Empath

At 7th level, you gain a Memory Mark when one of the following occurs during a meaningful (subject to GM) interaction or combat encounter:

• You critically fail an ability check, saving throw, or attack roll.

• You suffer a social setback, humiliation, betrayal, or moral compromise.

• A friendly creature you can see critically fails a roll or is critically struck.

• The GM agrees that this is a moment of exceptional psychic or emotional power.

You can hold a number of Memory Marks equal to your proficiency bonus.

If you would gain a Memory Mark while at maximum, you must either spend one mark immediately or take 1 point of fatigue in order to replace a previous mark with a new one.

A moment in which you use a memory mark cannot itself create a new memory mark.

Starting at 7th level, when you gain a Memory Mark, you must tag it with one impression (category of the emotions and how they felt. The emotions can be tracked for flavor but the impression is what matters) which covers a wider subset of emotions:

• Fracture (for Shame/Loss/Sorrow/Madness)

• Tension (for Fear/Anger/Disgust/Lust)

• Clarity (for Insight/Joy/Awe/Love)

• Resistance (Defiance/Contradiction/Hope/Courage)

The GM may veto the emotion tag if it clearly does not fit the event.

Starting at 7th level, you may recall the energies of one Memory Mark to invoke it as either a bonus action during your turn, or a reaction when done outside your turn, and use that energy for one effect corresponding to that emotions impressions. This can only be done once per turn. 

After a memory mark has been is invoked it becomes exhausted. Exhausted memory marks still count towards your maximum number of memory marks and cannot be used until processed.

Below is a selection of options for impressions:

Starting at 8th level, you can process memory marks during a rest to gain a temporary bonus to a skill of choice until next rest. If the mark is exhausted, the bonus is equal to +1, but if the mark is not exuasted, the bonus is equal to +2. Doing so erases the memory mark. This cannot increase a single skill by more than +5.

You may choose to instead reconsider an exhausted memory mark, changing its impression to that of another and making it unexhausted.

Starting at 8th level, you may exhaust and remove a memory mark to cast a spell that you know, taking 1d2 points of fatigue in the process. the kind of spells you can cast must have at least one of the schools corresponding to the expended memory mark. If the spell contains both schools, the fatigue cost is reduced to 1. The level of the spell cast is equal to the highest level of spell you can cast:

• fracture - cast an illusion or charm spell without spending spell slots.

• tension - cast a transmutation or necromancy spell without spending spell slots.

• clarity - cast a divination or conjuration spell without spending spell slots.

• resistance - cast an evocation or abjuration spell without spending spell slots.

8th level, choose 2 upgrades from the list below:

• Mirror behavior - When you notice a creature that succeeds a perception, performance, insight, persuasion, intimidation, or deception check, you may automatically gain a special memory mark which grants you a +3 bonus. The mark can have an impression of your choice. It does not count towards your maximum number of marks, but is lost uppon entering a rest. 

• Psychic bracing - when you would gain fatigue from empathic magic, reduce the amount of fatigue by 1.

• Mental backlog - You gain a bonus for every unique type of unexhausted memory mark that you have:

  • fracture - gain a +1 to mental saves and a +1 to deception checks.

  • tension - gain a +1 to block checks and a +1 to investigation checks.

  • clarity - gain a +1 to initiative checks and a +1 to insight checks.

  • resistance - gain a +1 to attack rolls and a +1 to intimidation checks.

• Emotional lock-in - Once per rest, uppon gaining a memory mark, you may use it until the end of your next turn as a free action. This mark is immediately consumed once exhausted, and does not count towards your memory mark maximum.

• Suppress emotional forces - You can exhaust memory marks to remove a condition affecting you depending on the kind of impression the mark has:

  • fracture - fear or terror

  • tension - charmed

  • clarity - distraction or confusion

  • resistance - blindness or deafness

• Emotional depth - Your maximum number of marks is increased by 1.

• Psychological warfare - Per unexhausted fracture impression, gain a +1 bonus to intimidation.

• Empathic alertness - Per unexhausted tension impression, gain a +1 bonus to perception checks.

• Empathic awareness - Per unexhausted clarity impression, gain a +1 bonus to insight checks.

• Psychological defenses - Per unexhausted resistance impression, gain a +1 bonus to wisdom saves.

• Premenition - Per unexhausted memory mark, gain a +1 bonus 

• Empathic communion - You may exhaust two memory marks to communicate to a creature that cannot understand you otherwise. This can be with animals, spirits, creatures that speak foreign languages, and elementals.

• Contemplate - You can process an additional memory mark during a rest.

• Mind cabinet - When processing memory marks, the bonus is increased to +2 if exhausted, and a +3 bonus if not exhausted.

• Psi overload - You may exhaust a memory mark to deal 2d8 psychic damage to any creature reading your mind or psychically communicating with you. You may choose to remove the memory mark instead of exhausting it to increase the damage to 2d12 + your charisma modifier, and to force the target to make a DC 20 charisma save, applying one of the following conditions on a failure: confused, disoriented, or distracted.

• Psychogenesis - When casting a spell using empathic magic, you can exhaust a memory mark to grant it an additional spell level.

At 9th bard level, choose an extra empath traits upgrade.

At 9th bard level, you can exhaust a memory mark when using bardic inspiration in order to grant the target/s of bardic inspiration a benefit of your choice that you could get yourself by exhausting the impression of that memory mark.