotions are more difficult to affect with magic. You gain a +2 bonus on Will saves against emotion effects, and if you have this manifestation’s stain, you don’t need to roll twice and take the lower result against them. This doesn’t apply to emotion effects that cause rage, hatred, or anger. At manifestation level 5th, this bonus increases to +4. Stain: Now easy to manipulate, you roll twice and take the lower result against compulsion effects.

Promethean Corruption

Source Horror Adventures pg. 32
Your body is slowly wasting away. As your body decays, you must gradually replace more and more of it with artificial components—corpse flesh, bone, wood, metal, or other exotic materials.

Catalyst

This corruption stems from experimentation designed to create or extend life—perhaps you were a willing participant in an alchemist’s research or brought back from the dead by an unconventional means that robbed you of your humanity.

Progression

Whenever you fail a Fortitude save against any effect or fall below 0 hit points, you must attempt a Fortitude save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level). If you fail that save, some of the living components of your body begin to fail. Within the next 3 days, you or someone you trust must spend 8 hours replacing more of your body with construct parts. If you don’t do so, you die, and even if you are brought back from the dead with resurrection or true resurrection (which are necessary since your body isn’t viable), you still must perform the operation or you die again in 3 days. After an operation, there is a 50% chance your corruption progresses to the next stage. If it doesn’t, the DC of the above Fortitude save increases by 2 until your corruption reaches the next stage. These increases stack.

While your body parts are failing (after you’ve failed the Fort save but before you’ve repaired your body), you don’t have to attempt additional saves when you fail a Fortitude save or fall below 0 hit points. Once you’ve been repaired, you need to attempt saves in these circumstances again.
Corruption Stage 1: The first time your corruption progresses, you fall into routines easily, performing repetitive actions. Your alignment shifts one step toward neutral.
Corruption Stage 2: The second time your corruption progresses, you find you can’t bring yourself to care about things or even to love. Your alignment shifts to neutral.
Corruption Stage 3: The third time your corruption progresses, too much of your body is gone for your soul to remain. You become a mindless, destructive automaton or free-willed evil construct under the GM’s control.

Removing the Corruption

Getting rid of a corruption requires invasive surgery to remove the artificial components fused to your body. Even these procedures might not cure your underlying wasting, so you might need to scour medical and alchemical tomes and consult divine spellcasters for a safer procedure than replacing your body parts in the way you were before. Powerful magic like miracle or wish in conjunction with regenerate might strip the components from your body and prevent the wasting.

Manifestations

The following are manifestations of the promethean corruption.

Armored

Source Horror Adventures pg. 32
Your body is unnaturally hardened against attacks.
Gift: Plates bolted to your bones or flesh like leather protect your body. You gain a +1 natural armor bonus to your AC. At manifestation level 5th, this bonus increases to +2.
Stain: Your take a –1 penalty on Dexterity- and Strength-based skill checks. At manifestation level 5th, this penalty changes to –2.
Special: Upon receiving this manifestation, you must take both the gift and the stain, even with the useful corruption or vile corruption variants.

Berserk Fury

Source Horror Adventures pg. 32
The only emotion left to you is rage.
Gift: You can voluntarily enter an enraged state as a free action for a number of rounds per day equal to your manifestation level; these rounds don’t have to be consecutive. Once you end this state, you can’t enter it again for 1 minute. While enraged, you gain a +2 bonus on attack and damage rolls, 1 temporary hit point per character level, and a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves. You are in control of yourself during this rage, but you must still succeed at a Will save to resist losing control (as detailed in this manifestation’s stain). While voluntarily enraged, you take a –2 penalty on Will saves.
Stain: When you’re hit by a critical hit or drop below half your maximum hit points, you must succeed at a Will save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level) or become enraged for a number of rounds equal to your manifestation level. You gain the benefits of this manifestation’s gift, but you’re completely out of control, making melee attacks against the nearest creature (roll randomly if there are multiple targets).
Special: Upon receiving this manifestation, you must take both the gift and the stain, even with the useful corruption or vile corruption variants.

Greater Armored

Source Horror Adventures pg. 32
Your body is covered in thick armored plating.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 5th, armored.
Gift: Your natural armor bonus to your AC from the armored manifestation increases by 2.
Stain: The penalty from armored changes to –3. All your movement speeds decrease by 10 feet.

Greater Shattered Body

Source Horror Adventures pg. 32
Nearly all your body is replaced by artificial components.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 5th, armored, shattered body.
Gift: Your body is almost entirely artificial, save for a few organic components tethering you to your original life. Your bonus on saving throws against poison and diseases from shattered body is equal to your manifestation level. You automatically stabilize when you are below 0 hit points. You no longer need to eat, drink, or sleep. You must still rest for at least 8 hours to prepare spells.
Stain: Most of your internal organs have been replaced. You can no longer benefit from potions, elixirs, extracts, or any other beneficial item that requires consumption.
Special: You can gain this manifestation only if you have failed another corruption progression saving throw and replaced more of your body with construct parts since the time you took shattered body.

Greater Shattered Mind

Source Horror Adventures pg. 33
You can understand no emotion but rage.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 6th, corruption stage 2, shattered mind.
Gift: You become immune to all mind-affecting emotion effects, except those that produce emotions of rage, hatred, or anger.
Stain: You have lost the ability to understand love or joy. You can’t benefit from morale bonuses or bardic performances.

Promethean Transfiguration

Source Horror Adventures pg. 33
You are more machine now than mortal.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 7th, corruption stage 2, armored, greater shattered body, greater shattered mind, shattered body, shattered mind.
Gift: You become immune to bleed, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.
Stain: So much of your body is now gone that you struggle to remain alive. You take a –4 penalty to your Constitution score.

Rampage

Source Horror Adventures pg. 33
When you fly into a rage, you destroy everything nearby.
Prerequisite: Berserk fury.
Gift: While enraged, you deal double damage to objects and gain a +4 bonus on Strength checks to break objects.
Stain: Returning from the heights of fury takes a toll on your body. You are staggered for 1 minute after ending a rage of any kind (including berserk fury, barbarian rage, and the rage spell). Nothing can remove this condition, nor does immunity to being staggered prevent it.

Replacement Limb

Source Horror Adventures pg. 33
One of your arms has been replaced by a prosthetic.
Prerequisite: Armored, shattered body.
Gift: You gain one slam attack as a primary natural weapon. This slam deals 1d6 points of damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small).
Stain: You take a –2 penalty on Dexterity-based skill checks and ability checks using your hands, as well as on Dexterity-based attack rolls.

Shattered Body

Source Horror Adventures pg. 33
The last time you added more construct parts to your body, you reached a tipping point.
Prerequisite: Armored.
Gift: You gain a bonus on Fortitude saves against poison and disease equal to half your manifestation level. Additionally, you require only half as much food and water as normal, and half as much rest as normal to gain a full night’s sleep. However, you must still rest for at least 8 hours to prepare spells.
Stain: You are treated as both a construct and your original creature type for spells and effects that target creatures by type (such as the bane weapon special ability or a ranger’s favored enemy class feature).
Special: You can gain this manifestation only if you have failed at least one corruption progression saving throw and replaced more of your body with construct parts.

Shattered Mind

Source Horror Adventures pg. 33
Your transformation damaged your psyche.
Prerequisite: Corruption Stage 1 or 2.
Gift: Your dulled emotions are more difficult to affect with magic. You gain a +2 bonus on Will saves against emotion effects, and if you have this manifestation’s stain, you don’t need to roll twice and take the lower result against them. This doesn’t apply to emotion effects that cause rage, hatred, or anger. At manifestation level 5th, this bonus increases to +4.
Stain: Now easy to manipulate, you roll twice and take the lower result against compulsion effects.

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