View source for Cadence of the Last Breath (3.5e Power)

{{author
|author_name=Luigifan18
|date_created=October 31, 2012
|status=Needs review
|balance=Very High
}}

<onlyinclude>{{3.5e Power
|name=Cadence of the Last Breath
|disc=Psychometabolism
|desc=Air, Mind-Affecting
|lvl=Lurk 4, Nihilism 5, Psion/Wilder 6, Psychic Warrior 5
|disp=Visual, Auditory
|time=1 full-round action
|range=Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
|dur=Instantaneous
|tsea=ts
|subj=Up to 10 creatures, no two of which may be further than 40 feet apart from each other
|save=[[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] partial, [[SRD:Will|Will]] partial; see text
|pr=Yes
|pp=11 (9 for lurk, mindbreaker, and Nihilism mantle)
|summary=You shut down the lungs of up to 10 creatures and deprive them of their will to live. The lonelier the target, the better.
}}

{{sidebar|"Cadence of Her Last Breath" by Nightwish<br/>
<br/>
Running for her life<br/>
The dark rain from her eyes still falls<br/>
Breathtaking butterfly<br/>
Chose a dark day to live<br/>
<br/>
''Save one breath for me!''<br/>
<br/>
A loner longing for<br/>
The cadence of her last breath!<br/>
<br/>
Why do I miss someone I never met?<br/>
With bated breath I lay.<br/>
Seawinds brought her to me.<br/>
A butterfly, mere one-day miracle of life.<br/>
And all the poetry in the world finally makes sense to me!<br/>
<br/>
'''''Save one death for me!'''''<br/>
<br/>
A loner longing for<br/>
(Run away, run away, run away, run away)<br/>
The cadence of her last breath!<br/>
(Run away, run away, run away, run away)<br/>
<br/>
Put to rest all that's not life!<br/>
Drink for beauty and fill my blank page!<br/>
<br/>
Sometimes a dream turns into a dream...<br/>
<br/>
A loner longing for<br/>
(Run away, run away, run away, run away)<br/>
The cadence of her last breath!<br/>
<br/>
A loner longing for<br/>
(Run away, run away, run away, run away)<br/>
The cadence of her last breath!<br/>
(Run away, run away, run away run away run away run away!!)<br/>
| }}

''The visage of the butterfly emerges from your chest as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZv9feBUAeI&feature=related the sound of a doomed woman's desperate gasping] fills the area. The butterfly alights on your target, who doubles over, then collapses into the fetal position and remains perfectly still, no longer inhaling...''

With a soul-crushing remark, you destroy the diaphragm(s) of up to ten creatures, dooming them to a slow death by suffocation. However, this power comes with a quirk; its strength stems from the loneliness and existential despair of its victim. Thus, the save [[SRD:DC|DC]] of this power is influenced by how many creatures you choose to target:

{| class="zebra d20"
|+ Cadence of The Last Breath<br/>Targets-to-DC Ratio
! # of Targets || class="left" | Save DC Modifier 
|- 
| 10 || class="left" | &minus;5
|- 
| 9 || class="left" | &minus;4
|-
| 8 || class="left" | &minus;3
|-
| 7 || class="left" | &minus;2
|-
| 6 || class="left" | &minus;1
|-
| 5 || class="left" | +0
|-
| 4 || class="left" | +1
|-
| 3 || class="left" | +2
|-
| 2 || class="left" | +3
|-
| 1 || class="left" | +4*
|}

<nowiki>*</nowiki>If you target a single creature, and that creature has no conscious allies capable of making their presence and moral support known to it (being in line of sight, shouting, touching it, etc.), the save DC is increased by +5. <span style="color:Green; ">This replaces the modifier for targeting a single creature &mdash; the modifiers do '''not''' stack.</span>

All creatures targeted by this power must make a [[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] save; on a failure, the creature's diaphragm is utterly destroyed, and [[SRD:Suffocation|it loses the ability to breathe]]. Regardless of a creature's success on the [[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] save against this power, it must also make a [[SRD:Will|Will]] save against the same DC. Failure on the [[SRD:Will|Will]] save causes the target to be consumed by despair, and it simply lies down and waits for its demise, convinced that its life is no longer worth living. This despair robs the subject of the ability to act, or to even defend itself at all, much like a ''solipsism''<ref name="spc">[[Publication:Spell Compendium|Spell Compendium]]</ref>, except as a permanent curse. (The subject won't even bother to eat, so it'll eventually starve to death even if it doesn't suffocate.) Only ''[[SRD:Remove Curse|remove curse]], [[SRD:Break Enchantment|break enchantment]], [[SRD:Limited Wish|limited wish]], [[SRD:Wish|wish]], [[SRD:Miracle|miracle]]'', or analogous effects can remove this despair and enable the affected creature to act on its own. Regardless of whether or not the [[SRD:Will|Will]] save is successful, victim(s) who fail the [[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] save can only be saved by ''[[SRD:Remove Curse|remove curse]], [[SRD:Break Enchantment|break enchantment]], [[SRD:Heal|heal]], [[SRD:Restoration|restoration]], [[Heal, Greater (3.5e Spell)|greater heal]], [[SRD:Greater Restoration|greater restoration]], [[SRD:Heal (Epic Spell Seed)|epic heal]], [[Complete Restoration (3.5e Spell)|complete restoration]], [[SRD:Limited Wish|limited wish]], [[SRD:Wish|wish]]'', ''[[SRD:Miracle|miracle]]'', or an analogous effect. Without such magic to restore their diaphragms, they will [[SRD:Suffocation|suffocate]] and die, deprived of the ability to breathe. [[SRD:Remove Curse|''Remove curse'']] and [[SRD:Break Enchantment|''break enchantment'']] cannot save a victim whose diaphragm has been destroyed on their own; either of these two spells must be followed up with [[SRD:Remove Disease|''remove disease'']]. However, a single [[SRD:Remove Curse|''remove curse'']] or [[SRD:Break Enchantment|''break enchantment'']] can both lift the despair and prep the subject to have their diaphragm restored by [[SRD:Remove Disease|''remove disease'']]. Because [[SRD:Break Enchantment|''break enchantment'']] only works on effects of 5th level or lower, it does not work on ''cadence of the last breath'' when a psion or wilder manifests it. The exact time between destruction of the diaphragm and death depends on a victim's [[SRD:Constitution|Constitution]] score and [[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] saving throws. (See the DMG rules on suffocation.)

A creature under the effects of [[SRD:Crushing Despair|''crushing despair'']] automatically fails its saving throws against this power. A creature under the effects of [[SRD:Good Hope|''good hope'']] automatically succeeds on its saving throws against this power.

This power has only a partial effect against creatures that do not need to breathe or have an [[SRD:Intelligence|Intelligence]] score less than 3. Creatures that don't need to breathe can't be suffocated and killed by this power (and thus have no need to make a Fortitude save), while creatures with an [[SRD:Intelligence|Intelligence]] score less than 3 can't be robbed of their will to live (and thus don't need to make a Will save). Creatures with immunity to mind-affecting effects are immune to the despair aspect of this power (and thus have no need to make a Will save), but not necessarily the respiratory failure aspect.

The auditory display of this power is the voice of a human or elven woman desperately gasping for air. The visual display is a butterfly, which flies from the manifester's chest into the chest of each target.

A [[Mindbreaker (3.5e Class)|mindbreaker]] who manifests this power gains 1 pain point for each Fortitude save failed against it and 3 pain points for each Will save failed against it.

'''Augment:''' You may spend 2 additional power points to improve the range from medium to long, and another 2 additional power points to extend the range to 600 ft./level.

You may spend an additional 4 power points to remove the maximum distance between targets, allowing you to affect multiple creatures within any distance of each other, as long as all are within the power's range. You still cannot affect more than 10 creatures with this power.

You may spend an additional 4 power points to actively drive the air from a victim's lungs when the power takes hold, causing the victim to suffocate twice as quickly and take a &minus;4 penalty to [[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] saves to continue holding her breath once her time runs out. For each additional 4 power points spent in this way, you may affect another victim in this way or accelerate the rate of suffocation of the same victim by another 100% and increase the penalty to [[SRD:Fortitude|Fortitude]] saves against suffocation by 4.

You may spend an additional 6 power points to allow this power to override immunity to mind-affecting effects, though creatures with such immunities still get a +4 bonus on their saving throws. If you do so, you may then spend an additional 8 power points to allow no saving throw at all for this power when you use it on a solitary target; the victim automatically loses the use of her lungs and cannot breathe, and also loses the will to live. For every 4 additional power points spent after this, you may deny an additional victim a saving throw, up to the maximum of 10.

For every 2 power points spent augmenting this power, the save DC is increased by 1. You are allowed to spend additional power points purely to increase the DC, but given the range of augmentation options described above and the fact that the DC can be increased by affecting a small number of targets, this is a waste of power points.
</onlyinclude>

<references/>
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{{Copyright Disclaimer}}
{{3.5e Lurk Powers Breadcrumb}}<br/>
{{3.5e Nihilism Mantle Breadcrumb}}<br/>
{{3.5e Psion/Wilder Powers Breadcrumb}}<br/>
{{3.5e Psychic Warrior Powers Breadcrumb}}<br/>
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