Binder (Dungeons & Dragons)
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Binder is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons, introduced in Tome of Magic. They derive their power by making "Pacts" with "Vestiges". These vestiges give them powers that are generally reusable an unlimited number of times per day. Different vestiges can be called on each day with a Binder gaining the ability to make multiple pacts simultaneously as they increase in level.
The literature in Tome of Magic is very specific regarding vestiges. They are the souls of legendary beings who have been "evicted" from the universe. They make deals with Binders so that they can experience the joys of existence once again. However, the names of most of the vestiges, as well as their descriptions, come from demons in Christian legend.
Tome of Magic provides several adaptation options for the vestiges including making them totem spirits.
Binders have no alignment restrictions, although those of lawful or good alignments are often disturbed by the strange appearance and nature of the vestiges. Chaotic and no-good alignments are suggested because of the nature of their abilities.
Karsites, a new race published in Tome of Magic, has Binder as its favored class.
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[edit] Class features
Binders primary class feature is their binding ability. As they level up they can call on additional vestiges simultaneously as well as higher level vestiges.
In addition to the ability to bind vestiges, Binders are given the ability to customize their pacts in various ways. The most basic of which is to provide minor bonuses (called augmentations) to different aspects of the character (hit points, attack bonus, saves, etc). They also gain a few bonus feats chosen from a relatively small list.
The Vestiges are semi-existent beings that grant special abilities, such as fire breathing or the ability to summon an earth elemental. Each one grants about four or five abilities, but some are more powerful than others. There are eight levels of vestige; each one requires a certain binder level for the binder to call that level of vestige. The first level mostly grants abilities that match first level spells, feats, or class features. Most abilities increase with level, so as that a vestige is not forgotten when the binder reaches higher level.
When not bound to a vestige, the binder is a bit like a Cleric without his spells or a Rogue without the special skills. The binder needs to perform a ritual that calls a small illusory form of the vestige to appear. The binder then makes a binding check, based on his level, and bonuses to his binding check via prestige classes, and from their charisma bonus. The vestige will want to impose its influence on the Binder, changing his personality while it is bound to him/her, but if the binder beats the "binding check", then the binder is free from the influence, but not from the physical change. Even if the Binder receives the influence, it still doesn't prevent the binder from using its abilities. A binder who has bound to a Vestige and lost the binding check will still have the same benefits of a Binder who won the check.
[edit] Relations in the world
Binders, more often than not, are viewed by most religions as evil monstrosities. The fact that they bind with Vestiges that are a mystery even by the greatest gods makes them heretics to the clerics of almost all religions. Although binders do bargain with unknowable vestiges, they do not practice an evil art. Some binder scholars would say that if tapping into the power of an immortal being is evil, that the worship of deities altogether is evil. Most churches believe that pact magic in all forms perverts the natural order of the universe, and that they all must die. Binders supposedly erode the line between the divine and the mortal. In most towns, revealed binders are often treated to harassment at best, and public burning or torture at worst. Four religions in particular, hate binders above all the other religions, and together, the churches of Vecna, Heironeous, Wee Jas, and St. Cuthbert have founded an order dedicated to the elimination of pact magic wherever it may be. This order is known as the Order of the Seropaenes. These four religions, who absolutely hate each other in any other circumstance, are willing to work as a team towards the elimination of binder heretics. They employ "Witch Slayers", who work in clan-like coteries, and aim to destroy binders. Each coterie works differently, as the most infamous one, the White Blades, are not particular who they torture. They will kill anyone who gets in their way, be they binder, mage, or even a fellow Seropaenen. The main churches do not fully support the existence of the Order, but the gods themselves do. They still grant their followers divine power, and more often than not, lead the Order to victory against the binders.
[edit] Vestiges
The various vestiges are created when a loophole occurs during the life and death process, such as no god willing to accept a soul, or when a ghost can no longer differentiate between what is real, and what is an illusion. Each one can be called by a Binder, and each one grants abilities associated with what the Vestige was like in life. A few simply are souls that have faded out of existence into the strange plane that all Vestiges live in. All vestiges desperately wish for more time in the "real" universe, and will sometimes pretend to have powers that they do not actually posses, such as the ability to see the future.
Most vestiges, when bound to a Binder, cause a "manifestation" in the Binder's body. A manifestation is the physical change of having a quasi-extant being to reside in the Binder's soul. An example of this is the vestige Amon, who causes the Binder to grow curling ram's horns. Often, these features are simply cosmetic, but sometimes they are linked to the Binders added abilities. Geryon, for example, causes an extra set of eyes to grow from the back of the binder's head, allowing him to use the granted all-around vision, acidic gaze, and ability to see in the dark.
Another alteration happens to the binder when he binds with a vestige. The constant presence of the fused vestige causes the Binder's fundamental personality to change, making it more like the vestige. This is caused by the vestige's personality enclosed inside the Binder. For example, the vestige Focalor, a constantly crying being, causes the Binder to be sad and melancholy. However, this influence is different from the manifestation, which changes the Binder's body (see above). The binder makes a binding check for dominance in the binding. If successful, then the Binder receives the abilities and the Vestige humbly follows the Binder's lead, not the other way around. To summon a vestige, one must draw the unique symbol associated with the Vestige, and then call it both by name and by title. The vestige manifests in a manner unique to it, and appears as an illusion standing (or floating, crawling, sitting, whatever) on its seal.
[edit] Acererak
The Devourer
Acererak was a powerful Wizard in life, with fiendish heritage. He survived a fire made by villagers aiming to kill him, and he plotted to destroy everything. After crushing his village, he moved of to take over a sizeable nation. However, he felt the pull of death upon him. He became a lich, and continued his tyranny. Eventually, however, he felt even the power of undead waning from him. He built himself a final sepulcher. He wrote that he had left his strongest treasures in his "fortress of conclusion" deep underground. This was a lie. The truth was that he had become a demilich, and he was using all the adventurers who came to his tomb as power in a great machine to inject his spirit onto the negative energy plane, where he would control all undead, everywhere. One group of adventurers, however, was smart enough to deduce the true meaning of the tomb, and they struck down Acererak on the eve of his apotheosis, destroying the artifact he had used in the process. Unfortunately for him, spirits do not go to the negative energy place on death, and his spirit was strong enough to resist the pull of the Abyss. He drifted into the plane where vestiges live as a result.. He appears as a skull with gems for eyes and teeth, and he gives powers similar to that of a lich, such as a paralysing touch, and the ability to be unseen to the undead.
[edit] Agares
Truth Betrayed
Agares was a general on the elemental plane of earth, and was slain for a crime he did not commit. When bound to a binder, he causes the binder to gain a wracking cough, which makes the binder spit up small stones and earth with each cough. The binder can barely talk while he coughs, and he cannot cast spells that require words, unless he holds it in. He appears as a huge crocodile's head bursting from the earth. The crocodile opens its mouth, and a hawk wearing a hood floats out. The hawk opens its wings, forcing the crocodile's mouth open even wider with a mere touch. Large catlike eyes then appear in the hawk's chest. Although the bird's beak moves when Agares speaks, sound emanates from the rumbling crocodile's throat instead. He grants powers associated with earth, such as the ability to summon earth elementals. Additionally, he grants the ability to speak all languages, although the speaker may only speak truths--similar to Agares in life.
[edit] Amon
The Void Before The Altar
Amon was a powerful god of light and the sun, much like Pelor, and was almost all-powerful in the ancient past, but he lost his followers to more responsive deities, and when he died, he was powerful enough to resist the god's graveyard, and he was shifted to the plane of vestiges. He slowly lost his grip on his sanity, and became a hideous, vile monstrosity, who hates the light and all those who dwell in it. Even so, he is not picky about who he is bound to, and always responds quickly to a summon. When bound to a binder, he causes huge curling ram's horns to grow from his binder's head. He appears as a goat with black, scorched fur, and a snake for a tail. Fire oozes from his eyes, and brimstone dribbles from its mouth when he speaks. He hurls foul curses at his summoner, and often insults the actions of those bound to him. He grants few powers, but they are very powerful. He gives summoners the ability to breathe fire, to see in the dark, and to cause great harm with the binders's horns.
[edit] Andras
The Gray Knight
Andras was a powerful elf paladin that was renowned for his great acts of good, and his dedication to the advancement of law and good. A series of misfortunes befell him, and he lost his great faith. He became a blackguard, and soon his vile acts outnumbered his acts of good. He fought for good, then evil for three hundred years each. He eventually tired of both causes, and dropped his weapon in the middle of a great battle. He ran away, and since he had betrayed both good and evil, no god accepted his soul, thus making his soul a vestige. He causes the binder to grow small useless wings from their back. He appears as a knight riding a black wolf with a owl's angry head. He grants Knightly powers, and the ability to smite both good and evil.
[edit] Andromalius
The Repentant Rogue
Andromalius was the champion for Olidammara, the god of rogues. However, he repented everything he did while he lived for Olidammara, in hopes of stealing his soul right from underneath his patron god's nose, and thus accomplish the biggest theft in history, and prove himself one last time as the greatest of Olidammara's heralds. Olidammara was angered at this when he first learned of it, but then loved the idea. He was faced with a problem, however: if he did not accept Andromalious' soul, he would go to another god's realm. If he accepted the soul, he would have ruined the joke. Olidammara decided to use his power to hide Andromalius' soul in the Vestige's realm, where no god could touch it, not even himself. Whether Andromalious deems this a reward or punishment, no one knows. Andromalious appears as a middle-aged man in a jester's motley, with twelve forearms and hands attached to a single upper arm. He juggles several items with dizzying skills, including a dead mouse, lockpicks, a single copper piece, a key, and a skull. he grants the power to beat rogues at their own game with the ability to discern the truth when lies are told, to force others to laugh hysterically, and to use some of the rogue's skills.
[edit] Aym
Queen Avarice
Aym was one of the first dwarven royalties to exist. Her greed fueled a huge mining operation for jewels, gems and precious metals. Although the dwarves were slaves under her rule, it made the dwarf empire to the largest it had ever been, with the mining, and many clans grew quite wealthy. The nearby goblins and orcs wished for the wealth of the dwarves, and attacked in great numbers. The dwarves fought bravely, but their forces were spread thin. As the fires reached the inner city, Aym ordered huge wagons filled with gold as her escort from the city. But she was so stingy that she didn't even notice the flames while she counted the coins that they began to melt in her grasp. As she died, she did not repent her greed. Instead, she cursed Moradin for not protecting her from the fire, and so Moradin cursed her. She appears as a hideous monster, with a dwarf's head in between a lion's head and a cow's head. She has two huge worms for legs. She holds the lion's mouth shut, because it roars, and the bull's head lows in terror, making a deafening racket. In her other hand, she holds a star-shaped branding iron. She causes a star-shaped brand to appear on the binder's hand when bound to her. Her powers make one similar to a dwarf, and also gives flame based power.
[edit] Balam
The Bitter Angel
Balam was a powerful angelic soldier who was given an impossible task, which some believe was the wiping out of sacrifices to evil gods. Needless to say, she failed in the attempt to stop millions of cultists from sacrificing to the hundreds of evil gods. Some say she herself was sacrificed to an unnamed evil god who sent her soul to the Vestige realm, as an act of cruelty. When bound to a binder, her voice seeps into that of the binder, making it deep and hollow. She appears as a hideous purple serpent, with the top halves of three human heads arranged around the mouth opening. Thousands of sharp teeth stud the chute into its stomach, and she exhales hot stinking breath with every word. She grants the ability to see the future, and the ability to freeze with a glance.
[edit] Buer
Grandmother Huntress
Buer tells too many stories for any one story to be her life story, but the most popular versions are that she was a beautiful elf killed by satyrs, a ranger killed by a Chimera, or a green hag killed by a lammasu. She herself does not remember who she is, most likely. It is most apparent, however, that she was a great healer and had a close bond to nature in life. She makes the binder have satyr's legs while bound to him/her. She appears as a variant of the triskelion, as a five-pointed star of satyr's legs, with a green hag's head facing towards the middle of the seal, and a roaring lion's head facing out. The body travels in circumference around the seal, and when her hag head cannot see her binder, she curses her body. Other than this, she is sweet and kind, and is always friendly. She grants great healing powers, and the ability to track foes like a ranger.
[edit] Chupoclops
Harbinger of Forever
Chupoclops was a powerful monster, an apocalyptic beast alongside Fenrir the wolf and Dendar the Night-Serpent. He would swallow hope in the end days, and then the end of the world would be complete. Appearing as a massive, tusked spider, Chupoclops lived on the ethereal plane, devouring ghosts and other ethereal monsters. Because he terrorized both the living and the dead, three great heroes and four evil villains formed a team against Chupoclops. Three of the villains and one of the heroes were ghosts; the rest were alive. The battle they had was great and terrible. Each day, one hero or villain would lose their life in the constant fight. On the end of the seventh day, The final heroine struck down Chupoclops with her dying blow. His corpse can still be found on the ethereal plane. Because he was supposed to last until the end of the world, his soul had no plane it was supposed to go to, thus it became a vestige. When bound, his binder grows tusks, giving him a bite attack. He appears as a massive spider who does not all fit on his seal. Therefore, he often starts the pact with a single columnlike leg striking the seal. then it shifts slowly to his oddly tusked head. When summoned, he grants the ability to enter the ethereal realm, and grants the ability to affect ghosts like corporeal objects.
[edit] Dahver-Nar
The Tortured One
Bards tell two stories about Dahlver-nar and the artifacts that carry his name, the Teeth of Dahlver-Nar. Some say he was a powerful cleric, whose teeth were holy relics, and others say that he was a cleric of little fame, who found some magic dragon's teeth. Binder scholars know, however, that he was a cleric that forsook his god in the name of pact magic. He discovered the Teeth of Dahlver-Nar, which were neither his own teeth, nor those of a dragon. They were the teeth of the vestiges when they died and became vestiges. He had replaced his teeth with them, and gained powers from them. When he died, his teeth were lost in between his followers, and his soul became a vestige just like those he emulated with the Teeth. He causes several small teeth to grow from a binder's head, which are easily hidden from view, but a touch reveals them right away. He appears as a tortured thing, with teeth studded all over his body. The little skin viewable between the teeth is pink and moist like gums. He has no eyes, just a line of teeth. His mouth, however, is a bloody void. He cannot speak, only moan. Some say that this was punishment from the other vestiges for using their powers without calling upon them, and others say that he looks so because of his obsession with teeth. He grants tough skin and immunity to madness while bound to him.
[edit] Dantalion
The Star Emperor
No one really knows how Dantalion came to be, but all binder scholars are familiar with his/her story. Stories say that the humans once had a superpowerful empire, with altruism and art as the guiding principles, where evil was only a word, not an ideal, and beauty and law reigned supreme. The gods grew jealous of the empire, and they destroyed all traces, and decreeing that no member of the royal bloodline could join the gods in the afterlife. The many spirits of the empire coaleced into the Vestige Dantalion, hence his appearance, and the existence of the Scions of Dantalion. The scions are humans that strive to rebuild the celestial empire that humans supposedly had. Although there might have never been a celestial human empire, no one doubts that the scions are granted many powers above regular binders. When bound to a binder, a vestigial face appears on the binders torso, like a vestigial twin. Most of the time it simply does not move, but when a binder activates a power of Dantalion, The mouth and eyes open, revealing a night sky with distant stars. Dantalion appears as a 10 foot tall humanoid, with a flowing royal robe and a massive golden crown. His head is a conglomerate of dozens of human faces, young and old, male and female. He carries a book under one arm, and sometimes he seems to read from it. If anyone else reads the book, they see only a starry night sky that changes when the pages are turned. He sometimes only talks with one face, or with them all, in a soft chorus. He grants the power to read minds and know more about almost any subject.
[edit] Eligor
The Dragon's Slayer
Eligor is rumored to be a legendary half-elf dragon slayer. After he himself was slain, Tiamat raised him as her champion, and a nameless deity (seeking to rescue Eligor from Tiamat) fought and killed Eligor. No deity laid claim to Eligor's soul, and so he became a Vestige. When called by a Binder, he arrives on a half-horse half-dragon mount. Both he and his mount are heavily armored in ornate plating. Eligor carries a lance and a banner, with the banner and mount color changing to one of the five Chromatic dragon colors each separate instance that he is summoned. The visible sign of a Binder who has bound Eligor is a thickly scaled hand colored the same as Eligor's mount at the time of the binding. Eligor's granted abilities tend to reflect horse riding and chromatic dragons abilities.
[edit] Eurynome
Mother of the Material
A titan killed by the gods for interfering in the yet-to-be-shaped landscape of the Material Plane, her body became the first island, her blood the first river, and her soul became a vestige. She manifests as a horrible conglomerate of humanoid, avian, and piscine forms. When she is bound to a Binder, the Binder's skin becomes clammy and leaves moist prints on anything it contacts. These prints evaporate after about a minute. Eurynome grants the ability to befriend animals, walk on water, wield a massive hammer, turn your blood into poison, and damage reduction against weapons.
[edit] Focalor
Prince of Tears
Focalor was an immortal being who died of grief. He first manifests slowly as a tear, then his crying eyes, followed by his handsome male body. He wears no clothing, though on his back are griffon wings which cloak his body and shudder with his wracking sobs. He grants the ability to breathe water, attack enemies with lightning, blind enemies with your breath, and strike others with his grief. While a Binder has Focalor bound to him, his tears constantly weep, regardless of his current emotional state.
