Sentinel of the Dark OCC

(Version 1.00 - Last Modified: 08/30/2004)

Note

The Sentinel of the Dark is a powerful OCC and is recommended only for high power campaigns, other types of campaigns may find this OCC unbalancing.

Description

The world is a dark and dangerous place, from wild lands where monsters rule to the murderers and thieves that inhabit any city in the "civilized" lands. In this world of darkness, there are city guards, honorable knights, and adventurers trying to hold back the tide of evil that would wash over the innocent. Many struggle for their entire lives to keep others safe and away from harm, but too many fall before their time. In this world of struggle between good and evil, there is the Sentinel of the Dark. A member of a highly secretive organization known as the Order of Sentinels, the Sentinel of the Dark has dedicated his or her life to fight the evil that would consume the world. This quest takes the Sentinels to the far corners of the world, from the cities of the Western Empire to the depths of the Yin-Sloth Jungles to the heart of the Northern Wilderness. The Sentinels are even among the few individuals that can travel to the Land of the Damned and return with their sanity. However, the Sentinels pay an incredible price for the power they use to fight in the darkest parts of the world, for they have to share their bodies with the essence of a demon.

The Order of Sentinels is an ancient organization founded soon after the fall of the Old Ones by those that knew the world would always hold dangers. Back then, the Old Ones had just been defeated and their agents killed or locked in the prison that was the Land of the Damned, but the world was not peaceful. Evil monsters continued to roam the land, however diminished in numbers. So the order was established to continue the against fight the monsters to hopefully allow innocent people to live in peace. Over the millenia since then, the Order of Sentinels left the public eye and began operating in secret, but their mission never changed and their members never wavered in their devotion. However, the fall of magic at the end of the Time of Magics reduced the power of the Order of Sentinels dramatically. The organization's members were no longer the nearly invincible warriors they once were and in desperation, the Order of Sentinels turned to a source of energy that was powerful enough and plentiful enough to allow their members to continue their war, they turned to the very scourge that they were trying to destroy, the very essences of the supernatural predators they hunted. Through a secret ritual, a new member of the Order of Sentinels is bonded with the essence of a powerful demon, providing the Sentinels with immense power and strength, but they must fight constantly against the demon essence to retain control over their body.

The Sentinels of the Dark are often recruited at a very young age from orphanages across the world. These children, often neglected and unwanted, have a spark of mystical ability and strength in their hearts that the recruiters are trained to recognize. The orphans are then taken to the hidden fortress of the order, located deep within the Old Kingdom mountains, where their training takes palce. The training lasts for many years and when the orphans emerge, they are full members of the order and are prepared to confront the evil in the world and die if necessary. The only other two sources of recruits for the Order are the children or current members and very rarely a random peasant or commoner encountered by a member of the Order will naturally exhibit the traits required by the order. These peasants are observed and when the time is right, they are asked to secretly join the Order of Sentinels. While this is done very rarely, these peasant recruits often become the best agents to send back to the civilized empires.

As part of their long training, the Sentinels of the Dark learn to draw upon their innate mystical abilities and the demon essence they are bonded with. Unfortunately, using the demon essence comes with a price. The more a Sentinel uses his powers and the longer he or she remains in a fight, the more powerful the demon essence becomes, and while there is no real chance the demon essence could take control of the Sentinel, it does cause him considerable pain and discomfort. The pain is distracting and disorientating, but it also serves as a source of power for the spells that the Sentinel can cast, making them even more powerful. To lessen the pain, a Sentinel of the Dark is trained to focus their energy inward, countering the energy of the demon essence, but this takes time and a Sentinel is unable to do this properly while engaged in combat.

The presence of the demon essence is a tightly held secret of the Order of Sentinels and while those that have worked with the Sentinels would believe they cam remain in control of the essence, the innocents the Sentinels wish to protect might have reservations. Although none outside of the Order know about the demon essence, the Sentinels are well known as powerful warriors among the higher ranks of the nobility in all of the world's empires. Many of these empires have been known to contact the Order and request their help and while the Order performs much of its duties without request or payment, when fulfilling the requests of empires, they always charge money, a great deal of money. These missions almost always involve slaying a powerful monster, but the Order has been used as an honest outside observer in negotiations and to perform a delicate investigation where local authorities might not be trusted. While not often given official sanction to operate within an empire, most nobles will refuse to charge a Sentinel of the Dark with a crime and few get in the way of a Sentinel that is on a mission.

O.C.C. Abilities:

1. Demon Essence
   The demon essence is the core of the Sentinel of the Dark. While the Sentinel has a spark of mystical power and is highly trained in the art of combat, the demon essence provides the Sentinel with an incredible burst in power. Unfortunately, controlling the demon essence requires continuous effort. Under normal circumstances, the Sentinel has no problem controlling the demon essence, but in the heat of combat, the demon's power grows, causing the Sentinel pain and distracting him. The growing power of the demon causes the Sentinel of the Dark to act more aggressively and recklessly, but it also increases the power of the Sentinel's spells, which tap most directly into the power of the demon essence. The demon's increased energy remains until the Sentinel has an opportunity to focus his energy inwards and drain the energy of the demon.

   The strength of the demon essence is measured in Essence Points. Under normal circumstances, a Sentinel of the Dark has no Essence Points, but there are several ways to accumulate these points. Each time the Sentinel hits a target with a non-magical attack, they gain +2 Essence Points, each time the Sentinel is hit by any attack, they gain +1 Essence Points, and each time the Sentinel uses one of the Attack or Defense abilities, they generate a number of Essence Points. However, there are a few ways for a Sentinel of the Dark to get rid of Essence Points. Each melee attack where a Sentinel chooses to do nothing his Essence Points are reduced by -2 points and an additional -1 Essence Point at levels 5, 10, and 15 and each melee round that a Sentinel concentrates while performing no other actions, his Essence Points are reduced by -25 points and an additional -5 Essence Points at levels 5, 10, and 15. In addition, there is no maximum amount of Essence Points that a Sentinel of the Dark can accumulate, but eventually they will have so many penalties that they will be unlikely to hit anything in combat and will be unable to dodge incoming attacks.

   Unfortunately, possessing even a small amount of Essence Points is detrimental for a Sentinel of the Dark. For every 3 Essence Points, the Sentinel receives a penalty -1 to all combat roll and for every 5 Essence Points, the Sentinel receives a penalty -1 to to damage from all physical attacks, with a minimum of 1 point of damage. On the plus side, for every 2 Essence Points, the Sentinel gains a bonus +1 to a spell's duration, whether it is measured in melee rounds, minutes, or days, etc., and any die roll component. For example, if a Sentinel of the Dark has accumulated 23 Essence Points, he would suffer a penalty of -7 to all combat rolls and -4 to the damage roll from a physical attack, but if he cast a spell that caused damage, he would inflict an additional 11 points of damage to any target that would be damaged by the spell and a spell with a duration measured in melee rounds would last for an additional +11 melee rounds.



2. Transferring Essence Points
   In order to last in combat for long periods of time, the Sentinels of the Dark needed to shed the Essence Points that they accumulated in combat. In addition, as the Sentinels learned how to better use the agitated demon essence, they discovered a method of transferring small amounts of the Essence Points into a suit of armor and a weapon that the Sentinel of the Dark had bonded with. To properly bond with a suit or armor or a weapon, the Sentinel must meditate for four hours while touching the weapon or wearing the armor. Unfortunately, the Sentinel can be bonded to only one suit of armor at a time and one weapon of the appropriate type for each Weapon Mastery that the Sentinel knows. For example, a Sentinel with a weapon master in Swords and Staves could be bonded with a single suit of armor, a single sword, and a single staff at the same time. To transfer Essence Points into a suit of armor or a weapon, the Sentinel must use one melee attack and can transfer as many Essence Points into the armor or weapon as many Essence Points as he wants, up to the maximum it can hold, or the Sentinel can transfer out of the armor or weapon and into his body as many Essence Points as he wants up to the number of Essence Points currently in the armor or weapon. A suit of armor can hold up to 5 Essence Points at level 1 and an additional 5 Essence Points at levels 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 and a weapon can hold up to 2 Essence Points at level 1 and an additional 2 Essence Points at each additional level of experience.


3. Weapon Mastery
   One of the fundamental skills learned by a Sentinel of the Dark is combat. In order to match the supernatural strength of the demons and deevils that are the primary opponents of the Sentinels of the Dark, the Sentinels spend years training with a variety of weapons. Most soldiers are trained in how to use their weapons in a few months; the Sentinels spend a years on each. This amount of training and the power provided by the demon essence allows a Sentinel to gain a mastery of his weapons that other warriors can only dream about.

   There are eight different types of Weapon Mastery that the Sentinel of the Dark can learn: Axe, Blunt, Bow, Crossbow, Knife, Polearm, Staff, and Sword. However, it would take many years of training to become a master in all eight types of weapons, time that most Sentinels would rather spend hunting and killing demons. A Weapon Mastery is similar to Weapon Proficiencies, but it provides additional bonuses and as the Sentinel gains levels, a Weapon Mastery takes on a mystical quality as the Sentinel learns how to channel the demon essence through his weapon to produce a powerful attack. However, the bonuses from having a Weapon Mastery are cumulative with the bonuses provided by a Weapon Proficiency of the same type. For example, a Sentinel would gain bonuses for having both W.P.: Sword and a Weapon Mastery in sword. See Sentinel Weapon Masteries for more details on the the bonuses and abilities provided by the Weapon Masteries.



4. Attack and Defense Abilities
   As the Sentinel of the Dark is trained in the art of combat, they learn how to use the magical nature of the demon essence and how to create special abilities that aid the Sentinel in combat. Unfortunately, the demon essence is fights every time the Sentinel activates one of these abilities, generating a significant amount of Essence Points. These abilities are divided into two categories, Attack Abilities and Defense Abilities. The Attack Abilities are all offensive in nature and almost all of them are activated as part of a regular attack to make that attack stronger. In comparison, the Defense Abilities are activated whenever the Sentinel is attacked. The attack could be in the form of a sword swing, a magical spell, or even a psionic power. See Sentinel Combat Abilities for more details on the Attack and Defense Abilities.


5. Spells
   The final component of a Sentinel's training is an understand of magic. Most demons have access to some form of spell casting, so it is only natural that the Sentinels of the Dark are similarly trained, if for no other reason then to learn spells that can be used to counter the spells cast by the evil supernatural creatures. Unfortunately, the spells that the Sentinel learns to cast are derived from the power of the demon essence and cannot be shared with others and the Sentinel cannot learn new spells like a normal Wizard, they must learn to cast the spells from the demon essence. The Sentinel of the Dark gains a spell strength bonus of +1 at levels 5, 10, and 15. Do not forget that the spells cast by the Sentinel of the Dark are enhanced by the presence of Essence Points as mentioned under the section about the Demon Essence.


6. Advancement of Powers
   The Order of Sentinels is a diverse group of warriors dedicated to the eradication of supernatural evil creatures. To reflect this, a character can choose what new powers the Sentinel of the Dark learns at almost every level of experience. At first level, a Sentinel of Dark can select one Weapon Mastery, one Attack Ability, one Defense Ability, two first level invocation spells, and two second level invocation spells. At each additional level except level 5, 10, and 15, the Sentinel can select one of the following: one Weapon Mastery, one Attack Ability, one Defense Ability, or two invocation spells from any level up to the Sentinel's own level of experience (for example, a forth level Sentinel could select two invocation spells from levels 1 to 4. At levels 5, 10, and 15 the Sentinel can select one Weapon Mastery, one Attack Ability, one Defense Ability, and two invocation spells from any level up to the Sentinel's own level of experience.


7. Sentinels of the Dark & Armor
   Although any type of armor may be used, Sentinels usually lean strongly toward heavy armor. This is because their profession is dangerous, requires little need for stealth, and calls for maximum physical protection. Sentinels suffers the usual penalties for wearing armor: -5% to prowl, swim, and climb in light armor, -10% to prowl, swim, or climb in chain or scale mail and half suits, and -15% to prowl and -20% to climb / scale walls or swim in full splint or plate armor. Wearing armor has no effect on the Sentinel's Combat Abilities or Dark Attacks from Weapon Masteries, but still affects spells normally.


8. Permanent P.P.E. Base
   Like most practitioners of magic, a Sentinel of the Dark is a living battery of mystic energy. Sentinels begin with 1D4x10 PPE plus their PE attribute at first level and gain an additional +2D6 per level of experience. A Sentinel of the Dark can also draw additional energy from ley lines and other sources of mystic energy.


9. Bonuses
   Sentinels of the Dark receive +2D4 to PS attribute, with a minimum of 18, +1D4 to PE, +2 to PP, +2 to ME, +1D6x10 to S.D.C., +2 to save vs. horror factor at 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15, +2 to save vs. spells cast by supernatural creatures, and are immune to possession and mind control by supernatural creatures.

Attribute Requirements:

• ME of 13, PE of 13, and must be of a good alignment.

O.C.C. Skills:

• Language: Native Tongue (at 98%)
• Language: One of choice (+5%)
• Literacy: Native Tongue (at 98%)
• Heraldry (+10%)
• Horsemanship: Knight
• Land Navigation (+15%)
• Math: Basic (+5%)
• Lore: Demons & Monsters (+25%)
• W.P.: Shield
• W.P.: Two of choice
• Hand-to-Hand Combat: Martial Arts

O.C.C. Related Skills:

• Select five other skills. Select one additional skill at level 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. All new skills start at a level one proficiency.
• Communications: Any (+5%)
• Domestic: Fishing only
• Espionage: Any (+10%)
• Horsemanship: Exotic only (+5%)
• Medical: First Aid and Holistic Medicine only
• Military: Any (+10%)
• Physical: Any except Acrobatics
• Rogue: None
• Science: Math: Advanced only (+10%)
• Technical: Any (+10%)
• W.P.: Any
• Wilderness: Wilderness Survival and Track / Trap Animals only

Secondary Skills:

• The Sentinel of the Dark can select two secondary skills from the list of available skill categories at level one and an additional two skills at levels 4, 8, 12, and 15. Secondary skills do not receive any bonuses listed above and all new skills start at a level one proficiency.

Standard Equipment:

• Weapons: Starts with a a dagger, and three additional weapons of choice; all are basic S.D.C. weapons of very good quality. Any one of these weapons can be of exceptional quality (kobold or dwarven), with a bonus of +1 to strike and parry or +3 to damage.
• Armor: Starts with a suit of chain mail (AR of 14, S.D.C. of 44) or scale mail (AR of 15, S.D.C. of 75), player's choice, and a small shield, either metal or wood.
• Other: Two sets of traveling clothes, a traveling robe with hood, a pair of hard leather gloves, good quality boots, a belt, a bedroll, a backpack, two large sacks, two small sacks, a water skin, 30' (9.1 m) of rope, and a tinder box. In addition, the Sentinel will also have a riding horse of good quality. The horse has 30+2D6 S.D.C., 6D6 hit points, and a Spd attribute of 33.

Money:

• The character starts with 100 in gold. Additional money will come as part of the Sentinel's regular pay of 300 gold a month, with additional bonuses upon completion of especially dangerous or deadly assignments. Typically, a Sentinel of the Dark also receives a cut of any treasure hordes claimed after the killing of a supernatural creature. Most Sentinels do not collect vast sums of money, instead preferring to use any money they receive to buy better equipment.

Experience Table:

Level:	XP Range:
1	0000 - 2400
2	2401 - 4800
3	4801 - 9600
4	9601 - 17,000
5	17,001 - 28,000
6	28,001 - 38,000
7	38,001 - 53,000
8	53,001 - 75,000
9	75,001 - 100,000
10	100,001 - 140,000
11	140,001 - 190,000
12	190,001 - 240,000
13	240,001 - 290,000
14	290,001 - 350,000
15	350,001 - 410,000