Becoming Tainted
Initial exposure to a tainted place or tainted object gives a character 1d3 points of taint.
For every 24 hours spent in a tainted place, or spent carrying a tainted object, a character must make a Wisdom saving throw. The base DC is 10, +5 for every consecutive 24 hours of exposure. Multiple simultaneous exposures (such as carrying a tainted weapon in a tainted place) increase the DC by +5 per source of exposure every 24 hours. If the character fails their saving throw, their taint score increases by 1.
Table: Taint Effects
Mild | Moderate | Severe |
Occasional nausea or vomiting | Bones begin to warp and thicken | Flesh of nose rots away, leaving skull-like openings |
Pain in joints | Black, lichen-like growth across skin itches incessantly | Mutated, deformed fingers, toes, leg, arm, head, ear, eye, or teeth begin to grow on inappropriate parts of the body, then shrivel, rot, and eventually fall off |
Hair goes white | Reddened, burn-like sores and scars | Spine twists, back hunches |
Mild paranoia | Eye clouds or blood vessels break, obscuring vision | Severe warping of skeleton; skull enlarges and deforms |
Disorientation | Lips shrink back from gums | Great swollen growths on the body |
Increased aggressiveness | Gums swell, bleed, and rot | Lungs eaten away from inside—wet, labored, and painful breathing |
Mild hallucinations | Bleeding from eyes, nose, mouth, ears, or lips | Eye falls out, leaving gaping socket that glows with eerie green light |
Phlegmy, wracking cough | Hair falls out | Skin peels off in papery sloughs at the slightest touch, leaving raw, red flesh beneath |
Eyelid swells, obscuring vision | Uncontrollable seizures that wrack the body with spasms | Fingers or toes begin to web and fuse |
Pale, grayish, dead complexion | Eruption of painful sores | Irresistible murderous urges |
Sunken eyes, cracked lips | Sores ooze blood, pus, foul-smelling ooze, spiders or insects, thick pasty substance, maggots, or acidic green slime | Reduced to primitive behavior |
Skin seeps greasy, yellowish “sweat” | Hears voices of evil spirits | Eats inedible or still-living things |
Skin thickens, cracks, and turns leathery | Severe paranoia | Voice that alternates between ethereal whispers and booming, inhuman roars |
Fingertips blacken as if dipped in ash | Fits of uncontrollable, disturbing laughter | Irregular, jagged growth of bony spurs protruding from the back and shoulders |
Night terrors and nightmares | Disregard for hygiene and cultural mores | Complete loss of physical form, existing only as a writhing, amorphous mass of energy |
Taint-Absorbing Items
Some natural substances absorb taint and thus protect those who are exposed to carry them. Examples include a pure jade rod the size of a human finger, a sheet of vellum prepared from a year-old lamb, an intricately carved piece of lightning-struck oak, or a silk sash. The GM can create other examples appropriate to the campaign as well. Regardless of the shape or substance of the item, taint-absorbing items cost 100 sp each.
As an item absorbs taint, it darkens, softens, and gradually rots away over seven days. During that time, it absorbs all taint to which the carrier is exposed. Possessing multiple taint-absorbing items at the same time can protect a character for longer than seven days, but the benefit does not accumulate indefinitely, as shown on Table: Taint-Absorbing Items. Carrying too many taint-absorbing items will attract taint faster than it can be absorbed.
Table: Taint-Absorbing Items
Items Possessed | Days of Protection |
---|---|
1 | 7 |
2 | 12 |
3 | 15 |
4 | 16 |
5 | 15 |
6 | 12 |
7 or more | 1 |