One of the things I have set-up for my starting town for my campaign is that it has an unusually high number of twins (in part because I like making twin villains and have a couple sets). Basically a villain was doing fertility experiments in a lair in the region and accidentally got something in the water that caused the incidence of twin births to increase.
So I want to offer a campaign trait that is for a twin player-character from the starting town. I just don't know what kind of mechanical benefit to grant that would make sense.
Any suggestions?
+4 when using Aid Another on eachother instead of the normal +2.
Here's what comes to mind, nothing too powerful.
Empathic Link (Su): The twin has an empathic link with his twin to a 1 mile distance. The twin can communicate empathically with the twin, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared.
Share Spells: The twin may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his twin (as a touch spell) instead of on himself.
Here's what comes to mind, nothing too powerful.
Empathic Link (Su): The twin has an empathic link with his twin to a 1 mile distance. The twin can communicate empathically with the twin, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared.
Share Spells: The twin may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his twin (as a touch spell) instead of on himself.
I like these!
What about for a twin whose brother/sister is just a townie NPC, not one of the PCs? I doubt any of my players will actually play a matched set.
What about for a twin whose brother/sister is just a townie NPC, not one of the PCs? I doubt any of my players will actually play a matched set.
Meaning one of the twins is a PC and the other an NPC? That will be awfully difficult to come up with some in-game mechanical benefit for the PC. How can having a twin (identical or fraternal) benefit a PC that rarely ever sees them? It might get you out of going to jail. The law could bring in your twin brother/sister and say, "can you be 100% sure it wasn't this person that committed the crime?"
Well the benefit should only apply to the twin or when working with the twin, so for a PC with an NPC noncombatant townie twin it will be more limited. I think empathic link would still be advantageous in this situation as a damsel in distress plot driver though. A PC suddenly knows his twin is terrified of something and gets the party to go over there right away.
How about they can share hp , like the corsican brothers / make it like the summoners life link
Twinned:
When in combat, with your twin as an ally, both of you receive a
+1 bonus to initiative. In addition, whenever you and your twin
flank an opponent, you each receive an additional +1 bonus to hit.
What about for a twin whose brother/sister is just a townie NPC, not one of the PCs? I doubt any of my players will actually play a matched set.
I'd suggest some secret benefit, since they are product of the villain's experiments (if that villain still exist), such as +1 or +2 to saves against his effects.
Or: A character with the twin campaign trait gains his/her twin as a cohort (per the rules of the leadership feat). The cohort twin starts as a lvl 1 commoner, and doesn't gain xp until the character is lvl 3. The cohort can only choose npc-classes, and after the start of the game the cohort level cannot be higher than character level -2.
On a less serious note: If the character dies, his/her twin takes the place...?
I see someone has been reading about Cândido Godói and the theories behind the twins there :)
Perhaps they can get one free teamwork feat? Might be a bit overpowered, unsure really.
Mystic Twin:
+2 to all saves. Anytime you make a saving throw by 2 or less,
Your twin suffers half the effect, regardless of their location.
I feel like there's too much magical stuff in this thread.
Twin Empathy: Your aid another actions grant a +4 bonus instead of a +2 when you attempt to aid your twin. Both you and your twin must possess this trait or it has no effect.
Twin Flurry" You gain a +4 bonus while flanking a creature with your twin instead of the usual +2 bonus. This does not stack with other abilities that increase your flanking bonus. Both you and your twin must possess this trait or it has no effect.
Twin's Trick: You gain a +10 bonus on Disguise checks when acting as your twin. This does not stack with bonuses gained from polymorph spells and similar effects. You can only select this treat if your twin is identical to you.
I see someone has been reading about Cândido Godói and the theories behind the twins there :)
Perhaps they can get one free teamwork feat? Might be a bit overpowered, unsure really.
Had actually not heard of Candido Godoi. Interesting though, and gives me some idea of what percentage is "above average."
Some of these suggestions are cool but they're a lot more powerful than what I've been thinking. After reading some of the suggestions, I'll probably give the twins a bonus on Bluff, Disguise, and Sense Motive checks, and make them class skills for the twin, or something similar. Like I said, the other twin is likely to be a townie NPC so having twin-powers doesn't really work. But Bluff, Disguise, and Sense Motive benefits I could see as a developed skill from tricking people about which twin you were growing up, and the Sense Motive for learning to deal with a twin sibling, and also reading others reactions when they had the twins mixed up. And possibly a +1 to Will saves versus compulsion and charm effects as the twin has a strong sense of self-identity that was developed as a result of defining how the twin was different from his or her identical sibling.
The +1 Will save vs. compulsions and charms would be beneficial in the campaign too since vampires are going to be prevalent later on. (It was a vampire's fertility experiments that caused the increased incidence of twins to begin with. He wasn't trying to make the town more fertile, he was actually trying to solve his own sterility issue.)