Editing Vistani (section)

==Playing Vistani?==
[[File:Vistana MCAV2.jpg|thumb|"My crystal ball predicts my existence will become very problematic."]]

'''Officially''', you're not supposed to play Vistani; they're supposed to be this mystical, mysterious, magical race who exist for ambience and to help the DM railroad you. That's why the [[Half-Vistani]] exists. But D&D players are D&D players, and so there have been some... cheats.

===AD&D===
The topic of Vistani PCs is discussed in a massive sidebar at the end of Van Richten's Guide to the Vistani, which emphasizes that the [[Half-Vistani]] race and the [[Gypsy]] class exist to allow for you to play a Vistani without actually ''being'' a Vistani. But it does begrudgingly allow you the option to make a ''Mortu'' Vistani - a Vistani who has lost most of their racial powers due to remaining in one place too long and suffering their racial curse - by playing a [[human]] character with the following racial kit. These same mechanics can also be used to play a ''giamarga'', a [[Half-Vistani]]/[[Half-Elf]] hybrid, by applying the kit to the standard half-elf. What does it do? Well...

Mortu Vistani suffer -2 Intelligence; Giamarga gain +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom, -2 Charisma.

Mortu Vistani must have be one of the Any Neutral alignments (Neutral Good, Neutral Evil, Lawful Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, True Neutral).

Universal Abilities:
::Can perfectly identify plants, animals and pure water, as per [[druid]].
::If the Vistani has the Fire-building proficiency, they never need to make proficiency checks to light a fire, even in high winds, with damp fuel or in rainy conditions.
::Giamarga have a 95% chance to successfully interpret the Patterna with an Intelligence check.
::Mortu Vistani can identify Paaaterns on a d6 roll of 1-4.
::All vistani can take Astrology, regardless of class.

Universal Drawbacks:
::Cannot take the [[Paladin]] clss.
::Vistani cannot take weapon specializations nor have extraordinary [[Strength]], even if they belong to a Warrior class.
::Vistani can only reach 10th level as [[Wizard]]s.
::If a Vistani or Giamarga takes the Specialist Wizard class, they can only be [[Conjurer]]s, [[Enchanter]]s or [[Illusionist]]s, unless they are female (adds [[Diviner]]) and/or a giamarga (adds [[Arcanist]]). No Vistani PC can ever be an [[Elementalist]].
::If the "pay-for-training" rule is used, the vistani must pay ''twice'' the usual amount.
::Vistani have a 75% chance of being treated as a suspected criminal, which can rise to 90% if unexplained trouble has occurred.
::Vistani, both mortu and half-breed, suffer from "moon madness". On the nights of the full moon, they are extremely agitated; they cannot regain HP by sleeping, and will suffer a -2 penalty to all saves until they get 8 hours of uninterrupted rest. Each night at midnight, they must make a Madness save, or suffer from that madness until either they pass the next night's Madness save or the full moon ends. Finally, there is a 1% chance at the start of the full moon period that they will feel an almost irresistable urge to slip away and cavort beneath the stars.

Once all of the abov e traits are applied, the mortu or giamarga then has to select which tribe they belong to, which gives them some other positive and negative attributes.

Kamii:
::Cannot take a Spellcaster class.
::Automatically start with Proficiency in Blacksmithing.
::Can instantly identify Vistani-made metalwork.
::25% chance to detect if a metal item is cursed.

Equaar:
::Automatically posseses Animal Lore and Land-Based Riding.
::Can buy Tracking for 1 NWP slot.

Vatraska:
::Automatically possesses Herbalist.
::Can buy Healing for 1 slot.
::Can identify poisons; use rules for [[druid]]s identifying plants.
::DM's Discretion: the Vatraska can create a cure-or-kill antidote for a natural poison; the imbiber must make a save vs. poison and is cured on a success and dies on a failure.
::DM's Discretion: By spending 1d6+1 days, the Vatraska can gather enough organic ingredients to make 2 doses of a sleeping-draught potion (imbiber must save vs. poison of fall asleep for 1d4 rounds); doses last for 1 week.

Naiat:
::Cannot take the [[Druid]] class.
::Free proficiency with Singing and Dancing.
::Can take Musical Instrument proficiency regardless of class.
::+1 bonus to encounter reactions (+2 if the player roleplays well).
::Regardless of class, a Naiat with a violin may influence reactions and inspire allies, as per a [[bard]].

Corvara:
::Only permitted classes are [[Fighter]], [[Thief]] and [[Wizard]].
::Free proficiency with Set Snares.
::Corvaran thieves gain +10% to Open Locks.

Canjar:
::'''Must''' take the [[Wizard]] class.
::Can leave a single 1st level and 2nd level spell slot "open", allowing the canjar to cast any spell of that level from their spellbook with that slot, at the cost of increasing its casting time to 1 round.

Zarovan:
::'''Must''' take the [[Wizard]] class.
::Zarovans exist partially out of phase with time itself; after initiative is rolled, the Zarovan rolls 2d10, adds the results and compares to the table below to determine what their temporal positioning is during this combat.

::2: -8 to opponents attack roll; doubled actions
::3: -4 to opponents attack roll
::4-5: -2 to opponents attack roll
::6-8: -1 to opponents attack roll
::9-13: No penalties or bonuses
::14-16: +1 to opponents attack roll
::17-18: +2 to opponents attack roll
::19: +4 to opponents attack roll
::20: +8 to opponents attack roll; no actions.

===3e===
Because monsters and playable races largely use the same chassis in [[Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition]], it's technically possible to play a Vistani in 3e, as they have monster writeups in both the 3.0 "Ravenloft Campaign Setting" and the 3.5 "Ravenloft Player's Guide"... exactly ''why'' the '''Player's Guide''' for the setting has a chapter on monsters and the Ravenloft DM's Guide doesn't is... anybody's guess.

::Ability Score Modifiers: +4 Wisdom, +2 Charisma
::Size: Medium
::Speed: 30 feet
::Vision: Normal
::Bonus Feat: Voice of Wrath (+4 to Curse checks)
::Curse Master (Ex): A Vistani can gain a bonus to Curse checks if they use a "focus item" for that curse. A simple effigy grants a +1 bonus, but an item belonging to the victim (or part of the victim's body) grants a +2 to +4 bonus, depending on their connection.
::Evil Eye (Ex): 3/day, as a standard action, a Vistani can make a Gaze Attack that inflicts one of the following conditions if the victim fails a Will save. The save DC against the Evil Eye is (10 + 1/2 Vistani's Hit Dice + Vistani's Charisma modifier) if used by a '''male''' Vistani and (12 + 1/2 Vistani's Hit Dice + Vistani's Charisma modifier) if used by a '''female''' Vistani.
:::Paralysis: 1d4+1 rounds. If the save is failed by 4 or higher, then the victim is paralyzed for 2 rounds and then goes into convulsions for 3 rounds, taking 1 damage per round, before having to make a DC 15 Fortitude save; if they pass tis second save, the victim merely faints, but if they fail, then they '''die''' outright.
:::Fear: 1d4+1 rounds.
:::Domination: 1d4+1 rounds.
:::Suggestion: Lasts for 1 day or until task is complete, whichever comes first.
::The Sight (Su): The Vistani ignore the normal rules affecting Divination spells in the [[Demiplane of Dread]], with the caveat that Vistani cannot use divination to directly foretell their own future, or divine their past. Not all Vistani have this power, but only female Vistani may possess this trait; males who develop the Sight are traditionally killed, to avert disaster.
::Mist Navigation (Ex): Vistani can freely travel the [[Demiplane of Dread]], entering the Mists and exiting wherever they desire, even in another plane. They can take travelers with them. This ability does '''not''' mean they are free of the risk of encountering random monsters whilst traveling to their destination.
::Magical Tracking (Su): Vistani can magically track any individual they wish from any distance away, so long as the target is not magically shielded from detection. Even then, the Vistani are skilled at tracking victims through indirect means and mundane methods of tracking.
::Static Burn (Su): The Vistani's magical nature comes at a price; they must constantly migrate. A Vistani that remains within 1 mile of any point for longer than a week falls ill; if they re not carried beyond the designated area within 1d6+1 days, then they lose all of their magical abilities, '''permanently'''. The mechanics for this are, unfortunately not explicit, but an easy way to handle it is to replace the Vistani racial traits (up to and including Ability Score Modifiers and the Voice of Wrath bonus feat, if you're feeling cruel) with the [[Half-Vistani]] racial traits.

Unlike Half-Vistani, Vistani do not explicitly gain tasque-specific racial abilities, but it would make sense to "backport" those traits onto them. The one exception are the Boemian tasque, who can mystically compel others to like them (DC 15 Will save each round; if failed, the victim ignores the Vistani's [[Outcast Rating]]... nevermind we aren't actually told how high that is... - other Boemians and people with a legit grievance against Boemians can ignore this effect if their first save is a success, and creature immune to [[Charm Person]] are unaffected by it entirely).