Spells that Permanently Grant templates

[Yogibear41]

Looking for all the spells that permanently grant templates such Axiomatic Creature from BOED, Nar Fiendbond from lost empires of Faerun, the mineral warrior spell etc.

[Karnith]

Sanctify the Wicked (Book of Exalted Deeds p. 106) applies the Sanctified Creature template.

Incarnate Construct (Savage Species pp. 67-68) applies the infamous Incarnate Construct template.

Vile Death (Spell Compendium pp. 229-230) applies the Fiendish Creature template to a limited number of undead creatures.

If you choose to use the Savage Species ritual rules, Wish can apply templates (Savage Species, p. 150).

[Demidos]

Would you count mantle of the Icy soul? Grants the cold subtype.

[(Un)Inspired]

Animate dead. It doesn't exactly grant the most powerful templates however

[Phelix-Mu]

Mineralize warrior? Was that the name of the spell that grants the mineral warrior template? Though, I'd note, it only seems to grant the template to a humanoid, which is rather annoying.

[Chronos]

Would you count mantle of the Icy soul? Grants the cold subtype.
The Spell Compendium changed it to give it a limited duration, but oddly left its fiery partner, originally from Sandstorm, unchanged.

[eggynack]

The Spell Compendium changed it to give it a limited duration, but oddly left its fiery partner, originally from Sandstorm, unchanged.
It is truly a tragic thing for those seeking completely permanent immunity to both cold and fire.

[Yogibear41]

I'm pretty positive I found one that grants the celestial template yesterday permanently but now for the life of me I can't seem to find it again.:smallfrown:

[unseenmage]

The Awaken spell and it's variants don't necessarily grant a Template but they certainly change the creature permanently.

Polymorph Any Object might work too though I seem to remember there being a 'no templates' clause in there somewhere. (makes me wonder if by RAW item templates count :smalltongue: )

Though not spells there are Rituals in the Savage Species book that add Templates and subtypes as well.

[Karnith]

Polymorph Any Object might work too though I seem to remember there being a 'no templates' clause in there somewhere.
Polymorph any Object can't be used to apply templates. It is based on Polymorph, which is in turn based on Alter Self, which says (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/alterSelf.htm):

You do not gain any supernatural special attacks, special qualities, or spell-like abilities of the new form. Your creature type and subtype (if any) remain the same regardless of your new form. You cannot take the form of any creature with a template, even if that template doesn’t change the creature type or subtype.
(Emphasis mine)

Nothing in Polymorph or PaO overrides this restriction, so you can't use it to apply templates.

[unseenmage]

Polymorph any Object can't be used to apply templates. It is based on Polymorph, which is in turn based on Alter Self, which says (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/alterSelf.htm):

(Emphasis mine)

Nothing in Polymorph or PaO overrides this restriction, so you can't use it to apply templates.

I suspected as much. Polymorph shenanigans were never my strong suite. Thanks for the clarification.

[Karnith]

I suspected as much. Polymorph shenanigans were never my strong suite. Thanks for the clarification.
I mean, you should avoid using PaO anyway. That spell is bad and should feel bad.

Animate dead. It doesn't exactly grant the most powerful templates however
Along those lines, Create Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/createUndead.htm), Create Greater Undead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/createGreaterUndead.htm), and Animate Dread Warrior (Unapproachable East, p. 48) can all be used to apply templates to (dead) creatures, given access to appropriate sources.

[TiaC]

Planar Familiar (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011020a) gives the celestial, fiendish, axiomatic, or anarchic template to a familiar, special mount, animal companion, or other companion acquired as a class ability.

[eggynack]

Ghost companion (Ghostwalk, 53) turns a willing animal into a ghost permanently, where permanently is defined as, "Until the end of the creature's lifespan." Granted, you're constructing that lifespan artificially, but from a certain point of view...

[Phelix-Mu]

Planar Familiar (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011020a) gives the celestial, fiendish, axiomatic, or anarchic template to a familiar, special mount, animal companion, or other companion acquired as a class ability.

Oh, there is another spell that is very similar that turns a normal familiar into some kind of elemental creature. Can't recall the name off the top of my head, but I think it even came from the same series of online articles. Let's see...elemental familiar, going with the "does what it says" naming scheme. Hmm. Not ringing any bells; perhaps someone else knows what I'm talking about.

[TiaC]

Oh, there is another spell that is very similar that turns a normal familiar into some kind of elemental creature. Can't recall the name off the top of my head, but I think it even came from the same series of online articles. Let's see...elemental familiar, going with the "does what it says" naming scheme. Hmm. Not ringing any bells; perhaps someone else knows what I'm talking about.

Yes (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011109a), but it doesn't apply a template, it just overwrites the stats with those of a tiny elemental.

[Phelix-Mu]

Yes (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011109a), but it doesn't apply a template, it just overwrites the stats with those of a tiny elemental.

Well, I stand corrected. Still, a nifty effect of similar nature.

[Randomguy]

Yes (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011109a), but it doesn't apply a template, it just overwrites the stats with those of a tiny elemental.

But... but... it never says you actually need to target your familiar! It says you need a familiar to cast it, but it says target: living creature touched and also "The target creature" instead of "the target familiar"! Why would they ever phrase it that way?

Not much room for abuse since it completely overwrites your ability scores, but it might make imprisoning something easier. Or maybe if you have a fighter friend that wants to be tiny sized and doesn't mind the low int, this could be useful since you'd keep your class levels.