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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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Vampirism Corruption Source Horror Adventures pg. 36 You salivate when blood is spilled, and struggle against the urge to sink your teeth into the necks of friends and innocents. Catalyst Being drained—but not killed—at least six times by a vampire within a month or less causes this corruption. Powerful vampires or curses can cause this corruption more rapidly. Progression Vampirism progresses when you feed off and kill a sentient creature. Each week, you need to drink the blood of sentient creatures one size category smaller than you or larger until you drain enough to deal Constitution damage equal to your manifestation level. If you don’t have the fangs manifestation, you must feed on a helpless or willing creature. If you haven’t drunk enough blood after a week, you must succeed at a Will save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level) each day until you have. If you fail, the next time you rest, your corruption takes over and you unconsciously hunt and feed, drinking a sentient creature dry. If circumstances make it impossible to feed (such as if you are tied down or in a locale with nothing to feed upon) you start to starve as if you had not eaten in 3 days, and you continue to thirst for blood and struggle to escape and feed until you have received five times the amount of blood from sentient creatures you normally require. If your allies are able to restrain and feed you, your corruption doesn’t progress. However, the DC of the Will save against your corruption progressing increases by 2. These increases stack, and last until your corruption reaches the next stage. Whenever you drop below 0 hit points, you must attempt a save as if you hadn’t drunk enough blood that week. Corruption Stage 1: Once you feed on an innocent sentient creature, your alignment shifts one step toward evil and spells that detect undead sense you, though the peculiar result they return informs the caster that you’re still a living creature. Other spells and effects don’t treat you as undead. Corruption Stage 2: The second time this happens, your alignment shifts another step toward evil and you are affected by spells and abilities as if your creature type were undead (including bane and the favored enemy class feature). This doesn’t grant you any of the immunities of being undead, nor does it make you immune to effects that target living creatures or change how negative and positive energy affect you. Corruption Stage 3: The third time this occurs, you become an NPC vampire under the GM’s control. Removing the Corruption Ending the corruption requires eliminating the source, such as by slaying your progenitor vampire or ending your curse. Manifestations The following are manifestations of the vampirism corruption. Allure Source Horror Adventures pg. 36 You can influence others subtly, but lose your reflection. Gift: You gain a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks. At manifestation level 3rd, these bonuses increase to +4. Stain: You cast no reflection. While you’re within 10 feet of a mirror or reflective surface, nearby creatures may notice something amiss (Perception DC 20). If they succeed by 5 or more, they notice your lack of reflection. When you reach manifestation level 3rd, a creature can present a mirror to you as a standard action to repel you. You must stay at least 5 feet away from the mirror and can’t touch or make melee attacks against that creature. After 1 round, if the creature continues presenting the mirror, you can attempt a DC 25 Will save each round to ignore the repulsion for that round. Children of the Night Source Horror Adventures pg. 36 You can summon foul beasts to faithfully serve you. Gift: Once per day, you can summon a rat swarm or a wolf, as if using summon nature’s ally II with a caster level equal to your character level. The creature serves you for 10 minutes or until destroyed. At manifestation level 3rd and every 2 manifestation levels thereafter, you can use this ability an additional time each day. At manifestation level 4th, you can spend two daily uses of this ability to summon a bat swarm. Stain: You take a –3 penalty on Handle Animal and Ride checks against animals (except those you summon with this manifestation’s gift). At manifestation level 5th, you affect nonhostile animals as if you had an unnatural aura. Dreadful Charm Source Horror Adventures pg. 36 Your powers of persuasion allow you to compel the weak. Prerequisite: Allure. Gift: Once per day when you succeed at a Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check against a creature, you can charm that creature as if using charm monster with a caster level equal to your character level. If the creature fails its save, it’s charmed for a number of minutes equal to your character level. Stain: You no longer cast a shadow. Noticing this in normal or bright light requires a successful DC 15 Perception check. Also, if you’re in an area that smells strongly of garlic, you must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1d4 minutes. Immunities don’t prevent this sickened condition. Fangs Source Horror Adventures pg. 36 Your canines grow unnaturally long when you are angry. Gift: You can, as a swift action, grow fangs that grant you a bite attack. This is a primary natural attack that deals 1d6 points of piercing damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small). You can dismiss the fangs as a move action. You can drain blood with your bite from a helpless creature as a standard action, or a pinned creature as a free action once per round immediately after succeeding at a combat maneuver check to pin the creature or maintain your pin. Each time you drain blood, you deal 1 point of Constitution damage. This counts toward the feeding you must do to avoid your corruption progressing; you needn’t entirely drain and kill the creature. Draining blood changes your alignment only if you feed on an unwilling innocent. Stain: To avoid a saving throw against your corruption progressing, you must drink the requisite amount of blood each day instead of each week. Greater Unlife Source Horror Adventures pg. 37 You can recover from nearly any wound. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd, unlife. Gift: When you use the ability of the unlife manifestation, you gain fast healing 3 instead of fast healing 1. While the fast healing lasts, you are immune to nonlethal damage, ability damage, and ability drain, although you retain any you already had. Stain: Whenever you’re in direct sunlight, you’re staggered instead of shaken. Nothing can remove or prevent this condition, but it ends once you’re out of direct sunlight. Life Drain Source Horror Adventures pg. 37 You can drain life from those you harm. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 2nd. Gift: You gain a slam attack, a primary natural attack that deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small). If you confirm a critical hit with this attack, you inflict 1 temporary negative level on the target. The DC to remove this negative level is equal to the standard corruption ability DC. Stain: You are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy as if you were an undead creature. True Unlife Source Horror Adventures pg. 37 You can cheat death. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd, greater unlife, unlife. Gift: When you’re reduced to fewer than 0 hit points but not slain and you have a use of fast healing remaining, you immediately assume gaseous form, activate your fast healing, and remain conscious. Once you have more than 0 hit points, the effect ends. This delays the normal Will save against your corruption progressing until gaseous form ends. Stain: If you remain in direct sunlight, at the end of your second turn you burst into flame, taking 1d6 points of fire damage per manifestation level you have each round. This fire damage bypasses resistance or immunity and can’t be prevented. The fire damage and staggered condition end as soon as you get out of direct sunlight. If you are reduced to fewer than 0 hit points while in direct sunlight, you are slain and can’t be brought back to life without true resurrection. Unlife Source Horror Adventures pg. 37 You heal at a phenomenal rate. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd. Gift: As a standard action a number of times per day equal to 1/2 your manifestation level, you can grant yourself fast healing 1 for 1 minute. Stain: While you’re in direct sunlight, you become shaken. Nothing can remove this condition, nor does immunity to fear prevent it, but it ends as soon as you are no longer in sunlight. Vampiric Grace Source Horror Adventures pg. 37 You move with a predator’s grace. Prerequisite: Manifestation level 2nd. Gift: You gain Dodge as a bonus feat and a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks. At manifestation level 6th, you can climb walls (as per spider climb) at will. Stain: You can enter a private dwelling only if invited in by someone with the authority to do so, unless you succeed at a DC 30 Will save. If you fail, you can never retry the save, but you can enter if you’re later invited inside.

Vampirism Corruption

Source Horror Adventures pg. 36
You salivate when blood is spilled, and struggle against the urge to sink your teeth into the necks of friends and innocents.

Catalyst

Being drained—but not killed—at least six times by a vampire within a month or less causes this corruption. Powerful vampires or curses can cause this corruption more rapidly.

Progression

Vampirism progresses when you feed off and kill a sentient creature. Each week, you need to drink the blood of sentient creatures one size category smaller than you or larger until you drain enough to deal Constitution damage equal to your manifestation level. If you don’t have the fangs manifestation, you must feed on a helpless or willing creature. If you haven’t drunk enough blood after a week, you must succeed at a Will save (DC = 15 + your manifestation level) each day until you have. If you fail, the next time you rest, your corruption takes over and you unconsciously hunt and feed, drinking a sentient creature dry. If circumstances make it impossible to feed (such as if you are tied down or in a locale with nothing to feed upon) you start to starve as if you had not eaten in 3 days, and you continue to thirst for blood and struggle to escape and feed until you have received five times the amount of blood from sentient creatures you normally require. If your allies are able to restrain and feed you, your corruption doesn’t progress. However, the DC of the Will save against your corruption progressing increases by 2. These increases stack, and last until your corruption reaches the next stage. Whenever you drop below 0 hit points, you must attempt a save as if you hadn’t drunk enough blood that week.
Corruption Stage 1: Once you feed on an innocent sentient creature, your alignment shifts one step toward evil and spells that detect undead sense you, though the peculiar result they return informs the caster that you’re still a living creature. Other spells and effects don’t treat you as undead.
Corruption Stage 2: The second time this happens, your alignment shifts another step toward evil and you are affected by spells and abilities as if your creature type were undead (including bane and the favored enemy class feature). This doesn’t grant you any of the immunities of being undead, nor does it make you immune to effects that target living creatures or change how negative and positive energy affect you.
Corruption Stage 3: The third time this occurs, you become an NPC vampire under the GM’s control.

Removing the Corruption

Ending the corruption requires eliminating the source, such as by slaying your progenitor vampire or ending your curse.

Manifestations

The following are manifestations of the vampirism corruption.

Allure

Source Horror Adventures pg. 36
You can influence others subtly, but lose your reflection.
Gift: You gain a +2 racial bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks. At manifestation level 3rd, these bonuses increase to +4.
Stain: You cast no reflection. While you’re within 10 feet of a mirror or reflective surface, nearby creatures may notice something amiss (Perception DC 20). If they succeed by 5 or more, they notice your lack of reflection. When you reach manifestation level 3rd, a creature can present a mirror to you as a standard action to repel you. You must stay at least 5 feet away from the mirror and can’t touch or make melee attacks against that creature. After 1 round, if the creature continues presenting the mirror, you can attempt a DC 25 Will save each round to ignore the repulsion for that round.

Children of the Night

Source Horror Adventures pg. 36
You can summon foul beasts to faithfully serve you.
Gift: Once per day, you can summon a rat swarm or a wolf, as if using summon nature’s ally II with a caster level equal to your character level. The creature serves you for 10 minutes or until destroyed. At manifestation level 3rd and every 2 manifestation levels thereafter, you can use this ability an additional time each day. At manifestation level 4th, you can spend two daily uses of this ability to summon a bat swarm.
Stain: You take a –3 penalty on Handle Animal and Ride checks against animals (except those you summon with this manifestation’s gift). At manifestation level 5th, you affect nonhostile animals as if you had an unnatural aura.

Dreadful Charm

Source Horror Adventures pg. 36
Your powers of persuasion allow you to compel the weak.
Prerequisite: Allure.
Gift: Once per day when you succeed at a Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check against a creature, you can charm that creature as if using charm monster with a caster level equal to your character level. If the creature fails its save, it’s charmed for a number of minutes equal to your character level.
Stain: You no longer cast a shadow. Noticing this in normal or bright light requires a successful DC 15 Perception check. Also, if you’re in an area that smells strongly of garlic, you must succeed at a DC 20 Fortitude save or be sickened for 1d4 minutes. Immunities don’t prevent this sickened condition.

Fangs

Source Horror Adventures pg. 36
Your canines grow unnaturally long when you are angry.
Gift: You can, as a swift action, grow fangs that grant you a bite attack. This is a primary natural attack that deals 1d6 points of piercing damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small). You can dismiss the fangs as a move action. You can drain blood with your bite from a helpless creature as a standard action, or a pinned creature as a free action once per round immediately after succeeding at a combat maneuver check to pin the creature or maintain your pin. Each time you drain blood, you deal 1 point of Constitution damage. This counts toward the feeding you must do to avoid your corruption progressing; you needn’t entirely drain and kill the creature. Draining blood changes your alignment only if you feed on an unwilling innocent.
Stain: To avoid a saving throw against your corruption progressing, you must drink the requisite amount of blood each day instead of each week.

Greater Unlife

Source Horror Adventures pg. 37
You can recover from nearly any wound.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd, unlife.
Gift: When you use the ability of the unlife manifestation, you gain fast healing 3 instead of fast healing 1. While the fast healing lasts, you are immune to nonlethal damage, ability damage, and ability drain, although you retain any you already had.
Stain: Whenever you’re in direct sunlight, you’re staggered instead of shaken. Nothing can remove or prevent this condition, but it ends once you’re out of direct sunlight.

Life Drain

Source Horror Adventures pg. 37
You can drain life from those you harm.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 2nd.
Gift: You gain a slam attack, a primary natural attack that deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage if your size is Medium (1d4 if Small). If you confirm a critical hit with this attack, you inflict 1 temporary negative level on the target. The DC to remove this negative level is equal to the standard corruption ability DC.
Stain: You are healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy as if you were an undead creature.

True Unlife

Source Horror Adventures pg. 37
You can cheat death.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd, greater unlife, unlife.
Gift: When you’re reduced to fewer than 0 hit points but not slain and you have a use of fast healing remaining, you immediately assume gaseous form, activate your fast healing, and remain conscious. Once you have more than 0 hit points, the effect ends. This delays the normal Will save against your corruption progressing until gaseous form ends.
Stain: If you remain in direct sunlight, at the end of your second turn you burst into flame, taking 1d6 points of fire damage per manifestation level you have each round. This fire damage bypasses resistance or immunity and can’t be prevented. The fire damage and staggered condition end as soon as you get out of direct sunlight. If you are reduced to fewer than 0 hit points while in direct sunlight, you are slain and can’t be brought back to life without true resurrection.

Unlife

Source Horror Adventures pg. 37
You heal at a phenomenal rate.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 3rd.
Gift: As a standard action a number of times per day equal to 1/2 your manifestation level, you can grant yourself fast healing 1 for 1 minute.
Stain: While you’re in direct sunlight, you become shaken. Nothing can remove this condition, nor does immunity to fear prevent it, but it ends as soon as you are no longer in sunlight.

Vampiric Grace

Source Horror Adventures pg. 37
You move with a predator’s grace.
Prerequisite: Manifestation level 2nd.
Gift: You gain Dodge as a bonus feat and a +2 racial bonus on Stealth checks. At manifestation level 6th, you can climb walls (as per spider climb) at will.
Stain: You can enter a private dwelling only if invited in by someone with the authority to do so, unless you succeed at a DC 30 Will save. If you fail, you can never retry the save, but you can enter if you’re later invited inside.

Archives of Nethys