Incorporealness! My preciousss!

[Morph Bark]

Recently a friend of mine has stated that he'd like to play DnD with us and, going over the many many options 3.5 offers, he thought it'd be cool to play an incorporeal character. Now I know that it is generally very limited for player characters, but with 9 levels and a free LA+1 for everyone I figure it should be doable.

So Playground, what ways exist for my friend to be or become incorporeal? (Not ethereal, that's different, though he might like that as well if he cannot get incorporealness.)

[sreservoir]

a ghost 1 plane shifted to the material?

[Jeff the Green]

There's the shadow monster class in Savage Species. I had one as a cohort at one point; give them flyby attack and attack while they fly into the ground. Fly back up, and repeat until you've got yourself a spawn. Half of your enemy's turns you're in the ground and they can't hurt you, the rest you're still incorporeal and really hard to damage.

[Rubik]

A level 1 monk or unarmed swordsage with a necklace of natural weaponry (from Savage Species) with the ghost touch property.

A ghost from the SRD.

A ghost savage progression (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20040117a).

Of course, you can go totemist 2/psion with some major ML-boosters and manifestation cost-reducers, and take the phase cloak and the Psionic Open Chakra power to bind to your shoulders chakra (from Magic of Incarnum).

[TuggyNE]

A level 1 monk or unarmed swordsage with a necklace of natural weaponry (from Savage Species) with the ghost touch property.

Wouldn't that merely apply to their natural weapons, not their whole body? (And that's assuming you get a moderately favorable reading; I can imagine a DM balking at "essentially" incorporeal, and denying it.)

[avr]

It's not really what you want until you reach level 10 in the PrC (character level 15 min'm), but Psion Uncarnate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/psionUncarnate.htm) will let you be incorporeal for a little while each day at ECL 9.

[Thurbane]

I was going to suggest Joystealer (MM4), an incorporeal fey...but they are ECL 10 (6 RHD and LA +4), and quite frankly, not worth it.

[sonofzeal]

I'd just like to note that a Suel Archanamach can cast Extended Swift Etherealness for four rounds of being ethereal, as a swift action, for a surprisingly reasonable spell slot. This might be a nice alternative if the DM is leery on 24/7 incorporeality, since it doesn't involve anything cheesy or even unusual, while still being a nice combination.

[Necroticplague]

The phantom template lets you switch between solid and incorporeal as a standard action.

[mikau013]

Some DM rule that throwing weapons from a ring of blinking have a 20% chance to be thrown in the ethereal plane and remain ethereal.

If your DM rules as such, activate a ring of blinking and throw your friend. He now has a 20% chance of being ethereal permanently :smalltongue:

[Red_Dog]

Just don't forget to visit Libris Mortis. The book has some nice ghost feats [like Ghostly grasp which is one of the best ways to make a character interact with material plane easier].

Otherwise, go with Master of Unseen Hand as the ultimate goal. [you might be able to get to it easy with Ghost 2 savage progression for Telekinesis] 2-6lvls of Dungeon Crusher an let you some-what smash people in walls. Without the good old DC dip, you can just be a "Sword wind Ghost" => Chuck unnatural amounts of swords, arrows, axes, etc. at foes with glorious effects. ^^

[Lord_Gareth]

The phantom template lets you switch between solid and incorporeal as a standard action.

Is that what the wording on that ability does? I tried to figure it out, but the more I thought about it, the more confusing it got, and somewhere along the line I was slicing the text for the template into my arm with a razor and then I woke up, six days later, in a hotel room in Jersey with no idea how I got there, surrounded by the eviscerated corpses of everyone else in the hotel with the text for the ability painted all over the walls in their blood.

Needless to say, I never did figure it out.

[NEO|Phyte]

Being an Unbodied (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm) is a nice 4rhd la+4 option, though as a floating incorporeal brain you're kinda shoehorned into being some flavor of psion.

[Thurbane]

The phantom template lets you switch between solid and incorporeal as a standard action.
It's also LA -, so not intended for PCs. If you wanted to use it for your character, the DM would need to houserule a Level Adjustment.

Is that what the wording on that ability does?
Yeah, the wording on how it works is unnecessarily complicated, for sure. I had quite a few head scratching moments as I tried to work it out.

[Feralventas]

Eidalon from Ghostwalk grants a number of effects that might help, including a feat to allow a DC 15 will save to become corporeal at will as a standard action, or incorporeal if you're starting with a physical body and your DM will allow it. Still technically a ghost, but can be refluffed.

I'm using it for some mage hand/telekinesis abilities to go into Master of the Unseen Hand.

[Tyndmyr]

Some DM rule that throwing weapons from a ring of blinking have a 20% chance to be thrown in the ethereal plane and remain ethereal.

If your DM rules as such, activate a ring of blinking and throw your friend. He now has a 20% chance of being ethereal permanently :smalltongue:

Ethereal and incorporeal are slightly different, Im afraid.

[Feralventas]

Oh, and a Hag's Heartstone.

[Rebel7284]

Being an Unbodied (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm) is a nice 4rhd la+4 option, though as a floating incorporeal brain you're kinda shoehorned into being some flavor of psion.

They also start with some levels (4?) in a type of psion.

[mikau013]

Ethereal and incorporeal are slightly different, Im afraid.

Yes, and? What is your point? I said ethereal for a reason.

Though in the specific case of blinking, you also become incorporeal.

[Kane0]

Not quite what your asking for, but i have a 5 level prestige class that focuses on being concealed/displaced, if that helps.

[Rubik]

Wouldn't that merely apply to their natural weapons, not their whole body? (And that's assuming you get a moderately favorable reading; I can imagine a DM balking at "essentially" incorporeal, and denying it.)The monk's entire body is considered a weapon, and if the weapon goes incorporeal, the whole monk goes incorporeal.

[Necroticplague]

The monk's entire body is considered a weapon, and if the weapon goes incorporeal, the whole monk goes incorporeal.

If that's true, than wtf happens when you add the sizing, brilliant, hideaway, or morphic properties?

[Rubik]

If that's true, than wtf happens when you add the sizing, brilliant, hideaway, or morphic properties?The first one works just like you'd think. Free size-shifting! Brilliant means you'd better hope you can fly or you can stand on something that's alive. Not sure what hideaway does. Morphic lets you metamorphose into another monk?

[Jack_Simth]

Savage Species has the Incorporeal state listed as LA+2.

[erikun]

Being an Unbodied (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm) is a nice 4rhd la+4 option, though as a floating incorporeal brain you're kinda shoehorned into being some flavor of psion.

They also start with some levels (4?) in a type of psion.
Unbodied has 4 Racial Hit Dice and +4 LA. They manifest powers as a 4th level Psion (telepath). So, effectively, they would just have +4 LA if you're going Psion, or a 8 ECL dump if going for something else.

An okay deal for incorporeal psions, but ghost would be better for most other characters.

[Dimers]

Nine levels of spirit shaman (base class from Complete Divine) gets you incorporeality once per day for a minute. Fifteenth and twentieth levels each add another use.

[Ashiel]

Recently a friend of mine has stated that he'd like to play DnD with us and, going over the many many options 3.5 offers, he thought it'd be cool to play an incorporeal character. Now I know that it is generally very limited for player characters, but with 9 levels and a free LA+1 for everyone I figure it should be doable.

So Playground, what ways exist for my friend to be or become incorporeal? (Not ethereal, that's different, though he might like that as well if he cannot get incorporealness.)

Why not just become a shadow or wraith? Both options are available with create greater undead. Then just take class levels. For incorporeal undead (especially in Pathfinder), I'm rather fond of rogues, sorcerers, antipaladins, and bards. Get ghost touch equipment when necessary. Generally lots of equipment will not be required, since you are incorporeal (reduces most incoming damage by 50-100%), your touch attack bypasses damage reduction, and if you're a spellcaster, eschew materials can let you have some fun with your perfect flight and ability to phase through objects.