A story feat reflects a goal—sometimes an all-consuming one—that shapes your life. Each story feat incorporates a trigger event (which comes from either a campaign occurrence or your background), an immediate benefit, a goal, and a further benefit for achieving that goal.
All PCs and Important NPCs start play with one Story feat.
You may gain a new one during play, but you can have only one uncompleted story feat at a time.
Unlike typical feats, story feats have nebulous prerequisites, and you should chose one only after talking with the GM. The GM should weave a story feat into the greater story of the campaign and even adjust it as needed to fit the campaign’s long-term goals and the specifics of your background. Story feats should work organically within the story of the campaign, rather than be chosen purely for their mechanical benefits.
Like the prerequisites, the completion conditions for a story feat might require GM adjudication. If the events of the campaign are not likely to resolve the story implied by the story feat, the GM should consider shifting the goal to something you can achieve. Establishing a meaningful story arc is more important than adhering to the letter of the feat.
Because a story feat represents both your motivation and character development, the GM should make an effort to incorporate elements related to the feat into the ongoing campaign. These can be direct elements, like the appearance of a villain or hated creature, or indirect elements, such as rumors of the fate of a lost relative or NPCs who are impressed by a PC’s artistic endeavors. A good rule of thumb is to work in a reference to each PC’s story feat once every three to five sessions.
In most cases, allies can assist in completing a story feat. At the GM’s discretion, if you do not take a leadership role in tasks or conflicts related to your own story feat, you might need to complete additional goals to resolve the story feat, or might even be denied completion altogether.
Common Rules
Many story feats share similar terminology in their prerequisites and completion conditions. The following terms have special meanings when used in story feats.
Appropriate Number: These are either creatures whose individual CRs add up to 20, or creatures whose individual CRs add up to 5 times your character level, whichever is greater. For example, if you’re at 6th level, an appropriate number of creatures have CRs that add up to 30. This calculation is based on your current character level, not the level at which you selected the story feat. Overly easy challenges (encounters with CRs of 3 or more below your character level) don’t count unless circumstances make them much more difficult to handle.
Challenging Foe: This is a foe or group of foes with a total CR of 10 or a CR of 3 plus your character level, whichever is higher. If this refers to a distinct individual, the foe’s CR is set when the feat is taken, but the foe advances in power as you do. Otherwise, it refers to your current level. A typical recurring foe advances in CR by 1 for every 1–2 levels you gain.
Character’s Level: Normally, this is your actual character level. If you’re a creature best represented by CR rather than character level (such as most monsters with more than 1 HD), use your calculated CR instead of your character level.
Decisively Defeat: You overcome a foe in some way, such as by killing the creature, knocking it unconscious, causing it to be taken prisoner, or (in a fair amount of cases) cause them to be shamed, dishonored, removed from office, or any other way you can think of that leads to their removal as a threat to you. You must be a significant participant in the conflict to defeat the opponent, even if another strikes the final blow. Whether or not merely causing the enemy to f lee qualifies is up to the GM. Generally, driving off an enemy while causing little actual harm does not qualify as a decisive defeat.
Slay: Slaying a foe includes killing it or otherwise eliminating it in a fashion that is not reversible without the interference of creatures significantly more powerful than you or the foe. Unless otherwise noted, you must deal the final blow yourself to slay a creature.
Thwart: Distinct from defeating a foe, thwarting a foe involves disrupting its plans in a substantial and essentially permanent fashion. Deposing a lord, bringing down a priest’s temple, or banishing a sorcerer to the depths of Hell all qualify as thwarting. You keep any benefits gained by thwarting a foe even if it survives defeat and returns more powerful than before. You must be a significant participant in the events that lead to your foe being thwarted for your actions to count toward fulfilling a story requirement.
Story Feats and Stacking
Most story feat bonuses are untyped, and stack with almost any other bonus. However, if you have multiple story feats, their untyped bonuses do not stack with each other. For example, if two story feats gave you a bonus on your defenses, you would add only the higher bonus.
Armchair General (Story)
Whether through personal drive or intense training, you are destined to lead an army to victory.
Prerequisite: You must have studied history, tactics, and strategy extensively, whether or not you are an actual soldier; or have the Fall of a Major Power, Private Academy, or The War background. You must also possess at least one [Team] feat.
Benefit: Select a [Team] feat you already possess. Once selected, this feat cannot be changed. As a standard action, you may grant this feat to all allies within 30 feet who can see and hear you. Allies do not need to meet the prerequisites of this feat. Allies retain the use of this bonus feat for a number of rounds equal to your Charisma modifier. You may use
this ability once per day.
Goal: You must lead a military force of at least 500 combatants in battle and decisively defeat the opposing forces. You must be the one directly in charge of the tactical and strategic decisions.
Completion Benefit: You gain the field leaders ability:
Field Leaders: Choose a [Team] feat you know and select a number of allies equal to or less than your Charisma modifier; these become your field leaders. These allies gain the benefit of the Armchair General feat for one day. Your beneficiaries may grant only the [Team] feat you selected when using the field leaders ability. Designating field leaders requires one hour of strategic planning, but does not require the field leaders to be within sight or hearing of you during the battle.
Artifact Hunter
You’ve somehow managed to come into possession of an artifact from a long-lost or long-dead civilization. The black market is sometimes teeming with these things, but any of these artifacts sold openly are usually snatched up by governments and think tanks “for the good of everyone” (and we all know what that means). However, those governments and think tanks might come gunning for your artifact.
Prerequisite: You must own at least one alien artifact
Benefits: You gain a +2 bonus on all skill checks relating to an alien artifact. This could be a skill check to determine what the artifact does, what kind of technology it uses, or to reconfigure the artifact if it subject to being reconfigured. You gain a +4 bonus to any skill check made to determine anything about the progenitor culutre of the alien artifact. If you are level 10 or higher, these bonuses are doubled. In addition, once per day you can activate an artifact that has already has its uses exhausted, however this cannot be used on Chemical-based artifacts. If you are level 10 or higher, you can use this abiltiy twice per day.
Goal: Gain ownership of a total number of artifacts equal to your character level. Should you complete this story feat and then gain a level, you must check to see if you still meet this goal – if you do not, you lose the completion benefit until you meet this goal again. You must also decisively defeat an appropriate number of agents from various Departments of Unspecified Services who are attempting to steal your artifacts for their possibly-nefarious masters. At least one of these agents should be considered a challenging foe, and will most likely have at least one artifact of their own.
Completion Benefits: You’ve learned how to more efficiently use artifacts. Double the amount of times any artifact you own can be used before needing a recharge – in the case of Chemical-based artifacts this does apply (possibly increasing the amount of damage they can deal via Unstable). Additionally, the agents stop attempting to steal your artifacts as long as you meet this completion benefit, and you will occasionally be ‘leaked’ information about possible artifact stashes and sales.
Aspiring Noble
You strive to be seen as a legitimate noble.
Prerequisite: Must be a member of an established family that is yet unrecognized as nobility. Must be from a culture or society that would allow new noble families to arise.
Beneft: You have learned to further your name among the people. Choose a polity (state, nation, empire – whatever would have to recognize you as nobility). While in your chosen settlement, you gain a +2 bonus on Persuasion checks when dealing with the commoners of that polity. If you are level 10 or higher, the bonus increases to +4.
Goal: Have your family recognized as nobility by either three established noble families or a ruling monarch.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on checks with Persuasion when dealing with the rest of the citizens of your chosen polity. Your bonus to interact with commoners increases to +4, or it increases to +6 if you are level 10 or higher.
Betrayed [Story]
Believing in a just cause left you with a knife in your back. Now you hoard your trust in others, rarely sharing it.
Prerequisite: You must have had a valuable item stolen by a former ally, have been left for dead by a former ally, or have the Betrayal or Imprisoned background.
Benefit: When you are in a harmful area of effect created by an ally (through a spell or other means), that ally has to roll their attack or skill check roll twice and use the worse result (but only versus you). If you do so, your shaken trust means you do not provide flanking bonuses to any allies for 1 hour.
Goal: Track down the people who betrayed you, and either bring them to justice or slay them. At the GM’s discretion, certain members of this group can be spared if they provide important information leading to more prominent targets.
Completion Benefit: You grow more confident in reading others, if not exactly more trusting of them. Your allies and enemies no longer provide cover bonuses on attacks you make against other creatures. You also gain a 20% miss chance against any attacks of opportunity made against you, as long as an ally is threatening the creature making the attack.
Blow This Joint (Story)
You’re embarrassed by your small-town roots, and seek to compensate by being a cosmopolitan connoisseur of cities.
Prerequisite: You must have been born in a settlement no larger than a small town (population 4,000), or have parents with the Nature-Wise profession.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to Knowledge (galactic lore) and Knowledge (social sciences) checks. In addition, one of these skills is considered a class skill for you.
Goal: You must spend at least one month each in four large cities (population 3,000,000+). No more than two of these cities may be in the same country. In addition, you must learn 4 languages beyond your starting languages.
Completion Benefit: The bonuses above increase to +4, and both skills are considered class skills for you. In addition, your skill as a world traveler helps you whenever you are dealing with someone from a settlement of 4,000 people or fewer. The starting attitude of anyone from small settlements increases by one step in your favor. At the GM’s discretion, certain individuals may take offense at your big-city attitude. These individuals have their starting attitude decreased by one step.
Special: This Story feat can be completed before the game actually starts if starting at levels above 1. Consult the GM.
Bygone Relic (Story)
You come from an age long past, and you struggle to understand modern ideas.
Prerequisite: You must have travelled a number of years into the future equal to (or greater than) your character race’s maximum age, with no foreseeable way back to your own time – this can either be via cryofreeze, relatavistic travel, or other methods – or have the Reincarnated trait.
Benefit: You treat Knowledge (galactic lore) as a class skill, you gain a +3 bonus on Knowledge (galactic lore) checks for any events from your personal past, and you may make such checks untrained. If you are level 10 or higher the bonus increases to +6. Additionally, you gain a +2 bonus on Charisma-based skill checks when dealing with creatures and people from your time period, should any still survive.
Goal: Use your understanding of the ancient past to thwart a challenging foe that has been dormant for a like period of time and has recently awoken.
Completion Benefit: You now serve as an icon and inspiration to your allies. While you are conscious, you grant all allies within 6 squares a +2 bonus on their Will defense.
Special: When qualifying for this feat with the Reincarnated trait, consult the GM to determine what qualifies as your ‘personal past.’
Champion (Story)
You must prove yourself through single combat.
Prerequisite: You must have defeated a single challenging foe without any aid from another.
Benefit: As a swift action, you can declare a single combat challenge to one foe within 50 feet and in line of sight. Upon doing so, you gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to your Reflex defense against that foe as long as no one else threatens that opponent or until the single combat challenge ends. If another combatant attacks you or your foe, the challenge ends and you take a –2 penalty on attack rolls and to Reflex defense for 1 round. Though you can declare a single combat challenge at will, once you declare it on a foe you can’t declare it on the same foe for another 24 hours.
Goal: Defeat an appropriate number of challenging foes in single combat. These combats must not be interrupted by other creatures, and the foes must not have already been substantially injured or impaired prior to combat with you.
Completion Benefit: Your bonuses for single combat increase to +2. In addition, any confirmed critical hits you make against such a foe deal an additional 1d6 points of damage.
Colony Builder (Story)
The land calls to you to conquer it and forge a realm all your own.
Prerequisite: You must have explored and claimed an area of at least 100 square miles.
Benefit: When in either unclaimed wilderness or land under your own control, you receive a +2 bonus on Perception checks, Stealth checks, and Survival checks. If you are level 10 or higher, the bonus on that skill increases to +4.
Goal: Explore and conquer an area of at least 1,000 square miles, in the process decisively defeating a challenging foe. You must also lay claim to the land either in your own name or in the name of a leader you directly report to, and establish a stronghold or other fortification to defend it.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks, attack rolls, and saving throws while in the area you have claimed.
Conspiracy Theorist (Story)
Various events you have witnessed have led you to believe that a secret master or sinister cabal manipulates these incidents for their gain, and you aim to expose the conspiracy.
Prerequisite: You must have overheard details about or witnessed an event pertaining to a secret plot on your own, or have the Betrayal, Met a Spirit, or The War background. WW3 Veterans also qualify for this story feat if they encountered the Shadow Wars.
Benefit: Your suspicious nature grants you a +2 bonus on Perception checks and Persuasion checks made to intimidate, but your single-minded focus imposes a –2 penalty on Persuasion checks made to change the attitudes of people.
Goal: Convince an appropriate number of NPCs about the conspiracy’s existence, and then expose the conspiracy, requiring you to thwart three challenging foes at the heart of the conspiracy.
Completion Benefit: Validated by your defeat of the conspiracy, you no longer take a penalty to Persuasion checks. Once per day you may roll a Perception check twice, and take the better of the two results.
Contract Complications [Life]
Life spirits are strange things – they can restore vitality to living creatures, but to be able to do that they must pull vitality from another living thing. Contractors of Life spirits can learn to use this to instead boost their own vitality and abilities, but learning to control such an ability without giving in to the urges of your bound spirit takes time.
Prerequisite: Mage Talent [Spirit Binding (Life)]
Benefit: When you use Blood is Power, you must make an opposed check against your bound spirit – your Wisdom check versus its Charisma check, however a Hero Point may be spent to automatically succeed on this check. If you succeed on this check, there is no additional effect. If you fail this check, your character falls into a bloodthirsty rage, effectively becoming an NPC under the control of the GM. While raging, you gain a bonus bonus to melee attack and damage rolls equal to your one-half your character level (rounded down) with your bite, but cannot use skills that require patience or concentration, such as Hackcraft, any Knowledge skill, Magery, Mechanics, Stealth, Treat Injury, and Use Computer. This rage lasts for a number of turns equal to 5 + the Spirit’s Charisma modifier, however each turn that the character rages you may make another opposed check to reduce the remaining duration by 1 additional round. Life spirits hunger to consume more life, and they will lash out at whoever is closest, regardless of the target’s affiliation with the contractor. This rage may only be triggered once per encounter.
Goal: Successfully resist going into rage a number of times equal to your character level. Note – when you level up, you lose the completion benefit until you meet this goal again, however the feat still counts as completed (allowing you to choose a new story feat).
Completion Benefit: You no longer risk being overcome by your bound spirit and therefore no longer have to make opposed checks to resist going into rage. Instead, you can willingly go into the bloodthirsty rage detailed above (except you retain control of your character) by spending a hero point as a free action on your turn or as a reaction – it no longer only triggers when you deal damage with your bite damage. Additionally, while you are raging you can choose to end your rage as a reaction to an incoming affect targeting your Will defense. By doing so, this effect is completely negated, even if it would have still had an effect if it failed to beat your Will defense – however, negating the effect immediately ends your rage. Otherwise, this rage lasts for a number of turns equal to 5 + your Wisdom modifier, however you can choose to end this rage with a DC 10 Wisdom check as a free action on your turn before the duration is up. You may only trigger your rage once per encounter.
Cursed Love [Story]
Your love forces you to endure the harshest of endeavors, despite the fact that most people would view your romance as madness.
Prerequisite: You must have a romantic interest who has fallen to some dark influence and rejects you out of shame or fear of newfound capabilities, or must have the Troubled First Love or Temptation background.
Benefit: You are well versed in a dark society’s way of thinking and in weathering abuse. Select a form of ‘corruption’ that your lover fell to or willingly embraced: magic, psionics, crime. You gain a +2 bonus on Persuasion and Perception checks when dealing with such matters, and a +2 bonus on your defenses to resist any effects from those sources. Once per day, when you would normally be reduced below 0 hit points by an attack from such a source, you instead immediately gain a number of temporary hit points equal to half your character level.
Goal: Find a way to be with your lover in a
permanent fashion, either by persuading your lover to reject the influence of the ‘corruption’ or by willingly embracing the same corruption.
Completion Benefit: You no longer suffer abuse from those with whom your lover associates, and instead command a measure of their respect. You gain a +2 bonus on Persuasion checks made to intimidate against members of your chosen form of corruption. If you are level 10 or higher, this bonus increases to +4. When you would normally be reduced below 0 hit points by an attack from such a source, you instead immediately gain a number of temporary hit points equal to
your character level.
Dead Inside [Story]
You are devoid of both hatred and joy. While many regard you as callous, you have no particular malice in your heart.
Prerequisite: You must have been successfully affected by at least five different fear effects, or you have the Betrayal, Bullied, Death in the Family, Troubled First Love, Major Disaster, or The War background.
Benefit: When you are the target of a fear effect, the source of the attack must roll twice to affect you and use the worse result.
Goal: You overcome your detached state by taking part in an important emotional event, such as finding true love or taking great pleasure in an act of unrepentant evil. Alternatively, you divest yourself of all emotion by severing your remaining emotional ties.
Completion Benefit: You master your emotions. You can ignore any morale bonuses or penalties applied to you by outside forces, though other emotion-based effects (including fear) still affect you if you as normal.
Deny the Reaper (Story)
The lives you could not save stay with you to your final breath.
Prerequisite: You must have witnessed the death of a close companion in battle—a death that could have been prevented, such as from bleeding, failure to stabilize, or ongoing poison damage—or have the Death in the Family or The War background.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Treat Injury checks. If you are at least level 10, this bonus increases to +4. You can apply first aid as a standard action and don’t take a penalty when performing first aid without a healing kit.
Goal: Bring an ally back from the dead, usually by the use of the Revivify aspect of the Treat Injury skill..
Completion Benefit: You gain a +5 bonus to Constitution checks made to regain consciousness. By spending a move action, you can grant an unconscious creature an immediate Constitution check to regain consciousness, with a +5 bonus on the check. In addition, once per day you can use Revivify as a standard action, provided you have access to a medical kit.
Derring-Do (Story)
You aspire to perform a ridiculous stunt witnessed by a crowd of observers.
Prerequisite: You must be trained in Acrobatics and have taken damage from a failed Acrobatics check, or have the Competition Champion background, or have the Acrobat or Soaring Sprinter trait.
Benefit: Twice per day, you can reroll an Acrobatics check, but you must accept the results of the new roll, even if it is worse.
Goal: In front of a crowd of 10 times the appropriate number of NPCs, you must perform an Acrobatics stunt that will result in reducing you to negative hit points if you fail. This stunt must include at least 3 checks that exceed your Acrobatics check modifier by 10 or more. Alternatively, you can perform this stunt in front of an appropriate number of NPCs if you are doing so in combat. The rules for the stunt remain the same.
Completion Benefit: Replace the reroll ability with the ability to roll twice for an Acrobatics check, taking the best result. Additionally, when you succeed at an Acrobatics check, you gain a +4 bonus on Will defense for 1 round.
Explorer (Story)
You dream of discovering new vistas.
Prerequisite: You must have crossed at least 100 miles of wilderness without map or guide or some other similar accomplishment.
Benefit: You can provide twice as much food and water for other people when attempting a Survival check to get along in the wild. In addition, you gain a +2 bonus on all Knowledge (Physical Sciences) checks. If you are at least level 10, this bonus increases to +4.
Goal: Cross through a dangerous place without a map or a guide knowledgeable about the area, stopping for no longer than 16 hours at a time, and along the way overcome an appropriate number of natural hazards, obstacles, and/or enemies, at least one of which must qualify as a challenging foe. Spending an extended period of time on a scout ship exploring the fringe and discovering at least one habitable planet also qualifies.
Completion Benefit: You and one ally per 3 character levels can move overland without being slowed by difficult terrain (allies must remain within 6 squares of you to be affected). Once per day, you can make a preternaturally accurate estimate regarding your path, as if you had cast find the path on yourself (caster level equals your character level).
Face Your Fear (Story)
You ran away from a terrifying foe when you were younger, and it harmed—or killed—a loved one. You have since vowed to destroy the object of your fear when you meet it again.
Prerequisite: You must have confronted a challenging foe and run away, resulting in a serious injury or death for a close relative or friend. Being injured in a spirit beast attack qualifies, as does having The War background.
Benefit: You have so thoroughly studied the source of your fear that you know its vulnerabilities, and you gain a +3 bonus on Knowledge checks pertinent to the foe. If you are level 10 or higher, this bonus increases to +6. If you succeed at the Knowledge check during combat with the object of your fear, you bypass the foe’s damage reduction and any energy resistances it possesses (but not immunities). However, you automatically gain the shaken condition when you get within 12 squares of the foe, and this condition persists for 1 minute.
Goal: You slay the foe, which must be a challenging opponent. You must deal damage equaling at least half the foe’s total number of hit points, and you must deal the killing blow.
Completion Benefit: With the weight of the fear lifted, you gain the benefit of being able to force one reroll of an effect targeting your Will defense.
Forgotten Past (Story)
A pivotal event from your past eludes your memory.
Prerequisite: You must have suffered permanent memory loss or have the Reincarnated background.
Benefit: Your inquisitive nature gives you a +2 bonus on Perception checks. If you have are level 10 or above, this bonus increases to +4.
Goal: Regain a major portion of your lost memories. The exact means varies. This process must involve encountering a challenging foe, though possibly in ways other than direct confrontation.
Completion Benefit: You gain the ability to force the GM to reroll a successful attack against your Will defense twice per day.
Gettin’ the Band Back Together
Prerequisite: Have a group that you used to engage in activities with that has since been broken up
Benefits: Your skills at operating within a group have taught you valuable lessons in teamwork. You automatically succeed on attempts to use the Aid Another action, and people automatically succeed on the Aid Another action to assist you. The bonus you provide or gain from the Aid Another action is increased by one-quarter your character level. Additionally, you gain an increasing bonus as you rebuild your band.
First Band Member: You are now trained in the Persuasion skill if you were not already. Additionally, you can choose which mental ability score you use for the Persuasion skill but only when using it against former band members.
One-Third of All Band Members: You can now choose which mental ability score you use for the Persuasion skill for all uses of the skill and against all targets.
Two-Thirds of All Band Members: You gain the Skill Focus [Persuasion] feat. If you already have this feat, you instead gain a bonus feat of your choice that requires Persuasion as a trained skill.
Goal: Regain all of the members of your old group as Level 3 contacts. If any of the members of your old group are found to be deceased or unable to participate in group activities, you will need to find a suitable replacement for them. During the course of this you must decisively defeat an appropriate number of of foes.
Completion Benefits: When you’ve managed to make contact with all of your old compatriots you can choose to either reassemble the band or not. Reassembling the band brings all of the other group members into the party’s fold as GM-controlled NPCs. Choosing to not reassemble the band instead allows you to not count activations of band members as uses of your single use of a Level 3 contact for a session.
Gruesome Butcher [Story]
You dedicated yourself to the cause of slaughter against a specific group or people, either for country, for vengeance, or perhaps just for sport.
Prerequisite: You must have been rendered unconscious and left for dead on a battlefield between warring factions or have the Fell in With a Bad Crowd or The War background.
Benefit: Select a particular nation, organization, or species. You gain a +4 bonus on Perception checks to determine whether a given creature is affiliated with that group and a +4 bonus on Deception and Persuasion checks to conceal your animosity toward members of that group.
Goal: Deliver the killing blow to a number of your hated foes whose combined Hit Dice total is equal to 10 × your current character level.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Deception, Knowledge, Perception, and Survival checks against foes of your selected type, and a +2 bonus on weapon attack and damage rolls against them.
Special: By meeting the goal of this feat, your name becomes known to your enemy. Creatures of your chosen enemy faction gain a +1 morale bonus on attack and damage rolls against you should they become aware of your identity with a successful Knowledge (culture [your species]) check (DC = 20 – your character level).
Inerrant Justice (Story)
You will punish the guilty without letting any innocents be harmed as a result.
Prerequisite: Must have witnessed or suffered a grave injustice that went unpunished, or have the Born of Violence, Betrayal, or Bullied backgrounds. If the offender is not a challenging foe, it either advances to become one or allies with one or more creatures who are.
Benefit: Once per day, you can choose to take the maximum possible weapon damage die roll rather than rolling when you hit a foe that is unaware of you or considers you an ally. Bonus dice, including from sneak attack or feats are rolled normally.
Goal: Decisively defeat or slay the offender without killing any innocents in the process. If you kill an innocent, you immediately lose this story feat and must wait a week to choose a new one.
Completion Benefit: You can use this feat’s benefit once per combat.
Lost Legacy (Story)
What once belonged to your family shall be yours again.
Prerequisite: Your family must have claim to an inherited title or position that no longer belongs to them, or have the Dishonored Family background. You can take this feat even if you have no knowledge of this lost family title.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Charisma-based ability checks and skill checks, except for Psionics.
Goal: Regain your family’s lost claim, either for yourself or another in your family. In the process of completing this claim, you must decisively defeat a challenging foe that seeks to deny your birthright.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Wisdom ability checks, Wisdom-based skill checks (except for Magery), and your Will defense.
Special: If you manage to regain your position without defeating a challenging foe, you may still complete this story feat at a later date if a suitable challenging foe attempts to steal your birthright again.
Magical Enigma (Story)
A troubling mystery lurks around you, tied to the origin of your magic or your family’s legacy, and you seek the truth at all costs.
Prerequisites: Innate magical talent or Proximan Lore-Keeper, and you must have an unknown secret about your magic or family history (even if you do not yet know the topic of the secret) or have the Progeny of Power or Reincarnated backgrounds. You must have Magery as a trained skill.
Benefit: You either treat yourself as 1 level higher for the purposes of your Elementalism, Shamanism, Spirit Binding, or Theurgy abilities, or you treat your Wisdom score as 2 higher for the purposes of learning new spells and incantations. Goal: Learn and verify the chosen magic secret for your family, defeating a challenging foe in the process.
Completion Benefit: Select one Knowledge skill. This is now a class skill for you.
Mentor (Story)
A spiritual guide, a natural teacher, or inspired combatant, you are a born leader meant to change the world by instilling your ideals in those around you.
Prerequisite: You must have inspired an individual or group to action, teaching them how to overcome great personal or social odds, or possess the Private Academy, Competition Champion, or Mentorship/Patronage background.
Benefit: When performing an aid another action, the bonus increases by +1.
Goal: Choose a student. The student may be either a PC or NPC who travels with you. Also choose a path of teaching: Spiritual Guide, Natural Teacher, or Inspired Combatant. Each path of teaching leads to a unique completion benefit. A student may only train along one path of teaching at a time.
Inspired Combatant: The student must increase his BAB by 2 and acquire at least 2 feats from the soldier bonus feat list while traveling with you. You must possess the same feats, and your BAB must be at least 3 higher than the student at the time their training begins.
Natural Teacher: The student must become trained in one Knowledge skill and any one non-Knowledge skill while traveling with you. You must be trained in both skills, and you must possess the Skill Focus feat in at least one of the skills at the time their training begins.
Spiritual Guide: The student must gain the Magery Training (if they did not have it already) and Mage Talent feats while traveling with you. You must possess the same type of magic that they are learning at the time their training begins.
Completion Benefit: You may aid another as a move action. You may aid two allies in the same round using two move actions, though you may not aid the same ally more than once in the same round.
Monument Builder (Story)
Your inspired architecture shall make your name immortal.
Prerequisites: Trained in Knowledge (Physical Sciences), and you must have built a structure or vessel worth at least 50,000 credits
Benefit: When you supervise a construction project or do the construction yourself, reduce your raw material costs by 10%. You gain a +2 bonus on Knowledge (engineering) checks. If you are level 10 or higher, this bonus increases to +4.
Goal: Design and construct a building or vessel worth at least 500,000 credits with great personal significance to you. For example, you might construct an academy for students to unlock the secrets of the universe, or you might design and construct a new class of starship.
Completion Benefit: The value of any past and future buildings you construct (including the building constructed to achieve your goal) increases by 10% as your reputation spreads. In addition, you and your workers complete double the normal amount of work in a given time interval when you supervise a construction project.
Nemesis (Story)
A past enemy seeks your ruin.
Prerequisite: You must have at least one enemy who wishes to cause you (specifically you) great harm. If you have multiple enemies, the GM may keep the specific nemesis secret, or have many of your enemies work together against you. If your nemesis is not already a challenging foe, it either advances in strength to become a challenging foe or allies with others to achieve a higher challenge rating.
Benefit: Having a nemesis drives you to excel in training. For each new level you gain in your original base class, you gain +1 additional hit point. For every six new levels you gain in your original base class, you gain an additional trained skill.
Goal: Slay your nemesis. Causing your nemesis’s death through your direct actions qualifies even if you do not strike the fatal blow, but another killing your nemesis without your involvement doesn’t count.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +2 inherent bonus to an ability score of your choice. In addition, you may retroactively apply the original benefit of this feat to all levels you have in your original base class.
Special: Thwarting your plans becomes an all-consuming goal for your nemesis. Your nemesis gains a +2 bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls against you. Whatever you try to achieve, your nemesis seeks to tear down.
Overachiever [Story]
Others made you feel small for too long, and now you drive yourself hard and never settle for second place.
Prerequisite: You must have been defeated by the same individual, organization, or creature type at least four times, or have the Private Academy, Competition Champion, Mentorship/Patronage or Ordinary Childhood background.
Benefit: You take only half the normal penalties from exhaustion. Choose one skill upon selecting this feat. Once per day, you can forgo rest to study or practice, gaining a +3 bonus on all checks attempted with your selected skill for 24 hours but becoming fatigued in the process. If you rest to recover from this fatigue, this bonus ends (but not if you recover from your fatigue in other ways).
Goal: You must utterly humiliate a member of your hated group by besting that creature at an activity for which it is known or in which it takes pride. This opponent’s Hit Dice must exceed your current character level by at least 1.
Completion Benefit: Each time you forgo rest to study or practice, you can apply this feat’s +3 bonus to a different skill. If you are level 10 or higher and trained in the selected skill, this bonus increases to +6.
Redemption (Story)
The dishonor of your family haunts you and your desire to redeem your family’s name drives you on.
Prerequisite: You must have the Dishonored Family background.
Benefit: As an immediate action, you can add a +1 bonus to the result of an ability check, attack roll, or skill check you have just rolled, or a +1 bonus to one of your defenses when being attacked, by moving 1 step down the condition track for 1 minute. The penalties associated with moving 1 step down the condition track go into effect after the result of the roll or attack is determined (including damage in regards to damage threshold if activated in response to an attack). You must choose before the result is revealed.
Goal: Regain your family’s honor in. In the course of completing this quest, you must decisively defeat a challenging foe. The quest should relate in some fashion to the transgression that led to you family being disgraced.
Completion Benefit: You gain the ability to force the GM to reroll a successful attack against any one of your defenses once per day.
Self-Exiled Noble
You chose to leave nobility behind.
Prerequisite: You must have intentionally left your noble family and changed your name or appearance afterward. Must be from a culture or society that would allow new noble families to arise.
Beneft: You gain a +2 bonus on Deception checks, and Deception is a class skill for you. You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, and a +2 bonus on skill checks against members of your former family.
Goal: Escape your former name by establishing your own noble legacy. In addition, you must decisively defeat a challenging foe from your former family who may wish to return you to your old home.
Completion Benefit: Your bonus on attack rolls and damage rolls from this feat increases to +2 and the bonus to skill checks increases to +4, and these bonuses now apply to anyone who threatens your allies or your new noble legacy.
Something Calls (Story)
You hear distant echoes of an object—one that will help you achieve your destiny—calling to you.
Prerequisite: You obtain a clue about an item of interest to you. Any character can qualify for this via their background, consult the GM first.
Benefit: The object informs you of its location somehow, granting you the ability to gain a sense of where the object is. Once per week, by concentrating for an hour, you can learn the item’s distance and direction.
Goal: You retrieve the item after defeating a number of challenging foes equal to your character level (minimum 10).
Completion Benefit: You gain the item, which is specifically beneficial to you. It is either a magical artifact, an alien artifact of significant power, or something along those lines. If you lose the item, you are moved to -2 on the condition track until you regain it. You are aware of this fact when you claim the object.
True Independence (Story)
As a child of a wealthy or influential family, you find that you cannot truly succeed on your own, as you continue to receive gifts or benefit from favors arranged by your family.
Prerequisite: You belong to nobility or a relative decides to protect you in a meddlesome way, or you possess the Heir to a Legacy or Inheritance background.
Benefit: As your relative calls in favors on your behalf, you gain a +6 bonus on Persuasion checks to change an NPC’s attitude while within that relative’s sphere of influence, and you never pay for any items or services equal to or less than 100 credits.
Goal: You must refuse aid that would otherwise prevent you from imprisonment or other punishment.
Completion Benefit: You gain a reputation as someone who makes his own way, and you retain the bonus on Persuasion checks. You also gain Persuasion as a class skill. While you lose the monetary benefit, you learn how to bargain for better prices, allowing you to reduce the cost of purchases by 10%.
True Love (Story)
You found love, only to have it denied by the cruelty of fate.
Prerequisite: You must have found love with a person you can’t be with, have a current lover, or have the Current Lover, For Love, or The Lover background. Possible complications include distance, your love being with another, your feelings being unrequited, or your relationship being forbidden.
Benefit: In addition, you gain a +2 bonus on Perception checks. If you are level 10 or above, this bonus increases to +4.
Goal: Find a way to be with your true love (even if you can’t formally wed).
Completion Benefit: The inspiration of knowing your love waits for your return gives you a +2 bonus on attack rolls, defenses, and skill checks whenever you are below a quarter of your total hit points (not counting any temporary hit points). You lose this completion benefit if your relationship with your true love comes to an end for any reason, including death.
Special: At the GM’s discretion, you can find true love with a person other than the one you designated when you chose this feat. In this case, the love you initially chose was wrong for you, but this became obvious only when you found the one truly meant for you.
Truth-Seeker (Story)
A tantalizing secret from the past calls to you, and you intend to discover it.
Prerequisite: You must have visited a ruin or forgotten place that has been abandoned for at least five times as long as you’ve been alive.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all Knowledge (Galactic Lore) checks. If you have are at least level 10, this bonus increases to +4.
Goal: You must discover, explore, and publicly reveal an important secret that has been unknown to the world for at least 1000 years.
Completion Benefit: Whenever you pass within 10 feet of a secret door, you receive an immediate Perception check to notice the passage. This check should be made in secret by the GM. In addition, whenever you are targeted by the Blind, Cloak, or Obscure psionic powers, or any talent from the Illusion talent tree, the creature rolling the Psionics check must roll twice and use the worse result.
Unforgotten (Story)
You search for a person dear to you—lost, but you pray not dead.
Prerequisite: You must have a close relative, spouse, or other person dear to your heart who never returned from a journey, was captured, or otherwise vanished with little trace, or you have the Major Disaster background.
Benefit: Your dogged determination reduces any nonlethal or stun damage you take by 1 point, to a minimum of 1 point of nonlethal damage. You also gain a +1 bonus on Will defense.
Goal: Find your lost loved one alive, and in the process, decisively defeat a challenging foe who kept you apart.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all defenses, replacing the +1 bonus on Will defense. If you find your loved one dead, you lose all benefits from this feat until you put the body to proper rest. Putting the body to rest restores the completion benefit, but you don’t regain the ability to reduce nonlethal damage.
Vengeance (Story)
The need to avenge those you loved drives you to great deeds.
Prerequisite: You must have a close family member or other loved one slain by a specific challenging foe or that foe’s minions, or have the Raiders or Vengeance background.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls against your chosen foe and known minions of that foe, and a +1 bonus on your defenses against attacks from your chosen foe or known minions of that foe.
Goal: Thwart your chosen foe.
Completion Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on all defenses. This bonus stacks with this feat’s bonus against your foe and its minions, should they survive.