Robyn.Blaber: Created page with "{{Infobox stat | stat = Empathy | image = https://imagedelivery.net/TNzzP2IqyQLYoHEs2ZN5aQ/89d1af5b-01c3-479f-8f7f-3c1c19934400/wiki#.png | caption = An empathic being will be able to understand the feelings of those around them. Advanced empaths can read minds or affect others. | parent_stat = Spirit | child_stats = | stat_min = -10 | stat_max = | base_value..."

2026-10-01T20:11:28Z

Created page with "{{Infobox stat | stat = Empathy | image = https://imagedelivery.net/TNzzP2IqyQLYoHEs2ZN5aQ/89d1af5b-01c3-479f-8f7f-3c1c19934400/wiki#.png | caption = An empathic being will be able to understand the feelings of those around them. Advanced empaths can read minds or affect others. | parent_stat = Spirit | child_stats = | stat_min = -10 | stat_max = | base_value..."

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{{Infobox stat
| stat = [[Empathy]]
| image = https://imagedelivery.net/TNzzP2IqyQLYoHEs2ZN5aQ/89d1af5b-01c3-479f-8f7f-3c1c19934400/wiki#.png
| caption = An empathic being will be able to understand the feelings of those around them. Advanced empaths can read minds or affect others.
| parent_stat = [[Spirit]]
| child_stats =
| stat_min = -10
| stat_max =
| base_value = 0
}}

[[Empathy]] represents a character's ability to perceive, understand, and respond to the emotions of other people and creatures. It governs feats of non-verbal interaction, allowing a character to sense fear, anger, affection, distrust, curiosity, or other emotional states without necessarily knowing why those feelings exist. An empathetic character may recognize when a person is uncomfortable despite their friendly words, sense that a creature is frightened rather than hostile, or understand when an animal is ready to accept a stranger.

[[Empathy]] may influence a character's ability to bond with a companion or familiar, tame a wild creature, calm an animal, or convince a creature to accept them as a rider or companion. It can also help a character recognize emotional states that would otherwise remain hidden behind silence, expression, or deception. When [[Empathy]] is combined with [[Power]], however, it becomes more than an ability to understand feelings. The wielder may project emotions, read or project thoughts, broadcast feelings across an area, or otherwise establish a direct connection between minds and emotions.

== [[Empathy]] Checks ==
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When performing a feat that relies upon perceiving, understanding, or responding to the emotions of another person or creature, the GM may ask for an [[Empathy]] Check. A basic [[Empathy]] modifier is zero, but characters with exceptional [[Empathy]] such as [[Warlock]]s, [[Scraefaelf]]es, or a [[Scraefaelf]] [[Warlock]] may have high [[Empathy]] modifiers even at low levels of [[Power]].

An [[Empathy]] Check is performed by rolling a 20-sided die, to which the [[Empathy]] bonus is added, or the [[Empathy]] penalty subtracted. A total roll of 11 or higher indicates success. Extremely difficult tasks may require a higher roll, as determined by the GM. Critical successes occur when the required total is reached or exceeded on a natural 20. This may inspire the GM to sweeten the outcome of the check. Conversely, a natural 1 is an automatic failure, even if the addition of a bonus would otherwise exceed the required roll. This Critical Failure may inspire the GM to impose additional consequences upon the failed feat of [[Empathy]].

Feats of [[Empathy]] are extremely varied and might include bonding with a companion or familiar, reading the emotions of another person, determining whether someone is frightened or hostile, calming a distressed animal, gaining the trust of a wild creature, recognizing when someone is concealing their true feelings, or determining whether a creature is prepared to accept a rider. [[Empathy]] may also allow a character to understand an unfamiliar creature without sharing a language. A character might not know what a creature is saying, but they may know that it is afraid, curious, angry, playful, or preparing to attack.

[[Empathy]] is therefore not simply a softer form of [[Charisma]]. A charismatic character might convince a creature to do something through persuasion, intimidation, entertainment, or charm. An empathetic character may instead understand what the creature wants or fears and respond appropriately without saying a word. The distinction becomes particularly important when dealing with creatures that cannot speak, do not understand the character's language, or are unlikely to be persuaded by conventional social techniques.
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== [[Empathy]] Saving Throws ==
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When something happens to a character that [[Empathy]] alone can mitigate, the GM may call for an [[Empathy]] Saving Throw. The player rolls a 20-sided die and adds their [[Empathy]] modifier to the roll. The resulting total indicates to the GM whether the character resists the emotional effect or is subjected to the calamity requiring [[Empathy]].

These kinds of attacks are uncommon but do occur, and often involve spells or powers that alter the victim's feelings. An effect might attempt to make a character irrationally angry, terrified, affectionate, trusting, hateful, sorrowful, or otherwise emotionally unlike themselves. An empathetic character may recognize that the feeling does not belong to them or may be sufficiently aware of their own emotional state to resist an outside influence.

Examples of situations that might call for an [[Empathy]] Saving Throw include:

* Resisting a magical effect that causes unnatural anger or hatred.
* Resisting supernatural fear or terror.
* Recognizing that an overwhelming feeling of affection or trust has been magically imposed.
* Resisting an effect that causes irrational suspicion or distrust of companions.
* Maintaining emotional control when a power attempts to induce grief, despair, or hopelessness.
* Resisting an attempt to make the character emotionally hostile toward an ally.
* Recognizing that a sudden emotional reaction is being externally generated.
* Resisting a creature or power that attempts to establish emotional control.
* Remaining emotionally independent when exposed to an area saturated with powerful feelings.

An [[Empathy]] Saving Throw may therefore protect a character in a way that is quite different from a [[Charisma]] Saving Throw. [[Charisma]] protects the character's sense of self and ability to assert their personality, while [[Empathy]] allows the character to recognize and resist emotional manipulation. A character may understand exactly what another being is feeling without allowing that feeling to become their own.
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== Loss of [[Empathy]] ==
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A character's [[Empathy]] may be diminished by disease, curses, special creature attacks, magical effects, psychic assaults, or other conditions that interfere with emotional perception and connection. A reduction in [[Empathy]] results in a corresponding reduction of the character's [[Empathy]] modifier and may also cause the loss or suppression of powers that require a minimum [[Empathy]] modifier. Such an effect can interfere with a character's ability to understand other people and creatures, form bonds, or recognize when emotions have been altered.

The effects may be temporary or permanent. A temporary impairment may disappear when the underlying condition has been overcome, while a permanent loss may leave a character increasingly disconnected from the emotional states of those around them. Permanent losses of [[Empathy]] can be recovered over time by [[Power]]ing Up and converting [[Power]] to [[Empathy]] in the Player's Workshop.
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== Related Stats ==
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[[Empathy]] is one of the three [[Spirit]] stats, along with [[Will]] and [[Prescience]]. Together, these stats describe aspects of a character that extend beyond the ordinary functions of the body and mind. [[Empathy]] represents emotional perception and connection, [[Will]] represents the ability to impose or maintain one's own intent, and [[Prescience]] represents awareness of things beyond ordinary perception.

The three [[Spirit]] stats are also used to calculate increases in a character's [[Spirit]] Point totals, making them particularly important to spiritually oriented characters such as [[Psychic]]s and [[Divine]]s. [[Empathy]] gives the [[Spirit]] its connection to the emotions and inner lives of other beings. It is the ability to sense what another creature feels, understand that feeling, and—when combined with sufficient [[Power]]—potentially reach across the boundary between one mind and another.
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