Wild Soul: Scion of the First Storm
There’s a storm raging at the core of the world. It wasn’t always there. Before the Outsiders came, it roamed free on the surface. Now it remains within, nursing the starseed that will one day become the new heart of the world. But it misses its children, and if you pay enough attention you may hear its wailing laments hidden beneath thunder in a lightning storm.
A portion of the Uhr-Storm rages within you. You were struck by primordial lightning at birth or maybe you are a descendant of a lost lineage that dates back to times when the First Storm roamed the earth and mated with aerial and mortal souls alike.
Perks:
-You can speak with the wind.
-You have an unconquerable storm as a heart. You have advantage when saving against charm and domination effects.
Drawbacks:
-Everyday you spend underground, you must pass a Charisma test to recover each of your Storm Dice for that day, as your storm shrinks in protest at the oppressive surroundings.
-You are prone to mood swings and easy to anger. You have disadvantage when saving against emotions.
Quirks:
1. A Leaf in the Wind: you can stir the aerials around you into playful motion, summoning a gentle breeze strong enough to disturb someone’s hair or make the leaves of a tree dance, but too weak to blow out a torch or close a window.
2. Just a Zap!: you can make tiny lightning sparks pop out of the tip of your fingers. Although this is too weak to cause any real damage, most people find it uncomfortable.
3. It’s in the Eyes: you can make your eyes spark with blue electric light.
Also, your hair is always messy.
Your Awakening was…
1. Violent. You only wanted them to stop but they wouldn’t listen. You awoke some time later, their bodies buried under the rubble. What happened? Who were they? Start with Rage, Winds, Rage!
2. Foretold. The signs were there, and it was no surprise when your wild soul finally sparked to life. Did they love you for it? Or were you shunned? Where are they now? Start with Weather Forecast.
3. Innate. You grew up listening to the wind and its stories, and you learnt a great deal from them. One day, it brought to you a terrible secret and they have been hunting you since then. What did the wind tell you? Who are they? Start with Secrets of the Wind.
4. Induced. You had it in you, but it took some effort to bring it out. Did you go willingly or did they force you? Did they abuse you or did they guide you? Start with Channel the Storm.
5. Achieved. After a long journey of introspection and self-discipline, your wild soul finally awoke. Where did the wind take you? In your journey, did you make a friend or an enemy? Start with Walking in the Air.
6. Unnoticed. Somehow you have managed to keep your awakening a secret known only to you and the only person you trust. Who are they? Where are they now? Start with Aerial Shroud.
Scion of the First Storm Templates
A: Storm Dice, The Calling, Emanations
B: Indomitable Soul, Supress the Urge
C: Thunder Speech, Power Overwhelming
D: The Tempest
Storm Dice
You have a pool of Storm dice [SD] that represents the potency of the tempest within your heart. Whenever you want to use one of your faculties, you must roll a number of SD equal to the amount of power you want to invest. Any dice that come up with a 5 or 6 are spent and your inner storm shrinks accordingly. You can have up to [templates]SD in your dice pool. When you take a long rest, all your SD return to your dice pool unless the contrary is stated.
Burnt and Invested Dice
Some powers or features may give you the option to burn SD to shape their effects in some way. When this happens, roll the required amount of SD normally and account for any doubles or triples. Burnt SD are automatically lost regardless of the result. Invested dice are set aside and cannot return to your dice pool through normal means until the effect they are fueling is ended.
The Calling
You have an additional attribute called Calling. The Calling represents the constant struggle between your sense of self and the pull of your inner storm. You start with 10 Calling. Your calling works in the following ways:
- When the GM calls for a d20 roll, you can choose to roll your Calling instead. Roleplay the scene accordingly (e.g if it was a check to pry a door open, gale-force winds blast it open instead). If the roll is successful, +1 Calling.
- Whenever you roll Calling, you can spend any number of SD to get [sum] bonus to the roll.
- For every +1 Calling you choose to suffer, gain 1 SD. You can go above your normal limit of SD with this.
- For every day in which you don't evoke your emanations, -1 Calling.
- If your Calling ever gets to 0, your inner storm dies out and you lose all your Scion powers permanently or until you convince another storm to inhabit your chest.
When your SD show doubles or triples or your Calling reaches 20, check the table at the end.
Emanations
Your constant struggle with your inner storm grants you power over the aerials around you. In time, it will grant you power over the winds themselves too. Whenever you gain a Scion of the First Storm template, roll on the emanations table and add the result to your repertoire. You may also learn emanations from other Scions or even a storm... if your survive them, that is.
Indomitable Soul
Whenever you would take damage or fail a save, you can roll any number of SD to have the attacker suffer [sum] lightning damage as your inner storm lashes out at them.
Suppress the Urge
Whenever you roll doubles or triples on your SD, you can choose to burn one of the rolled dice and take damage equal to the [sum] of the burnt die + the number of times you have burnt an SD in this fashion. This number resets whenever you succumb to the Calling.
Thunder Speech
Your mastery over your inner storm is now such that it regards you as an equal. You can now speak with storms.
Being the gestalt manifestation of an amalgamation of lightning spirits and wind elementals, storms are temperamental, volatile beings that value their freedom above anything else and they will try to kill you if they think you are trying to subdue them in any way. They communicate with thunder, lightning and drawing crude shapes in the clouds. They are used to looking down on the world, so expect many of them to be arrogant and haughty. However, they are not completely unreasonable, and they may accept to perform a task for you if you can offer something in return. If they like you enough, they may even reveal their name to you.
Thunder Speech is not subtle. To the common folk and the untrained ear, it is always impressive and often terrorizing. It sounds like the sky being ripped apart and lightning gnawing at stone. When you use Thunder Speech, anyone in your presence not currently covering their ears must pass a Constitution test or go deaf for [template] minutes. Whenever you use Thunder Speech for a purpose other than communicating with a storm, there is a chance (rolled in secret by the GM) that you will summon a random storm to your location. It will not like it.
Power Overwhelming
Whenever you roll any number of SD, you can choose to automatically roll a 6 on ALL of them.
The Tempest
Shooting upwards like an inverted lightning bolt, you pierce the sky and fuse with your inner storm, becoming a mass of furious dark clouds and roaring winds of [dice]*100 feet radius. For as long as you remain in this state, you can use your turn to:
- Shoot a lightning bolt. Struck creatures take 4d6 lightning damage and become permanently deaf unless they pass a Dexterity test, in which case they take half damage.
- Start or end a violent acidic rain that deals 1d6 acid damage to everyone beneath you in each of your turns.
- Start or end a hailstone that deals 2d6 bludgeoning damage to everyone and everything beneath you, demolishing or badly damaging buildings and structures each of your turns.
- Assail the area beneath you with gale-force winds and freezing rain, reducing visibility and rendering ranged attacks impossible.
- Recall your inner storm and end the Tempest. When you do so you can choose to gently float down to any location on the surface covered by the storm, or crash down from the sky as a bolt of primal lightning, dealing 4d6 lightning damage to anyone within a 10[dice] feet radius and knocking them prone unless they pass a Dexterity test, in which case they take only half damage.
After [dice] turns, the Tempest ends. Becoming the Tempest is an incredibly taxing process that requires you to burn at least 4SD. When the Tempest ends, you automatically succumb to the Calling.
Emanations of the Storm
1. Channel the Storm
As part of a successful melee attack, you can roll any number of SD to loosen your grip on your inner storm and wreak havoc on the flesh of your enemies. The attack deals additional [sum] damage. Alternatively, you can roll your SD, dealing [sum]+[dice] damage against a creature within sight, as cackling lightning and slashing winds tear them apart.
2. A Friend in Me
You have befriended an aerial spirit that follows you everywhere. It is very curious and likes to nest on your hair and beard (if you have one). Occasionally, it will whisper rumours of distant lands in your ear and will be very sad if you don’t nod in agreement or smile approvingly.
3. Weather Forecast
While outdoors, you can communicate with the aerial souls in the Upper-Air and inquire about the weather for the day. The GM rolls on the weather table and tells you the result. You can roll 1SD to command the aerial souls to behave in a specific way and choose a new result from the weather table yourself. When you do this, check this table to see what fortune the winds keep in store for you:
- Guiding Draft. You have advantage on one attack roll of your choice.
- Reversing Gust. Your next critical failure is instead a critical success.
- Capricious Zephyr. Mischievous aerials are playing hide and seek with your voice. Don’t worry, it will be returned to you at dawn.
- A Tiny Gift. A word of command borrowed from a Lord of the Upper-Air. Target creature with a language must pass an Ego test or perform a single word command, as long as it is not against its nature.
- Unfortunate Accident. A lightning bolt is released from the Upper-Air by mistake, dealing 2d6 lightning damage to target creature.
- Can I rest Here for a While? A stray aerial on a very long journey has chosen your inner storm to catch its breath. Gain 1SD for the day.
4. Words in the Wind
You can whisper into someone’s ear as if they were standing next to you as long as the recipient of the message is within sight. Additionally, you can have tiny aerials pick up a whispered message of up to [sum] words and deliver it to a creature known to you within a radius of [sum] miles, as long as such creature is not currently underground. You may have the aerials deliver the message to someone unknown to you, but you must provide an accurate description of the target. Aerials are excellent at tracking smells and understanding touch, but they don’t have the best eyesight. Alternatively, you can have the aerials deliver the message to a specific location, but the same limitations apply.
5. Winds Cover Me
You can use your Calling instead of your Defense to defend against non-magical ranged attacks, as the winds rise and fold around you to deflect arrows and bolts (this does not increase your Calling). Additionally, you can deflect ranged attacks and reduce their damage by [sum].
6. Walking in the Air
You can use your Calling instead of your Movement to perform athletic feats such as running or jumping, as tiny aerials gently propel your feet (this does not increase your Calling). Additionally, you can entreat the winds to allow up to [dice] creatures of your choice within sight to take up to [sum] steps on the air or any other gaseous medium as if it was a solid surface.
7. Secrets of the Wind
You can listen to someone or something within sight as if you were standing next to them. Additionally, you can have the wind whisper to you what is transpiring in a location within [sum] miles you have previously visited, as long as it is not underground. If no location is provided, the aerial souls will tell you whatever they find amusing.
8. Aerial Shroud
You can cajole the aerial spirits around you to form a shroud around your person, masking your presence and making you imperceptible to those around you. The effect persists for as long as you remain completely still. Additionally, you can have the spirits of the air conceal your presence and that of up to [dice] adjacent creatures for [sum] minutes. The effect breaks if any of the creatures in the shroud wander too far away from each other or perform any actions that could disrupt the attention of the aerials, such as attacking someone or running.
9. Breath In, Breath Out
When you manifest this emanation, choose IN or OUT. Only one of the two can be active at any given time.
IN
With a deep breath, you invite the playful spirits of air into your lungs, where they remain for [Calling] minutes. For the duration, they oxygenate your lungs for you, removing the need to breathe altogether. Additionally, you can convince the aerials to enter the lungs of up to [dice] willing creatures, where they will remain for [dice] hours, feeding their lungs with breathable air.
OUT
You can have the lungs of up to [dice] creatures be forcefully occupied by the angry spirits of air by investing your SD. For the duration, every victim must pass a Constitution test at the beginning of their turn or waste their turn thrashing about for air and clawing at their throats.
10. Unleash the Storm
Invest your SD to loosen the grip on the storm within your heart, projecting outwards a sphere of gyrating winds of up to 10[dice] feet radius with you at its centre. Mundane ranged attacks through the hurricane force winds are impossible and any creature that comes into contact with the air vortex must pass a Constitution test or be flung away from the centre and be knocked prone, taking [dice] damage. At the moment of unleashing your storm you can designate up to [dice] creatures that the storm will purposefully ignore for as long as they remain close to you at its centre, where calm reigns.
11. The Last Storm
When you die, your inner storm takes over your body in a last display of fury and rage, allowing you to take [template] turns before finally succumbing to your wounds. When this happens, you regain all your spent SD and become an unstoppable force that cannot be bound, restrained or slowed by any mortal means. At the end of the extra turns, your body finally gives up as the storm that was once your heart leaves your body to join the great aerial spirits of the Upper-Air.
12. Winds Keep Watch
You can invest 1SD to instruct the aerial spirits at a specific location such as a room, a door or a threshold to remain alert for unwanted intrusion. If you are within [template] miles when a creature touches or enters the guarded area, the patrolling spirit of air will alert you by whispering in your ear as long as you are not underground, in which case you will be notified of the intrusion as soon as you return to the surface. You can designate up to [dice] creatures that the elemental will not consider an intrusion at the moment of investing your SD. You can command the aerial to cease watch at any moment to recover your SD.
13. Blow, Winds, Blow!
Stir the spirits of the air into motio and entreat them to do your bidding. At 1SD you could, for example, clear away fog or gas, scatter a small cloud, extinguish a fire no larger than a torch or blow a pile of documents. You can Invest your SD to create a permanent effect, such as a steady breeze to power a sailboat or a perpetual gale to impede passage. The more SD you roll, the more excited the elementals will become, allowing for more powerful effects.
14. Rage, Winds, Rage!
You can choose to imprint your blows with the force of the wind, pushing back the target of your successful melee attacks by 10 feet. This cannot affect targets bigger than twice your size. Additionally, you can momentarily free a portion of your inner storm, causing a blast of wind to push outwards like a shockwave, causing glass to shatter, curtains to rip, doors to be flung away, bonfires to extinguish and everyone in a 10[dice] feet radius to fall prone and take [dice] damage. If [sum]>12, affected targets must pass a Constitution test or become permanently deafened. You can also project the blast wave in a 20[dice] feet cone in front of you if you prefer. The more SD you roll, the more destruction will be unleashed.
15. By the Wind’s Grace
You move with the grace of the wind. As long as you aren't wearing any armor, you have +[templates] Defense. Additionally, you can designate up to [dice] falling creatures to have the winds carry them gently to the ground, negating any fall damage.
16. Lightning Strikes Twice
After making an attack, you can immediately make a second attack. If both attacks hit the same target, it takes an additional 1d6 lightning damage. Additionally, you can spend your SD to push your target [dice]*10 feet after a successful attack. Some creatures may get a Constituion save depending on their size and strength.
17. The Winds Themselves
A Lord of the Upper-Air has taken a liking to you and has conceded you a single favour. The Lord of the Upper-Air can, among other things:
- Teach you the name of a storm.
- Take you and your party to any location within its domain. This is substantially faster than land travel, but only long-distance travel is possible. You may want to grab onto something.
- Unlock the secrets of your inner storm. Your maximum held SD increases by 1.
- Summon a hurricane to siege a specific location for 1d4 days.
- Other similar effects such as masking the presence of an entire city, rendering it untraceable an impossible to locate, or disintegrating a creature with a bolt of primal lightning.
You can choose to redeem your favour at any time by whispering your wishes to the wind as long as you are not underground.
18. The Wind Is Everywhere, and So Am I
Your relationship with the aerial spirits has tightened to the extreme that you can travel the world as one of them. You can burn 1 SD to fuse your body with the wind, disappearing from your current location and rematerializing at any point within sight in the blink of an eye. Whenever you do this, your Calling is increased by 1d3 unless you pass a Charisma-[dice] test.
19. Accelerando
You can pass a Calling test to command the winds to accelerate a projectile such as an arrow, a crossbow bolt or a stone to lethal speeds, allowing you to shoot them at your target as if fired from a weapon (this does not increase your Calling). You may shoot bigger objects by rolling your SD:
At 1 die: swords, pikes, spears, logs.
At 2 dice: small boulders, fallen trees, ballista projectiles
At 3 dice: boulders of up to your size, horse carts, a herd of sheep
At 4 dice: a small s
hip, whole siege weapons (projectiles included), a herd of cows, a whale
Unwilling targets can pass a Constitution test to prevent themselves from being flung.
20. The Voices in My Storm
By listening to a creature speak for 10 minutes without breaking your concentration, you can shape one of the aerials in your storm after that creature’s voice. At any given time, you can entreat this aerial to become your voice, allowing you to speak with the voice and language of the original creature. Alternatively, you can roll any number of SD to record a sound up to [sum] seconds long, which your aerials will store and play for you whenever you ask them. You can have up to [template] voices and/or recordings stored in any combination at any given time.
The Calling
Whenever you roll doubles or triples on your SD, you succumb to the Calling. Roll on this table and increase your Calling by 1d3. When your calling reaches 20, check the 13th entry on this table.
Your Storm Dice are spent on a 3-6 for the next 24 hours.
Take 1d6+[dice] lightning damage as your inner storm struggles for control.
The aerials within you rob you of your hearing for 1d6 turns.
You are flung upwards 5[dice] feet.
Your inner storm has gone silent. You cannot roll, burn or invest any SD for 24 hours.
Spirits of air flee your body in a burst of noise and confusion. Everyone within sight must pass a Constitution test at the beginning of their turns or be stunned. The mayhem lasts for [dice] turns.
You engage in a battle of wills with your inner storm for [dice] turns. While the contests lasts, you are unable to act or defend yourself and must attempt a Charisma test with [dice] penalty at the beginning of each of your turns. When you regain control, reduce your Calling by 1 if you passed more tests than you failed or increase it by 1 if the opposite is true.
Your inner storm attempts to escape through your eyes. Burn all your SD and make an Charisma test. If you pass, take [dice] lightning damage as it claws at you from the inside. If you fail, everyone in a 10[dice] cone takes [sum] lightning damage unless they pass a Dexterity test, in which case they take only half. You can avoid this by closing your eyes, but this will cost you your eyelids.
Your inner storm takes hold of your voice and screams at the sky. Everyone in sight, including you takes [dice] damage and must pass a Constitution test or be knocked prone. After [dice] minutes, a very angry storm will coalesce at your location. You can avoid this by closing your mouth, but this will cost you your teeth and your voice.
Your inner storm explodes within you. Burn all your SD and take enough lightning damage to reduce you to 0 hit points.
Your inner storm takes control of your body for [dice] turns. Hand over your character sheet to the GM.
Your inner storm escapes your body and goes into a rampage for [Calling] turns or until you die. It has [Max. SD]HD and it is nearly impossible to damage, as swords will simply cut through the air and spells will simply pass it through. This miniature storm can lift and throw trees, houses and roads at you as well as shoot lightning bolts. If someone or something manages to kill it, you die, as you are left without a heart. For as long as it remains outside of you, you are essentially powerless (you have 0SD). You can still talk to it though.
Your body dissolves into your inner storm as you accept at last your final destiny. With a flash of electric light and a deafening scream of joy, the winds welcome this new-born Tempest into the world as it ascends with violent grace towards the Upper-Air. Flying high above the clouds, rejoicing in the cycling revelations within your aerial body, the tiny souls of men feel now like meaningless echoes from a distant world.
Welcome home, child.
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| Source unknown. |
Notes & Comments
I wrote most of this in January 2019, when I was still living in Denmark and my current setting was just a blurred echo lacking in shape or substance. At that time, I didn't even have a group to speak of but I was still fascinated by the possibility of getting to DM for my own players one day. As it must have been apparent to those in the know, the Scion drinks massively from sources such as Arnold's original Paladin of the Blue Kite, Skerples's refined Elementalist wizard school and pretty much any OSR class around the glogosphere that is even remotely wind/lightning related.
Initially, this was to be part of a wider set of classes called Wild Souls through which I tried to reinvent your typical fire/earth/wind/water elements by having their nature intrinsically tied to the majors forces of my inconclusive and never defined setting (if for any reason you are remotely interested in this, these short excepts here, here and here may shed some light on the matter). Most of the project never saw the light of day (and probably never will), but fragments of it made it into the setting of Amongst the Ruins in the shape of the Cinis strega, which keeps a close relationship with the Undying Fire. I will, at some point, write down the whole class and publish it here, as I intend to do with the whole of Amongst the Ruins. Some day. At some point. Perhaps.
In the meantime, thank you for your patience, gentle reader.
