Xian — Hyskeu in Heaven

Hyskeu ever sees What Must Be. She who would deign to join the class of things which are strictly necessary must be careful what she would be necessary for; and she who joins may wonder, in the end, if she who has at last become a thing of function and use ever wanted to become useful instead of immortal.

A Xian’s behaviour directly affects their abilities. Engaging enemies below your level threshold (more than 2 CR below you) causes the Heart Demon (see Heart Demons) to gain 1 HD (this happens only once per engagement). The various other penalties, if any, are left to the GM to decide. If you are defending yourself against attack, these penalties do not apply; however, if you transparently goaded them into attack, the penalties are instead halved.

Publicly humiliating an enemy no weaker than you (no more than 1 CR below you) out of combat may inflict a permanent negative level upon them; when this occurs you gain a +2 untyped bonus to all d20 rolls for 24 hours. The bonus also applies to attacks or other confrontational rolls against that enemy and lasts forever, but is dispelled if that enemy seriously wounds you (causes you to drop under 50% HP or fail a disabling save).

You also take these penalties if you are publicly humiliated by an enemy no stronger than you. If the insult is immediately answered successfully or otherwise resolved in your favour, the permanent negative level is dispelled, and you gain a +2 untyped bonus to all d20 rolls for 24 hours instead; also that enemy cannot try to humiliate you again for a year and gains a permanent negative level. If the insult is resolved in a neutral way, the negative level is dispelled but no further effects appear.

A Xian may spend a turn monologuing at an enemy. This may give them a stacking +2 bonus to all d20 rolls and a stacking +25% damage bonus (max +4/+50%, +2/+25% at 5 and every 5 levels thereafter); however the bonuses vanish if the Xian misses, or if the enemy strikes back successfully while the monologue continues. After the first attack the bonuses are halved, then are reduced to +1 to attack rolls, saves, and damage for the rest of combat. If two Xian monologue at each other, the first Xian to strike gains an additional +2/+25%; however if their target survives, their target’s current bonuses are increased by +6/+75%.

A Xian cannot gain negative levels if it would kill them; instead they gain a Heart Demon HD. Every time they gain a negative level (including ones from this or other features), the Heart Demon gains one third of a HD. Once a Xian has qualified to walk the Path (once they have reached the rank of Chengdaozhe), their Heart Demon becomes a Tribulation and emerges much more frequently.