Violence and Taint

Resurrection Mishaps d% Result

01–04 The subject has an unusually cold touch that, while harmless, lingers in an uncomfortable fashion long after contact has been broken. 05–0 The subject’s eyes change in color, tint, size, or shape. 0–11 The subject smells of freshly dug earth— comforting to druids, perhaps, but unsettling to urban characters. 12–16 The subject’s fi ngernails and hair become brittle and colorless. 17–20 The subject becomes reckless, feeling that death is no longer to be feared. 21–24 The subject becomes overly cautious, fearfully holding on to her second chance at life. 25–2 The subject becomes more generous and caring, feeling that his second chance is best used serving the greater good. 2–32 The subject becomes more selfi sh, withdrawn, and possessive. This outcome works well if the PCs divvied up the character’s belongings before she was brought back. 33–36 The subject becomes fascinated with death and seeks others who have returned from death to share stories and experiences. 37–40 One of the subject’s feats has been swapped for a different one. If the subject has a list of spells known (like a sorcerer) then one of the spells has changed, too. 41–44 The subject has a split personality. One of the personalities is the one from the previous life and the second is the personality of someone else who died very near the subject at some point in the past. 45–4 The subject is followed by a shadow creature that wants to kill her and those who raised her.

d% Result

4–52 The subject is now owned by some extraplanar entity and must do its bidding as though summoned. 53–56 The subject is phobic of things that represent death (think of Imhotep’s reaction to the cat in The Mummy). 57–60 The subject develops a taste for raw flesh (or for maggots, rotting flesh, or another repugnant viand). 61–64 The subject carries the look of someone who has died, with too-pale fl esh, dull eyes, or some other haggard feature. 65–6 The subject develops an abiding interest in religion (or redoubles his interest, if already religious). 6–72 The subject talks about how death still wants her and is waiting for her. 73–76 The subject spurns wealth and possessions, feeling they have no value to one who walks beyond death. 77–0 The subject seeks to ease the suffering of the dead, tending to the respectful burial of even his most hated enemies. 1–4 From time to time, the subject suddenly babbles in unknown languages, or channels an unearthly voice. 5– The subject sleepwalks, even attacking people in his sleep (although usually unarmed). –2 The subject has a body part or patch of skin that remains dead/rotting/discolored and smells of carrion. 3–6 The subject has horrible nightmares that disturb her sleep she requires an extra 2 to 4 hours of rest to be fully rested. 6–100 If the campaign is using taint mechanics, the subject is tainted by the passage from death to life and gains 1d4 points of taint. In addition, roll again on this table for a second result.

many fantasy settings, the afterlife is a reward. What would cause someone to abandon the comforts of heaven to return to a life of struggle? NPCs have access to resurrection too, of course. While this technique can be abused, it’s certainly viable every now and again to bring back a villain the PCs believe they killed.

Perhaps the single most dramatic change you could make to a horror campaign is to take the approach that violence itself engenders taint. In horror stories, violence often begets violence and causes far more problems than it solves. Under these circumstances, unnecessary cruelty in killing an animal, or killing a sentient being under any circumstances, bestows 1 point of taint on the character. The taint gained in this fashion is depravity, but characters might gain corruption for using unnatural magic or for killing in intensely mystical, holy, or profane regions. Clearly, in a tainted violence campaign, combat will be less frequent than normal—waged only under the most desperate circumstances. Quests for atonement will be frequent and vital for the characters’ survival. Most important, the DM must completely rethink methods of offering experience points. The bulk of XP should come from story awards, granted when the PCs accomplish set tasks, make important discoveries, and the like. You can still offer encounter-based awards as well—after all, the PCs still learn from combat, even if they also suffer negative consequences. Consider offering more experience, however, if the PCs fi nd creative ways of defeating their foes without fi ghting them—by banishing the demon, arranging for the villain’s arrest, solving whatever problem the ghost left unfi nished in life, and the like. On average, consider offering 25% more experience points for overcoming a challenge in this fashion. To particularly reinforce the notion that violence is not a solution, consider combining this technique with liberal use of the soul-locked creature, as described under Sometimes They Come Back (see page 47).

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THE LESSER EVIL

If linking taint to violence changes the game too radically for your taste, consider finding a middle ground. Killing in self-defense, for example, or slaying innately evil creatures when PCs have no other choice, does not bestow taint. However, taint ensues from murdering innocents, unnecessary cruelty in slaying evil beings, or killing evil creatures despite having other options for defeating them. This middle ground keeps violence tied to horror and encourages players to seek alternative methods without being quite as draconian about it.