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Mythtaken

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Actually, the fierceness of the chimera is overstated. I am confident that with a bushel of onions even a nest of the beasts could be easily tamed.. - Jocquin, Mythtaken.

Monsters are terrifying. Even heroes who fight the fell beasts treat them with respect. Occasionally, someone misunderstands the nature of monsters. These people view monsters as exaggerated boogey-men. Most people with this worldview die horribly, but a few survive. These few have the strange ability to make the stories they tell about monsters true.

Becoming a Mythtaken
The path of the Mythtaken is not one that is tread intentionally. Perhaps as a novice adventurer you slew a sick dragon. Maybe a troll attacked your group and was murdered in to the ground with no difficulty. Whatever the reason, you have ‘realized’ that monsters are not as scary as they seem. You tell your story to others so that people no longer need to live in fear.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
-8 ranks in Perform: Oratory
-Inspire Courage class feature
-Collector of Stories skill trick or Knowledge Devotion feat


Class Skills
The Mythtaken's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Escape Artist (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Hide (Dex),Jump (Str), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Speak Language (None), Swim (Str), and Tumble (Dex).
Skills Points at Each Level: 6 + int mod
Hit Dice: d6

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Special
1st	+0	+0	+2	+2		Smooth Talker, Story of Sir Hector
2nd	+1	+0	+3	+3		Story of Saint Celestine, Extra Music
3rd	+2	+1	+3	+3		Inspirational Orator, Story of Olaf Pigson
4th	+3	+1	+4	+4		Story of Elgin the Deaf, Story of Jonias Dragonslayer
5th	+3	+1	+4	+4		Twist in the Myth

Weapon Proficiencies: A Mythtaken gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Smooth Talker(Ex): A Mythtaken is similar to a bard. Both of them tell tales and inspire people to greatness. Levels in Mythtaken stack with levels in Bard for purposes of bardic music uses per day and the bonus granted by Inspire Courage. Levels in Mythtaken do not stack with Bard levels for purposes of access to new bard songs.

Story of Sir Hector(Ex): Sir Hector was a minor lord who had responsibility for a few hundred peasants and their various mud huts. One winter a dark wizard moved in to the nearby mountain pass and demanded a toll from travellers. Sir Hector belted on his sword, strapped on his armor, and rode forth to slay the wizard. The frightened townsfolk heard all manner of magical explosions from the mountain pass, and then silence. When one of them mustered the courage to investigate, the pass was clear and there was no sign of either man. The Mythtaken tell this story to help people avoid hostile magics and other strange effects.
A novice Mythtaken is better able to help people avoid miscellaneous hazards. When he uses Inspire Courage, people affected by it also gain a Resistance bonus to saving throws equal to the normal Inspire Courage bonus.

Story of Saint Celestine(Ex): Saint Celestine, when she was alive and not yet sainted, lived in a nunnery. This nunnery was known as a peaceful place for quiet contemplation of religious texts and insights. A roving Behir arrived at the gates of the nunnery and demanded a volunteer to be eaten. Celestine hatched a bold plan and tied a knife to a broomstick. Armed with her makeshift spear and her faith, she charged the Behir. The beast simply laughed and trusted in its scales to protect it from such frolicsome prey. Its laughter stopped when her spear thrust into it as though the scales were butter. Scholars dispute what happens next in the story, so it shall be left here. Her inspirational story, from the lips of a Mythtaken, makes even the sturdiest monster seem less fearsome.
The Story of Saint Celestine is a new bardic song which a second level Mythtaken learns. It requires a standard action to activate it, it can be maintained as a free action, and costs one bardic music use to activate it. When the Story of Saint Celestine is told, one hostile creature that is not humanoid within 60’ of the Mythtaken must make a Will save with a DC of 10+1/2 character level+Cha mod or take a penalty to its natural armor and DR equal to the Mythtaken’s character level divided by two. This effect lasts for the rest of the encounter. Neither Natural armor nor DR can be reduced below 0 by this ability. Uses of this ability on the same monster do not stack, they overlap and only the strongest one counts.

Extra Music(Ex): The Mythtaken tell stories as often as they can. This focused practice grants them the Extra Music feat at second level.

Inspirational Orator(Ex): Every Mythtaken has above-average oratorical skills. Averages do not work like that, but the Mythtaken are unaware of such problems. The mythtaken's minimum bonus to abilities based on Inspire Courage is 3. This is checked after all bonuses and penalties are applied, so a Mythtaken with an innate +2 casting Inspirational Boost for +1 and using Words of Creation for +5 or +6 total (depending on your reading of things) does not benefit.
In addition, a third level Mythtaken has told his stories so often and so widely that he can activate any Bardic Music as a swift action. This costs an additional use of bardic music.

Story of Olaf Pigson(Ex): Olaf Pigson was found as a baby in a pig sty. He was raised by a family of farmers, and he would have passed through history without leaving a mark were it not for the band of trolls that attacked his farm one warm summer afternoon. Olaf lifted his pitchfork and went forth to do battle. The trolls closed in and struck out with their enormous claws, but Olaf avoided their strikes. He stabbed the foul trolls again and again with his pitchfork, but they continued to rise and attack him. The battle still raged as the sun fell. In the morning all that was left was a blood soaked field. His family believes that Olaf won the fight and went off to be an adventurer. The Mythtaken carry his story and find that it helps people avoid the claws and teeth of monsters.
The Story of Olaf Pigson is a new bardic song which a third level Mythtaken learns. It requires a standard action to activate it, it can be maintained as a free action, and costs one bardic music use to activate it. When the Story of Olaf Pigson is told the Mythtaken and his allies gain a morale bonus to AC equal to his Inspire Courage bonus which only applies to attacks from creatures that are not humanoid. The effect of the story lasts as long as it is maintained and for five rounds after.


Story of Elgin the Deaf(Su: Elgin the Deaf was a novice fighter who was hired to escort a group of scholars as they explored some ancient ruins. As the scholars argued about the translation of some glyphs they found on a wall, Elgin saw that they were not alone in the ruins. A colony of basilisks had been irritated by the loud scholars and attacked. Elgin did his duty and stepped forward to fight them. The scholars shouted at him to run for it, but Elgin was deaf to their cries. Astonishingly, he was not turned to stone as the beasts approached, and he struck down one of them. The last the scholars saw of him he was fighting the other three beasts gamely. The Mythtaken tell his story to help people shake off the unnatural horrors that monsters can inflict on people.
The Story of Elgin the Deaf is a new bardic song which a fourth level Mythtaken learns. It may be activated as a standard action or as an immediate action to different effect, and costs one bardic music use to activate it. When the Story of Elgin is told as a standard action, it grants an additional saving throw to every ally within 60’ against one effect of their choice. This may not be used against effects which require a Break Enchantment or stronger magic to remove. At character level twelve, effects which require Break Enchantment can be affected by this story. At character level sixteen this story can affect any effect that requires anything less than a Wish or Miracle to break. When used as an immediate action, this story grants an additional saving throw to any or all allies against a single effect that has just occurred.

Story of Jonias Dragonslayer(Ex): Jonias was a wandering hero who heard of a dragon terrorizing a small hamlet. Being a wise fellow, he hired a few villagers to carry the horde back after he slew the dragon. They followed him at a safe distance as he approached the beast’s lair. The dragon came out, laughed, and tried to breathe fire all over Jonias. Instead the fell beast merely coughed. Jonias brandished his great sword and charged. At this point the villagers lost their courage and fled. When they returned both Jonias and the dragon were gone. They picked up the hoard and took it back to their village. The story of the dragon’s failure to perform allows Mythtaken to unnerve other creatures that use supernatural attacks.
The Story of Jonias Dragonslayer is a new bardic song which a fourth level Mythtaken learns. It requires a standard action to activate and costs one bardic music use to use. When the Story of Jonias Dragonslayer is told one target creature that is not humanoid must make a Will save with a DC of 10+1/2 character level+Cha mod or lose the ability to use all of its Supernatural abilities for the rest of the encounter. The effect of the story lasts as long for the rest of the encounter. At character level thirteen, a Mythtaken may target a number of creatures up to his Charisma modifier.

Twist in the Myth(Su): The pinnacle of the art of the Mythtaken is a story only their masters can tell well. This story is anathema to creatures that go bump in the night.
The Twist in the Myth is a new bardic song which a fifth level Mythtaken learns. It requires a standard action to activate it, it can be maintained as a free action, and costs one bardic music use to activate it. When the Twist in the Myth is told, all hostile creatures that are not humanoid within 60’ of the Mythtaken must take a -4 penalty to their strength score for each size category they are above medium. All of their damaging Supernatural and Spell-Like abilities do one fewer die of damage for each size category they are larger than medium. If the ability does not do dice of damage it is not affected. This effect lasts as long as the creature is within 60’ of the Mythtaken and the story is sustained. Neither strength nor damage dice can be reduced below 0 by this ability.

Playing a Mythtaken
Combat: You are a bard with different songs. Keep invested in your Knowledge skills so you know which song will be best to use.
Advancement: It is advisable to take more levels in Bard after this class. Various Bard prestige classes are also wise to consider.
Resources: The Mythtaken have only a loose confederation who swap stories. Occasionally a fellow Mythtaken might know something useful or be able to spare a horse, but that is about the extent of what the group can provide.

Mythtaken in the world
Bloody idiot is going to get himself killed - nameless peasant

Mythtaken are seen as dreamers at best, and dangerously naive at worst. Sometimes attitudes change after seeing a Mythtaken in action, but common knowledge is hard to fight against.
Daily Life: Mythtaken tend to drift through life chasing one dream after another. Or, naturally, they are out risking their lives for gold and honor. You know, like adventurers.
Notables: Errin the Carefree is famous for her stand against a dragon using nothing more than a mop she borrowed. Foul Mike was last seen jumping through a portal to Arborea screaming something about angels not being as tough as they look.
Organizations: The Mythtaken have a loose confederation that shares stories, but each is free to go their own way.

NPC Reaction
The Mythtaken are generally taken to be mentally deficient. Most everyone has seen an ankheg attack, has heard of dragons burning entire towns down, and knows that monsters are terrifying. If a Mythtaken sticks around one place long enough, they can change the attitudes of people. This is fine as long as the Mythtaken is around, but disastrous if he leaves.

Mythtaken in the game
The Mythtaken make the party stronger against non-humanoid foes.
Adaptation: The various stories that class features are based on are generic enough to fit in any standard fantasy setting, but you are free to customize them with actual history from your world.
Encounters: A Mythtaken could be found at the head of a mob who is hunting after unusual PCs.