Battle Vigil

Battle Vigil
Spiritual Rating: 11
Community Rating: 14
Difficulty: 20
Range: self
Duration: length of battle
Ritual Length: 22 (six hours)
Attainment Rating: 25
On the night before an impending battle, the Templar
must stand vigil the entire night in prayer to God. The vigil must be at least
six hours long, during which time the knight can neither sleep, travel, eat nor
join conversation with any of his comrades, lest his prayers be interrupted. He
may fight to defend himself and his fellows should they be attacked by any
manner of foe or beast during the vigil, and this will serve to focus his
attentions for the coming day's task. At dawn on the day of battle, the focus
total for the miracle is generated, with a +1 bonus for every two hours the
vigil lasted over the required six, up to a maximum increase of +3. If the
miracle fails, the Templar will find himself both physically and spiritually
drained, subject to the following penalties until his faith is restored and he
has received a full night's sleep: 1) the Templar will have three shock points
which cannot be reduced by Hero Points. Miraculous healing of the spiritual
damage will remove them, however; and 2) the Templar will suffer a penalty of
+3 to the difficulty of all Dexterity and Strength actions – if
the difficulty of the miracle is missed by more than eight points, the penalty
is +5. If the Templar's prayer is successful, however, he will be strong a
fierce in the coming battle. He will receive benefits dependent upon his
success level, and these benefits will last for the duration of the battle.
Only the caster may receive this divine help. Minimum-Average: Fatigue
and DEX penalties from the Templar's armor are ignored. Also, the Templar can
ignore two shock points from each attack; Good: As Minimum/Average, but
the Templar can ignore threes hock points from each attack.
Superior: As
Good, but the Templar can ignore four shock points from each attack. Spectacular:
As Superior, but the Templar is immune to KO damage. A battle is
considered to begin when the first effect value, whether a condition of
surprise exists or not, is generated. The battle is usually considered over
when action leaves rounds.