Just a little homebrew. If it conflicts with the comics or RPG, just let me know. I'm new to Slaine (3-4 weeks) and am still learning the ropes.
NEW FEAT
Tap Oak
The ancient Druids drew Earth Power from trees before they learned to use weirdstones and dolmens.
Prerequisites: Wis 12+, Concentration. (Some tribes may require this feat as a prerequisite to Tap Weirdstone and Tap Dolmen feats.)
Benefit: This feat has three main uses: 1) You can sense if an oak tree's rest period (see below) has fully elapsed and it is safe to draw Earth Power therefrom, 2) you can estimate the number of Earth Power points in a given tree, and 3) you can tap the Earth Power from a tree.
SENSE REST PERIOD
An oak needs a rest period of 4 full years between drainages, else the tree goes into a form of shock and completely dies. A drainage period is deemed terminated once the subject's hands are removed from the trunk of the tree. If a tree dies as a direct result of being tapped it is considered murder by the Druids and in some tribes this deed is punished by death, or in the least permanent banishment, especially if the oak is several centuries old. The rest-period for a tree other than oak is 8 years, instead of an oak's 4 years.
An oak's EPs can be replenished at rate of 1 year/EP drained. Other trees need four times longer to restore their level of Earth Power.
You must place one or both hands on the trunk of the tree and make a Concentration check DC 15 and requires no less than 30 rounds (3 minutes). Success means that you can discern that the rest period has passed and the tree can be tapped without harm to it. If you beat the DC by 5 or more the time required is halved (15 rounds, or 1 1/2 minutes). Failure means that you may either be convinced that the rest period has elapsed (but really has not), or that you cannot tell, at the Games Master's discretion.
An oak within an oak-wood (quercetum) of 50 to 100 trees can be tapped after a rest-period of only 1 year instead of 4 years. An oak that has been tapped can replenish its EP more quicky when surrounded by or in the company of others of its species. If in a quercetum of more than 100 oaks the rest-period is a mere 6 months.
ESTIMATE EARTH POWER
Additionally, you can estimate the number of EP in a given oak. This estimation is similar to the Appraise skill. You make an Appraise (tree) check at DC 20, taking into account the size of the overall specimen, the girth of its trunk, the breadth of its boughs, the hue of its foliage, the texture of its bark, and place both hands onto the trunk of the tree in question.
1) If you have 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (nature) and/or Wilderness Lore you may add a +2 synergy bonus to the check.
2) If you have 5 or more ranks in Concentration you may add an additional +2 synergy bonus to the check as well.
At least 50 rounds (5 minutes) is necessary to make the determination, but if the Appraise roll beats the DC by 5 or more the time required is halved (thus 25 rounds, or 2 1/2 minutes). Success means that you accurately estimate the number of EP in the oak. Failure means that you have estimated the number of EP to be 50% to 150% of its actual contents, or (2d6+3) x 10.
An oak normally contains 1 EP per 10 years of age. Some extremely rare and fortunate oaks can live to the hoary age of one-and-a-half millenia (yielding up to 150 EP), but most die long before this of natural causes, disease, the axe of an ignorant forester, wicked Drunes, lightning, forest-fires, an evil army conducting a "slash-and-burn" campaign, or other causes. An oak near or over the millenium-mark is worshipped by druid and layman alike as a divine being in its own right.
In theory a sapling of less than ten years old does contain Earth Power, but only fractional in nature and thus useless in terms of potential tapping. Trees other than oak may be tapped but only at 1 EP/20 years of age.
Tapping Earth Power from a Tree
Each round you must make a Concentration check at DC 10. If successful, you may draw EP from the tree at the rate of 1 EP/round. If you fail your hands immediately leave the surface of the tree and any further drainage must occur after the proper rest period as described above.
If you (mistakenly) attempt to draw more EP from a tree than it contains, the tree immediately dies. The leaves will crumple, turn brown and fall off; the branches will become knarled like arthritic arms and fingers, and its bark will turn an ashen, grey colour. Some say that trees which suffer this fate become warped into frightening forms like tortured beings frozen at the moment of a hideous death. Trees in the Sourlands resemble this description.
Earth Power can only be tapped during Spring or Summer. If tapping is attempted during the Winter or Fall the tree will die within 1d8 days. Again, local Druids will regard this as murder and will seek out the offender aggressively.
Arbor Fulmine Icta
An oak that has been struck by lightning may be revered as consecrated by the sky-god(s), but in fact can only provide half as much EP. For example, an 800 year old oak struck by lightning will only offer a maximum 40 EP.
Age (years) Survival Chance Percentage
10 or less 10%
11-100 15%
101-200 20%
201-300 25%
301-400 30%
401-500 35%
501-600 40%
601-700 45%
701-800 50%
801-900 55%
901-1000 60%
1001-1100 65%
1101-1200 70%
1201-1300 75%
1301-1400 80%
1401-1500 85%
1500+ 90%
Consecrate and Trees
A tree which is the subject of a consecrate spell can bestow several benefits on a deity's faithful. For example, a worshipper of Danu within 10 feet of a consecrated tree can heal 1 point of damage or 1 point of an ability score per day while in that range.
Furthermore a consecrated tree having been struck by lightning has a better chance to survive. Increase the tree's survival chance percentage by 10%. When struck by lightning a consecrated tree does not suffer a reduction of EP, but the opposite: increase the tree's maximum possible EP by +10%. A consecrated tree's rest period is only 3 months, and it recovers lost EP at a rate of 1 EP/week.
What do you think?
