Make sure he uses Undetectable Ailignment (I think that's the name of the spell)
I don't think the rules say it, but I am assuming he should be able to turn it off. I mean what antipaladin can really gets things done if everyone is affected by the aura? By getting things done I mean manipulate and lie to people.
PS:I just checked. The rules don't say he can turn it off, but it is a reasonable houserule.
Nothing says they would notice the aura by the rules either or if they have a way to determine the affect if they do notice the aura so whether your GM is a stickler for the rules or not you should be ok.
The aura of cowardice is "palpably daunting".
The other auras don't have that wording, and each aura is its own aura.
I agree that RAW the anti-paladin appears to be hosed. The ability does only work on enemies however. You may have to get creative in order to avoid putting them in the aura. Lying and say you are cursed might also work.
Yeah bluff will go a long way here.
Have the guy come up with a reason that people nearby are feeling this wave of fear such as the curse suggested up thread. If they fail to realize the bluff and nothing comes up to allow a new check they shouldn't be poking a prodding for excuses to roll sense motive again.
For example if your guys are searching a door for traps and everyone who searches rolls a 1 that should be it they shouldn't re-roll or take 10 or 20 just because they know they rolled low thats hitting meta-game territory.
Also, interviewing for new minions is going to be a pain.
I assumed the group(PC's) knew you were evil. Since by RAW anti-paladins have to commit evil acts I think this idea was already in trouble, but if you can lie and plot well enough to cover up or explain your evil actions away the aura should not be an issue.
|
I, as a GM, would rule that while people feel dispirited and depressed in the presence of the antipaladin, it is not so noticeable to to be immediately detected.
I would use hidden Sense motive rolls to notice its effects. Not a perfect solution, but workable.
After all, in RL, you have never had the misfortune to work with people that seem to radiate doom and gloom? So it is possible to have in game characters that do the same without being antipaladins.
P.S.: missed the last post by the OP.
So he is a character in your group. And the other party member didn't agreed beforehand on accepting an antipaladin ....
You are in a world of trouble, and not because of the aura.
P.S.: missed the last post by the OP.
so he is a character in your group. And the other party member don't have agreed beforehand on accepting an antipaladin ....
You are in a world of trouble, and not because of the aura.
I see Mr.Rossi sees the aura as the lesser of the two issues also. :)
|
Wait, is he trying to disguise his aura from his own party members, or is he just in disguise from some NPCs? The way I read the OP, I assumed that there was an encounter coming up that required you to disguise yourself, not that you were going to have to pull this off through the entire campaign.
If it is just a few disguised encounters, I'd suggest disguising yourself as a thug and making Intimidate checks to go along with your Bluff checks. That way, people will attribute the aura to the fact that the guy's an intimidating thug. Or have him be "in-character" as a mopey, gloomy guy, and the aura will contribute to the persona of Malaise Personified. They'll feel the aura, but they probably won't identify it as this guy's aura of despair, just a general sense of foreboding. Bonus points: it'll get people to minimize their time spent around him, thus reducing the chance they'll see through his disguise.
EDIT: ninja'd. Yeah, a solid Bluff check and you're golden. Though I have to say I love of the idea of this guy dressing up like Edgar Allen Poe and poetically lamenting the thousand grievances of life, just so the PCs will chalk his aura up to him just being a "downer".
In that case the bluff could work of it being a curse if he just has to book passage. I would however give him skill focus(bluff) if you are going to play it RAW. You only need to make the bluff check once.
Getting a scroll of Glibness(bard spell) and casting it before a "chance" encounter with the PC's will almost make it an autosuccess. That will also require ranks in UMD though.
Glibness= +20 to bluff check, and it last 10 minutes per caster level.
|
...Or have him be "in-character" as a mopey, gloomy guy, and the aura will contribute to the persona of Malaise Personified. They'll feel the aura, but they probably won't identify it as this guy's aura of despair, just a general sense of foreboding. Bonus points: it'll get people to minimize their time spent around him, thus reducing the chance they'll see through his disguise.
+1
You're the GM here, there's no universal rule or condition called "palpable". Just tell the PCs that the guy bums them out, or that for some reason if they spend too much time near them their palms get clammy, but be subtle about it; maybe throw the descriptor as the middle phrase out of 3 descriptive phrases about the guy, if they ask.
I do not think they would give the class undetectable alignment as a spell if he weren't able to reliably hide his true nature.
|
|
I assumed the group(PC's) knew you were evil. Since by RAW anti-paladins have to commit evil acts I think this idea was already in trouble, but if you can lie and plot well enough to cover up or explain your evil actions away the aura should not be an issue.
Just like a paladin's code, the anti-paladin's code allows him to refrain from commiting evil acts if the ends justifies the means; i.e. he will deal more chaos and evil if he can make it to the end of the voyage without the PCs noticing he is an evil guy and spring a surprise on them, then he can be a perfectly nice fellow up until the time to attack the clueless chumps and then cackle with wicked glee!!!
In that case the bluff could work of it being a curse if he just has to book passage. I would however give him skill focus(bluff) if you are going to play it RAW. You only need to make the bluff check once.
Getting a scroll of Glibness(bard spell) and casting it before a "chance" encounter with the PC's will almost make it an autosuccess. That will also require ranks in UMD though.Glibness= +20 to bluff check, and it last 10 minutes per caster level.
The problem then becomes "Why would the captain of the ship take on a cursed passenger?" It also raises the conspicuousness of the character and foils the 'just another passenger' approach the guy is trying to take.
In all, it might be best for the story if I just allow the ability to be suppressed while the antipaladin is in disguise.
Money or something else the captain needs. Greed makes people dumb. Another idea is that maybe the the captain is being blackmailed.
|
|
"has a heart of gold"
Then:
- good bluff roll
- sad tale about a family curse, with all the member family dying young because of a wasting disease
or
- sad tale about the NPC father being on his deathbed and the need to get there before he dies
All good reasons to be doom and gloom and project it. If someone approach the antipaladin he should start telling his gloomy tale. if he roll well people will feel depressed independently from his aura.
BTW: I don't like the idea that the aura should be kept active with a free action.
I would greatly prefer to give him the capacity to turn it off as a standard action and reactivate it as a free action.
I would consider it a minor alignment infraction to do that without reasons. I.e. I feel that whatever entity give the antipaladin his powers will not like him for turning off the aura unless he has reasons that will end in more evil spreading into the world.
Turning the auras off would require a standard action because the power fuelling him will not like the antipaladin to do that on a vim and to keep them in line with several other supernatural abilities.
Depending on where they are going maybe he is looking for a holy shrine/powerful shaman/mystical healing thingy that might cure his "curse" and thus the heart of gold captain could never turn this unlucky soul away from his chance at a normal life.
The auras only work against enemies. As long as he refrains from thinking of others as enemies then they won't feel it. If they say something that pisses him off, that person may feel the auras until he manages to convince himself they're not currently a foe.
When dealing with new prospective members of an established group, or the effects of in party conflict, I often use ally-only buffs or foe-only penalties to determine how bad the relationships have become. If the cleric, when asked, says his Prayer doesn't affect the problem character at all, that's sad. If it gives them the enemy penalty then one of them is probably going to get booted or PvP'd soon. My point being that the concept of enemy/ally is entirely subjective.
|
Have his disguise be a priest (not cleric, just a priest) who is taking an evil magic item to be sanctified and destroyed at his temple. He can have a small chest and claim that the evil item causes the hearts of strong men to quake and makes weak men run.
He must keep the cast closed because the item can charm the weak minded into evil acts and the case keeps that power at bay but cannot mitigate the fear power.
His disguise can be all about being cheery and terribly sorry about the item. But it would be a long trip over land and the sea was the only way.
I would say the aura is only noticed by those it affects. Otherwise it makes it too difficult for an antipaladin to really do much evil, and live to high levels if this ability is so noticable.
Personally I think houseruling that the aura can be turned off is the easiest way, but the bluff idea might be more fun.
In any event I would make the ability less noticeable.I would create a custom item to hide the aura if I did not want to house-rule it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A palpable aura doesn't mean it's specific. A person who comes into contact with it may simply feel a chill, or get a strong feeling that this is not a person to be crossed. It does not mean that the person who comes in contact understands that it is "The Aura of Cowardace, the Antipaladin class feature from page 45 of the Advanced Players Whatever"
A paladin may very well be intimidating in the fact that he is shining and puts out a very strong aura of law and good. People who approach a paladin feel like lesser men. An antipaladin could hypothetically disguise himself as a paladin, as people likely have a hard time distinguishing WHY exactly they feel that this is a person who is above them. Unless they can detect alignment with class features or spells, which is why undetectable alignment comes in handy. Otherwise, for all intents and purposes, the auras likely make people feel the same way- Rallied if they are allies, and intimidated if they are opposition.
Getting a scroll of Glibness(bard spell) and casting it before a "chance" encounter with the PC's will almost make it an autosuccess. That will also require ranks in UMD though.
A potion of glibness, on the other hand, wouldn't require any such check, and would be quite reasonable for someone expecting to have to befuddle and bamboozle his way across the world to invest in.
Glibness can't be made into a potion because it is a "personal" spell.
Hmm, seems that's true, although that doesn't make much sense to me, in any case, a potion of Eagle's Splendor then would help with both the bluff and with using the scroll of glibness. Or if the Antipaladin is sufficiently high level, give him leadership and a bard cohort.
Isn't there actually an existing rule for this? Dragons can suppress or resume their aura of fear as a free action each turn, the fey with "Blinding beauty" can suppress or resume the aura as a free action.
Seems reasonable enough to just suppress the palpable aura. It's not even a house rule - it's a pattern of the mechanics.
Even if you choose not to implement it as such, Shah's suggestions have some strong merit - Without knowing better, it could easily be passed off as a paladin's auras. You could always giftwrap an interpretation in knowledge(religion) rolls that baits them to decide he's a paladin or cleric. Maybe instead of non-detection use Misdirection on a cleric prisoner and say his aura takes on the traits of the cleric's aura of good.
If your group is like my group, they probably don't even have knowledge(religion), so possibly just use a hidden roll for each of them - they'd almost have to fail.
Still, I'd just turn it off. There's plenty of precedent for free action suppress/enabling of passive auras.