Revision as of 16:38, 5 June 2016

The Epochent
								Jikuu
Level	BAB	FRC	Fort	Ref	Will	Det	Special	Quanta Acquisition	Jikuu Max Quanta	Max Quanta Pool	Spheres	Jikuu Known
1	+0	+1	+0	+1	+2	+1	Tracer	Minor	4	5	1	4
2	+1	+2	+1	+2	+3	+2	Chronos Lore	Minor	5	7	1	6
3	+1	+3	+1	+2	+4	+2		Lesser	5	10	2	7
4	+2	+4	+1	+3	+4	+3	Chronos Lore	Lesser	6	12	2	8
5	+2	+5	+2	+3	+5	+3		Lesser	6	15	2	10
6	+3	+6	+2	+4	+6	+4	Chronos Lore	Lesser	7	17	3	11
7	+3	+7	+3	+5	+7	+5		Moderate	7	20	3	12
8	+4	+8	+3	+5	+7	+5	Chronos Lore	Moderate	8	22	3	14
9	+4	+9	+3	+6	+8	+6		Moderate	8	25	4	15
10	+5	+10	+4	+6	+9	+6	Epochent Talent	Moderate	9	27	4	16
11	+5	+11	+4	+7	+10	+7		Greater	9	30	4	18
12	+6	+12	+4	+8	+10	+8	Epochent Talent	Greater	10	32	5	19
13	+6	+13	+5	+8	+11	+8		Greater	10	35	5	20
14	+7	+14	+5	+9	+12	+9	Epochent Talent	Greater	11	37	5	22
15	+7	+15	+6	+9	+13	+9		Major	11	40	6	23
16	+8	+16	+6	+10	+13	+10	Epochent Talent	Major	12	42	6	24
17	+8	+17	+6	+11	+14	+11		Major	12	45	6	26
18	+9	+18	+7	+11	+15	+11	Epochent Talent	Major	12	47	6	27
19	+9	+19	+7	+12	+16	+12		Tachyonic	12	50	6	28
20	+10	+20	+8	+12	+16	+12	Epochent Talent	Tachyonic	12	52	6	30

Epochent

Nox, iconic epochent

"Time is not a linear thing, but a nebular web of existential freedom..."

Time is a powerful thing. Those who study the nature of Time gain insights into its passage of which laymen can only dream; not content to be carried along by the river of moments, epochents seek to take control of their own fate, twisting time and space to their whims to accomplish that end. Through long years of study, epochents learn how to attune themselves to the timestream itself: rather than letting seconds pass by, epochents transform their bodies and minds into a quantum net, allowing them to capture the tiniest motes of temporal energy. This temporal energy - this quanta - is the epochent's source of power: with it, the learned chronist can alter gravity, space, even time itself, allowing her to unshackle herself from the relentless march of moments.

Epochents often have a distorted - from the perspective of others - view of reality. Their ability to break the linkage between cause and event, even the power to change the course of history, gives them a distinctly alien outlook on events around them; for an epochent, this reality is merely one of an infinite number of possibilities, one that they only happen to inhabit by chance, and - if something occurs that is not to their liking - they may very well be able to make it such that that thing never came to pass to begin with. That such a task would result in a paradox is of no concern to the epochent; to her, "paradox" is simply a term that the unlearned use to describe something they think is impossible. For the epochent, the impossible is merely the improbable, and so long as that sliver of probability exists, time can be bent and hammered to her whim to make what was once only a mathematical possibility the reality that everyone remembers.

However, not all epochents deal solely with time. Time and space are intricately interwoven, and as such, epochents are able to command several other aspects of reality, even the concept of enumeration itself: the passage of time is a numerical march upwards from zero, and thus more esoteric epochents are able to interact with reality through manipulation of its numbers. Less esoteric are the studies of celestial objects and gravity; while both seem tangential to time, they are an integral part of space, and as such epochents who choose to do so can learn how to manipulate these facets of existence, as well. Some judge these epochents as lesser than those who interact with time directly, but the power they wield over objects that exist in space or the fields of gravity that bind them together can become just as overwhelming as the power to change history, albeit in a different fashion.

Ironically, while an epochent can modify the world around her, while those in the changed world remember events as she shaped them, she does not: the epochent, through being the agent of change in the timeline, recalls her own twisted path through time, and events that she may remember clearly become fiction to those closest to her. As an epochent progresses in her career, this possibility almost universally becomes certainty: most powerful epochents have very clear, very real memories of events that have since been removed from time entirely. It should be no surprise that no small number of epochents gradually lose their minds and become lost in the tides of time, being utterly unable to relate to anyone due to just how much they changed reality from the one they remember.

Game Rule Information

Epochents have the following game statistics.

Force Alignment: Time.

Force Resistances: UO 5 + level, CO 5 + level.

Abilities: Intelligence, Wisdom, and Bravery are important to the epochent. Intelligence determines her ability to wield jikuu effectively; Wisdom improves her capacity for quanta, and thus improves her staying power; and Bravery helps her fend off paradox, which can cripple her ability to manipulate the timeline.

Hit Points at 1st Level: 5 + Con score.

Hit Points at Each Additional Level: 5 + Con modifier.

Healing Surges: 6 + Con modifier.

Class Skills: The Epochent’s class skills are Analysis, Cultures, Insight, Investigation, Lore (Time), Notice, Resolve, and Search.

Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Starting Age: Complex.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the epochent.

Proficiencies

Weapons: All simple weapons.

Armor: None.

Implements: Pendulums.

Jikuu

The epochent's ability to manipulate time are collectively known as jikuu, and are grouped in spheres, which are particular specializations within the study of time and temporal phenomenon.

Temporal Spheres
Sphere	Description	Base Jikuu
Celestial	Deep within the void of space are celestial objects, and chronists are able to manipulate these objects to their own ends.	something
Gravity	Harnessing the crushing power of objects that occupy space, this sphere manipulates gravitational and magnetic forces.	something
Null	Between every moment, between every atom, there is nothing: this sphere specializes in the exploitation of that emptiness.	something
Numbers	Time is often measured, be it by seconds of the clock or grains of sand; this sphere interacts with the metaphysical concept of enumeration itself.	something
Space	Space and time are intricately interwoven, and thus - by extension of temporal manipulation - a chronist can also manipulate space.	something
Time	Acceptance of the malleability of time and temporal events leads to the ability to change history.	something

The epochent does not prepare her jikuu ahead of time. Instead, she must open her mind to the passage of time around her, and gather the temporal energies inherent in the current moment. You can gather quanta as a swift, move, standard, or full action, but can only do so once on each of your turns; the amount of quanta you can gather is dependent upon your chronist level and the action you spend to gather.

The maximum amount of quanta you can have at any one time is dependent upon your level (max quanta pool, on the table above); you gain a bonus to your max quanta pool based on your Wisdom modifier. Your bonus quanta at each level is equal to your chronist level x your Wisdom modifier x 1/8; this bonus is not cumulative, but instead is recalculated each time you gain a level.

Jikuu: Quanta Acquisition
	Quanta Acquisition Grade
Action Taken	Minor	Lesser	Moderate	Greater	Major	Tachyonic
Swift	1	1d2	1d3	1d4	1d6	1d8
Move	1d2	1d4	1d6	1d8	1d10	1d12
Standard	1d4	1d6	1d8	1d10	1d12	2d8
Full	1d6	1d10	2d6	2d8	2d10	3d10

Time, however, is a fickle mistress, and temporal energy acts as an anchor to the moment from whence it was drawn, inhibiting the chronist's ability to draw upon quanta from other moments, and - as the temporal resistance builds as time passes on - can also inhibit the chronist in other ways. At the beginning of your turn, if you have any quanta, you gain 1 point of paradox. For every point of paradox you have, you suffer a -1 penalty to all quanta rolls (to a minimum of 0); if you have more paradox than your Bravery modifier, you also suffer your total amount of paradox as a penalty to all temporal attack rolls and lose that amount of quanta at the end of each of your turns. If at any time you have no quanta, you immediately lose all accrued paradox.

At the end of your turn, you can willingly lose all your remaining quanta as a non-action.

To use any given jikuu, the epochent must have an Intelligence score of at least 10 + the quanta required to use that jikuu (base jikuu require a 10), and must expend that amount of quanta (base jikuu require 0 quanta expenditure).

The epochent begins with four known jikuu. She gains knowledge of additional jikuu each level, as per the class table, above. At fourth level and every four levels after, she can trade out up to two jikuu for new jikuu from any sphere she can access.

The epochent's key ability for her temporal attacks is her Intelligence.

Tracer

One of the most important lessons an epochent learns is how to mark their passage through time. This allows her to ensure that, even if she becomes hopelessly lost amid the infinite possible futures, she will always be able to find her way home.

As a standard action, an epochent can set a tracer. This is a metaphysical object that exists specifically at a single place, in a single moment. The tracer emits temporal energy both forward and backwards and time, and can be detected as a temporal effect.

However, the act of setting a tracer puts the epochent slightly out of phase with time, reducing her ability to gather quanta. Each time she sets a tracer, the epochent suffers a -1 penalty to her quanta rolls; this penalty stacks with itself. This slight temporal error corrects itself over time, and all penalties from this ability are removed after the epochent takes a long rest.

A tracer lasts for 12 hours, and an epochent can only ever have one tracer in existence at a time; if she creates a new tracer, the older is immediately and irrecoverably destroyed.

While she has a tracer active, the epochent knows exactly how much time has passed since she placed it, and exactly where she is in relation to it.

Chronos Lore

Epochents all choose the spheres of jikuu they wish to study, but - universally - epochents also study how to make use of their tracers. As she gains experience, an epochent learns how to work with the temporal energy gathered by her tracer, allowing her to perform incredible feats of time travel, spatial manipulation, and more.

At each of the levels indicated on the class table, you can choose one ability from the following list. Unless otherwise specified, each ability can only be taken once.

▶ Predict

As a standard action, you can use your tracer and your current point in time to attempt to triangulate the position of a possible future that you want to come to pass. Until the start of your next turn, whenever a random roll of any sort is made, two rolls are made instead, and you choose which of them becomes real, as you use the temporal energy of your tracer to influence the present.

This ability is a temporal effect, and is blocked by effects that prevent temporal travel or manipulation. If you are not on the same plane as your tracer, this ability fails, and your tracer remains intact.