Beating Heart (5e Feat)
Beating Heart
In you I laid a seed of power which is beginning to germinate showing that you have a purpose greater than yourself. The beating heart is a very rare characteristic that appears in certain individuals with well-defined ideals and morals, and whose spirit exceeds the average. This variation appears as the shape of a heart in the breast of your soul, although you are not even aware of this endowment, and only people with soul vision or true vision can notice this special heart that burns into your soul.
When you get this dowry, you earn the following benefits:
- Hidden Potential:The awakening of your heart also unlocks hidden abilities within your own being. You can choose a feature from a class other than your own or from a subclass of your own class that you do not have and gain that feature. You cannot gain a feature that is of a higher level than your own, and you cannot gain any type of spell or magic unless your base class does not have it.
- Sleeping Will:Though young, your beating heart augments your own spirit and will, giving you the ability to do acts once unthinkable. Once per long rest, you can give yourself advantage on a check. Additionally, if you fail the check, you can reroll it an additional time, but you must keep the second result. You regain this feature on a long rest.
Personality traits
Your Latent Heart not only affects the character's abilities, but also influences their behavior, emotions, and outlook on the world. Upon awakening this heart, the bearer will begin to manifest subtle but noticeable characteristics, which will mark their future evolution. Choose one of the following characteristics
- Silent Doubts: The bearer will begin to question themselves more deeply about moral and ethical decisions, even in simple moments. They may feel that every action could have repercussions that transcend the present. This is reflected in the way they hesitate before acting, as if an inner force were whispering to them about the consequences of their decisions.
- Inner Call: As the Latent Heart begins to awaken, the character may experience fleeting visions or whispers in their dreams, as if an ancestral voice or hidden power were attempting to guide them. These visions are often unclear, but always carry a tone of urgency or warning.
- Emotional Resonance: The character's emotions begin to resonate more intensely. Sadness, anger, or joy become more powerful and can influence their surroundings, as if the heart were amplifying their feelings. Strong emotions can trigger flashes of hidden power, such as flickering lights or the air around them shuddering.
- Attraction of Fate: The presence of the Latent Heart causes the character to attract important events, both positive and negative. They may constantly find themselves at the center of critical situations or surrounded by key people, as if fate itself placed them at the center of the action.
- Sense of Responsibility: The bearer begins to develop a deep sense of responsibility towards others. This may manifest as a desire to protect, guide, or even control to prevent evil from prevailing. This sense may increase as the heart evolves, leading them to act in a more decisive or controlling manner.
- Time Perception Change: The character may begin to feel that time is passing in strange ways. Crucial moments may seem to slow down, as if the Beating Heart is giving him a chance to reflect or act more accurately. This perception increases the emotional and strategic tension at decisive moments.
Also if the player likes he could choose more than one of the 6 characteristics mentioned above, or create his own, but all of this has to be discussed and allowed by the DM.
Optional: Heart Evolution
The evolution of the Latent Heart is not a process controlled directly by the bearer. At the DM's discretion, as the character experiences significant events and makes key moral choices, the heart will align itself in one of three possible directions. This process is not predictable, and the bearer may not realize their heart is evolving until a crucial shift occurs. This feat evolves into one of the following Epic Boons:
1. Pure Heart
Triggered by acts of altruism, sacrifice, or a strong adherence to moral and ethical ideals.
- Evolution: Triggered when the bearer puts the greater good before their own well-being, demonstrating an unwavering will to protect others even when personal sacrifices are necessary.
- Critical Event: This can be the act of saving a loved one, sacrificing something precious, or taking a difficult moral stance in a complex situation.
2. Impure Heart
Triggered by pragmatic, gray, or ambiguous decisions, where good and evil mix and neutrality prevails.
- Evolution: The impure heart manifests when the bearer acts with pragmatism, balancing their own interests and those of others, without necessarily leaning towards good or evil. Acts of survival, choosing grayer paths, or partial sacrifices can trigger this evolution.
- Critical Event: Moments when the bearer must decide between what is right and what is necessary, making difficult decisions that mix morality and pragmatism.
3. Corrupted Heart
Triggered by betrayal, selfishness, or decisions that favor personal gain at the expense of others' suffering.
- Evolution: This heart activates when the bearer chooses power above all else, making decisions that betray others or destroy the innocent to achieve their goals. Unbridled ambition, vengeance, and a desire for absolute control can fuel this transformation.
Critical Event: May arise from a moment when the character sacrifices others to advance, betrays their own ideals, or succumbs to power and corruption in pursuit of their goals.
The DM will determine when and how the Beating Heart evolves, based on key character decisions and the narrative events surrounding their adventure. This evolution may not be reversible (with the exception of the impure heart, because even this could evolve into a corrupt heart), and once the heart chooses its path, the bearer will be bound to the consequences, both positive and negative, of that transformation.
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