Paladin Animus questions

[tetsujin28]

Obviously, avoiding the accumulation of Dark Animus is a major theme of the game. Yet the stuff seems pretty easy to get rid of. Whilst the mechanic on pg. 14 clearly states that the only way to get rid of DA is to spend LA to purge it, this will still result in a state where DA is the higher of the two. The best way to get rid of DA is simply to spend it to puchase more Flesh Attributes or Abilities (pg. 17). And since this can be done anytime during an adventure, it seems like DA's never really going to be a threat.

[Clinton R. Nixon]

You're pretty much on the ball. There's no mechanical slap-in-the-face for spending Dark Animus to improve stats, although there should be a thematic one.

[tetsujin28]

Hmm. I'd like to think of one, since otherwise, I mean, what's the worry? You've already got the cool mechanic for Marks, so there should be one to keep you from just accumulating DA like the dickens.

So, here's my thought. Maybe a paladin can't spend DA on increasing anything until he performs an act of contrition, or his LA is higher than his DA? And whilst he could simply spend DA on effects powered by his DA attributes, it's easy enough for the GM to screw with him until it's gone. So if, frex, a Paladin were to create fire using his Anger, it's an angry fire: it doesn't care who's in the way when it's created. This, of course, might lead to the accumulation of more DA. Which would be why you'd have to possibly resolve the situation without drawing on supernatural power. No-one ever said being a paladin should be easy :)

[Michael S. Miller]

Perhaps Dark Animus-enhanced stats accrue Marks as well? I mean, as Obi-Wan says of Vader "He's more machine now than man, twisted and evil." Be that as it may, his stats are very high, because of the DA spent, no doubt.

Jsut a thought

[tetsujin28]

I had thought of that, as well. I just couldn't think of a way to implement it. The Vader example would seem to me what happens when you transgress the code too many times. Which of course also grants you DA. But...hmm. Maybe DA can only be spent increase Dark attributes or new abilities based on Marks? That would certainly encourage players to try to get more LA to knock their DA down.