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Vaynor
2014-01-27, 03:57 PM
Awakened
http://i.imgur.com/MEdCkGf.jpg
Image Credit (http://lusiusmalfoy.deviantart.com/art/The-third-eye-353264057)

”I have surpassed your understanding of the world and its workings.”

An awakened is one that has achieved enlightenment and risen to a level above others of its kind. An awakened is graceful and wise in addition to its increase in power. To most, an awakened is seen as a chosen of the gods, especially since their power seems to come from a divine source. Exactly which god grants this power is unknown. The awakened gains a third eye in the middle of its forehead, as well as other more inward improvements. Awakened creatures can be simple, and looking for enlightenment only in the hopes of personal improvement, but others are travelers who preach to those they meet or seek others of their kind.

Leo the Wakener
Medium Humanoid (Human, Augmented)
HD 6d8+18 (45 hp)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Initiative +5
AC 16 (+1 Dex, +4 studded leather, +2 ring of protection); touch 13; flat-footed 15
BAB +6/+1; Grapple +8
Attack Composite longbow +8 ranged (1d8+2, x3) or longsword +8 melee (1d8+2, 19-20/x2) or awakened gaze +11 ranged touch (6d6)
Full-Attack Composite longbow +8/+3 ranged (1d8+2, x3) or longsword +8/+3 melee (1d8+2, 19-20/x2) or awakened gaze +11 ranged touch (6d6)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Awakened gaze, spells
Special Qualities Low-light vision, darkvision 40 ft., spell resistance 16, immune to gaze attacks, uncanny dodge, favored enemy (orcs, giants), wild empathy, third eye, godly power
Saves Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +9
Abilities Str 14, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 17, Wis 21, Cha 15
Skills Climb +9, Handle Animal +8, Heal +12, Jump +8, Knowledge (geography) +10, Knowledge (religion) +17, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (the planes) +5, Listen +8, Move Silently +6, Ride +5, Spot +10, Survival +12, Swim +5, Use Rope +7
Feats Weapon Focus (longbow), Iron Will, TrackB, Rapid ShotB, EnduranceB, Improved Initiative, Precise Shot, ManyshotB, Skill Focus (knowledge (religion))B
Organization Solitary
Challenge Rating 8
Treasure Standard, plus masterwork composite longbow, +1 studded leather, and +2 ring of protection
Alignment Neutral Good
Advancement By character class (ranger)
Level Adjustment +3

A tall, thin man with striking features and weatherworn clothing, Leo the Wakener is the embodiment of the traveler. A masterfully crafted bow on his back and a sword at his hip, he appears combat-ready and poised, and would seem perfectly normal for his occupation if not for the third eye that gazes lazily from his forehead.

Leo the Wakener is a man from simple origins who came by the path to enlightenment during his travels. Graduating from simple work as a sword-for-hire, a tracker, or a guard, he began to seek personal betterment and awakened himself. Now, instead of traveling merely to attain work and earn money, now he travels to continue his journey for edification but to also spread the word of his own enlightenment to others.

Leo the Wakener is a level 6 ranger. He is 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 183 pounds. He speaks Common, Elven, Goblin, and Orc.

Combat

Leo is a battle-hardened fighter, but he does not relish fighting. Instead, he prefers to be diplomatic and resolve any disputes with his words, but does not hold back when threatened. While he no longer has an animal companion after his previous companion died, he will often use his magic to call an ally to assist him in combat.

Awakened Gaze (Su)
As a standard action, Leo can unleash divine energy in a ray as a ranged touch attack dealing 6d6 damage. This damage is not subject to damage reduction from a non-divine source and has a range of 40 feet. This attack uses his Wisdom modifier in place of Dexterity. This energy may also be unleashed as a 15-foot cone attack dealing 3d6 damage to all enemies in the area. A DC 18 Will save halves this damage. This save is Wisdom-based. This ability is usable 5 times per day.

Spells
Leo casts spells as a 6th-level ranger. He has the following spells prepared: speak with animals, summon nature’s ally i, animal messenger.

Third Eye (Ex)
Leo has a third eye in the middle of his forehead, granting darkvision up to 40 feet, low-light vision, immunity to gaze attacks, and improved uncanny dodge.

Godly Power (Ex)
Leo gains a +4 bonus on all social skill checks with creatures with special knowledge of religion or awakened creatures.

Awakened Wolf
Medium Animal (Augmented)
HD 2d8+4 (13 hp)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Initiative +2
AC 14 (+2 Dex, +2 natural); touch 12; flat-footed 12
BAB +1; Grapple +2
Attack Awakened gaze +4 ranged touch (2d6) or bite +1 melee (1d6+1)
Full-Attack Awakened gaze +4 ranged touch (2d6) and bite +1 melee (1d6+1)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Awakened gaze, trip
Special Qualities Low-light vision, darkvision 30 ft., spell resistance 12, immune to gaze attacks, third eye, uncanny dodge, godly power, scent
Saves Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +3
Abilities Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 5, Wis 16, Cha 6
Skills Hide +2, Knowledge (religion) +2, Knowledge (the planes) +2, Listen +5, Move Silently +3, Spot +5, Survival +3
Feats TrackB, MultiattackB, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment Temperate forests
Organization Solitary, pair, or pack (7-16)
Challenge Rating 3
Advancement 3 HD (Medium); 4-6 HD (Large), or by character class

A lanky wolf lumbers towards you, its eyes gleaming in the night. Suddenly, a third eye appears, but there is no second wolf. The wolf continues to walk towards you as its face becomes illuminated. You see a third eye on its forehead, and it gazes at you knowingly before the wolf opens its mouth and speaks to you in a deep voice. His pack soon surrounds you.

An awakened wolf retains most of its habits, and they usually rise to the upper rank of their pack. Packs led by an awakened wolf are usually less vicious than their non-awakened counterparts, but more successful in surviving in the wilderness. Sometimes, due to the inherited nature of awakening, entire packs will be composed of awakened wolves. These packs are a group of intelligent beings and sometimes even interact with nearby communities. However, despite these tendencies, most awakened wolves are somewhat ostracized (by choice) from their natural community and live a solitary life. They find that they can no longer relate to others of their species due to the gap in intelligence.

Combat

Awakened wolves are cunning and vicious, but do not kill without reason. They are intelligent creatures and act like it. Unlike most wolves, they prefer to ask questions first and fight only when threatened. When attacked, an awakened wolf prefers to trip its opponent or incapacitate them with its awakened gaze before finishing them off with its teeth.

Awakened Gaze (Su)
As a standard action, an awakened wolf can unleash divine energy in a ray as a ranged touch attack dealing 2d6 damage. This damage is not subject to damage reduction from a non-divine source and has a range of 30 feet. This attack uses his Wisdom modifier in place of Dexterity. This energy may also be unleashed as a 15-foot cone attack dealing 1d6 damage to all enemies in the area. A DC 14 Will save halves this damage. This save is Wisdom-based. This ability is usable 3 times per day.

Trip (Ex)
An awakened wolf that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent (+1 check modifier) as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the awakened wolf.

Third Eye (Ex)
An awakened wolf has a third eye in the middle of its forehead, granting darkvision up to 30 feet, low-light vision, immunity to gaze attacks, and uncanny dodge.

Godly Power (Ex)
An awakened wolf gains a +4 bonus on all social skill checks with creatures with special knowledge of religion or awakened creatures.


Creating an Awakened Creature

“Awakened” is a template that can be added to any non-mindless humanoid, monstrous humanoid, giant, fey, outsider, animal, or magical beast (referred to hereafter as the base creature). The awakened template can be inherited or acquired (as described in the Becoming Awakened section below).

Size and Type
The base creature’s size and type do not change.

Special Attacks
The awakened creature retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following attack.

Awakened Gaze (Su)
The awakened creature, as a standard action, can release a ray of divine energy through its third eye. This is a ranged touch attack, and is considered a ray attack for all purposes. This attack has a range equal to the awakened creature’s darkvision range (see table below). When making the ranged touch attack, use the awakened creature’s Wisdom score for determining their attack bonus instead of Dexterity. This attack deals 1d6 damage per hit die. This damage is not subject to damage reduction except for damage reduction granted from a divine source. This ability is usable an amount of times per day equal to the awakened creature’s Wisdom modifier (minimum 1).

Additionally, the awakened creature can instead unleash a torrent of divine energy from its eye, hitting all creatures in a 15-foot cone emanating from its eye. The cone attack deals 1d6 damage plus an additional 1d6 damage for every 3 HD the awakened creature has. This attack provokes a Will save for half damage. The DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 HD + Wisdom modifier.

This attack is considered the awakened creature’s primary natural attack regardless of what the primary natural attack of the base creature was.

Special Qualities
An awakened creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature, and also gains those described below.

Low-light vision.
Spell resistance equal to HD + 10.
Immunity to gaze attacks.
Third Eye (Ex)
The awakened creature gains a third eye in the middle of its forehead, or, if the base creature does not have a forehead, the third eye appears somewhere near its existing eyes or near its brain. If the base creature was blind, it regains its sight capabilities albeit with a -2 penalty on Spot checks. This third eye grants numerous benefits to the awakened creature. The awakened creature gains darkvision and blindsight according to its HD as detailed below.



Hit Dice
Darkvision
Blindsight


1-3
30 ft.
-


4-6
40 ft.
-


7-9
50 ft.
15 ft.


10-12
60 ft.
20 ft.


13-15
70 ft.
30 ft.


16-18
80 ft.
40 ft.


19+
100 ft.
50 ft.



Uncanny Dodge (Ex)
Due to its extra visual capabilities, the awakened creature gains Uncanny Dodge as the barbarian ability.

Godly Power (Ex)
The awakened creature’s third eye is of godly origin, and those with any knowledge of it, or with special knowledge of religious phenomenon, understand the ramifications and treat an awakened creature with extra respect. If a creature is aware of awakened creatures or has at least 4 ranks in Knowledge (religion), the awakened creature gets a +4 bonus on all social skill checks involving that creature.

Abilities
An awakened creature gains a +4 Wisdom and +2 Intelligence. An awakened creature’s minimum Intelligence is 5 (including this bonus). If the base creature was not previously able to speak due to its intelligence or species, it can now speak one language based on that race, or, if there is no racial language, Common.

Skills
An awakened creature gains Knowledge (religion) and Knowledge (the planes) as class skills if they were not already, and a +2 bonus with these skills.

Feats
The awakened creature gains one bonus feat.

Environment
Same as the base creature.

Challenge Rating
+2.

Alignment
Any.

Advancement
By character class.

Level Adjustment
+3.

Awakened Creatures in the World

While a creature can become awakened on its own volition, most are born to awakened parents. If an awakened creature has any offspring, those offspring automatically gain the awakened template. Because of this, communities of awakened creatures exist in the world. These range from small sects of awakened humans, packs of awakened animals, or simply angels who have ascended even higher. Because otherwise low-intelligence creatures can gain the awakened template, this can lead to creatures existing far outside their normal means. While the awakened can exist in many circumstances and many forms, they are still quite rare.

Becoming Awakened

A creature who seeks enlightenment and achieves it becomes an awakened. This process is difficult and requires copious amounts of meditation. In order to become awakened, a creature must meditate for at least 8 hours a day for 30 days in a row. A minimum of 10 Wisdom is required in order to gain the awakened template.

WhiteLycan
2014-01-27, 09:12 PM
In my opinion, the LA is way too low.

A ray and cone that scale with HD.
SR 10 + HD.
Blindsight.
Free uncanny and improved uncanny dodge.
+4 wis and +2 int.
Two automatic class skills with untyped bonuses.
1 free floating feat.

That template is at least a +3 LA, maybe a +4. I believe (because I've never used it) that savage species has a walkthrough of suggested LAs for things.

Vaynor
2014-01-27, 11:20 PM
Yeah, I was on the fence about LA +2/3. I think I'll bump it up to +3 and remove Improved Uncanny Dodge.

WhiteLycan
2014-01-28, 02:36 AM
Might remove the extra feat too, doesn't seem to fit and no other template I've ever seen gives a free feat. Feats come from experience and practice, not applying a template. But that's just me.

I'd also change the Ray to close range (25ft +5ft per HD).

I wouldn't give them automatic skills either. I think it'd fit for them to inherently gain a bonus to them, but a barbarian probably wouldn't study knowledge the planes or religion. What I'm trying to say is that in my opinion, classes should determine what a player can pursue, not its race/template.

Vaynor
2014-01-28, 03:02 AM
Might remove the extra feat too, doesn't seem to fit and no other template I've ever seen gives a free feat. Feats come from experience and practice, not applying a template. But that's just me.

I'd also change the Ray to close range (25ft +5ft per HD).

I wouldn't give them automatic skills either. I think it'd fit for them to inherently gain a bonus to them, but a barbarian probably wouldn't study knowledge the planes or religion. What I'm trying to say is that in my opinion, classes should determine what a player can pursue, not its race/template.

Both the feat and the skills are meant to represent the knowledge they gained while seeking enlightenment. This would require interest in religion, so someone not interested in religion (your example barbarian) would likely not become awakened in the first place. I might add knowledge (religion) to the requirements to becoming awakened, to make that more clear.

Aldurin
2014-01-28, 07:10 AM
Your template uses the Augmented subtype incorrectly. From the SRD


A creature receives this subtype whenever something happens to change its original type.

No type change is specified, thus the creature cannot have the augmented subtype. The point of the subtype is to establish some crossover between the new type and the original type, generally in the form of having the current type's features while having RHD be governed by the original type. So from the mechanical aspect granting the augmented subtype when there's no type change does nothing.

I think the level adjustment might be right on, but I might be misjudging the power level of the attacks gained.

Vaynor
2014-01-28, 06:48 PM
Ah, you're right. I misread the subtype description. I'll just remove the type/subtype change section entirely then.

Debihuman
2014-01-28, 07:51 PM
Just looking at Leo, I see a few issues.

Some of this stat block is off. What is the strength rating of the composite bow? If it is +2 then you note it in the stat block and add your Strength bonus to damage not to hit. A masterwork weapon adds +1 to attack. The text lines for his Ranger abilities is missing.

Attack with bow is BAB 6 plus Dex bonus +1 plus masterwork weapon bonus +1 plus weapon focus feat +1 for a total of +9 ranged.

If his bow is Masterwork that needs to be in his stat block.

I'm not sure if you are leaving in Uncanny Dodge or not. Flat-footed is 17 with Uncanny Dodge and 16 without it. For now it's in the stat block.

Leo the Wakener
Medium Awakened Humanoid (Human), Ranger 6
Hit Dice: 6d8+18 (45 hp)
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Initiative +5
Armor Class: 17 (+1 Dex, +4 Armorfrom +1 studded leather, +2 deflectionfrom +2 ring of protection ); touch 13; flat-footed 17
BAB/Grapple: +6/+8
Attack: Mwk composite longbow (+2 Str bonus) +9 ranged (1d8+2/x3) or longsword +8 melee (1d8+2/19-20) or awakened gaze +11 ranged touch (6d6)
Full Attack Mwk Composite longbow (+2 Str bonus) +9/+4 ranged (1d8+2/x3) or longsword +8/+3 melee (1d8+2/19-20) or awakened gaze +11 ranged touch (6d6)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Awakened gaze, spells
Special Qualities: Darkvision 40 ft., favored enemy (giants, orcs), godly power, immune to gaze attacks, low-light vision, spell resistance 16, third eye, uncanny dodge, wild empathy
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +9
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 17, Wis 21, Cha 15
Skills: Climb +9, Handle Animal +8, Heal +12, Jump +8, Knowledge (geography) +10, Knowledge (religion) +17, Knowledge (nature) +10, Knowledge (the planes) +5, Listen +8, Move Silently +6, Ride +5, Spot +10, Survival +12, Swim +5, Use Rope +7
Feats: Weapon Focus (longbow), Iron Will, TrackB, Rapid ShotB, EnduranceB, Improved Initiative, Precise Shot, ManyshotB, Skill Focus (knowledge (religion))B
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 8
Treasure: Standard, plus masterwork composite longbow, +1 (strength rating +2) studded leather, and +2 ring of protection
Alignment Neutral Good
Advancement By character class (ranger)
Level Adjustment +3

Debby

Vaynor
2014-01-30, 06:12 PM
Thanks Debi! I ended up changing the template a bit after making the stat block and obviously forgot to change a few things. It's hard to remember what needs changing when dealing with a stat block like that, at least for me. I'll fix the errors.

WhiteLycan
2014-01-30, 10:00 PM
This sounds more like a PrC to me than a template. Especially if you're going to give it prerequisites.