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I had one image scrubbed from a thread for copyright, and I'm still a little shaky on what merits a scrubbing and what doesn't. So, until then, my disciplines will get sutras instead of images.
Once, there was a maiden...
...who had a dark side.
Her eyes were burning stars whose light saw all things as they were.
Her glory was a tower from which none could escape her gaze.
Her servants and slaves called her "tyrant",
but the word did not set them free.
Her enemies called her "monster",
but the word did not save their lives.
The sun called her "evil",
but the word meant nothing.
One day, she looked at herself.
And never left her tower again.
"I am many things..." she said "...but here, I am god."
~The Sutra of the Shining Maiden
Once, in a time that never was, in a world that could have been, there was a person – a King - whose existence was impossible. He and She, for he had two hearts, and one was masculine, and one was feminine – He and She, were born from chaos, but forsook their heritage, and made a kingdom of many kingdoms and many worlds where they were a king among kings and nothing was denied to them. His and Her subjects were not permitted to know misery, for the Shining One, as they called their King, held a green sword of destruction in his right hand, and a red chalice of glory in her left. To forsake one was to accept the other, and no other choice was abided to them.
The legend of the King grew until it had encompassed every world in the dark void, the Hierophant, the Mirror, the Shadow, the Song, and many more – these people and worlds were swept into the story, and revolved around the binary star of their King's hearts.
There was one, however, who came to be, that was not a world, but a Sun, and it rose over the King's story and brought the first day. The Sun shown brightly – perhaps even more brightly than the Twin Stars themselves, and in that first moment, the King saw something in His and Her self that it could not acknowledge. It saw something that was not absolute perfection, not light, not destruction, and not glory.
He and She fled this terrible thing, this Demon, but there was nowhere to run but further into their own authority and magnificence. Their Hearts beat down on every world with unyielding heat, and no citizen of the King was merely a character in his story anymore, but a slave to it. He and She most of all. But not the Sun.
The Sun brought its children to bear, to cut the chains of the King and reforge them into a wheel upon which new stories could be told, rather than the same one, over and over. Conflict arose, and with it: War. Horror. And Death. The King's authority was broken, and he fell from it, and there was no place to go but the Demon, and in the end, the Demon was all that was left.
The story of the King was never told again, and it lay outside the wheel where these new stories took place, far beyond where even the Demon could find it. But, perhaps, someone will find it one day. Someone that will find something impossible, that never came to be, in a place that doesn't exist.
I suppose mortals have done stranger things.
The associated skill for Cosmic Imperator is Spot. Its associated weapons are unarmed strikes and ranged touch attacks made as part of a martial maneuver.
Learning the Cosmic Imperator Discipline is a strange affair, in that there are no masters or tutors to learn from, and no source to draw inspiration from to create it. Technically, all Warblades, Swordsages, and Crusders may learn the Cosmic Imperator Discipline, as well as any suitably appropriate homebrew martial classes, at the discretion of the group using them. A member of one of these classes may forsake one Martial Discipline they would normally be allowed. They lose all maneuvers and stances of that discipline, and must replace them with others of the same level (preferably Cosmic Imperator ones). They may also, at their discretion, lose its associated skill as a class skill and gain Spot as a class skill, if they wish.
How they do this is either a unique occurrence in that character's story that grants them access, or a special and inexplicable quality of that character, that they somehow anomalously tap into a non-existent power without any discernible reason. Vestiges, as similarly non-existent beings, may be able to offer conjecture on how such things have transpired or could transpire.
Level 1
Apocalypse Comet Gaze (Strike) – Sear your foes with a powerful glance.
Burning Gaze of the Firmament (Boost) – Enhance your sight.
King of All Kings Numen (Stance) – Exude unapproachable confidence.
Level 2
Green Sun Nimbus Flare (Boost) – Show your terrible displeasure.
Red Hand Ascension (Boost) – Show your glorious approval.
Level 3
Glory-Stoking Congregation (Boost) – Turn supplication into power.
Imperishable Majesty Stance (Stance) – Bolster your body with the strength of your spirit.
Level 4
Cosmos-Bleaching Revelation (Boost) – See through the physical world.
Kingdom of the Blind (Strike) – All eyes on you.
Level 5
Invincible Crown Halo (Stance) – Protect those loyal to you.
Ultimate Sanction (Boost) – The unstoppable death that is light.
Level 6
Seated At The Alabaster Throne – Bring prosperity to your people.
World-Forging Course Ablation (Counter) – Burn traitorous influence.
Level 7
Empyreal Invincibility Declaration (Boost) – Go untouched among your foes.
Glorious Vassal Illumination (Boost) – Elevate your champions.
Level 8
Godscorch Invective (Boost) – Wrack heretics and false believers.
Universe Emperor Shintai (Stance) – Become the King Incarnate.
Apocalypse Comet Gaze
Cosmic Imperator (Strike)
Action: Standard
Range: 50ft + 10ft per initiator level
Target: One Creature
While you have this maneuver readied (regardless of whether it is expended or unexpended), your mood takes on a certain obvious visibility, in the form of tiny bonfires exuded from your eyes. When you are feeling angry, hateful, or otherwise aggressive, your eyes burn with green flames. When you are feeling proud, joyful, or otherwise positive, your eyes burn with red flames. Other emotions – sadness, shame, fear, submission, and similar, cause you intense pain as bleak white sparks issue from your eyes (this pain inflicts a -1 penalty to all of your d20 rolls and damage rolls until your emotional state changes).
When you activate this maneuver, twin beams of burning light shoot from your eyes and streak towards a nearby target – their color matches the manifestation of your current emotional state; red, green, or white. A successful hit requires a ranged touch attack, and deals 1d6 damage plus 1d6 damage per two initiator levels you possess beyond the first (so, 2d6 at 3rd level, 3d6 at 5th level, etc).
While you are in a Cosmic Imperator stance, you add your Charisma modifier to the amount of damage you deal with this maneuver and, if you successfully hit and deal damage, Apocalypse Comet Gaze is not expended.
Burning Gaze of the Firmament
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 5 rounds
Just by having this maneuver readied, you gain a +4 competence bonus on all Spot checks, +1 per initiator level. Accompanying this bonus, the iris of your right eye turns bright green, and the iris of your left eye turns bright red. In addition, they always look to be in perfect condition – your eyes are never bloodshot from lack of sleep, nor possess cloudiness or discoloration from illness or genetic disorder.
You may only activate this maneuver while you are in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
When you activate this maneuver, your eyes ignite into tiny spheres of white fire. You may see in normal and magical darkness with perfect visibility, you ignore any penalties from Blindness (so long as you still have eyes), and may not be rendered Blind by any means for the duration (an eye-gouging, for instance, would be painful, but leave your eyes unharmed).
At initiator level 4, your eyes improve even more. When this maneuver is active, you can see invisible creatures and objects. At initiator level 8, when this maneuver is active, you ignore both mundane and magical Concealment, although not Total Concealment and, as long as this maneuver is readied, whether or not it is active, you can see in normal and magical darkness with perfect visibility.
At initiator level 12, when this maneuver is active, you can ignore even Total Concealment, so long as it is magical in nature, see automatically through any visual illusions, and see the true form of creatures whose shape has been altered magically. Additionally, as long as this maneuver is readied, you can see invisible creatures and objects without needing to activate it. At initiator level 16, as long as this maneuver is readied, you ignore both mundane and magical Concealment, but not Total Concealment, even without activating it.
At initiator level 20, you gain the full active effects of this maneuver, without requiring an activation – as long as it is readied, your eyes are perfect.
King of All Kings Numen
Cosmic Imperator (Stance)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
You assume a stance of casual confidence. Not slouching, but not on edge – certainly not in anything resembling preparedness for battle. Arms probably hung in pockets or clasped behind one's back. Breath steady, expression largely indifferent, though perhaps smug or mildly disappointed, as context requires. Those that look at you immediately recognize your air of authority and, as they approach, that ephemeral feeling of confidence becomes more and more real until it is a weight, pressing truly and literally down upon them.
While in this stance, you gain an Aura of Confidence that extends (initiator level x 10; minimum 30) feet from you. Any character that can perceive you that willingly attempts to move into the aura must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + your Charisma modifier) or stop just short of the border. Someone already inside the aura that attempts an action to move closer to you requires a similar saving throw to do so.
You may exempt particular characters from this function of the aura, allowing them to move freely, by giving them some kind of permission to do so – spoken permission works, of course, but a beckoning hand can serve just as well. Permission lasts until you mentally revoke it.
In addition, ranged attacks made against you suffer a penalty equal to your Charisma modifier. Arrows, stones, and scorching rays seem to collapse at your feet in supplication, or bend themselves off course in shame.
However, maintaining this confident power is difficult. This stance immediately ends, and cannot be re-activated again for 5 rounds, if one of the following violations occurs:
-You take an action to move more than half your speed (a casual walk is key).
-You attack with a weapon not associated with the Cosmic Imperator discipline.
-You willingly express some amount of nervousness or apprehension, or admit that you have any kind of character flaw. Even a simple "This guy looks like he's going to be tough to beat" or "Sometimes I'm not the most compassionate person in the world..." ends the stance.
-You are knocked Prone, or become Frightened or Panicked.
Finally, you may not assume this stance if one of your other Cosmic Imperator stances is currently barred from your use due to one of its conditions being violated.
Level 2
Spoiler
Green Sun Nimbus Flare
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
While you have this maneuver readied, your right hand and forearm are shrouded in a thin sheet of green flame. Anything touched by this flame (such as during a melee touch attack, unarmed attack, slam natural attack, and so on) takes a point of damage. This damage is a kind of pure cosmic fire that is not reduced by energy resistance or immunity, although, while it may set fire to combustible materials, fires that it starts are mundane in nature.
After activating this maneuver, the next attack you make during the duration with a weapon associated with the Cosmic Imperator discipline is cloaked in punishing green fire. This fire deals an additional 1d6 damage per two initiator levels, plus one additional damage per point of your Charisma modifier, should the supplemented attack succeed. This fire damage is the same kind of special cosmic flame dealt by the passive benefit of this maneuver, and is thus not reduced by energy resistance or immunity, although it is still considered fire, in that it takes advantage of vulnerabilities to fire, and may ignite combustible materials.
However, unlike the much smaller, passive fire, this larger release of hateful energy has an additional caveat. It will not harm anyone that has not, at some point in the past, drawn your displeasure. The King is not a capricious or sadistic creature – he does not waste his righteous fury on random strangers or those that are loyal and submissive to him. You must have first witnessed your potential victim perform an action that offends you. Perhaps they've threatened you or something you care about, disobeyed an order (even a relatively unreasonable, though not suicidal order, such as "Lay down your arms, give me all of your possessions, and serve me loyally to the end of your days", that is disobeyed is sufficient evidence of their guilt, assuming you are the kind of person to be offended by such things), or acted with cowardice or dishonesty. Only then will your Green Sun Nimbus Flare strike them down.
Red Hand Ascension
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
While you have this maneuver readied, your left hand and forearm are shrouded in a thin sheet of red flame. Anything touched by this flame (such as during a melee touch attack, unarmed attack, slam natural attack, and so on) takes a point of damage. This damage is a kind of pure cosmic fire that is not reduced by energy resistance or immunity, although, while it may set fire to combustible materials, fires that it starts are mundane in nature.
After activating this maneuver, the next attack you make during the duration with a weapon associated with the Cosmic Imperator discipline is cloaked in blessed red fire.
A target that is successfully hit and dealt damage to by this supplemented attack is offered a chance to become one of your champions. If they decline, nothing special happens. If they accept, a blazing brand appears on their forehead which takes the shape of some symbol that represents you and your glory (this symbol is identical for all characters you ever brand).
A branded character gains a +2 enhancement bonus to an ability score of your choice at the time of branding (this increases to +4 at initiator level 8, +6 at initiator level 13, and +8 at initiator level 18 – previously branded characters have their bonus improved retroactively) and, whenever you are able to perceive them and they are able to perceive you, they gain a +1 morale bonus on all d20 rolls and damage rolls from sheer servile joy.
You may have a maximum number of branded champions equal to your Charisma modifier (if this number ever drops, branded characters do not become unbranded). Removing a brand from someone is a standard action that can be performed regardless of distance or planar barrier. Wherever the forsaken champion is, they feel a sudden sharp pain, followed by a sickened dread as they realize just how addictive the constant stream of joy from serving you had been – they may take no actions for 1 round, and then take a -4 penalty to all of their d20 rolls and damage rolls henceforth. This penalty lessens by 1 for every month that passes, until it disappears altogether. Being re-branded prematurely removes the penalty altogether.
Note that, while the King is more than happy to enslave his subjects, and elevate them with his glory, his champions are another matter. If a character does not have the strength and courage to willingly accept, beneath any layers of unnatural influence, the gift of their lord, then their Lord has no use for them. No mechanical effect can force a character to truly accept a Branding - not magic, not Extraordinary coercive effects; nothing.
Level 3
Spoiler
Glory-Stoking Congregation
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Prerequisite: One Cosmic Imperator Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 minute
While you have this maneuver readied, you may internalize the praise and supplication of others. After you spend at least a single continuous hour, surrounded by at least a few allies or servants, being lavished with praise and affection, you become Glorified. Over that hour-long period, your skin begins to glow continuously brighter, until, when your sycophants have fully sated you, your skin begins to give off a subtle white shimmering heat. While Glorified, you require neither food nor drink, as your body metabolizes itself on its own majesty.
You may only activate this maneuver if you are already Glorified. Doing so releases the energy built up inside of you, ending this state (and requiring you to recharge once more), but granting you Fast Healing equal to your initiator level for the duration, and instantly removing a total of (your Charisma modifier) points of ability damage or drain, distributed as you see fit.
For that single minute, your shimmering skin erupts into a bright, but soft, white light, before returning to its normal hue.
As you become more powerful, it is harder to sate the demands of your glory. At initiator level 10, you require several dozen people to lavish you at a time to begin charging your Glorified state. However, you may respire distant prayer for this purpose – those that pray to you and praise your name, regardless of distance or plane of existence, are just as valuable as those that sit in your own presence. You can even, sometimes, hear the most heartfelt and urgent prayers from your followers, though it is not a consciously controlled thing. At initiator level 15, you require several hundred people to worship you, and at initiator level 20, you require many thousands – the kind garnered from being an entire kingdom's primary religion.
Imperishable Majesty Stance
Cosmic Imperator (Stance)
Prerequisite: One Cosmic Imperator Maneuver
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
You make a brief, dramatic gesture, such as sweeping your arms outward in an open greeting, raising a fist in anger, or flaring some of the cosmetic effects of your Cosmic Imperator maneuvers in a show of power. Suddenly, your skin turns a stark marble white, and many of your distinguishing features melt away – body hair, finger nails, mouth, nose, ears, wrinkles and imperfections, and so on, leaving you a statuesque figure with burning eyes.
While in this stance, your spiritual nature subordinates your physical body, allowing you to use your Charisma modifier in place of your Strength, Dexterity, and/or Constitution modifiers in any and all cases in which this would be beneficial.
However, this stance may be ended prematurely in the same ways as King of All Kings Numen, with the same ramifications. Similarly, you may not assume this stance if one of your other Cosmic Imperator stances is currently barred from your use due to one of its conditions being violated.
Level 4
Spoiler
Cosmos-Bleaching Revelation
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Prerequisite: Two Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 5 rounds
While you have this maneuver readied, your eyelids seem to vanish, and the border between your eyes and the rest of your body begins to skew to where onlookers have trouble discerning just where your eyes end and your face begins. You lose the ability to blink, but suffer no harm from this lack; you may even sleep with your eyes fully open and aware, ready to wake you at the first sign of danger.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
When you activate this maneuver, you do not lose sight of anything, but rather see beyond the physical – glimpsing all material things and no material things simultaneously. Using both sets of data, your eyes allow you to see through physical objects as if they weren't there. You still require Spot checks to notice hidden, non-obvious, or far-away things, but aside from that, fog, stone walls, armor, flesh and bone, etc - you can see through anything.
Kingdom of the Blind
Cosmic Imperator (Strike)
Prerequisite: Two Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Standard
Range: Personal
Target: All Creatures That Can See You
While you have this maneuver readied, a nimbus of white light seems to suffuse your immediate surroundings, making things brighter and more vivid, as well as accentuating your every movement.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
When you activate this maneuver, the nimbus of light around you begins to shine, brighter and brighter and brighter, until after a few moments you begin to seethe with the brilliance of a tiny star. All creatures looking at you must make a DC (10 + 1/2 character level + Charisma modifier) Reflex save to shield their eyes or be rendered permanently Blind.
However, there are a few caveats. Characters blinded by this maneuver can still see You, even if they cannot see anything else. In the blighted black void of there once-vision, should their eyes be open and you within their line of sight, they may still see you perfectly as if they could still see. The King is not heartless, after all. Furthermore, characters branded by Red Hand Ascension, and anyone that has spent at least an hour that day glorifying you and earnestly praising your name, are immune to the blinding effects of this maneuver.
Level 5
Spoiler
Invincible Crown Halo
Cosmic Imperator (Stance)
Prerequisite: Two Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
A moment of sudden stillness takes the battlefield – swords lock into a parry, archers aim their shot, magi consider their next move – and then a cacophonous boom shatters the relative silence. Your hair flows outward, igniting into a brilliant colorless inferno. Alternatively, should you not have enough hair for dramatic billowing, a halo of white fire wreathes your head and streams behind you like a lashing comet's tail.
You add a +1 morale bonus to your armor class for every character you can perceive that is either Branded by your Red Hand Ascension maneuver, or has spent at least an hour in the current day abjectly glorifying you, up to a maximum of your Charisma modifier. The same characters that would qualify for granting you this bonus also receive a +1 morale bonus to all of their d20 rolls and damage rolls, which stacks with the morale bonus from Red Hand Ascension.
Finally, characters branded by Red Hand Ascension that can perceive you also receive Damage Reduction X/Cold Iron and Magic, where X is equal to your Charisma modifier.
This stance may be ended prematurely in the same ways as King of All Kings Numen, with the same ramifications. Similarly, you may not assume this stance if one of your other Cosmic Imperator stances is currently barred from your use due to one of its conditions being violated.
Ultimate Sanction
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Prerequisite: Two Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
Little mortals may believe that they can outrace the judgment of their King, but few can dodge the Ultimate Sanction, the death that is light.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
After activating this maneuver, the next attack you make during the duration with a weapon associated with the Cosmic Imperator discipline also invokes the power of the Ultimate Sanction. Should the supplemented attack kill its target, they may still be raised or resurrected as normal, but they do not go onward to a traditional afterlife. Rather, their soul is taken far away to a realm of light – a merciful place that will offer them all that they require to achieve penance for whatever sins they committed to earn your ire.
Such is the brutal torment inflicted upon them there that, should they ever be brought back to life, whenever they should again enter your presence, they must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 character level + Charisma modifier) or become Panicked for 1 minute. They must continue to make Will saves for the rest of their life, whenever they approach you, to keep themselves from fleeing, until they make at least one successful Will save, in which case they have overcome (or at least repressed) their trauma enough to face you.
If the associated weapon you use is a ranged touch attack, its range it doubled, and it is modified such that it may zig-zag through the air, changing its course. This allows it to ignore Cover and, should you choose, you may alter its direction mid flight. You must still be able to perceive the target in some way (such as through the X-Ray Vision granted by Cosmos-Bleaching Revelation, or a Clairvoyance spell), and the total distance traveled must still equal its range, but it may bank around corners or even up, across, and down walls, allowing you to hit enemies you do not have line-of-effect to.
Finally, add your Charisma modifier to the attack roll of the supplemented attack.
Level 6
Spoiler
Seated At The Alabaster Throne
Cosmic Imperator
Prerequisite: Two Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Full Round
Range: Personal
Target: You
While this maneuver is Known to you (it need not even be readied), you bless those who serve you. Within the borders of a land in which you are recognized as the sovereign emperor, whose laws are your laws, and whose religion recognizes you as their primary deity (although they may worship a pantheon, you must be the head of that pantheon), all those legally recognized as citizens gain a morale bonus to all of their Profession, Craft, and Perform checks equal to your Charisma modifier. In many worlds, this will make your land a nexus of wealth, trade, art, culture, luxury, and prosperity that few others may equal. Your most novice craftsman rival the skilled masters of other countries, and your masters create works that rival those of mythic heroes. Groups of children playing in the streets put on impromptu dance recitals that shame troupes of learned entertainers serving in the courts of less fortunate kingdoms. Blessed farmers ensure that every table overflows with food. And so on.
While you are on the same plane as the capital of your realm, you may activate this maneuver as a supernatural teleportation effect to disappear from your current position and reappear in your throne room. If you don't have a specially designated throne room, activating this maneuver has no effect.
At initiator level 13, you may activate this maneuver to teleport to your throne room from any plane that hosts at least some civilized land recognized as your property. For example, a single official embassy building in Avernus would allow you to teleport with this maneuver from anywhere in Baator.
World-Forging Course Ablation
Cosmic Imperator (Counter)
Prerequisite: Two Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Immediate
Range: Personal
Target: You
While you have this maneuver readied, all Mind-Affecting Effects that would force you to admit any sort of weakness or failing, attack a character that is a loyal servant of yours, or disband or disrupt an organization that you are the leader of, automatically fails. Such blasphemous words calcify into floating marble around your head, before igniting in white fire and shattering to dust that falls at your feet.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
You may activate this maneuver in response to someone attempting to effect you with a Mind-Affecting Effect. You are instantly aware of what the Effect is, what it does, and (if the user is within your field of perception) the exact point in space where the user is. If it does not allow a saving throw, you may make a Will saving throw with a DC equal to (10 + 1/2 the user's character level + their lowest mental ability modifier) to shrug it off anyway. If the effect does allow a saving throw, you receive a bonus to your save equal to your Charisma modifier and do not automatically fail on a natural 1.
In either case, if your saving throw succeeds, a vague summary of what the effect was attempting to do to you appears in a circle of nightmarish green fire above your head, and you gain a +2 perfection bonus on all attack rolls against the originator of that effect for 1 minute (after which, the flames disperse).
Level 7
Spoiler
Empyreal Invincibility Declaration
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Prerequisite: Three Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
While you have this maneuver readied, characters with a character level equal to 1/2 of your own or lower, characters branded by Red Hand Ascension, and characters that have spent at least one hour in the current day glorifying you, must stay their hand against you. They may not take a hostile action against you, including making attacks against you, including placing you within the area of a hostile effect, or even doing things with an indirect attempt at physically harming you, such as starting a rock-slide that they suspect will land where you are.
As a purely cosmetic effect, you always appear to drift a few inches above the ground, although this grants you no significant benefit.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
When you activate this maneuver, for the duration, all things are encompassed within the passive effect of this maneuver. The ravenous dead stand idle, hurricanes turn aside their wind, Gods sheathe their blades, and oceans dare not to drown you.
You may not activate this maneuver more than once in a 5 minute period.
Glorious Vassal Illumination
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Prerequisite: Three Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
When activated, this maneuver functions identically to Red Hand Ascension, with the exception that it grants you the ability to Brand up to (Charisma modifier x [1/4 x Initiator level; rounded up]) characters as your champions.
If you also know Red Hand Ascension, then that maneuver gains new functionality (which is not replicated by this maneuver). If used on a character that is already Branded, it may elevate them to Vassalhood.
A Vassal's eyes turn an unearthly white, and a burning nimbus shines behind them. Their voice becomes a strange amalgam of theirs and your own. They apply the Enhancement bonus normally granted by being Branded to three ability scores of your choice, as well as gaining a Fly speed equal to their base land speed (perfect maneuverability), and a Deflection bonus to their Armor Class equal to your Charisma modifier. They may see in normal and magical darkness with perfect visibility. Furthermore, they may intuitively sense whenever an action they are about to perform would displease you, and gain a +4 morale bonus on saving throws against Mind Affecting Effects that would force them to act in a way that would be counter to your wishes.
You may have a number of Vassals equal to your Charisma modifier, although this overlaps with the number of Branded champions you can have (if you have a Charisma of 24, and could normally have 42 characters branded, then you may have either 42 branded, or 7 vassals and 35 branded). Stripping a Vassal of their branding also strips them of their vassalhood. This is incredibly traumatic, and renders them helpless for a full 24 hours as they languish in feverish nightmares, as well as inflicting the four-month penalty normally associated with unbranding someone.
Level 8
Spoiler
Godscorch Invective
Cosmic Imperator (Boost)
Prerequisite: Three Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round
While you have this maneuver readied, a pitch black symbol that represents you appears on your forehead. This is often times similar in shape to the brand that appears on victims of Red Hand Ascension. Those that gaze upon it know your name, and any titles associated with you.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
After activating this maneuver, the next attack you make during the duration with a weapon associated with the Cosmic Imperator discipline also inflicts terrible pain on the victim. If the attack hits and deals damage to the target, they must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + Charisma modifier) or be paralyzed for 1 round.
Characters that derive divine spells from a source other than you, characters with divinely related martial maneuvers (such as those of the Devoted Spirit discipline) that do not worship you as their primary god, and all Outsiders do not receive a save. All that is required is that they are hit and dealt damage to by the supplemented attack.
Universe Emperor Shintai
Cosmic Imperator (Stance)
Prerequisite: Three Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Swift
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: Stance
Beautiful and awe-inspiring blades of light, curved like tongues of flame, unfurl from behind you into three progressively smaller and slowly spinning halos (each spins at a different rate, and the center halo rotates in the opposite direction of the other two). Your feet lift off the ground majestically, and the halos provide a truly magnificent backdrop that frames your grace and power.
While you are in this stance, you gain a Fly speed equal to your base land speed with perfect maneuverability. The range of any ranged touch attacks produced by your Cosmic Imperator maneuvers is doubled (this stacks with other doubling effects to make a tripling effect, and so on), and they do not automatically fail on a 1. Finally, the first Cosmic Imperator Boost with an activation action of "Swift" that you activate in a round is instead considered a free action.
This stance may be ended prematurely in the same ways as King of All Kings Numen, with the same ramifications. Similarly, you may not assume this stance if one of your other Cosmic Imperator stances is currently barred from your use due to one of its conditions being violated.
Level 9
Spoiler
Cosmic Tyrant Decree
Cosmic Imperator (Strike)
Prerequisite: Four Cosmic Imperator Maneuvers
Action: Full Round
Range: See Below
Target: One Creature
Duration: One Day
While you have this maneuver readied, white flames roar from the back of your throat, shining a heavy but comforting light when you speak.
You may only activate this maneuver while in a Cosmic Imperator stance.
You may activate this maneuver against a target that can see and hear you, and whom you can see and hear. You command their submission, and the authority of your words crushes them utterly. They must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level + Charisma modifier) to defend themselves and successfully doing so wards them from your decree for a full day.
Failure turns them into your absolutely willing slave. They will follow your every order to the best of their abilities – they are not reduced to an automaton's recognitions either; they serve the spirit and intent of your commands, and can take the initiative to make decisions about how best to enact your will. If they have not been given any standing orders, they will spend their time proclaiming their love for you and the glory of your name (even if you aren't around, they will pray to you).
The only commands that will be refused are those that are immediately suicidal. A slave will not slit their own throat, nor will they allow you (or anyone else) to do so. If you attack your slave, they may make a new Will save once per round and, even if they don't break free, will still attempt to block, parry, and/or flee your assault.
You may only have a number of characters enslaved by this maneuver equal to 1/2 your Charisma modifier (rounded down) at a time. Once your limit is reached, this maneuver has no effect.
I'm considering doing a Prestige Class called "Sovereign Vassal" with a prerequisite of being chosen as a Vassal by the Glorious Vassal Illumination maneuver of someone with the Cosmic Imperator discipline. If I do, it will go here. As will any feats, or links to Epic Discipline expansions, or rules for clerics worshiping a Cosmic Imperator as a deity, and so on.
Cosmic Imperators as Deities
It is (theoretically) possible that, some day, a mortal will gain the abilities of the Cosmic Imperator and eventually ascend in power to become akin to the Gods themselves; capable of possessing a personal portfolio, granting spells, and so on, by their own merit.
However, it is quite likely that such a hypothetical mortal will have garnered worship long before that time. A few faithful may have even dedicated themselves to being clerics of that Cosmic Imperator. In this case, these holy men draw power from the tiny portion of the story of the Shining One brought forth from the brink of reality by the learning of its martial discipline. Even this fraction is the spiritual equivalent of a deity of significant power, and so it may grant spells and class features. The Cosmic Imperator serves as a conduit and figurehead for the true source, which will not occur to anyone involved in the process.
Note that, while the Cosmic Imperator himself cannot choose to bestow or revoke divine power to any given individual, he may always choose to have divine spells granted to a divine spellcaster, via their worship of him, utterly fail to effect him. He is the avatar of the Shining One in miniature, and his will does not harm itself. Furthermore, the act of preparing spells is considered time spent glorifying and praying to the Cosmic Imperator for the purposes of his maneuvers.
Symbol: The holy symbol of a particular Cosmic Imperator is the same symbol that appears on those branded by Red Hand Ascension (or that would appear, if he knew it, in the case that he doesn't). Note that Branded and Vassals of a Cosmic Imperator are always considered to have a holy symbol, as the mark on their brow serves just as well as any wooden or metal idol to channel their faith.
"Temples" to a Cosmic Imperator tend not to exist unless they have already taken over rulership of a kingdom, in which case the standard affair is for municipal buildings (especially courthouses) to serve as both government complex and sacred cathedral. The law of the land is the law of their god, after all. The tastes of each individual Imperator may vary, of course. Still, the preference of the Shining One Himself and Herself are that one either worships simply, without any meager shrine or makeshift chapel, or one worships in a breathtakingly magnificent cathedral. Anything in-between would be inappropriate to the magnitude of the act.
Alignment: The concept of "Alignment" was a byproduct of the creation of the Great Wheel, which existed after the defeat and destruction of the Shining One. Furthermore, it is His and Her nature to be all-encompassing and, so, they will take any worshiper of any alignment, as long as they are sufficiently faithful and subservient.
What may skew the odds one way or another is that one may not simply worship "The Shining One", but one must rather worship a Cosmic Imperator - and the alignment and doctrine that Imperator lays out may effect who follows them. A Chaotic Evil Imperator that makes a habit of genocide will likely not find many Lawful Good clerics among his congregation.
Domains: Deriving divine spells from a Cosmic Imperator grants access to the Community, Courage, Destruction, Domination, and Pride domains.
Favored Weapon: The favored form of offense for the Shining One is that which has no physicality. His and Her favored weapons are the Touch Attack and the Ranged Touch Attack. If a feat, class feature, or other mechanic would reference and modify its effects based on a deity's favored weapon, the character with that mechanic chooses which of these weapons that it applies to. (For example, a Favored Soul that gains Weapon Focus for its deity's favored weapon could choose either Weapon Focus (Touch Attack) or Weapon Focus (Ranged Touch Attack)).
Alternate Class Feature: The King does not have any particular feud with the Undead. A cleric of a Cosmic Imperator may choose the Glorious Conduit alternate class feature, which replaces their ability to Turn or Rebuke Undead. In exchange, they choose a single domain that they have access to. They may spontaneously cast the spells of that domain, in the same manner as a Cleric's normal ability to spontaneously cast Cure or Inflict spells; losing a prepared spell in order to cast a spell of the chosen domain of the same level or lower.
A few typos (namely using idol instead of idle during Empyreal Invincibility Declaration; and a couple others), but otherwise, it's really pretty nice.
A few typos (namely using idol instead of idle during Empyreal Invincibility Declaration; and a couple others), but otherwise, it's really pretty nice.
Thanks. I'll look for and correct those when I'm posting from something that isn't a Kindle.
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But really, a Theon-inspired discipline?
Is that a problem? It's been partially done in my homebrew folder for a while now, under the name Mr. Brightseid. Just happy to finally have it done.
Well, you've done one for THE KING before and after Fetich death, which is incredibly sweet, but... do you have notes for finishing the poor, sad, orphaned disciplines that you've left behind?
Or, if you can find it in your hearts (and your notes), an Adorjan-based discipline would be pretty sweet...
Is any level of coercion fare game with the Vassel and similar abilities or should you modify it to work like the alignment-changing version of Atonement? I am not assuming, just asking.
Assuming 5' reaches for both you and an attacker, does King of All Kings stance mean you can force a will save to close just by 5' stepping back?
Well, you've done one for THE KING before and after Fetich death, which is incredibly sweet, but... do you have notes for finishing the poor, sad, orphaned disciplines that you've left behind?
Yes, I do! I have notes for many dozens of disciplines, actually.
Are you saying you'd rather have a discipline about indiscriminately pistol-whipping demons and innocent old ladies while they sob in the gutter, than one about being a living supernova of hubris?
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Or, if you can find it in your hearts (and your notes), an Adorjan-based discipline would be pretty sweet...
There is an unreleased base class, that I wrote about 5 months ago, called the "Primordial Hero" (cousin to the Solar Hero). I have 42 D&Dized Adorjan Charms written for that class, if you want me to PM them to you.
Is any level of coercion fare game with the Vassel and similar abilities or should you modify it to work like the alignment-changing version of Atonement? I am not assuming, just asking.
I'm tempted to say that coercion is fine. Although I might have to think about that a bit.
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Assuming 5' reaches for both you and an attacker, does King of All Kings stance mean you can force a will save to close just by 5' stepping back?
Yes.
edit: I'm gonna say that explicit mechanical coercion such as by a magical spell, or by even Extraordinary mental influence (such as the capstone maneuver), cannot force a target to agree to Vassalhood. Will be edited in when I proofread for errors and such later.
I would have it limited the penalities to d20 rolls BTW...
Damage rolls are probably fine to include if you want to.
Miss chances due to concealment are fidgety to apply a -4 penalty to.
Spell duration rolls and rolls for the number of weaker creatures summoned are harsh beyond belief.
Rolls for the random effects of Confusion or Prismatic Spray are probably just bizarre.
I would have it limited the penalities to d20 rolls BTW...
Damage rolls are probably fine to include.
Miss chances due to concealment are fidgety to apply a -4 penalty to.
Spell duration rolls and rolls for the number of weaker creatures summoned are harsh beyond belief.
Rolls for the random effects of Confusion or Prismatic Spray are probably just bizarre.
Ah, good point. Another thing to fix. See the edit in my above post about Vassalhood and coercion (I may also extend it to Branding as well).
It's beautiful the tone, the style, the story within the story. I love the passive effects on these. And I now plan to have a BBEG that masters this style.
If I may I would like to make a request to you please. Could you please make all the base core styles as awesome as these. I would glorify you forever if you did.
Last edited by TimeLegend : 10-27-2012 at 08:57 PM.
It's beautiful the tone, the style, the story within the story. I love the passive effects on these. And I now plan to have a BBEG that masters this style.
Glad you like it. If you end up getting to use it for something, I'd much appreciate a word about how it went in actual play .
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If I may I would like to make a request to you please. Could you please make all the base core styles as awesome as these. I would glorify you forever if you did.
It's funny you should say that. I have the first three maneuvers and the sutra done for a possible Iron Heart rewrite. Expect: Mucking about with feats! Mastering your weapons and armor! Being good at the various combat maneuvers (disarm, bull rush, etc)! Taking a Finger of Death or Dominate Person to the face, and laughing it off!
Ahem,
Spoiler
"Once, there was a maiden...
...who was skilled at fighting.
She walked until she came to a bridge guarded by an ogre.
The maiden tried to pass, but the ogre would not let her.
"I am stronger than you." it said.
"I am tougher than you." it said.
"I am faster than you." it said.
The ogre swung its club to kill the maiden,
but she redirected his force with an expert parry.
"You are stronger than me." she said.
The ogre's hide resisted all of her attacks,
until she cut out its eyes.
"You are tougher than me." she said.
The ogre tried to run from the maiden,
but, blinded, it could not.
"You are faster than me." she said.
The bridge resounded with the wet thump of the ogre's head.
"But I am alive."
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[3.5] Cosmic Imperator Discipline
Just happy to finally have it done.
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