Talona - Piety System Page

Goddess of Disease, Plague and Sickness

Call it survival of the fittest. Call it a tragedy. The bodies will need moving either way.

Talona is the goddess of disease, plague and sickness. She has dominion over both poison and blight, and her worship is banned accordingly in many cities and towns of Toril.

Talona’s Champions

Alignment: Usually evil, often chaotic
Suggested Classes: Rogue, Druid, Warlock
Suggested Cleric Domains: Death
Suggested Backgrounds: Hermit, Acolyte, Urchin

Champions of Talona recognise the power of disease and poison to disrupt tyranny and sow needed chaos, at a terrible price.

Talona’s Favor

Talona’s favour is bestowed on those who she believes are best placed to carry forth her plagues and poisons into places which have become complacent, greedy or decadent.

Talona’s scions may not know they have been blessed by this fearsome goddess, and they would be wise to be afraid of her. Talona frequently immunizes her chosen against diseases, using them as silent vectors for her deadly agenda.

Why did Talona seek you out as a champion? The following table offers a few suggestions.

d6	Circumstance
1	You were the lone survivor of a terrible plague in your village.
2	You love rats. Tiny little adorable vectors.
3	You begged the goddess to spare you when you were poisoned. She did, but now you owe her.
4	You’ve been dosing yourself with antivenom your entire life out of paranoia. This amused the goddess.
5	You were bitten by a radioactive spider.
6	You murdered someone very important with poison.

Devotion to Talona

Following Talona means being a servant of disease and blight. As a follower of Talona, consider the ideals below as alternatives to those suggested for your background.

d6	Ideals
1	Devotion. My devotion to my god is more important to me than what they stand for. (Any)
2	Greater Good. Plague removes the weak and leaves the strong behind. This is for the best in the long term.
3	Balance. The world is overpopulated. This is nature’s way of restoring a balance.
4	Nature. Death is part of the great cycle to which we are all bound.
5	Dread. I enjoy being feared, and Talona’s faith is feared by all.
6	Apathy. People die. It happens. Why fuss?

Earning and Losing Piety

You increase your piety score to Talona when you expand the god’s influence in the world in a concrete way through acts such as these: Using poison to achieve your goals Spreading a disease or contagion Disrupting a power structure with death and chaos Your piety score to Talona decreases if you diminish Talona’s influence in the world or contradict her ideals through acts such as these: Working to stop the spread of sickness or plague Willingly working alongside unwieldly or bloated institutions

Deity Traits

Favoured God: Talona

Piety 3+ Talona trait
You gain inspiration when you give spread something harmful to another creature, whether it be a disease, a poisonous rumour or something else.

Developed Immunity

Piety 10+ Talona trait
You become immune to the symptoms of diseases, magical or otherwise. You also gain resistance to poison damage.

Queen of Vermin

Piety 25+ Talona trait
You can cast speak with animals or animal friendship with this trait at-will, requiring no components. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell. You may only use these versions of those spells on vermin or house pets, such as rats, cats or dogs.

Chosen of Talona

Piety 50+ Talona trait
You can spend an inspiration die to cast contagion with this trait, requiring no components. Once you cast the spell in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a long rest. Wisdom is your spellcasting ability for this spell. When you cast the spell with this feature, the selected disease begins to spread from an afflicted creature to any other creature they touch as if it were a normal disease, using your spellcasting DC where relevant.