Corruption Checks

The greatest danger to those battling the forces of darkness in the Realms of Terror is never death; rather the seductive, clarion call of corruption. Indeed, most actors valiant would consider it a gift to die peacefully in a consecrated grave. It is all too easy for even the most noble, the most dashing, the most daring to become, with the entropy of time, the very beasts which they have devoted their lives to destroying.

Corruption and Progression

All characters begin play Clean - that is to say, at the lowest possible level of corruption, no matter whether they have committed atrocity in their time spent in the Prime Material (or before play, in the case of natives). It is only after they have begun play that the Mists have shown interest in their actions, though whether these fickle, unknowable forces act on this interest is never guaranteed. When a character precipitates an action that would call a Corruption Check under the supervision of a Game Master, that Game Master will roll a 1d100 and compare the value against a table. Should they roll lower than the stated value, then that character has failed their Corruption Check and ascends another level of corruption according to the following:

1. Clean: All characters begin here, but none who fail their check may return.
2. Unclean: The character has one minor change. Characters who sufficiently redeem themselves remain at Unclean.
3. Corrupted: The character has two minor changes.
4. Accursed: The character has three minor changes.
5. Beast: The character has three minor changes and one moderate change. Characters who reach this step can never return to the earlier steps even if redeemed. They become immune, if not already, to the effects of Delirium suffered in unenclosed, dark areas or during nighttime.
6. Creature: The character has three minor changes and two moderate changes.
7. Monster: The character has three minor changes, two moderate changes, and one major change. They become a Dread Figure. If no other template is applicable, they will have the Doomed One template applied.

Characters may fail more Corruption Checks after becoming a Dread Figure, but they will have no additional mechanical substantiation.

Consequences of Failure

Tainting oneself with evil beyond the Misty Border, unlike in so many worlds, does immediately result in comeuppance. Much to the contrary - the Mists empower these individuals early on with many of the initial, minor changes bringing forth benefits that have no apparent drawbacks. Of course this is a trick, for as soon as the character ascends past Accursed and receives their first moderate change and for all changes thereafter, their mutations will be of little use and serve only to separate them from society and their past lives. In this way the Mists begin with a carrot, only to end with the stick.

Changes are determined by the administering Game Master upon receipt of the failed Corruption Check, and are tailored to the specific character. For that reason no public table of possible changes are made available. If already made clear by the player which Dread Figure template they intend the character to become at the end of their track, changes will be flavored accordingly to that template.

Redemption

Atonement is not a simple nor easy task in the Realms of Terror. Most who proceed past Unclean will not save themselves from their descent without outside intervention, with such interventions rare if not doomed to be failure. For those who are at least Corrupted but not yet a Beast, acts of selflessness or reprieve may eventually serve to descend their level of Corruption. In these cases, the supervising Game Master will decrement their Corruption level and rescind any minor changes made to the character therein, save for their change when first becoming Unclean.