Valor and Taint

[Bynw]

Valor and Taint are twin scores that are a combination of Force Points & Dark Side Points (From Star Wars d20), Hero & Villian Points (From Arcana Unearthed) and Action Points (From d20 Modern, Unearthed Arcana and Eberron).

All characters, monsters and npc's have Valor and Taint.  A character starts the game with 1 point of Valor and receives 1 point of Valor for each level earned after the 1st.

Additional points of Valor are awarded by the GM to the character for heroic action and and/or as a bonus award.

Valor may be spent to perform otherwise impossible actions.  They are listed below:

1.)  Perform an additional action outside of the regular initiative order.

2.)  Gain a bonus die or dice to a resolution check for a round.  This is based on the character's level as listed in the chart below.

Level	Bonus Die Pool
1st to 7th	1d6
8th to 14th	2d6
15th to 20th	3d6

3.)  Emulate a Feat - you may use a feat (one time) that you do not have but meet all the prerequists to possess.  Including GM approval.

4.)  Replace XP costs.  For skills/spells/feats that require an expenditure of XP.  You may use a point of Valor instead.

No more than 1 point of Valor may be spent per round.

All characters are limited to a maximum Valor of 5+ Charisma Modifier.  Any points earned above this amount are lost.

Taint

Taint is what a character earns for committing evil acts. (as determined by the gm)  These evil acts include but not limited to killing an innocent, casting a spell with an evil or death descriptor, forcing one's will upon another and other crimes.

(( NOTE:  The following rule is subject to change ))
Anytime a character performs an act that is evil in the eyes of the gm, the character needs to make a special Wisdom check.  The DC is equal to 10 + current Taint score.  If the check is not made, the character gains another point of Taint.

Once the character gains enough taint to be equal to 1/2 their Wisdom score.  The character is considered to be "tainted".  At this point, taint is automatically gained for commiting evil acts as the character has proven that they are on the path of darkness and evil.

Although at this point a character can still turn back and follow the paths of goodness and light by attoning for his past deeds through prayer, meditation and even magic.  A character can always erase a point of Taint by spending a point of Valor to specifically do so.  And some spells may also erase taint from the character as well.

A tainted character has some benefits and some restrictions:  They gain a +2 taint bonus for committing more evil acts (this can be applied to the DC for evil/death spells cast by the character, and attack rolls against the innocent and so on).  They also have a -4 taint penality on any intrinsically good act.  Such as healing others, casting good spells and so on.

A tainted character must also make a Wisdom Check, everytime they gain another point of taint as indicated above.  Failure means that the character has become a true agent of evil.  A character also reaches this "level" when their taint score equals or exceeds their Wisdom score. 

A dark character automatically gains taint for evil acts committed.  And also has the same penalty/benefit as a tainted character.  Save the benefit is +4 and the penalty is -8.  Such characters cannot atone for past misdeeds by spending Valor.  Only powerful magics and acts of great heroism can bring a character back from the grip of evil.