Taint measures the extent of your spiritual corruption. It is rated as a 1-10 pool that begins with 1 Permanent point & no temporary. When 10 Temporary points are gained, you "trade" the 10 points for another Permanent point. In the event you reach 10 Permanent points, further levels have an acidic effect on the Trait the Taint is paired with, typically Enlightenment. This is almost always fatal.
The effects of Taint are as follows.
*Corruption: The more Taint you have, the more tainted you are to abilities that detect such. You are "Tainted" for the purposes of True Faith at 1 point. You are "Damned" if your rating should ever rise above 5.
*Taint determines the effect of many Infernal/Wyrm/Oblivion Powers.
*If your permanent Taint should rise higher than your permanent Enlightenment, you suffer unsoakable, Lethal damage equal to the difference. This damage cannot be healed while your Taint is ascendant, & accumulates each day the condition remains.
Temporary Taint is gained:
-Whenever you gain a Derangement
-Whenever you succumb to Frenzy
-Whenever you Botch the activation of a Power
-As noted in your Power/Template description
*Note: The Blackheart template has a different method of processing Taint (or Angst, as it is sometimes called). See that Template for differences.
