Cosmetic Surgeon PC - how to create? [3.5]

[OverdrivePrime]

Hey all,
I'm trying to figure out how to create a character who's obsessed with improving on the humanoid form. Sort of a combination between an cutting-edge (ha!) cosmetic surgeon, and the Russian doctors who created Ivan "I must break you" Drago.

The way I imagine him, he loves to research new spells/abilities to better equip people to survive and thrive. He's feels that he's got a noble purpose though the lengths he will go to are perhaps a bit... warped. He's obsessed with research, and uses adventuring as a means to gather materials and hopefully some subjects for his research.

I'm pretty sure he should be a primary caster, but after that, I don't know. Focused Specialist (transmutation) wizard? Archivist? Psion? Bizarre cloistered cleric?

This guy absolutely disdains anything that is unreal and impermanent. Mind control spells and the like disgust him. Illusions? Pathetic trickery. The only spell at all attractive to him in the evocation school is Permanency, but if I play him as a wizard, I think he'd rather just research customized spells with a permanent duration. Maybe a 3rd level spell for "nose job" or 4th level for "liposuction".

I'm starting the character at 12th level, and would *prefer* him to be human, though I'm not set on that.
Sources allowed: PHB 1&2, DMG, Monster Manuals, All Complete Series, All Races of Series, Spell Compendium, Tome of Magic, Tome of Battle.

Any ideas? In a party, I see his role as buffing allies and handling battlefield control, but I'm flexible. Out of combat, I want to play up his research bent, and having a lot of very unusual spells/powers at his disposal. And I want to squick out my DM from time to time. :smallwink:

Can you help me out?

[Hunter Noventa]

I'm pretty sure the Books Which Must Not Be Named have some spells for alteration of appearance. Said books being Nymphology and the Book of Erotic Fantasy.

But as for existing spells, your bread and butter for 'Plastic Surgery' would be Polymorph Any Object. Shame it takes so long to get there.

[Optimystik]

Is he obsessed with improving his own body, or that of others? (The former is a lot easier to do.)

[Dusk Eclipse]

There is a class Fleshwarped in LoM that kind does that. it specializes in grafts, and IIRC you can get the ability to graft from many different sources (Ilithid, Aboleth, Warforged, etc)

[OverdrivePrime]

Is he obsessed with improving his own body, or that of others? (The former is a lot easier to do.)

More "improving" others than himself - this guy sees himself as a public servant.

[Dusk Eclipse]

More "improving" others than himself - this guy sees himself as a public servant.

Then fleshwarper it is a good option, he can graft things to other people.
also get a nice lovecraftian familiar

[Lysander]

Specialized Necromancer or Transmutationist that researches whatever weird homebrewed enhancement and mutatation spells he wants. Later on Fleshwarper PrC if you want it.

[OverdrivePrime]

Then fleshwarper it is a good option, he can graft things to other people.
also get a nice lovecraftian familiar

I don't know that I've heard of the Fleshwarper before, where's it from?

[hamishspence]

LoM- which stands for Lords of Madness.

[Thurbane]

Sounds like Bruce Campbell's character from Escape from LA (the truly awful sequel to the awesome Escape from New York).

[Viletta Vadim]

There are all kinds of freakish grafts from various books. I believe Libris Mortis, Races of the Dragon, and Lords of Madness have undead, draconic, and aberrant grafts respectively. Also, Dragon Magazine has the Craft: Body Modification skill, which allows you to build weapons, armor, spellbooks, and holy symbols into peoples' bodies. Perhaps pair it with Fabricate?

[AslanCross]

Magic of Eberron has the Eldeen Plant grafts, the Deathless grafts, and Elemental grafts. Faiths of Eberron has Warforged grafts.

Choose your tools. There are tons of grafts and graft feats that you could use.

[Devils_Advocate]

The only spell at all attractive to him in the evocation school is Permanency,
That's a Universal spell. Contingency is the useful metamagic spell that got arbitrarily stuck in Evocation. (I mean "metamagic" just in the literal sense of magic that affects other magic, like dispel magic. Nothing about spell-altering feats.)


but if I play him as a wizard, I think he'd rather just research customized spells with a permanent duration.
Instantaneous duration, more likely. That way the change is as real as anything and the effect isn't magical at all; it can't be dispelled.

Probably a Transmuter. Probably not a divine spellcaster. Divine magic is great at restoring a damaged body to its healthy, natural state, but not so good at improving on nature. It can't very easily repair congenital blindness, for example. Druids are excellent shapeshifters, of course, but that's just shifting between different natural forms. If you want to, say, put eyes on an otherwise normal grimlock, then you're probably gonna want to cook up some arcane spells so that you can do things that the gods never intended.

Anyway, Transmutation has plenty of great buff spells, which seems like what this character would favor.

[Reluctance]

I'm getting less of a nose job vibe from this guy, more of a mad scientist "sure I can add a third arm" one.

On the upside, this character is easy to do with a transmuter and a good deal of refluffing. Your buffs have a monstrous visual effect; Darkvision gives glowing eyes, Mage Armor actually turns your skin into some sort of shell, and Enlarge Person is just asking for some nonfunctional yet nightmarish additions. Flavor your spells appropriately, and you can easily get a mad scientist vibe.

The downside is that 3.x really isn't built around long-term lab magic or permanent character mods. (You can kind of mock something up with reflavored item creation feats, but those only go so far.) Your character will be much more in tune with the system if you accept that his magical alterations are temporary, and that permanent mods are something he's working on rather than his shtick from the get-go.

[OverdrivePrime]

Okay, perfect. Thanks for all the ideas, guys! I'm going to look into Fleshwarper, and work with my DM to create a few flavorful custom spells. I'll probably go with a transmuter mad scientist whose ultimate goal is to make permanent improvements on his subjects patients.

[Malacode]

A little late, but don't forget flesh to stone and stone to flesh. "What do they have to do with cosmetics" I hear you ask? Well if cosmetic changes are all you want, you can Flesh to Stone someone, then sculpt them (Maybe with Sculpt Stone, or just a chisel) and bring them back with stone to flesh. Won't do anything to stats, but can be used to make someone look good. Hey, the human form 'aint perfect unless it -looks- perfect too. If the DM is feeling nice, maybe you'll get away with using it to disguise grafts as normal limbs, or blend them in with the patients existing body.

[OverdrivePrime]

A little late, but don't forget flesh to stone and stone to flesh. "What do they have to do with cosmetics" I hear you ask? Well if cosmetic changes are all you want, you can Flesh to Stone someone, then sculpt them (Maybe with Sculpt Stone, or just a chisel) and bring them back with stone to flesh. Won't do anything to stats, but can be used to make someone look good. Hey, the human form 'aint perfect unless it -looks- perfect too. If the DM is feeling nice, maybe you'll get away with using it to disguise grafts as normal limbs, or blend them in with the patients existing body.

Absolutely! I love this idea and was already planning on giving this guy full ranks in craft (sculpture). He's an artist at heart and wants all of his work to be aesthetically pleasing.