Blessing is a power that grants a positive lingering effect to a character (this is usually referred to as a “buff”, or similar terms, in gaming). In the case of Blessing, the buff is triggered by choice of the character that is blessed, remaining on the character until they use it (or the scene ends). This allows players to hold an “ace in the hole” until they need it. No character can have more than one Blessing at a time, but a character with the Blessing ability can bless each friendly character, providing the whole team with a boost.

 

There are currently three bonuses to choose from when applying a blessing (though more will be in the final book release. Like Ki Attack, Blessing is a ‘toolkit’ power). You could choose to bless a character in an area where they may not be strong, increasing their chance of success, or apply the blessing on top of an existing specialty in order to get even more effect when the character succeeds.

 

• Bonus to a check: This blessing allows the blessed character to gain a bonus to any check they make equal to your Zeal modifier. This bonus is in addition to any other bonuses they usually receive, such as Skill + Attribute modifiers when making a skill check. Most starting characters who take Blessing tend to have a +3 or +4 Zeal modifier, which not only increases the chance of success to the check being made, but often pushes the Margin of Success of the roll by +1, increasing the overall effect of the check (such as the damage of an attack). The two effects create a very strong benefit, but the Blessing must be used before the roll is made, meaning there is the risk that if the roll still fails after the modifier, the blessing will have been lost.
• Damage bonus: A straightforward bonus, the damage bonus is only applied after a successful attack check is made, so the blessed character doesn’t have to worry about the blessing having no effect. Because the Tide bar usually breaks at 7, the +3 or +4 from Zeal mentioned above can be very significant, often increasing the damage more than an additional attack would. In fact, because the damage is added to a character’s normal damage and the total is reduced by the target’s armor only once, a character with Blessing that can’t usually harm a target may be better off applying the damage blessing rather than attacking in some situations.
• Re-roll: Unlike the first two, this blessing doesn’t actually increase the numbers your character will throw out, but instead gives you a re-roll. Statistically, this is actually the weakest of the three abilities, but it has a specific situation where it’s more useful: when the character is only going to get one chance at something due to time, and already has a good shot at succeeding. This is a “safety net”, for when something really bad might happen if you fail and you won’t get another chance (making an agility check to not fall off a cliff, making a Lore check to figure out which of the two flasks is the medicine and which is the poison at the last second, etc). When you have a good chance of success, but would not be able to guarantee hitting the needed number (or you don’t know what the opponent will roll), you might want to choose this blessing for those times when the check dice come up all 1s…

 

 

There’s a few things to keep in mind when considering buying the Blessing ability for your character. It scales directly with your Zeal modifier (though in rare cases, your GM could allow you to theme it in a different Attribute if it fits your character concept); this means the bonus is more valuable the higher your Zeal, but applying the blessing also costs more Ki when you do so. Before you think about making a character with +6 Zea and blessing the entire party with what equates to almost two full D6 additional dice to checks, or a damage bonus that’s likely to break the bar by itself, remember that after just 2 blessings your Ki Pool will be full, and you will likely spend the next couple Round doing nothing but taking the Ki Release action. It’s not much fun to be a pez dispenser and see everyone else do all the actual playing of the game.

Blessing can easily be designed as a power not based in Zeal. A tactician or officer could inspire or direct their troops to provide similar bonuses. An alchemist could create “on the fly” concoctions that give the bonus, as could a geomancer by applying Feng Shui to the battlefield.