------------------- Level 2 -------------------
You can take the other ability from Level 1, or one of these:
Animal Companion
You are bonded to a single animal, as with the Druid class feature
Animal Companion with an effective Druid level of one less than your overall character level.
Rule change: If you take this ability, the bonus skills learned is doubled.
The "Share Spells" ability associated with the class feature is replaced: Instead, you can share your Level 1 ability with the animal. For the Adrenaline Rush, you and the animal each have 5 rounds per day, which may be taken at the same time or separately. In the down time after an Adrenaline Rush, until the animal has eaten, you will be at -8 animal handling to get the animal to do anything that is not directly related to getting food or escaping an imminent danger.
Innate Skills
As you grow into the skills that are part of your secret heritage, you find that you have some innate talent for one or two particular skills. You have a permanent bonus of +4 to each of 2 skills, or +6 to a single skill. (These would typically be something you are building your character around, such as Disguise, Stealth, or maybe Intimidation in which you will eventually be at a supernatural level of ability. It was actually part of my plan for Ricka, who has doppleganger in her ancestry and was aiming to become like a faceless one from Game of Thrones.)
Advanced Adrenaline Rush Requires Adrenaline Rush
Any number of times per day, as a swift action, you can trigger your adrenaline rush. For up to 10 rounds, you will have the effect of +4 DEX, +4 STR, +15 movement, additional +4 AC (dodge) and +3 initiative. After the adrenaline rush is over, you have the same number of round debilitated as you had it active, plus additional time debilitated until you eat. It can not be triggered again until you eat, but if you ended it early and there is still time in your 10 rounds you could re-activate it. These additional rounds will count double towards your down time, however.
Rush time: +4 DEX, +4 STR, +15 movement, additional +4 AC (dodge) and +3 initiative
Exhaustion and hunger time: -4 DEX, -6 STR, -4 CON, -15 movement, -2 AC (The -6 STR might also mean you are now overburdened.)
Exhaustion only (assuming you eat immediately): -4 DEX, -4 STR, -10 movement, -2 AC
Hunger only: -2 STR, -4 CON, -5 movement
The bonus and penalty to AC is
in addition to that you gain or lose from the DEX change.
Advanced Danger Sense Requires Danger Sense
You sense when a thinking being is focused on you, whether with injurious intent or not. If they are speaking about you (possibly whispering to a friend), you will hear the words clearly as if you are part of their conversation, even from across a noisy room. This can be overwhelming, at first, for someone who is the center of attention already, but you'll learn to handle it. You can choose to ignore some to focus on one or two.
If a person does intend you harm, you will not only know exactly when they will attack, but you'll know what form that attack will take. This gives you a permanent +2 to AC to all attacks from thinking beings and your bonus to their first attack (assuming you don't simply avoid the situation) is +8 AC and +4 to counter attack. Your permanent initiative bonus increases to +4.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:59, Thu 19 Jan 2023.