Mythos Homebrew Discussion II: Where Simplicity Goes to Die

[Xefas]

So, I've got a question about the Mythic Titans' fluff:

Can a Notion live outside an Titan's "body"?

Yes. Few choose to, but they certainly can. Their minds are developed to function in a world that operates by particular narrative laws. Going to a world that operates under a different narrative, or to a place like the Wheel, which has no definitive unified narrative to run on, is disconcerting. On the Maker's world, for example, being rewarded proportionally to your hard work is more akin to a physical constant like gravity or magnetism, rather than a social ideal. If one of his Notions goes to the Prime and sees serfs toiling away ceaselessly in the fields just to keep from starving while posh nobles that've never worked a day in their life enjoy all the luxuries of the time, it doesn't just look like injustice, it looks like physics stopped working. They'd feel like Alice in Wonderland; nothing makes sense, and anything could do anything without rhyme or reason at a moment's notice.

But, y'know, some can adapt. Some might even find they like a world with different rules. They're just the weirdos of their kind.

I'm asking this, because I've got this idea for a Mythos Class who wears one of a Titan's Notions(or some essence of the Omphalos, or part of the not-quite-Titan where the Bellator gets his powers from) as a suit of armor. Kind of like Mr. Burlew's
Champion class.

Cool.

[commander panda]

hey xefas do you mind if i ask a a question concerning the kathados?

i was wondering if, given its recent influx of new mythos and the possibility that the old stuff will come back, you think it might be reaching completion at some point soon? would you still say it's around 30% done, like before?

[Xefas]

hey xefas do you mind if i ask a a question concerning the kathados?

I don't mind.

i was wondering if, given its recent influx of new mythos and the possibility that the old stuff will come back, you think it might be reaching completion at some point soon?

That would be a solid 'maybe'.

would you still say it's around 30% done, like before?

It's more done that it was before. It has Exalted Mythos now, for one.

[Bluydee]

Since I have the patience of a goldfish, the mental roadblock of a police barricade, and 8 hours of free time, I hammered out this once I realized my previous idea didn't have much elements I could think about.

Spoiler: INSERT QUOTE HERE!

Show

"People of Earth, I am Darkseid! Lord of Apokolips! Here is your savior, bound and broken! I have crushed him as easily as I have crushed all who have dared to oppose me throughout the cosmos. I am power unlike any you have known! Absolute, infinite, and unrelenting! You have no choice but to prepare for a long, dark future as my subjects... and my *slaves*. " ~ Darkseid

The Impestus

Before the Sun lived, or the stories took shape, there was unyielding chaos, swirling together the tales of hundreds, thousands, millions of narratives and legends, without form, solidity, or shape, concepts and ideas. Then one stood out beyond the rest, and with thought and force of will it became something more, something greater, and thus the Emperyean was born, a self-aware story. With force of will and confidence beyond arrogance they led, an unyielding first, a truth of what was known as leadership, and as more stories gained sentience, they were their unequivocable ruler. And in their everlasting reign, they created the first Xenocosmic Mythos, establishing their right to lord over others, their undeniable power and will.

Then the Lawgivers came, and they dared to wage strife and dispute the Emperyean’s sovereign right, and their impudence caused a war beyond comprehension of the mortal thought, and in the end, when the everbeating heart of the Emperyean was wrenched into place and bound to Great Wheel, sewed into eternal agony of stories of rulers and tyrants and warlords and barons and dukes, an idea and creation of these rebel gods, reducing the idea of true monarchs into tiny thoughts and fragments blasted apart in the far corners of the planes.

From the Emperyean the word emperor came, a ruler of everything, but their delusions of grandeur and role in the wheel’s path, chosen and dictated by what gods believe is great, were miniscule compared to the true magnificence of the original ruler, the one who was the first alive and the first to lead. Now, all “leaders” are nothing more but pawns in the everlasting cosmos of gods and their whims and fancies. But then there are those who have a spark, a spark felt across the realms and planes, the right and magnificence to rule, those who lead others away from the predetermined path the gods have set, a true king in itself, one who create epics with their plans and reshapes the world with every decision. And with the pure, unbridled essence of rule, the Emperyean resounding in their minds and souls, they are known as the Impestus.


Making An Impestus

Spoiler

Show

The Impestus is many things. They do everything and do it with excellence, for they forge their own destiny of glory and order, and with their right to rule they do it all. Where others are specialists, able to do one thing with their way, where rogues use deft hands and wit to get past a door, the Impestus force the door to open with their will for others to do as they see fit. Where wizards and clerics use their meager knowledge to change the rules of the world set by the gods for a short time, the Impestus merely scoff at the idea that rules bind them at follow the rules they choose for themselves.

Abilities: Charisma is the most important ability score for the Impestus, as only the force of their personality dictates what they can or cannot do. Everything else does not matter, for they are minor concerns that are crushed by the intensity of the will of the Impestus, that allows them to be as great as what the Impestus requires.

Races: There is no particular race predestined to become an Impestus. Any race can one day find in themselves the desire, and confidence, to rule over others.

Alignment: There is no specific alignment Imepstus are drawn to. The Impestus can be a merciless tyrant and conqueror, or a benevolent king and lord. The urge to rule manifests in both the kind-hearted and malevolent.

Starting Gold: 6d8 x 10 (As Aristocrat)

Hit Die: d12
Skill Points: 6 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Proficiencies: Impestus are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and all armor and shields.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Mythos	Excellencies
1st	+1	+2	+2	+2	The Ruler's Mythos, I Rule These Lands, Mythos Known, Exceptional Mythos, Excellence in Kingship, Emperor’s Will I	+2	+1
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+3		+0	+1
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+3	Emperor’s Will II	+1	+0
4th	+4	+4	+4	+4		+0	+1
5th	+5	+4	+4	+4	Emperor’s Will III	+1	+0
6th	+6/+1	+5	+5	+5		+0	+1
7th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5	Fantastic Mythos	+1	+1
8th	+8/+3	+6	+6	+6		+0	+1
9th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+6		+1	+0
10th	+10/+5	+7	+7	+7	Emperor’s Will IV	+0	+1
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+7	+7		+1	+0
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+8		+0	+1
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+8	+8	Legendary Mythos, Emperor’s Will V	+1	+1
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+9	+9		+0	+1
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+9	+9	Emperor’s Will VI	+1	+0
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+10	+10		+0	+1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Emperor’s Will VII	+1	+0
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+11		+0	+1
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+11	Exalted Mythos	+1	+1
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+12		+1	+1

The Monster's Mythos: An Impestus's power is expressed in terms of one or more "Mythos", the building blocks of the legend that they are, and the stories that they have told and will tell. While any given Mythos varies from the rest, they share some similar traits. They are always Extraordinary abilities, and when they reference a difficulty class for an imposed saving throw, that saving throw is always calculated as (10 + 1/2 class level + Strength modifier, unless otherwise stated). When a Mythos references a "level" that is not clearly defined in some other way, such as "character level", it refers to "class level" as in the number of levels one has in the Impestus class. When a Mythos references "allies", it specifically does not refer to the Impestus using it. When a Mythos grants a feat as a bonus feat, it is regardless of whether the character meets the prerequisites for that feat (unless otherwise stated), and if the character already possesses that feat (in some permanent fashion - via the normal allotment gained by leveling up, or through another Mythos, and so on, but not those gained temporarily, such as via a "Heroics" spell), they must replace the prior instance of that feat with another feat that they qualify for.

Every Mythos has a Tier. The Tier of a Mythos ranges from 1 to 4, typically referred to as Exceptional, Fantastic, Legendary, and Exalted. Exceptional Mythos tell the tales of warlords and dukes, rulers of villages and towns, the story of the people who lead townsfolk against undead and win. Fantastic Mythos are the ideals of presidents and kings, subjugating countries under their will and right.. Legendary Mythos are what emperors strive to be, rulers of the Material Plane, leading armies against each other, parting seas because they can. Exalted Mythos are for tyrant conquerors and emperors beyond the universe. They control entire planes and rule the Great Wheel, and Gods bow to them and Demon Lords are their manservants.

Some Mythos, in addition to their initial stated effect, have Basic and Advanced manifestations. When an Impestus gains access to a Mythos with a list of Basic manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit immediately as well. This choice may not be changed later. When an Impestus gains access to a Mythos with a list of Advanced manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit upon achieving their next level of Impestus. This choice may be changed at any point before receiving the chosen manifestation itself, but not after (choosing beforehand is just an easy way to mark it down on your character sheet so you don't forget that you'll be getting something later).

I Rule These Lands: Some Mythos refer to the Impestus’s leadership level and land. The Impestus’s lands are all the areas that they themselves control, where the people there recognize that the Impestus rules there. For example, if a town pledges service to the Impestus, then that is counted as his land.

Leadership level is the number of subjects/citizens/followers you have. The scale goes something like this:

1= 50 to 300 Subjects
2= 300 to 5,000 Subjects
3= 5,000 to 25,000 Subjects
4= 25,000 to 75,000 Subjects
5= 75,000 to 150,000 Subjects
6= 150,000 to 300,000 Subjects
7= 300,000 to 500,000 Subjects
8= 500,000 to 5,000,000 Subjects
9= 5,000,000 to 100,000,000 Subjects
10= 100,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 Subjects.
11= 1,000,000,000 to 2,000,000,000 Subjects
12= 2,000,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 Subjects
etc.

Mythos Known: A 1st level Impestus begins play with two Exceptional Mythos that he qualifies for if this is his first level in a PC character class. At higher levels, he gains additional Mythos as noted on the Impestus class table.

For characters that multiclass into Impestus after having taken levels in another PC character class, the 1st level of Impestus grants only a single Exceptional Mythos, rather than two.

An Impestus also has the ability to learn more Mythos, above the ones automatically allotted to him by leveling up - by giving his wealth to his subjects. At any time, an Impestus may give one of his possessions to his citizens. The donated item's value in gold pieces is recouped by the Impestus as an equal amount of Mythos Points.

By spending 1,000 Mythos Points, and 250xp, he may learn an Exceptional Mythos. A Fantastic Mythos requires 5,000 Mythos Points and 500xp. A Legendary Mythos takes 10,000 Mythos Points, and 1,000xp. And an Exalted Mythos takes 20,000 Mythos Points and 2,000xp.

For half the listed price for a given Tier, a Impestus may learn a Basic or Advanced manifestation of a Mythos they already know of that Tier.

Learning Mythos above the standard amount requires astounding, nearly single-minded devotion to the emperor’s path. An Impestus may only utilize this ability while more than half of his effective character level (ECL) is devoted to levels in the Impestus class.

Excellence in Kingship: As denoted on their class table, an Impestus gains a certain number of abilities known as "Excellencies". These tend to be more general, generic, and passive than a Mythos, but are useful nonetheless, and are drawn from their own separate list, unsegregated by Tiers. Like a Mythos, a Impestus may learn more Excellencies above their allotted amount. Each one costs 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp, plus an additional 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp for each time a new Excellency is innovated beyond the first. (So, 2,000mp and 200xp for the second, 3,000mp and 300xp for the third, etc.)

Primitive Brutality: What right is it for others to strike at their rightful ruler? The Impestus can add their charisma modifier to their AC as a deflection bonus. Their will is not based on wisdom and so they replaces their wisdom modifier with charisma for will saves. The Impestus also begins his path to conquest. They gain the feat Leadership as a bonus feat, but do not get a cohort. In addition, they also can add their character level to all charisma-based skill checks.

At 3rd level, an Impestus adds their charisma modifier to his saves.

At 5th level, an Impestus adds their charisma modifier to their initiative. In addition, they gain the feat Extra Followers.

At 10th level, an Impestus’s will allows them to be excellent at everything. The Impestus can add their charisma modifier to the rest of their ability scores.

At 13th level, an Impestus gathers more followers, and gains the feat Epic Leadership as a bonus feat.

At 15th level, they gain the feat Legendary Commander, and double their level in determining their leadership score.

At 17th level, they multiply the amount of followers they have by 100 in each level. These extra followers can only take commoner levels. Calculate the normal amount of followers with actual class levels seperately, then multiply that number by 100 and subtract the number to determine how many commoner followers you have.
These all stack multiplicatively.

On another note, can anyone think of a moral greyish to good ruler in fiction? Uriel Septim's face makes me sad.

[commander panda]

Since I have the patience of a goldfish, the mental roadblock of a police barricade, and 8 hours of free time, I hammered out this once I realized my previous idea didn't have much elements I could think about.

Spoiler: INSERT QUOTE HERE!

Show

"People of Earth, I am Darkseid! Lord of Apokolips! Here is your savior, bound and broken! I have crushed him as easily as I have crushed all who have dared to oppose me throughout the cosmos. I am power unlike any you have known! Absolute, infinite, and unrelenting! You have no choice but to prepare for a long, dark future as my subjects... and my *slaves*. " ~ Darkseid

The Impestus

Before the Sun lived, or the stories took shape, there was unyielding chaos, swirling together the tales of hundreds, thousands, millions of narratives and legends, without form, solidity, or shape, concepts and ideas. Then one stood out beyond the rest, and with thought and force of will it became something more, something greater, and thus the Emperyean was born, a self-aware story. With force of will and confidence beyond arrogance they led, an unyielding first, a truth of what was known as leadership, and as more stories gained sentience, they were their unequivocable ruler. And in their everlasting reign, they created the first Xenocosmic Mythos, establishing their right to lord over others, their undeniable power and will.

Then the Lawgivers came, and they dared to wage strife and dispute the Emperyean’s sovereign right, and their impudence caused a war beyond comprehension of the mortal thought, and in the end, when the everbeating heart of the Emperyean was wrenched into place and bound to Great Wheel, sewed into eternal agony of stories of rulers and tyrants and warlords and barons and dukes, an idea and creation of these rebel gods, reducing the idea of true monarchs into tiny thoughts and fragments blasted apart in the far corners of the planes.

From the Emperyean the word emperor came, a ruler of everything, but their delusions of grandeur and role in the wheel’s path, chosen and dictated by what gods believe is great, were miniscule compared to the true magnificence of the original ruler, the one who was the first alive and the first to lead. Now, all “leaders” are nothing more but pawns in the everlasting cosmos of gods and their whims and fancies. But then there are those who have a spark, a spark felt across the realms and planes, the right and magnificence to rule, those who lead others away from the predetermined path the gods have set, a true king in itself, one who create epics with their plans and reshapes the world with every decision. And with the pure, unbridled essence of rule, the Emperyean resounding in their minds and souls, they are known as the Impestus.


Making An Impestus

Spoiler

Show

The Impestus is many things. They do everything and do it with excellence, for they forge their own destiny of glory and order, and with their right to rule they do it all. Where others are specialists, able to do one thing with their way, where rogues use deft hands and wit to get past a door, the Impestus force the door to open with their will for others to do as they see fit. Where wizards and clerics use their meager knowledge to change the rules of the world set by the gods for a short time, the Impestus merely scoff at the idea that rules bind them at follow the rules they choose for themselves.

Abilities: Charisma is the most important ability score for the Impestus, as only the force of their personality dictates what they can or cannot do. Everything else does not matter, for they are minor concerns that are crushed by the intensity of the will of the Impestus, that allows them to be as great as what the Impestus requires.

Races: There is no particular race predestined to become an Impestus. Any race can one day find in themselves the desire, and confidence, to rule over others.

Alignment: There is no specific alignment Imepstus are drawn to. The Impestus can be a merciless tyrant and conqueror, or a benevolent king and lord. The urge to rule manifests in both the kind-hearted and malevolent.

Starting Gold: 6d8 x 10 (As Aristocrat)

Hit Die: d12
Skill Points: 6 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Proficiencies: Impestus are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and all armor and shields.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Mythos	Excellencies
1st	+1	+2	+2	+2	The Ruler's Mythos, I Rule These Lands, Mythos Known, Exceptional Mythos, Excellence in Kingship, Emperor’s Will I	+2	+1
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+3		+0	+1
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+3	Emperor’s Will II	+1	+0
4th	+4	+4	+4	+4		+0	+1
5th	+5	+4	+4	+4	Emperor’s Will III	+1	+0
6th	+6/+1	+5	+5	+5		+0	+1
7th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5	Fantastic Mythos	+1	+1
8th	+8/+3	+6	+6	+6		+0	+1
9th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+6		+1	+0
10th	+10/+5	+7	+7	+7	Emperor’s Will IV	+0	+1
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+7	+7		+1	+0
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+8		+0	+1
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+8	+8	Legendary Mythos, Emperor’s Will V	+1	+1
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+9	+9		+0	+1
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+9	+9	Emperor’s Will VI	+1	+0
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+10	+10		+0	+1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Emperor’s Will VII	+1	+0
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+11		+0	+1
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+11	Exalted Mythos	+1	+1
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+12		+1	+1

The Monster's Mythos: An Impestus's power is expressed in terms of one or more "Mythos", the building blocks of the legend that they are, and the stories that they have told and will tell. While any given Mythos varies from the rest, they share some similar traits. They are always Extraordinary abilities, and when they reference a difficulty class for an imposed saving throw, that saving throw is always calculated as (10 + 1/2 class level + Strength modifier, unless otherwise stated). When a Mythos references a "level" that is not clearly defined in some other way, such as "character level", it refers to "class level" as in the number of levels one has in the Impestus class. When a Mythos references "allies", it specifically does not refer to the Impestus using it. When a Mythos grants a feat as a bonus feat, it is regardless of whether the character meets the prerequisites for that feat (unless otherwise stated), and if the character already possesses that feat (in some permanent fashion - via the normal allotment gained by leveling up, or through another Mythos, and so on, but not those gained temporarily, such as via a "Heroics" spell), they must replace the prior instance of that feat with another feat that they qualify for.

Every Mythos has a Tier. The Tier of a Mythos ranges from 1 to 4, typically referred to as Exceptional, Fantastic, Legendary, and Exalted. Exceptional Mythos tell the tales of warlords and dukes, rulers of villages and towns, the story of the people who lead townsfolk against undead and win. Fantastic Mythos are the ideals of presidents and kings, subjugating countries under their will and right.. Legendary Mythos are what emperors strive to be, rulers of the Material Plane, leading armies against each other, parting seas because they can. Exalted Mythos are for tyrant conquerors and emperors beyond the universe. They control entire planes and rule the Great Wheel, and Gods bow to them and Demon Lords are their manservants.

Some Mythos, in addition to their initial stated effect, have Basic and Advanced manifestations. When an Impestus gains access to a Mythos with a list of Basic manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit immediately as well. This choice may not be changed later. When an Impestus gains access to a Mythos with a list of Advanced manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit upon achieving their next level of Impestus. This choice may be changed at any point before receiving the chosen manifestation itself, but not after (choosing beforehand is just an easy way to mark it down on your character sheet so you don't forget that you'll be getting something later).

I Rule These Lands: Some Mythos refer to the Impestus’s leadership level and land. The Impestus’s lands are all the areas that they themselves control, where the people there recognize that the Impestus rules there. For example, if a town pledges service to the Impestus, then that is counted as his land.

Leadership level is the number of subjects/citizens/followers you have. The scale goes something like this:

1= 50 to 300 Subjects
2= 300 to 5,000 Subjects
3= 5,000 to 25,000 Subjects
4= 25,000 to 75,000 Subjects
5= 75,000 to 150,000 Subjects
6= 150,000 to 300,000 Subjects
7= 300,000 to 500,000 Subjects
8= 500,000 to 5,000,000 Subjects
9= 5,000,000 to 100,000,000 Subjects
10= 100,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 Subjects.
11= 1,000,000,000 to 2,000,000,000 Subjects
12= 2,000,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 Subjects
etc.

Mythos Known: A 1st level Impestus begins play with two Exceptional Mythos that he qualifies for if this is his first level in a PC character class. At higher levels, he gains additional Mythos as noted on the Impestus class table.

For characters that multiclass into Impestus after having taken levels in another PC character class, the 1st level of Impestus grants only a single Exceptional Mythos, rather than two.

An Impestus also has the ability to learn more Mythos, above the ones automatically allotted to him by leveling up - by giving his wealth to his subjects. At any time, an Impestus may give one of his possessions to his citizens. The donated item's value in gold pieces is recouped by the Impestus as an equal amount of Mythos Points.

By spending 1,000 Mythos Points, and 250xp, he may learn an Exceptional Mythos. A Fantastic Mythos requires 5,000 Mythos Points and 500xp. A Legendary Mythos takes 10,000 Mythos Points, and 1,000xp. And an Exalted Mythos takes 20,000 Mythos Points and 2,000xp.

For half the listed price for a given Tier, a Impestus may learn a Basic or Advanced manifestation of a Mythos they already know of that Tier.

Learning Mythos above the standard amount requires astounding, nearly single-minded devotion to the emperor’s path. An Impestus may only utilize this ability while more than half of his effective character level (ECL) is devoted to levels in the Impestus class.

Excellence in Kingship: As denoted on their class table, an Impestus gains a certain number of abilities known as "Excellencies". These tend to be more general, generic, and passive than a Mythos, but are useful nonetheless, and are drawn from their own separate list, unsegregated by Tiers. Like a Mythos, a Impestus may learn more Excellencies above their allotted amount. Each one costs 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp, plus an additional 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp for each time a new Excellency is innovated beyond the first. (So, 2,000mp and 200xp for the second, 3,000mp and 300xp for the third, etc.)

Primitive Brutality: What right is it for others to strike at their rightful ruler? The Impestus can add their charisma modifier to their AC as a deflection bonus. Their will is not based on wisdom and so they replaces their wisdom modifier with charisma for will saves. The Impestus also begins his path to conquest. They gain the feat Leadership as a bonus feat, but do not get a cohort. In addition, they also can add their character level to all charisma-based skill checks.

At 3rd level, an Impestus adds their charisma modifier to his saves.

At 5th level, an Impestus adds their charisma modifier to their initiative. In addition, they gain the feat Extra Followers.

At 10th level, an Impestus’s will allows them to be excellent at everything. The Impestus can add their charisma modifier to the rest of their ability scores.

At 13th level, an Impestus gathers more followers, and gains the feat Epic Leadership as a bonus feat.

At 15th level, they gain the feat Legendary Commander, and double their level in determining their leadership score.

At 17th level, they multiply the amount of followers they have by 100 in each level. These extra followers can only take commoner levels. Calculate the normal amount of followers with actual class levels seperately, then multiply that number by 100 and subtract the number to determine how many commoner followers you have.
These all stack multiplicatively.

On another note, can anyone think of a moral greyish to good ruler in fiction? Uriel Septim's face makes me sad.

gavin guile from the Lightbringer Series of novels by Brent Weeks. seriously, just look him up. he is the very definition of what you just asked for. better yet, just read the first book (then read the other ones as well). about half way through, you'll get a major OMGWTF twist moment when you realize how grey he really is (while undoubtedly being a good man.)

edit: because he's a novel character pictures of him can sometimes be hard to track down. the closest official art i can find.

Spoiler

Show

[vasharanpaladin]

Since I have the patience of a goldfish, the mental roadblock of a police barricade, and 8 hours of free time, I hammered out this once I realized my previous idea didn't have much elements I could think about.

Spoiler: INSERT QUOTE HERE!

Show

"People of Earth, I am Darkseid! Lord of Apokolips! Here is your savior, bound and broken! I have crushed him as easily as I have crushed all who have dared to oppose me throughout the cosmos. I am power unlike any you have known! Absolute, infinite, and unrelenting! You have no choice but to prepare for a long, dark future as my subjects... and my *slaves*. " ~ Darkseid

The Impestus

Before the Sun lived, or the stories took shape, there was unyielding chaos, swirling together the tales of hundreds, thousands, millions of narratives and legends, without form, solidity, or shape, concepts and ideas. Then one stood out beyond the rest, and with thought and force of will it became something more, something greater, and thus the Emperyean was born, a self-aware story. With force of will and confidence beyond arrogance they led, an unyielding first, a truth of what was known as leadership, and as more stories gained sentience, they were their unequivocable ruler. And in their everlasting reign, they created the first Xenocosmic Mythos, establishing their right to lord over others, their undeniable power and will.

Then the Lawgivers came, and they dared to wage strife and dispute the Emperyean’s sovereign right, and their impudence caused a war beyond comprehension of the mortal thought, and in the end, when the everbeating heart of the Emperyean was wrenched into place and bound to Great Wheel, sewed into eternal agony of stories of rulers and tyrants and warlords and barons and dukes, an idea and creation of these rebel gods, reducing the idea of true monarchs into tiny thoughts and fragments blasted apart in the far corners of the planes.

From the Emperyean the word emperor came, a ruler of everything, but their delusions of grandeur and role in the wheel’s path, chosen and dictated by what gods believe is great, were miniscule compared to the true magnificence of the original ruler, the one who was the first alive and the first to lead. Now, all “leaders” are nothing more but pawns in the everlasting cosmos of gods and their whims and fancies. But then there are those who have a spark, a spark felt across the realms and planes, the right and magnificence to rule, those who lead others away from the predetermined path the gods have set, a true king in itself, one who create epics with their plans and reshapes the world with every decision. And with the pure, unbridled essence of rule, the Emperyean resounding in their minds and souls, they are known as the Impestus.


Making An Impestus

Spoiler

Show

The Impestus is many things. They do everything and do it with excellence, for they forge their own destiny of glory and order, and with their right to rule they do it all. Where others are specialists, able to do one thing with their way, where rogues use deft hands and wit to get past a door, the Impestus force the door to open with their will for others to do as they see fit. Where wizards and clerics use their meager knowledge to change the rules of the world set by the gods for a short time, the Impestus merely scoff at the idea that rules bind them at follow the rules they choose for themselves.

Abilities: Charisma is the most important ability score for the Impestus, as only the force of their personality dictates what they can or cannot do. Everything else does not matter, for they are minor concerns that are crushed by the intensity of the will of the Impestus, that allows them to be as great as what the Impestus requires.

Races: There is no particular race predestined to become an Impestus. Any race can one day find in themselves the desire, and confidence, to rule over others.

Alignment: There is no specific alignment Imepstus are drawn to. The Impestus can be a merciless tyrant and conqueror, or a benevolent king and lord. The urge to rule manifests in both the kind-hearted and malevolent.

Starting Gold: 6d8 x 10 (As Aristocrat)

Hit Die: d12
Skill Points: 6 + Intelligence Modifier
Class Skills: Appraise (Int), Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Disguise (Cha), Forgery (Int), Gather Information (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (all) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language, Spot (Wis), Swim (Str), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Proficiencies: Impestus are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and all armor and shields.

Level	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Special	Mythos	Excellencies
1st	+1	+2	+2	+2	The Ruler's Mythos, I Rule These Lands, Mythos Known, Exceptional Mythos, Excellence in Kingship, Emperor’s Will I	+2	+1
2nd	+2	+3	+3	+3		+0	+1
3rd	+3	+3	+3	+3	Emperor’s Will II	+1	+0
4th	+4	+4	+4	+4		+0	+1
5th	+5	+4	+4	+4	Emperor’s Will III	+1	+0
6th	+6/+1	+5	+5	+5		+0	+1
7th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+5	Fantastic Mythos	+1	+1
8th	+8/+3	+6	+6	+6		+0	+1
9th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+6		+1	+0
10th	+10/+5	+7	+7	+7	Emperor’s Will IV	+0	+1
11th	+11/+6/+1	+7	+7	+7		+1	+0
12th	+12/+7/+2	+8	+8	+8		+0	+1
13th	+13/+8/+3	+8	+8	+8	Legendary Mythos, Emperor’s Will V	+1	+1
14th	+14/+9/+4	+9	+9	+9		+0	+1
15th	+15/+10/+5	+9	+9	+9	Emperor’s Will VI	+1	+0
16th	+16/+11/+6/+1	+10	+10	+10		+0	+1
17th	+17/+12/+7/+2	+10	+10	+10	Emperor’s Will VII	+1	+0
18th	+18/+13/+8/+3	+11	+11	+11		+0	+1
19th	+19/+14/+9/+4	+11	+11	+11	Exalted Mythos	+1	+1
20th	+20/+15/+10/+5	+12	+12	+12		+1	+1

The Monster's Mythos: An Impestus's power is expressed in terms of one or more "Mythos", the building blocks of the legend that they are, and the stories that they have told and will tell. While any given Mythos varies from the rest, they share some similar traits. They are always Extraordinary abilities, and when they reference a difficulty class for an imposed saving throw, that saving throw is always calculated as (10 + 1/2 class level + Strength modifier, unless otherwise stated). When a Mythos references a "level" that is not clearly defined in some other way, such as "character level", it refers to "class level" as in the number of levels one has in the Impestus class. When a Mythos references "allies", it specifically does not refer to the Impestus using it. When a Mythos grants a feat as a bonus feat, it is regardless of whether the character meets the prerequisites for that feat (unless otherwise stated), and if the character already possesses that feat (in some permanent fashion - via the normal allotment gained by leveling up, or through another Mythos, and so on, but not those gained temporarily, such as via a "Heroics" spell), they must replace the prior instance of that feat with another feat that they qualify for.

Every Mythos has a Tier. The Tier of a Mythos ranges from 1 to 4, typically referred to as Exceptional, Fantastic, Legendary, and Exalted. Exceptional Mythos tell the tales of warlords and dukes, rulers of villages and towns, the story of the people who lead townsfolk against undead and win. Fantastic Mythos are the ideals of presidents and kings, subjugating countries under their will and right.. Legendary Mythos are what emperors strive to be, rulers of the Material Plane, leading armies against each other, parting seas because they can. Exalted Mythos are for tyrant conquerors and emperors beyond the universe. They control entire planes and rule the Great Wheel, and Gods bow to them and Demon Lords are their manservants.

Some Mythos, in addition to their initial stated effect, have Basic and Advanced manifestations. When an Impestus gains access to a Mythos with a list of Basic manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit immediately as well. This choice may not be changed later. When an Impestus gains access to a Mythos with a list of Advanced manifestations, they may choose one such manifestation, and they gain that benefit upon achieving their next level of Impestus. This choice may be changed at any point before receiving the chosen manifestation itself, but not after (choosing beforehand is just an easy way to mark it down on your character sheet so you don't forget that you'll be getting something later).

I Rule These Lands: Some Mythos refer to the Impestus’s leadership level and land. The Impestus’s lands are all the areas that they themselves control, where the people there recognize that the Impestus rules there. For example, if a town pledges service to the Impestus, then that is counted as his land.

Leadership level is the number of subjects/citizens/followers you have. The scale goes something like this:

1= 50 to 300 Subjects
2= 300 to 5,000 Subjects
3= 5,000 to 25,000 Subjects
4= 25,000 to 75,000 Subjects
5= 75,000 to 150,000 Subjects
6= 150,000 to 300,000 Subjects
7= 300,000 to 500,000 Subjects
8= 500,000 to 5,000,000 Subjects
9= 5,000,000 to 100,000,000 Subjects
10= 100,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 Subjects.
11= 1,000,000,000 to 2,000,000,000 Subjects
12= 2,000,000,000 to 3,000,000,000 Subjects
etc.

Mythos Known: A 1st level Impestus begins play with two Exceptional Mythos that he qualifies for if this is his first level in a PC character class. At higher levels, he gains additional Mythos as noted on the Impestus class table.

For characters that multiclass into Impestus after having taken levels in another PC character class, the 1st level of Impestus grants only a single Exceptional Mythos, rather than two.

An Impestus also has the ability to learn more Mythos, above the ones automatically allotted to him by leveling up - by giving his wealth to his subjects. At any time, an Impestus may give one of his possessions to his citizens. The donated item's value in gold pieces is recouped by the Impestus as an equal amount of Mythos Points.

By spending 1,000 Mythos Points, and 250xp, he may learn an Exceptional Mythos. A Fantastic Mythos requires 5,000 Mythos Points and 500xp. A Legendary Mythos takes 10,000 Mythos Points, and 1,000xp. And an Exalted Mythos takes 20,000 Mythos Points and 2,000xp.

For half the listed price for a given Tier, a Impestus may learn a Basic or Advanced manifestation of a Mythos they already know of that Tier.

Learning Mythos above the standard amount requires astounding, nearly single-minded devotion to the emperor’s path. An Impestus may only utilize this ability while more than half of his effective character level (ECL) is devoted to levels in the Impestus class.

Excellence in Kingship: As denoted on their class table, an Impestus gains a certain number of abilities known as "Excellencies". These tend to be more general, generic, and passive than a Mythos, but are useful nonetheless, and are drawn from their own separate list, unsegregated by Tiers. Like a Mythos, a Impestus may learn more Excellencies above their allotted amount. Each one costs 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp, plus an additional 1,000 Mythos Points and 100xp for each time a new Excellency is innovated beyond the first. (So, 2,000mp and 200xp for the second, 3,000mp and 300xp for the third, etc.)

Primitive Brutality: What right is it for others to strike at their rightful ruler? The Impestus can add their charisma modifier to their AC as a deflection bonus. Their will is not based on wisdom and so they replaces their wisdom modifier with charisma for will saves. The Impestus also begins his path to conquest. They gain the feat Leadership as a bonus feat, but do not get a cohort. In addition, they also can add their character level to all charisma-based skill checks.

At 3rd level, an Impestus adds their charisma modifier to his saves.

At 5th level, an Impestus adds their charisma modifier to their initiative. In addition, they gain the feat Extra Followers.

At 10th level, an Impestus’s will allows them to be excellent at everything. The Impestus can add their charisma modifier to the rest of their ability scores.

At 13th level, an Impestus gathers more followers, and gains the feat Epic Leadership as a bonus feat.

At 15th level, they gain the feat Legendary Commander, and double their level in determining their leadership score.

At 17th level, they multiply the amount of followers they have by 100 in each level. These extra followers can only take commoner levels. Calculate the normal amount of followers with actual class levels seperately, then multiply that number by 100 and subtract the number to determine how many commoner followers you have.
These all stack multiplicatively.

On another note, can anyone think of a moral greyish to good ruler in fiction? Uriel Septim's face makes me sad.

That depends. Seeing the God-Emperor of Mankind and Darkseid both shown here, my first question is, how does this one's story differ from the Cynosure's? Since Ganondorf is also there, I assume it's more tied to the desire to rule, than to actually being in charge?

And to answer your question: Pankraz Gotha (Dragon Quest V; abdicates the throne shortly after the player is born to search for missing wife, by all reports was a pretty decent guy), Lordgenome (Gurren-Lagann; explanation invites spoilers), Satsuki Kiryuuin (Kill la Kill; more spoilers), King Arthur and Princess Celestia immediately come to mind. Note that the "good king" trope is a rarity in Western lore, which tends to demonize royals and nobles in favor of pushing the underdog hero who doesn't take guff from anyone.

[ShadowFireLance]

*CoughAkastarepticough*

[Bluydee]

Aw, crap. Checked the upcoming classes and completely glossed over the Cynosure. I'll change mine into the mixture of mythos into one being, with an overriding sense to rule but never will.

Like the mongrel brother of the Cynosure, tainted by the essence of the Monster and the Abomination and Desire.

[Amechra]

Then again, the likeliness of Xefas getting around to the Cynosure within the next couple years is fantastically low, so...

You might as well go right ahead. And stick your tongue out at anyone who tells you otherwise.

There is no "dibs" in homebrew. There is only creation, and perfection.

[ShadowFireLance]

Aw, crap. Checked the upcoming classes and completely glossed over the Cynosure. I'll change mine into the mixture of mythos into one being, with an overriding sense to rule but never will.

Like the mongrel brother of the Cynosure, tainted by the essence of the Monster and the Abomination and Desire.

*COUAHGAHGHATHEAKASTAREPTICOUGHAKGHA*

[roko10]

Well, I've got the Mythos Banner for my Mythos class.



Any suggestions?

[ShadowFireLance]

Shape..shifter?
Transformation?

[commander panda]

i believe he's basing it on the giant's champion

[Xefas]

Then again, the likeliness of Xefas getting around to the Cynosure within the next couple years is fantastically low, so...

You might as well go right ahead. And stick your tongue out at anyone who tells you otherwise.

There is no "dibs" in homebrew. There is only creation, and perfection.

^This

Well, I've got the Mythos Banner for my Mythos class.

Any suggestions?

I'm honestly not sure how you're going to write higher level abilities for wearing a notional skin, but that only makes it more interesting.

[roko10]

I'm honestly not sure how you're going to write higher level abilities for wearing a notional skin, but that only makes it more interesting.

Yeah, that was the stumbling block when I first envisioned it, which is one of the reasons I hesistated to post it(the other being that I didn't comprehend the fluff behind Mythos characters, but I disgress). I think I have some solutions for it, though;

-Grant multiple Notions for a character.
-Shintai that essentially turns you into a pseudotitan yourself(.
-Transformation inside an transformation; basically, extra stages for your Notion(s) to boost your power to ridiculous propotions at the price of losing your transformations per day.
-Alternate Shintai wherin your Notion loses his identity of self, thus being reduced to a suit.
- Boosts to already introduced abilities.

Also, the class name is the Kytous. It means shell in Greek, and I thought it would be appropiate for an class that wears Notions as an, well, shell.

[vasharanpaladin]

Yeah, that was the stumbling block when I first envisioned it, which is one of the reasons I hesistated to post it(the other being that I didn't comprehend the fluff behind Mythos characters, but I disgress). I think I have some solutions for it, though;

-Grant multiple Notions for a character.
-Shintai that essentially turns you into a pseudotitan yourself(.
-Transformation inside an transformation; basically, extra stages for your Notion(s) to boost your power to ridiculous propotions at the price of losing your transformations per day.
-Alternate Shintai wherin your Notion loses his identity of self, thus being reduced to a suit.
- Boosts to already introduced abilities.

Also, the class name is the Kytous. It means shell in Greek, and I thought it would be appropiate for an class that wears Notions as an, well, shell.

It's a Mythos Binder. DO YOU DENY IT?

I'm going to go out and guess you might like to borrow from the Devil-Tiger tree for higher-level stuff, especially that Shintai (where you stop writing what's essentially Mythic fanfiction and start writing your own legend with your own Notions). Not sure if I like real daily resources... d'you have plans yet for how the transformation works?

[roko10]

It's a Mythos Binder. DO YOU DENY IT?

Honestly, this was actually inspired a lot by the Giant's Champion class more than anything. I'd look in the Binder now, though.

Not sure if I like real daily resources... d'you have plans yet for how the transformation works?

I have plans for the transformation mechanic, but I'm not gonna tell until the base of the class is released.

[Adam1949]

Speaking of Mythos Binder, I need to get back to work on that.

Also, I love the class idea. It looks like it'll be awesome if/when it's released; a Mythic Henshin! "In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" Or, if you want to go simpler, "It's Morphin' Time!" or even "Henshin a-gogo Baby!"

[commander panda]

ok, so these are my last bellator mythos for a while. i've been thinking about trying my hand at a full mythic race at some point soon.

i'm not really sure if these mythos are really ranked properly (in fact, i'm pretty sure they aren't.) any suggestions on either realigning them to their intended teir, or bumping them into another would be greatly appreciated.

Spoiler: new ranged Bellator mythos

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Wind Winding Shaft Path
[Fantastic] does this seem to powerful for the fantastic teir? it seems like it might have too many abilities attached to it, but i'm not really that good at judging mythos teirs, if history is anything to go by.
prerequisites: Arching Comet Style

Who says all warriors are straight shooters? A Bellator with this mythos has learned that by giving her ranged weapons a savage twist and swing as she fires them, she can send her missiles hurtling around corners, under obstacles and into her enemies backs.

Any time the Bellator takes aim with a ranged attack she has the option to take a -2 on her attack roll and make her weapon turn in the air as if it had flight maneuverability (poor). The weapon's curves can be horizontal or vertical so long as it doesn't turn more sharply than this maneuverability allows. The weapon gains no other benefits of flight than turning.

Oftentimes, the use of this ability is to shoot at an enemy who is obstructed from view by great obstacles, and the Bellator has learned to compensate. Any time the Bellator makes use of this mythos, her weapon is considered to have the seeking property. In certain situations her attack may also be able to ignore the benefits of cover, depending on where it is approaching from, by the time it completes it's curve.

Finally, with the Bellator's newfound skill for curving her projectiles through the air, she has equally gained the ability to compensate for obstacles that would have curved them away to begin with. The Bellator is no longer hindered by wind effects when making ranged attacks. This means that, provided the Bellator is taking the required -2 attack penalty for using this mythos, she is now able to shoot unhindered through wind, rain, snow and magical effects (like wind wall, for example) that simulate them. The only exceptions are hurricanes and tornados, which impose a -2 and -4 penalty, respectively.

Expanse Spanning Long Shot
[Fantastic] question similar to the above. does this seem to weak to be fantastic? t kinda feels like its balancing on the brink between there and an exceptional mythos.
prerequisites: Arching Comet Style

Upon taking this mythos, the Bellator learns the secret to extending the range of her weapons by throwing an inordinate amount of force behind them. The Bellator no longer cumulates penalties for firing ranged weapons into the first range increment beyond her initial one, and all subsequent increments have their attack roll penalty reduced by two. Furthermore with the Bellator's range increased, so to is her maximum number of range increments, which increase by one.

At level ten the benefits of this mythos are applied again, with the Bellator's range increased by another increment, and her maximum number of increments increased by one. This continues at levels thirteen, sixteen and ninteen.

Unstoppable Force Breaks Immovable Objects
[legendary] ok, now this obviously isn't on par with most legendary mythos. any suggestions for fixing that are appreciated.
prerequisites: Arching Comet Style

As a full round action the Bellator can make a single ranged attack that can't be stopped by walls of flesh or wood or even stone. Draw a line out to the limit of her weapon's first range increment and make a single attack and damage roll. The bellator applies these rolls to all targets within the line, though the attack roll gains a cumulative -2 penalty with every target it hits.

If the bellator's weapon strikes an immobile surface with it's own hardness (such as a wall), the projectile will ignore up to the Bellator's strength modifier in hardness and punch through unhindered if it's damage is enough that it overcomes the obstacle's hit points. The projectile is never considered infective for this task.
For obvious reasons, if the Bellator's ranged attack breaks through a surface that an enemy was using for cover, the benefits of that cover are mitigated.

special:
If the Bellator has the Expanse Spanning Long Shot mythos the distance of this attack goes up to the furthest point where she still isn't taking attack penalties because of range.

[Bluydee]

Here's the Exceptional Mythos for the Impestus. I had trouble of deciding on abilities here, as it's supposed to lay foundation for the entire career, while also still being flavorful. Please comment on any language I need to fix, or vague abilities. I was really tired when writing most of these. I'd also like better names for most of these Mythos, since I failed to remember any of my AP English class lessons.

Favorite one I wrote out of all these probably has to be Macguffin Sword Syndrome, though.

Exceptional Mythos

Spoiler

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Heed My Words
Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Intimidate

The Emperor is no mere man. With a wave of his hand and a sight of his glory, he awes his enemies who dare attempt to attack him as they have no choice but quiver at the sight of might, no hardened warrior nor fearless champion.

You gain the feat Imperious Command. In addition, you may attempt to demoralize the enemy as a swift action. This affects all enemies within 30 feet of you.

Advanced
Crippling Glory Presence : You need not use embellishment nor bravado to strike awe and fear into the hearts of your enemies, for the Emperor’s glory is enough.. Each round, you automatically make an intimidate check. If this intimidate check fails, the enemy can still be affected by a regular demoralize attempt..

Shock and Awe: If an enemy is successfully demoralized, they are dazed for 1 round before the effects of the demoralization check is applied.

Break Courage: The Emperor laughs at the idea of heroes with unbreakable will and courage. Any enemies immune to fear are still affected by your demoralization attempts.

See Your Champion Fallen: After you knock the strongest enemy in an encounter prone or bring them under 0 hitpoints, you can make an demoralization attempt as a free action. This attempt can still affect those who have already been affected by an attempt.

Heaven Falling Shots
Prerequisite: -

In a test of skill, it is inevitable that one with more skill shall beat the others, and who has more skill than the Emperor?

You gain the feats Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, and Precise Shot. In addition, you add your Charisma modifier to attack and damage rolls with ranged combat.

Advanced
Inspiring Shot: After you make a ranged attack, all allies gain your Charisma bonus to attack and damage rolls with ranged attacks.

Protagonist Arrow:. When you make a ranged attack, all allies within 30 feet can use an immediate action to make a ranged attack at the same target.

Imperial Iron Fist
Prerequisite: -

Many rulers hide behind their armies and guard to fight, simpering in fear at the thought of a fight. The Emperor laughs at such notions and breaks his enemies with his bare hands..

You gain the feats Improved Unarmed Strike and Superior Unarmed Strike. In addition, you add your Charisma modifier to combat maneuvers with unarmed attacks.

Advanced
Imperial Stomp: You gain the feats Improved Trip and Knock-Down. In addition, when attacking prone enemies with unarmed strikes, you double your strength modifier for damage.

Imperial Smash: You gain the feats Improved Bullrush and Knockback, as well as Power Attack. In addition, whenever an enemy attacks you and misses, you may make a free bull-rush attempt against them as an immediate action.

Imperial Choke: You gain the feats Improved Grapple and Scorpion’s Grasp. While grappling an enemy, you automatically deal critical damage with your unarmed strike.

Royal Weaponmaster
Prerequisite: -

The Emperor is not foolish, nor is he weak. He doesn’t hide behind men lesser than him, nor does he run away in cowardice. With a hand beckoning to the enemy, he challenges those to face him in combat, and to die by his hand.

You gain proficiency with one exotic weapon.

Basic
Conceited Einhander: You gain the feats Einhander, Dodge, Mobility, and Spring Attack. In addition, while wielding a weapon in one hand and nothing in the other, you add your Charisma modifier to attack and damage rolls.

Prideful Greatsword: You gain the feats Power Attack, Cleave, and Great Cleave. In addition, if you miss an attack, you may attempt to attack another opponent within your reach, adding +4 to the previous attack roll.

Arrogant Shield: You gain the feats Shield Specialization, Shield Ward, and Improved Shield Bash. In addition, you can add ¼ your level (minimum 1) to your shield bonus.

Narcissistic Dual Wield: You gain the feats Two Weapon Fighting and Two Weapon Defense. In addition, your off hand weapon adds your full strength modifier instead of half, and you do not take penalties from wielding two weapons.

Advanced
Bloody Rule: You can perform coup de grace as a swift action. In addition, you may make it against opponents under 25% of their health, even if they aren’t helpless.

Effortless Parry: When an enemy attempts to attack you, you can make an attack roll. If this attack roll exceeds the opponent’s, you interrupt their attack, and prevent them from making anymore attacks for that turn.

Neverfailing Strike: You may reroll any 1s and 2s on attack rolls.

Inspirational Voice of the Emperor
Prerequisite: -

The Emperor takes many forms throughout history, but none can say their rise to power was as a mere usurper or traitor. Rather, the Emperor draws his allies in with strength and power, and everybody is naturally drawn to magnetism and force of personality within them. And with a speech or a shout, his allies find strength within themself, for as long as they know he believes in them, they believe in him who believes in them.

You gain the ability to inspire courage as a bard of your level, but it only affects those with less hitdice than you. You add your Charisma modifier to the morale boosts given by this ability. The skill this is tied to is Perform (oratory), and does not need to be sustained, instead lasting for the rest of the encounter.

Advanced
Awe-Inspiring Words: You gain the ability to inspire awe as a bard of your level.

Only You Can Do It: You gain the ability to inspire greatness as a bard of your level without the perform requirement. This does not prevent them from receiving the inspire courage bonus.

Believe In The Me That Believes In You: As a standard action, you can make a perform (oratory) check to attempt to end any effects on your allies. If an ally can hear you, they can use the results of this check in the place of any saving throw for that round. Alternatively, they may end any condition they have that does not have a save.

Tyrant Sacrifice
Prerequisite: -

An Emperor is not without his subjects, and their purpose is to benefit the Emperor. They are mere maggots, tiny parasites of his power. And as any individual within the might of the Emperor, they live to serve.

As a immediate action, after taking damage, you can transfer the damage to a willing ally within 100 feet. They cannot take damage that would exceed 0 hitpoints. If this occurs, they take enough damage to bring them to 0, while the rest of the damage still affects you.

Advanced
Desecrated Strength: Whenever an ally falls to 0 hitpoints from this ability, they automatically die and you gain their strength as if casting death knell.

Make An Example: Whenever an ally is under 0 hitpoints, you can coup de grace them and automatically kill them. Your enemies then become shaken for 1d6 rounds, while your allies gain a bonus to their saves equal to your charisma modifier.

Feel As I Feel: Whenever you have an ongoing effect on you, once per encounter you can transfer it to a willing ally within 100 feet.

Unyielding Emperor Spirit
Prerequisite: -

You gain the feats Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, and Great Fortitude. Once per encounter, before rolling a saving throw, you can choose to roll twice and pick the higher result.

Basic
Immortal Health: You gain the feat Epic Fortitude. In addition, if you make a successful Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Fortitude partial), you instead completely negate the effect.

Immortal Spirit: You gain the feat Epic Will. In addition, if you make a successful Will save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half, you instead completely negate the effect.

Immortal Speed: You gain the feat Epic Reflexes. In addition, if you make a successful Reflex save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Reflex half), you instead completely negate the effect.

Mad Maniacal Monarch
Prerequisite: -

The Emperor manifests in all sorts of people, and there are those who are unable to handle this fact, and they turn to madness in order to escape.

You gain the feats Willing Deformity and Deformity (Madness). In addition, you gain an Insanity score equal to ½ your level (minimum 1) + any taint you may have. You take this insanity as a penalty to all wisdom-related checks and skill checks.

Advanced
Insanity Defense: You gain the feats Reflexive Psychosis and Insane Defiance.

Method To The Madness: Once every encounter or 5 minutes, you can add your Insanity score to one check.

Iron Failure Defense
Prerequisite: -

You are the Emperor. Why should weapons forged of steel hurt you? Why should a mere object created by mortal hands and tempered in fire eclipsed by your spirit cut your skin?

You gain DR 5/magic. In addition, if a melee attack fails to overcome your damage reduction, you deal damage equal to your x2 your total DR to the enemy’s weapon, overcoming any hardness it may have. Your damage reduction increases by 1 every 2 levels from level 1.

Advanced
Cracking Item Destruction: You gain the ability to shatter at-will as the spell. The caster level for this ability is equal to your character level.

Macguffin Sword Syndrome: You add your charisma modifier to your damage reduction. In addition, your protection now means that the insects and pests who send their champions to kill you merely fail, for only one weapon can cut your iron skin. Select a material, an alignment component (such as lawful or good), and a type of damage (bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing). You add these to what is needed to overcome your damage reduction. For example, if you pick cold iron, good, and slashing, to overcome your damage reduction your enemies need a cold iron magic slashing weapon with a good alignment component.

Emperor’s New Clothes
Prerequisite: -

The Emperor is a king of kings, beyond humanity and mortality. Therein and therefore is it not right for the Emperor to wield and wear equipment beyond humanity and mortality?

You gain a set of armor. This armor can be of any type or category. It usually is extremely ornate, stylized in the form of whatever the Impestus chooses. It is automatically masterwork. If you take this mythos at level 1, you begin play with this set of armor. While wearing this armor, it does not lower your speed (if heavy or medium), and has no dexterity limit nor armor check penalty. This armor is a gift from the Great Wheel, woven together from the blood of the Empyrean and bathed in the heart of the Omphalos, a Mythos worn over you. As you wear it, it grows to suit your power and strength. At level 3 it gains a +1 enhancement bonus, and every 4 levels afterwards it gains another +1. This armor can then be enchanted normally. If the total enhancement bonus is reaches +10 then the armor stops gaining more enhancement bonuses.

After looking at a piece of armor made of a different material or with an armor template on it, this suit of armor gains all the benefits from that material or template, even if normally ineligible to receive the bonus. For example, if you see a Riverine piece of armor and an Adamantine piece of armor, your suit of armor gains the normal benefits of Riverine as well as the Adamantine’s damage reduction benefit. You can choose if you want any certain material or template to be applied.

You can summon your armor as a swift action and automatically equip it.

The type or armor conveys special benefits:
Light: You gain a bonus to your speed equal to the enhancement bonus of your armor x20 while wearing it.
Medium: You gain the feats Endurance, Diehard, and Death Frenzy. These feats only apply when wearing your armor.
Heavy: You are immune to nonlethal damage while wearing your armor.
If any future enhancements of materials change the armor’s type, these aforementioned benefits do not change.

Advanced
Emperor’s New Sword: You gain either a two handed weapon, ranged weapon, two one handed weapons, or one handed weapon and shield. This weapon/weapons gain the benefits of this Mythos.

Evolving Suit: When looking at piece of magic armor (or weapon, if you have the Emperor’s New Sword manifestation), you can choose to get the magic abilities on that piece of magic equipment added to your piece of equipment, as long as the total enhancement bonus of your armor/weapon does not exceed +10.

Reign of the [X] Emperor
Prerequisite: -

The Emperor has appeared in thousands of creatures in history, a legacy of necessary blood and kind tyranny, and this Mythos allows the newest inheritor of their legacy to truly see their heritage, and learn power and might from that vision, twisting their body into a powerful state..

You gain a choice between the templates Fiendish, Celestial, Draconic, Anarchic, Axiomatic, Dark, or Pseudonatural creature. The smite and true strike abilities gained from one of these templates become at-will. After your next extended rest or sleep/trance period, you wake up physically and mentally changed, gaining the effects of the template you chose. The axiomatic template’s Linked Minds ability applies to all allies.

Advanced
Monstrous Tyrant Amalgam: Pick another template. After another rest period, you receive that template.

Partake Of My Power: As a standard action, you may show your allies the power of the Emperor. All willing allies within 30 feet must spend a full-round action transforming. Afterwards, they receive any templates you have from this ability applied to them for the rest of the answer.

[vasharanpaladin]

Royal Weaponmaster (Narcissistic Dual Wield) seems kinda unwieldy. Recommend changing the name to (Two Narcissistic Blades) for something more poetic.

Reign of the [X] Emperor seems too supernatural to fall into the story of "all-conquering mortal tyrant." It should be at least a Fantastic Mythos.

[Winds]

Very promising work.

I agree with vasharnpaladin's comment regarding Reign of the [X] Emperor, though. If I may suggest: make the Exceptional version Ruling over [X]kind, where you gain useful traits from other mortal races you rule over.

[ThreadNecro5]

I think that you ought to just make the unarmed supah-punch a standard action. By then, most Teramach will be making standard action full-attacks anyways.

Your wording is also a bit unclear. In the first paragraph you describe the blast radius "around the target" and shortly after refer to it as "centered on you". Also, the friendly fire exception seems a bit out of place. This is the Teramach we're talking about.

Rather than specifying that this effect leaves a crater, why not just say that it damages the ground in addition to any structures?

Annihilation of Nations feels much to powerful to me. I think reducing the radius to just 1 mile would be appropriate.



While I agree that this is most definitely a Shintai, it is not Legendary. Requiring an Exalted Mythos as a prerequisite means that this is either Exalted or Sempieternal. I think that Sempieternal is more much more appropriate, however, seeing as this is practically a permanent +200 to the Teramach's Strength score.



This is cool, but I think you should probably put in the fact that this allows the Olethrofex to use Speak With Dead whenever he wants. You could even add on that the Olethrofex could spend a short amount of time (1 min, mebe?) to perform a ritual that lets them use Speak With Dead on corpses that wouldn't normally be able to talk. (Such as corpses with no heads, or no jaws.)

thanks for the critique, il work on a revision in the morning. also as for the friendly fire executions, that is mainly to avoid out-of-character issues for the group, id imagine its not fun having your character continuously fist-nuked.

EDIT: as nobody has posed from as-of writing this, I may as well add my revisions here:

City razing fists

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Exalted
Prerequisite: Rampaging Through Paper Cities
Why should the monster restrain its impulses to but one being at a time? It needs -no- must destroy everything in its wake. And it will not let anything stand in its path of annihilation.

As a standard action you may make a single massive strike against a creature or object. This strike follows all the rules for, and is treated as an unarmed strike in all respects. Should this strike hit the target of the attack you deal normal damage to the target, and deal an additional amount of damage equal to half your strength score.

Should this attack hit you also cause a blast centred around the target (at their final position should your attack force them to move), with a radius of your Teramach level + half your strength scorex5ft.

The blast deals damage to all creatures and objects in the area effected equal to that took by the original target (not including the original target again), with objects treated as if you used Rampaging Through Paper Cities on them, using the pre-rolled damage to apply the damage modifier of a critical hit.

When this mythos is used, it leaves behind a crater that is 10ft deeper than the grounds original position, the area covering the entire blast radius.

Should, for whatever reason, your unarmed attacks deal energy damage of some variety half the blast’s damage is treated as it for all purposes apart from for resistance or immunity.

Basic Manifestations:
Meteoric cataclysm
Whenever you use this mythos you may use it through a thrown improvised weapon, using the weapons’ damage rather than that of an unarmed strike but otherwise it functions as normal. Throwing the weapon and using this manifestation is part of the same action. The blast emerges from the impact area of the weapon.

Should the attack miss the GM determines the impact site of the weapon, and the mythos’s effects otherwise function as normal.

All destroying strike
Whenever you use this mythos, you add your full strength score instead of half to determine damage for the blast, but not for the initial unarmed strike.

Shattering of civilisation
Any and all objects destroyed with this mythos cannot be repaired by any means and creatures are considered to have their body destroyed when killed with this mythos, but the teramach may leave corpses and/or rubble if they so choose (they still count as destroyed).

Should they choose to leave corpses and/or rubble no means may be used to gather any information about them that is not immediately related to their destruction, so for example that the corpses are dead and that they were killed in an explosion could be discovered but information about the copses identities are forever lost. Similarly the ruins can be examined for the cause of destruction but the name of the town the ruins used to be and information on the civilisations that inhabited them is also gone.
Additionally such is the destruction unleashed by your strike, it causes the slow death of knowledge and memory of everything destroyed by the strike have all evidence of their existence fade over a year, memories fade, signs crumble, maps have their relevant regions ignite into flame, leaving the rest of the parchment only slightly singed, and other such events lead to the complete loss of all knowledge of the destroyed region, apart from that relevant to the regions destruction. Should you leave no copses or ruins, then the murder of the patch of civilisation is complete once the year has passed, and the knowledge of all but the destruction itself is forever lost.

Metacarpal induced quake
Whenever you use this mythos, you add your full strength score instead of half to determine the range of the blast.

Annihilation of nations (requires Land-Shaping Limitation Ignorance)
Whenever you use this mythos the blast radius becomes your Teramach level + half your strength score miles instead of the normal range.

as far as my changes, im cleaned up the wording and tweaked and renamed a manifestation, based on another forum-users' (whose username I forget) suggestion. so 'Corpse shattering strike' is now 'Shattering of civilisation' so yes... the teramach now murders civilisation and kills memory, not to mention now you can technically punch a guy so hard it has an effect of their mother (which incidentally you'd think would be an excellency, considering the 'hit you so hard your mother feels it' is such a classic threat why is it not part of the walking plot-line of violence ).

as for how im justifying the huge blast radius for Annihilation of nations, a wizard has been casting wish and possibly apocalypse from the sky levels ago, of course the personification of violence should up the ante. not to mention after the first few miles anything you wanted to hit probably has been, the rest is just needles destruction.

and the other mythos and the excellency, whose changes don't require explanation.

Dust in the hands of destruction Shintai

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Sempiternal
Prerequisite: Land-Shaping Limitation Ignorance

Your Land-Shaping Limitation Ignorance mythos activates and does not ever deactivate and you no longer take any strength drain without resting between uses. The cost of this however is the inability to restrain this strength.

Any and all objects you touch unarmed are immediately subjected to an unarmed sunder attempt and all creatures you touch are subject to your unarmed damage as if you hit them with an unarmed strike. The only exceptions to this are objects you intend to use as an improvised weapon, yourself, your clothing, and the ground unless you deliberately intend to destroy it.

The following are examples of this in action:

Should the teramach pick up a gold piece, it is crushed in their grip.

Should the teramach touch a wall it likely collapses opening a hole in the wall.

Should the teramach catch a party member who is falling, their strength would crush the party member’s skeleton, dealing unarmed damage

Should the teramach stop to pick up a fallen child, it likely bursts apart in a bloody welter in their hands.

Death know no barrier

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Prerequisite: -
Death cares not for the individual, both king and peasant will bow towards it. Why should ones background determine whether its herald awaits them?

You gain the ability to speak with any creature that is, or once was, alive as if you shared a language. To all listeners you appear to speak in the native tongue to the intended listener, including accent.

Additionally you may use an effect that mimics a ‘speak with dead’ spell in all ways except as noted here: the effect has a casting time of a swift action; the range is ‘touch’; the state of the body does not matter as long as there is a mouth (a skull and jawbone at the very least); no save is allowed to resist this effect; and the duration is 24 hours. You may use this effect at will, and the caster level is equal to your olethrofex level.

in other news iv gotten some of the basics of the next mythos class i'l be doing after the kreikiri is written, so ill likely post on that in a few days once iv a few mythos and a final example character. the final touches for the kreikiri itself is taking longer than expected on account of a stupidly long mythos. also a change of a banner character from a kroot to a haemonculus (both from warhammer 40k) has been done.

[Kymme]

If we're gonna start a formal regulation on the way we type up mythos, then I say we use [brackets] for advanced manifestations. That way it is easier to differentiate them from their basic brethren.

City Razing Fists

It seems a lot more effective as a standard action. The basic function checks out with me.

(Meteoric Cataclysm)

Seems alright.

(All Destroying Strike)

It feels a little boring, but still effective. Though, I'm beginning to think that all of these should be advanced manifestations, rather than basic ones.

(Shattering of Civilization)

This is pretty interesting, as well as thematic. I think that creatures ought to have a will save to resist losing memory of the destroyed location. Also, you ought to add some clarification whether or not people can build new stuff on the destroyed land, and when, if ever, the land becomes fertile and verdant again.

(Metacarpal Induced Quake)

I think you can roll (All Destroying Strike) in with this one.

(Annihilation of Nations)

This is still crazy powerful, and really no other Mythos class gains an ability that covers this much ground with such an instantaneous, spammable effect. If you made it so that (Annihilation of Nations) only triggers when used alongside Land-Shaping Limitation Ignorance, it would be slightly more sane. As it stands, it kind of makes A Sword Too Great For This World look like child's play.

Dust in the Hands of Destruction Shintai

Seems better, but I feel that a permanent +200 Strength is just kind of crazily powerful, even for a Sempiternal. I'd compare it to the Holocaust Sun Sempiternal mythos. None of them are nearly this over-the-top.

Death Knows No Barrier

I like this, a lot. This Mythos checks out with me.

in other news iv gotten some of the basics of the next mythos class i'l be doing after the kreikiri is written, so ill likely post on that in a few days once iv a few mythos and a final example character. the final touches for the kreikiri itself is taking longer than expected on account of a stupidly long mythos. also a change of a banner character from a kroot to a haemonculus (both from warhammer 40k) has been done.

Glad to hear! Feel free to shoot me a PM if you want me to look it over.

[7th son of sons]

So my Secret Not-So-Secret Epic Bellator Prestiege Class is almost ready to be shown to you beautiful people. The problem is in the form of Sempiternal Mythos. What would you guys look for in a Bellator Mythos that is beyond Epic?

[Kymme]

Two things, primarily. One, the ability to learn Epic Martial Disciplines (and possibly the ability to start learning supernatural disciplines, too).

And secondly, something that lets the Bellator start becoming a Titan! Perhaps it would be like the Sempiternal Teramach mythos that creates a Stage populated with all kinds of things. Perhaps something that lets the Bellator shed their mortal coil and become a being of pure, razor-edged, steel-hearted conflict?

[commander panda]

in a similar vein to the titan suggjestion, maybe the bellator could become a sort of chooser of the slain? in other words she is aware of every martial battle that takes place across the multiverse, and gains a degree of control over who lives and who dies. perhaps he gains some measure of purview over the fates and souls of her slain and can bring them to his own special afterlife, or add them to her own multidimensional army or something. the ability to bestow bellator levels could also be pretty cool, if he doesnt already have that.



EDIT: speaking of epic mythos, i just glanced at the holocaust sun page and noticed that it's still got a broken table.

@xefas, i've fixed up the table myself. do you mind swapping it out?

Spoiler: Holocaust Sun table

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Level	Special	Mythos	Maneuvers Known	Maneuvers Readied	Stances Known
1st	Nuclear Madness Combustion, World-Traumatizing Brutality Glare, Primal Brutality I, The Holocaust Sun's Mythos	+0	1	0	1
2nd		+1	1	1	0
3rd	Hollow Salvation Id Corona	+0	1	0	0
4th		+1	1	1	1
5th	Virtue-Obliterating Compassion, Primal Brutality II	+0	1	0	0
6th		+1	1	1	0
7th	Sempiternal Mythos	+1	1	0	0
8th		+1	1	1	1

[7th son of sons]

Two things, primarily. One, the ability to learn Epic Martial Disciplines (and possibly the ability to start learning supernatural disciplines, too).

And secondly, something that lets the Bellator start becoming a Titan! Perhaps it would be like the Sempiternal Teramach mythos that creates a Stage populated with all kinds of things. Perhaps something that lets the Bellator shed their mortal coil and become a being of pure, razor-edged, steel-hearted conflict?

Supernatural Discipline? What is that, and how do I get it taught to these Anthols?

[Temotei]

Supernatural Discipline? What is that, and how do I get it taught to these Anthols?

Presumably disciplines like Desert Wind, Shadow Hand, Infinite Shore, and (possibly) Void Messiah. Stuff like that.

[Bluydee]

I've been busy writing the Fantastic Mythos for the Impestus. These are the hardest to write, mainly because it's the spot between plot device and first arc villain. On that note, what abilities do you think a Mythic Ruler/Tyrant should have and be able to do?