Charm Talent Tree

The Hero has an innate talent for being charming and captivating.

Charm: The Hero gets a competence bonus on all Charisma-based skill checks made to influence members of his chosen gender. (Some characters are charming to members of the opposite gender, others to members of the same gender.) The bonus is equal to the character’s Charismatic level.

A Hero can only charm Gamemaster characters with attitudes of indifferent or better. The charm bonus can’t be used against characters who are unfriendly or hostile.

This ability can be taken more than once (for another gender).

Favor: The Hero has the ability to acquire minor aid from anyone he or she meets. By making a favor check, a Hero can gain important information without going through the time and trouble of doing a lot of research. Favors can also be used to acquire the loan of equipment or documents, or to receive other minor assistance in the course of an adventure.

A Hero can use this ability once per day. The Hero must make a favor check, roll a d20 and add the character’s favor bonus, equal to the character’s Charismatic level. The GM sets the DC based on the scope of the favor being requested. The DC ranges from 10 for a simple favor to as high as 30 for formidable and highly dangerous, expensive, or illegal favors. A Hero can’t take 10 or 20 on this check, nor can the hero retry the check for the same (or virtually the same) favor. Favors should help advance the plot of an adventure. A favor that would enable a character to avoid an adventure altogether should always be unavailable to the character, regardless of the result of a favor check.

The GM should carefully monitor a Hero’s use of favors to ensure that this ability isn’t abused. The success or failure of a mission shouldn’t hinge on the use of a favor, and getting a favor shouldn’t replace good roleplaying or the use of other skills. The GM may disallow any favor deemed to be disruptive to the game.

Prerequisites: Charm.

Captivate: The Hero has the ability to temporarily beguile a target through the use of words and bearing. The target must have an Intelligence score of 3 or higher to be susceptible to a captivate attempt, must be within 30 feet of the hero, must be flat-footed or not in combat, and must be able to see, hear, and understand the hero.

To captivate a target, the hero must use an attack action and make a Charisma check (DC 15), adding his or her Charismatic level as a bonus. If the Charisma check succeeds, the target can try to resist.

The target resists the captivation attempt by making a Will saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 Hero’s class level + Hero’s Cha bonus). If the saving throw fails, the hero becomes the target’s sole focus. The target pays no attention to anyone else for 1 round and remains flat-footed. This focusing of the target’s attention allows other characters to take actions of which the captivated target is unaware. The effect ends immediately if the target is attacked or threatened. A Hero can concentrate to keep a target captivated for additional rounds. The Hero concentrates all his or her effort on the task, and the target gets to make a new Will save each round. The effect ends when the hero stops concentrating, or when the target succeeds on the save. This is a Mind-Affecting ability.

Prerequisites: Charm, favor.

Hypnosis: You can attempt to hypnotize a creature and leave them dazed and confused. As a full round action, a single creature within your reach must make a will saving throw DC: 10+1/2 charismatic hero level+ Charisma modifier or be effected as if by a suggestion spell. You influence the actions of the target creature by suggesting a course of activity (limited to a sentence or two). The suggestion must be worded in such a manner as to make the activity sound reasonable. Asking the creature to do some obviously harmful act automatically negates the effect. The suggested course of activity can continue for the entire duration. If the suggested activity can be completed in a shorter time, the hypnosis ends when the subject finishes what it was asked to do. You can instead specify conditions that will trigger a special activity during the duration. If the condition is not met before the spell duration expires, the activity is not performed. A very reasonable suggestion causes the save to be made with a penalty (such as -1 or -2).

This can be used a number of times per day equal to 3+Charisma modifier.

Prerequisites: Captivate

Improved Hypnosis: When using your Hypnosis ability, you can select one of the following effects to effect the creature instead. You give the subject a single command, which it obeys to the best of its ability at its earliest opportunity. You may select from the following options.

Approach: On its turn, the subject moves toward you as quickly and directly as possible for 1 round. The creature may do nothing but move during its turn, and it provokes attacks of opportunity for this movement as normal.

Drop: On its turn, the subject drops whatever it is holding. It can't pick up any dropped item until its next turn.

Fall: On its turn, the subject falls to the ground and remains prone for 1 round. It may act normally while prone but takes any appropriate penalties.

Flee: On its turn, the subject moves away from you as quickly as possible for 1 round. It may do nothing but move during its turn, and it provokes attacks of opportunity for this movement as normal.

Halt: The subject stands in place for 1 round. It may not take any actions but is not considered helpless.

If the subject can't carry out your command on its next turn, the hypnosis automatically fails.

Prerequisites: Hypnosis

Greater Hypnosis: When using your Hypnosis ability, you can expend 2 uses of it to instead attempt one of the following effects.

* Sleep: Put the enemy to sleep for 1 minute per Charismatic hero level. Sleeping creatures are helpless. Slapping or wounding awakens an affected creature, but normal noise does not. Awakening a creature is a standard action (an application of the aid another action).

* Confuse: This causes confusion in the targets, making them unable to determine their actions. Roll on the following table at the start of each subject's turn each round to see what it does in that round. A confused character who can't carry out the indicated action does nothing but babble incoherently. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking a confused character. Any confused character who is attacked automatically attacks its attackers on its next turn, as long as it is still confused when its turn comes. Note that a confused character will not make attacks of opportunity against any creature that it is not already devoted to attacking (either because of its most recent action or because it has just been attacked).

Prerequisites: Improved Hypnosis