Visna Crownbreaker's page

Esoteric Lore: Visna's experience with the unknown, as well as the sagas she's exchanged with other thaumaturges, has taught her about strange phenomena of every kind. Visna is a master of Esoteric Lore, a special lore skill that can be used to Recall Knowledge regarding haunts, curses, and creatures of any type, but that can't be used to Recall Knowledge of other topics. Unlike a normal Lore skill, Visna uses Charisma as her modifier on Esoteric Lore checks.

Implements and Esoterica: Maiden's Smile and Last Coin are special objects of symbolic importance: Visna's badge as she treats with the supernatural and powerful tools if things turn violent.

Maiden's Smile trembles slightly in Visna's hand, seeking out her foes weaknesses and interrupting their actions. She may use the Implement's Interruption reaction. When Maiden's Smile lashes out at Visna's foes, even a close miss brings the axe close enough to do harm. When she uses Implement's Interruption and fails (but doesn't critically fail) the Strike, she deals 1 damage of the weapon's normal type, possibly applying any bonus damage due to the target's weakness.

The protective aspects of her Last Coin can shield Visna and her allies from harm. She gains the Amulet's Abeyance reaction, and when she uses it, Last Coin offers continued protection. She or her ally chooses one type of damage dealt by the triggering attack and gains resistance 5 against that damage type until her next turn.

While Visna's holding an implement in one hand, she can quickly switch it with another implement she's wearing to use an action from the implement she's switching to. To do so, she can Interact as a free action immediately before executing the implement's action. This allows her to meet requirements of having an implement in hand to use its action.

While Visna's implements are her primary tools in her dealings with the supernatural, she knows the value of always being prepared. Visna constantly collects and carries various smaller mystic objects, bits of materials with paranormal affinities, and items used in folk practices: her esoterica. These might include cold iron nails, scraps of scrolls and scriptures, fragments of bones purportedly from a saint, and other similar objects. Visna keeps her esoterica in easy-to-access places on her person and is well practiced in brandishing her implements and esoterica together, so she can draw and use esoterica with the same hand she's using to wield an implement.

Exploit Vulnerability: Visna knows that every creature, no matter how obscure, has a weakness. By identifying and empowering the right object, she can strike down even the most resilient of monsters.
Exploit Vulnerability Action (Esoterica, Manipulate, Thaumaturge)
Frequency once per round. Visna must be holding an implement.

Visna scours her experiences and learning to identify something that might repel her foe. She retrieves an object from her esoterica with the appropriate supernatural qualities, then uses her implement to stoke the remnants of its power into a blaze. Select a creature Visna can see and attempt an Esoteric Lore check against a standard DC for its level, as she retrieves the right object from her esoterica and uses your implement to empower it. She gains the following effects until she Exploits Vulnerabilities again.

Critical Success Visna remembers the creature's weaknesses, and as she empowers her esoterica, she has a flash of insight that grants even more knowledge about the creature. She learns all of the creature's resistances, weaknesses, and immunities, including the amounts of the resistances and weaknesses and any unusual weaknesses or vulnerabilities, such as what spells will pass through a golem's antimagic, and about the highest of the creature's resistances that can be bypassed. She can exploit the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis or breached defenses. Her unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Success Visna recalls an important fact about the creature, learning its highest weakness (or one of its highest weaknesses, if it has multiple with the same value), and about the highest of the creature's resistances that can be bypassed, but not its other weaknesses, resistances, or immunities. She can exploit the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis or breached defenses. Her unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Failure Failing to recall a salient weakness about the creature, Visna instead attempts to exploit a more personal vulnerability. She can exploit only the creature's personal antithesis. Her unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Critical Failure Visna couldn't remember the right object to use and becomes distracted while she rummages through her esoterica. She becomes flat-footed until the beginning of her next turn.

She can attempt to Exploit Vulnerabilities in one of two ways: either by invoking properties that repel that type of creature, or by attempting a more improvisational, ad-hoc method with your esoterica that can impose a custom weakness on any creature, albeit one that usually isn't as dire as a creature's existing weakness.

Mortal Weakness After identifying a creature's weakness, Vesna uses a thematically resonant bit of esoterica to attune her attacks to her discovery. Her unarmed and weapon Strikes activate the highest weakness she discovered with Exploit Vulnerability, even though the damage type your weapon deals doesn't change. This damage affects the target of her Exploit Vulnerability, as well as any other creatures of the exact same type, but not other creatures with the same weakness.

Personal Antithesis Vesna improvises a custom weakness on a creature by forcefully presenting and empowering a piece of esoterica that repels it on an individual level; for instance, against a tyrant, she might procure a broken chain that once held a captive. This causes the target creature, and only the target creature, to gain a weakness against her unarmed and weapon Strikes equal to 2 + half her level (8).

Breached Defenses Vesna can choose this benefit only if she succeeded at Exploit Vulnerability and learned the creature has at least one resistance that can be bypassed. Choose one such resistance. Her unarmed and weapon Strikes bypass the chosen resistance.

Implement's Empowerment: The power of Visna's implements can also be turned to the more common task of combat, their power adding to and amplifying the effects of runes and other magical empowerments. When she Strikes, Visna can trace mystic patterns with an implement she's holding to empower the Strike, causing it to deal 2 additional damage per weapon damage die. Channeling the power requires full use of her hands. She doesn't gain the benefit of implement's empowerment if she is holding anything in either hand other than a single one-handed weapon, other implements, or esoterica, and she must be holding at least one implement to gain the benefit.

Resolve: Visna has steeled her mind with resolve. When she rolls a success on a Will save, she gets a critical success instead.

Weapon Specialization: Visna has learned how to inflict greater injuries with the weapons she knows best. She deals an additional 2 damage with attacks in which she is expert.

Intensify Vulnerability: Visna has learned to use her implements to further assault creatures whose vulnerabilities she's exploiting.
Intensify Vulnerability Action (Concentrate, Divination, Esoterica, Magical, Thaumaturge)
Frequency once per round. Visna must be benefitting from Exploit Vulnerability, see the subject, and not have used Exploit Vulnerability this round.

Visna presents her implement and esoterica again, intensifying their effects on the target in a way unique to her implements til her next turn. Either Maiden's Smile is drawn to her enemy's vital spots, almost of its own accord. Visna gains a +2 status bonus to attack rolls against the target of her Exploit Vulnerability; or Last Coin repels the creature's attempts to harm her. Visna gains a +2 status bonus to AC and saves against the target of her Exploit Vulnerability.

**Class Feats**

Diverse Lore (Thaumaturge)
Visna's wandering studies mean she's heard sagas or stories about almost every topic... though admittedly, her sources aren't always the most reliable. She can take a –2 penalty to her check to Recall Knowledge with Esoteric Lore to Recall Knowledge about any topic, not just the usual topics available for Esoteric Lore. Additionally, when she succeeds at her check to Exploit a Vulnerability, compare the result of her Esoteric Lore check to the DC to Recall Knowledge for that creature; if that number would be a success or a critical success, she gains information as if she had succeeded at the Recall Knowledge check.

Scroll Thaumaturgy (Thaumaturge)
Visna's multidisciplinary study of magic means she knows how to activate the magic in scrolls with ease. She can activate scrolls of any magical tradition, using her thaumaturge class DC for the scroll's DC, rather than a particular spell DC. If a spell is on the spell list for multiple traditions, Visna chooses which tradition to use at the time she activates the scroll. She can draw and activate scrolls with the same hand holding an implement, much like she can for esoterica.

Talisman Esoterica (Esoterica, Thaumaturge)
Visna knows how to assemble the supernatural objects in her esoterica into a number of temporary talismans. Each day during her daily preparations, she can make two talismans with an item level no higher than half your level (6). She must know each talisman's formula. A talisman created this way is a temporary item and loses its magic the next time she make your daily preparations. (Default, Emerald Grasshopper x2, Savior Spike, Owlbear Claw)

She knows the formulas for all common talismans in the Core Rulebook of her level or lower. Visna remembers her talisman formulas through oral tradition or mnemonics, so she doesn't need a formula book for them.

Breached Defenses (Thaumaturge)
Visna can find the one weak point in a creature's scales, wards, or armor to get past its resistances. She learns additional information when she succeeds at Exploit Vulnerability, and may select from an additional option among the benefits When she succeeds at Exploit Vulnerability.

Scroll Esoterica (Esoterica, Thaumaturge)
Visna's esoterica includes scraps of scriptures, magic tomes, druidic markings, and the like, which she can use to create temporary scrolls. Each day during her daily preparations, she can create a single temporary scroll containing a 1st-level spell of any tradition. The spell must be common, or she must otherwise have access to it. This scroll is an unstable, temporary item and loses its magic the next time she make your daily preparations if she hasn't used it by then. It can't be used to Learn the Spell.

At 8th level, add a second temporary scroll containing a 2nd-level spell.

Elaborate Talisman Esoterica (Thaumaturge)
As Visna has continued to collect talismanic esoterica, she has improved her ability to create temporary talismans. She can create four temporary talismans each day instead of two.

Share Weakness Action (Esoterica, Manipulate, Thaumaturge)
Visna must be Exploiting a creature's mortal weakness.
Visna selects an object from her esoterica that has great personal value to her, such as a locket or treasured ring, and she grants it to an ally, establishing a personal link that allows her ally to affect an enemy as if they were she. The ally's Strikes apply the weakness from her mortal weakness the same way your Strikes do. This benefit ends when her Exploit Vulnerability ends or she Shares Weakness again.

Elaborate Scroll Esoterica
Visna has picked up more scraps of magic texts, improving her makeshift scrolls. In addition to her daily scrolls from Scroll Esoterica, add a scroll with a 3rd-level spell. At 14th level, add a scroll with a 4th-level spell. At 16th level, add a scroll with a 5th-level spell.

Esoteric Reflexes
Visna's bond to her implements is so strong that she can use their reactive abilities almost by instinct. At the start of her turn, she gains an additional reaction, which she can use for only the reactions granted by her implements.

**Multiclass Feats**

Wrestler Dedication (Archetype, Dedication)
Visna's training in the wrestling arts has made her particularly adept at moving, striking, and grappling while unencumbered. She is an expert in Athletics and gains the Titan Wrestler skill feat. She doesn't take the –2 circumstance penalty for making a lethal attack with her nonlethal unarmed attacks. In addition, she gains a +2 circumstance bonus to her Fortitude DC when resisting an opponent's attempts to Grapple her or Swallow you Whole.

Combat Grab (Press, Archetype)
Requirements: One hand free, opponent in reach.
Visna swipes at her opponent and grab at them. Make a melee Strike while keeping one hand free. If the Strike hits, she grabs the target using her free hand. The creature remains grabbed until the end of her next turn or until it Escapes, whichever comes first.

Snagging Strike (Archetype)
Requirements: One hand free, opponent in reach.
Visna combines an attack with quick grappling moves to throw an enemy off balance as long as it stays in her reach. Make a Strike while keeping one hand free. If this Strike hits, the target is flat-footed until the start of her next turn or until it’s no longer within the reach of her hand, whichever comes first.

Whirling Throw (Archetype)
Requirements: Visna has a creature grabbed or restrained
Visna propels her grabbed or restrained foe a great distance. She can throw the creature any distance up to 10 feet, plus 5 feet × her Strength modifier (30'). If she successfully throws the creature, it takes bludgeoning damage equal to her Strength modifier plus 1d6 per 10 feet she threw it.

Attempt an Athletics check against the foe’s Fortitude DC. Visna takes a –2 circumstance penalty to her check if the target is one size larger than her and a –4 circumstance penalty if it’s larger than that. She gaisn a +2 circumstance bonus to her check if the target is one size smaller than her and a +4 circumstance bonus if it’s smaller than that.

Critical Success She throws the creature the desired distance and it lands prone.
Success She throws the creature the desired distance.
Failure She doesn’t throw the creature.
Critical Failure She doesn’t throw the creature, and it’s no longer grabbed or restrained by she.

Sentinel Dedication (Archetype, Dedication)
Visna has trained carefully to maximize the protective qualities of her armor. She is expert in heavy armor.

Mighty Bulwark
Thanks to Visna's incredible connection to her armor, she can use it to shrug off an incredible array of dangers. Her bonus from the bulwark armor trait increases from +3 to +4, and it applies on all Reflex saves, not just damaging Reflex saves.

Blessed One Dedication
Visna is touched and gifted with the ability to alleviate the suffering of others. She gains the lay on hands devotion spell. It costs 1 Focus Point to cast a focus spell. This feat grants a focus pool of 1 Focus Point that she can recover using the Refocus activity. She Refocuses by meditating, allowing her blessing to refill her focus pool. Her devotion spells from the blessed one archetype are divine spells.

**Ancestry Feats**

Natural Ambition
Visna was raised to be ambitious and always reach for the stars, leading her to progress quickly in her chosen field. She gains a 1st-level class feat for your class.

Preternatural hearing
Visna has precise hearing at a distance of 30'

**Skill Feats**

Dubious Knowledge
Visna is a treasure trove of information, but not all of it comes from reputable sources. When she fails (but not critically fails) a Recall Knowledge check using any skill, she learns a bit of true knowledge and a bit of erroneous knowledge, but she doesn’t have any way to differentiate which is which

Titan Wrestler
Visna can attempt to Disarm, Grapple, Shove, or Trip creatures up to two sizes larger than her, or up to three sizes larger than you if she's legendary in Athletics.

Underwater Marauder
Visna has learned to fight underwater. She is not flat-footed while in water, and she doesn’t take the usual penalties for using a bludgeoning or slashing melee weapon in water.

Intimidating Prowess
In situations where Visna can physically menace the target when she Coerces or Demoralizes, she gains a +1 circumstance bonus to her Intimidation check and she ignores the penalty for not sharing a language. If her Strength score is 20 or higher and she is a master in Intimidation, this bonus increases to +2.

Trick Magic Item (General, Manipulate, Skill)
Visna examines a magic item she normally couldn’t use in an effort to fool it and activate it temporarily. She must know what activating the item does, or she can’t attempt to trick it.

Attempt a check using the skill matching the item’s magic tradition, or matching a tradition that has the spell on its list, if she's trying to cast a spell from the item. The relevant skills are Arcana for arcane, Nature for primal, Occultism for occult, Religion for divine, or any of the four for an item that has the magical trait and not a tradition trait. The GM determines the DC based on the item’s level.

If she activates a magic item that requires a spell attack roll or spell DC and she don’t have the ability to cast spells of the relevant tradition, use her level as your proficiency bonus and her Charisma modifier. If she's a master in the appropriate skill for the item’s tradition, she instead uses the trained proficiency bonus, and if she's legendary, she instead uses the expert proficiency bonus.

Success For the rest of the current turn, she can spend actions to activate the item as if she could normally use it.
Failure She can’t use the item or try to trick it again this turn, but she can try again on subsequent turns.
Critical Failure She can’t use the item, and she can’t try to trick it again until her next daily preparations.

Quick Swim (General, Skill)
Visna Swims 5 feet farther on a success and 10 feet farther on a critical success, to a maximum of her Speed. If you’re legendary in Athletics, you gain a swim Speed equal to your Speed.

Battle Cry (General, Skill)
When Visna rolls initiative, she can yell a mighty battle cry and Demoralize an observed foe as a free action. If she's legendary in Intimidation, she can use a reaction to Demoralize your foe when she critically succeeds at an attack roll.

Quick Jump
Visna can use High Jump and Long Jump as a single action instead of 2 actions. If she does, she doesn’t perform the initial Stride (nor does she fail if she doesn’t Stride 10 feet).

Terrified Retreat
When Visna critically succeeds at the Demoralize action, if the target’s level is lower than hers, the target is fleeing for 1 round.

**General Feats**

Toughness (General)
Visna can withstand more punishment than most before succumbing. Increase her maximum Hit Points by your level. The DC of recovery checks is equal to 9 + her dying condition value.

Fleet (General)
Visna moves more quickly on foot. Her Speed increases by 5 feet.

Breath Control (General)
Visna has incredible breath control, which grants her advantages when air is hazardous or sparse. She can hold her breath for 25 times as long as usual before suffocating. She gains a +1 circumstance bonus to saving throws against inhaled threats, such as inhaled poisons, and if she rolls a success on such a saving throw, she get a critical success instead.

A Home in Every Port (Downtime, General)
Visna has a reputation in towns and villages she's visited, and residents are always willing to open their doors to her. When in a town or village, during downtime, she can spend 8 hours to locate a resident willing to provide lodging for her and up to six allies for up to 24 hours at no charge. The standard of living within the acquired lodging is comfortable, and square meals are provided at no cost. After 24 hours, she must pay standard prices for further lodging and meals or use this feat again to find a new resident willing to host you.

Care for you? My Pentella, as a hearth loves its flame, with a heat and a warmth that can make of the meanest hovel, a home.

[holding you back] "Holding me back? A ship without her anchor would dash herself against the rocks. She needs her anchor, carries her everywhere she goes, her only bulwark against the vagaries of the wind. The anchor gives her the world."