I'm looking for some help with the concept of a character that uses mnemonic techniques to build a mind palace (or at least the pop culture version thereof, as seen on Sherlock Holmes or Hannibal Lecter).
What I can think of so far:
-perfect memory (Knowledge skills)
-organizing memorized spells in the form of loci. I could see an occultist archetype who uses mental loci in place of implements to organize his spells.
-the ability to withdraw into a personal mindscape when the character is unable to act (allowing them to use mental actions)
-protection from mind-affecting and divination effects
Do you have any further suggestions?
This idea is explored in The Red Knight by Miles Cameron.
Maybe something like the memory warehouse from Dreamcatcher?
So, I think for me the question becomes what do you want it to do mechanically?
The fluff is a fantastic concept to explore, and I like your idea of an Occultist archetype that explores this theme (though Psychic or Investigator would seem to be a better fit thematically.)
So, fluff-wise, we have a character that can begin building a memory palace starting at level 1.
Withdrawing into their memory palace offers several benefits, and their memory palace improves over time.
Mechanical benefits include bonuses on knowledge checks, resistance to mind-affecting effects. I would also imagine this would eventually impart resistance to pain effects and torture. Using the memory palace to allow spell memorization is an interesting concept that some classes can utilize better than others.
Perhaps eventually, such a character can even project their consciousness, like an "ethereal" projection (rather than an astral one.) Feel free to use Matrix logic, here, that damage done to the mind is reflected upon the body, but it seems appropriate that you could allow a character to project an incorporeal version of themselves a few rounds per day for scouting or even combat, a la Ethereal Jaunt, returning to their body when the jaunt expires. Add the usual "can use this a number of rounds per day equal to class level, but these rounds need not be consecutive" language. I'd offer this benefit no earlier than about 11th level, since it replicates a 7th level spell.
Access to Cognatogen could be appropriate, as could a bardic knowledge ability (could simply call it something like akashic knowledge and limit to to only while the character is in their memory palace.)
Even uses of Martial Flexibility (after visiting the mind palace) seems reasonable.
I'd liberally lift ideas from Monte Cook's Akashic from Arcana Evolved.
I like it. Seems easy to scale and adapt to a class.
The Psychic Lore discipline has a memory palace discipline power. It works as a limited Magnificent Mansion that provides knowledge skill bonuses (bigger when you are in it, small all the time) and lets allies make untrained checks when they enter and use it as a library.
From Rituals.
Characters can know Level + Int bonus (divided by 2 if they have spell slots) rituals, invocations, studied locations, ect. Whether you let the players keep track of this or keep it to yourself depends on the style of your gaming group. Think of it as a mental inventory. Minimum is 1. I think the backstory trait Basic Education would add 4 slots.
Backstory traits are the boons the GM gives to PCs (and NPCs) for an interesting history.
It controls how many rituals, places studied carefully, and things memorized to cast convincing illusions. Memory Palace would add another 4 slots. It might add another +4 to will saves against any attempt to delete or alter memories.
I would definitely give them a set of "rooms" they could customize to different backstories, and when a sufficient amount of time is taken (1 minute, maybe 10 minutes), they can completely alter their persona to a created backstory. Their new persona automatically detects as truthful, and they get a bonus towards allaying suspicions that they are not their persona.
Oh, you mean a false history, identity. Take that feat as many times as you have mental inventory slots. Lose intelligence, from age or such, and the backstorys start to run together.
Thank you all, those are interesting suggestions.
Another idea inspired by Torment: the mind palace could also represent an open, compartmentalized mind that is able to absorb other personality fragments (the Medium with its spirit-mechanic would be suitable for this idea).
At the moment, I'm unsure which approach to pursue. It could be a personal mnemonic technique (focused theme, limited design space) or it could be a tool to manipulate reality, as the Renaissance hermeticists believed (diffuse theme, broad design space). Both have advantages and disadvantages.
Dreamscarred's Psionics has the Autohypnosis skill that might work with what you are putting together.
You have trained your mind to gain mastery over your body and the mind's own deepest capabilities.
Check: The DC and the effect of a successful check depend on the task you attempt.
Task DC
Ignore caltrop wound 18
Memorize 15
Resist dying 15
Resist fear Fear effect DC
Tolerate poison Poison's DC
Willpower 20Ignore Caltrop Wound: If you are wounded by stepping on a caltrop, your speed is reduced to one-half normal. A successful Autohypnosis check removes this movement penalty. The wound doesn't go away—it is just ignored through self-persuasion.
Memorize: You can attempt to memorize a long string of numbers, a long passage of verse, or some other particularly difficult piece of information (but you can't memorize magical writing or similarly exotic scripts). Each successful check allows you to memorize a single page of text (up to 800 words), numbers, diagrams, or sigils (even if you don't recognize their meaning). If a document is longer than one page, you can make additional checks for each additional page. You always retain this information; however, you can recall it only with another successful Autohypnosis check.
Resist Dying: You can attempt to subconsciously prevent yourself from dying. If you have negative hit points and are losing hit points (at 1 per round, 1 per hour), you can substitute a DC 15 Autohypnosis check for your Constitution check to see if you become stable. If the check is successful, you stop losing hit points (you do not gain any hit points, however, as a result of the check). You can substitute this check for the Constitution check in later rounds if you are initially unsuccessful.
Resist Fear: In response to any fear effect, you make a saving throw normally. If you fail the saving throw, you can make an Autohypnosis check on your next round even while overcome by fear. If your Autohypnosis check meets or beats the DC for the fear effect, you may make an additional Will save with a +4 competence bonus to shrug off the fear. On a failed check, the fear affects you normally, and you gain no further attempts to shrug off that particular fear effect.
Tolerate Poison: You can attempt to resist the effect of any standard poison. Every time you make a saving throw against the poison, you make an Autohypnosis check. If your Autohypnosis check exceeds the DC of the poison, you receive a +4 competence bonus on your saving throw against the poison. This skill has no effect on the initial saving throw against poison.
Willpower: If reduced to 0 hit points (disabled), you can make an Autohypnosis check. If successful, you can take a standard action while at 0 hit points without taking 1 point of damage (or any other action the DM deems strenuous, including some free actions such as casting a quickened spell). You must make a check for each strenuous action you want to take. A failed Autohypnosis check in this circumstance carries no direct penalty— you can choose not to take the strenuous action and thus avoid the hit point loss. If you do so anyway, you drop to –1 hit points, as normal when disabled. Action: Typically none. Making an Autohypnosis check usually doesn't require an action; it is either a free action (when attempted reactively) or part of another action (when attempted actively). Try Again: Yes, for memorize and willpower uses, though a success doesn't cancel the effects of a previous failure. No for the other uses. [
It does more than you have written, but the extras aren't unrelatable.
Thanks to FangDragon for recommending the Red Knight series. It was a fun read and gave me ideas.
I decided to go with the occultist (implements are such a fun design space, I really want to do something with them).
How I imagine the ability to work:
- The mind palace is a real space on the Astral Plane that the character creates with his mind according to his own imagination. He can enter his mind palace by forming an astral body (an idealized version of himself), not unlike astral projection. Since the Astral Plane is timeless, he can think much faster when in his mind palace than on the Material Plane. Being mentally on two planes at once should give him a bonus against mind-affecting attacks, but at the same time incur penalties against physical threats, as the character is only partially aware of his opponents on the Material Plane. Also, creatures from the Astral Plane might attack the mind palace.
There could be three different states:
1) Fully on the Material Plane (Mind Palace is uninhabited);
2) Fully on the Astral Plane (body is unconscious);
3) Consciousness is split between differrent planes of existence.
Switching between alternate states is disorienting and should have an action economy cost.
- I haven't decided yet how astral implements work. It would be cool if they had different effects on each plane. At higher levels, the character could even take astral constructs from his mind palace back to the Material Plane, seemingly creating stuff out of thin air.
To me, the mind palace in Sherlock is like a powerful divination spell.
The knowledge domain's granted power allows rerolling knowledge checks with a bonus.