(3.5) Mineral Warrior

[Zanthy1]

Hello Playground!

I found this cool template in the Underdark book, page 110, and I want to hear various opinions on it. From what I can see, for a +1 LA, its fantastic! What do you think? I almost cannot believe how great it is, so please share!

Thank you!

[GoodbyeSoberDay]

It's overpowered at lower levels, interesting at mid-levels (when you're probably buying it off), and "meh" at higher levels, like most nice things for melee. Also it has the unfortunate tendency to turn you into an awful-looking rock monster. Invest in a hat of disguise ASAP.

[Fouredged Sword]

I like to allow it to be used. Note the three BIG weaknesses it has.

A - It enslaves you to a caster for a year. You cannot cast it on yourself so there is a year of service somewhere. The best way around this involves a simulacrum reading a scroll then being destroyed to prevent you from having to serve it, but that is expensive.

B - Getting it relatively strings free should cost the character the cost of a scroll of the spell generalize warrior. I would likely add any other expenses to the tab as well, like a scroll of simulacrum.

C - You are now vulnerable to rebuke earth creature, and you likely don't have turning resistance. That evil dwarf cleric is a LOT more deadly.

Yes, it is a good template for LA 1, but it has some drawbacks, and should also cost a chunk of WBL preventing it from being accessed by characters low enough level that it is still overpowered. Also, the delayed application increases the cost of buying off the LA considerably.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Look up the spell Mineralize Warrior in that same book, that's the only way to gain that template. Note its high gp and XP cost, plus being forced to serve the caster for a year and a day. Standard NPC spellcasting fees (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/goodsAndServices.htm#spell) would put that at 660 gp + 1,750 gp per HD of the target, when you convert the xp cost into 5 gp per 1 xp. Going by standard WBL, you wouldn't be able to afford that until 6th level, and it would take nearly all of your character's total wealth.

You could possibly begin play with it at 2nd level, and say that your year of servitude paid the casting cost, but that would be entirely up to your DM (and that year of service may not be over yet!). Use it with caution.

[Fouredged Sword]

It works really well to give a cohort a lot more survive-ability. I have also used it as dominate+ for an evil wizard. Knock your target out for more than an hour, apply template, get slave for 1 year. Grab the earth domain for rebuke earth creature so you can control even more warriors with no time limit.

[ShurikVch]

A - It enslaves you to a caster for a year. You cannot cast it on yourself so there is a year of service somewhere. But why you can't? What's prevent it?
Otherwise, just cast it on your party's melee

[Cruiser1]

But why you can't? What's prevent it?
The Mineralize Warrior spell says the target "must be restrained in a coffinlike enclosure of stone for the duration of the casting. (Thus, you cannot be the subject of your own spell.)" In other words, you can't subject yourself to the spell because the rules say you can't. :smalltongue:

However, perhaps you can still cast this on yourself if you can do it while restrained in an enclosure of stone? Perhaps if you cast Wall of Stone around yourself, and then cast Mineralize Warrior with the Still Spell metamagic feat? Maybe Silent Spell is needed too, although I assume the target can at least breathe in their enclosure, otherwise most would die due to lack of air during the hour long casting time.

[ShurikVch]

snip
Authors always show surprising close-mindness about such things.
What if you use some trigger item to cast it?
What if you use Uncanny Forethought to cut down the casting time?
What if you make a Living Spell (Mineralize Warrior) and allow it to hit you?

[TuggyNE]

Authors always show surprising close-mindness about such things.
What if you use some trigger item to cast it?
What if you use Uncanny Forethought to cut down the casting time?

Unless you can get it to activate "remotely", but still with you as the caster, it shouldn't work.


What if you make a Living Spell (Mineralize Warrior) and allow it to hit you?

That would work fine. Just dandy, in fact. You would spend your year and a day of servitude doing whatever the living ooze wanted you to.

…

No thanks.

[ShurikVch]

Unless you can get it to activate "remotely", but still with you as the caster, it shouldn't work. Contingency/Contingent Spell/Attuned gem/Rune/Magical trap, crafted by you, with activation condition "When restrained in a coffinlike enclosure of stone"


That would work fine. Just dandy, in fact. You would spend your year and a day of servitude doing whatever the living ooze wanted you to.

…

No thanks.Than beforehand Mind Switch. Living Spell become your thrall, and you got mineralized body

[tri]

The mineral warrior template is only REALLy strong in the lower levels. The burrow speed is pretty much the only thing that makes the template worthwhile at high levels, as the natural armor bonus is negligible considering most monsters of the higher CRs have really high attack bonuses, and taking 8 less damage isn't that good anymore unless you're facing against monsters with multiple attacks. Oh, while not serious, it sucks to have a lowered Will save.

If you're gonna use it for lower levels, it's great an, but as the game progresses the template loses much of its benefits, and you'd be much better off with an extra level in whatever class/prestige class you're taking. I won't recommend the template to any character playing to high levels, unless you can buy it off.

[Fouredged Sword]

The best way I have found to make it work without the enslavement is to create a simulcrum of yourself and have it read a scroll of mineralize warrior. You are now enslaved to a simulcrum of yourself, but it is already a slave to you, so order it to not ever give you orders before the transformation. You need at least 1 rank of UMD to pull this off, but little else. (a potion of guidance of the avatar will handle the rest of the skill DC problem)

Now, another interesting idea is to use share spell to cast this on your familiar or mount. You can bypass the type restriction with share spell and give your magical beast a boost in toughness, and a paladin mount with a burrow speed can be a lot of fun. No LA to buy off because they are not advancing by character level.

[ShurikVch]

Fission (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/fission.htm) - and you are slave of yourself :smallcool:

[Fouredged Sword]

Need to get around the 1/round per level duration of fission and the 1 hour cast time of mineral warrior. By the time you have a Cl of 300, you don't need mineralize warrior.

[ShurikVch]

Need to get around the 1/round per level duration of fission and the 1 hour cast time of mineral warrior. By the time you have a Cl of 300, you don't need mineralize warrior. Uncanny Forethought (http://dndtools.eu/feats/exemplars-of-evil--64/uncanny-forethought--3009/)
As a standard action, you can use one of these slots to cast a spell that you selected for the Spell Mastery feat.


Also,

SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/potionsAndOils.htm)
Drinking a potion or using an oil on an item of gear is a standard action. The potion or oil takes effect immediately. There are numerous ways to lower spell's level or brew potions of spell which level higher than 3rd

[geekintheground]

another consideration is the loss of flying forever. i managed to convince my DM that air walk still worked, but YMMV

[ShurikVch]

another consideration is the loss of flying forever. i managed to convince my DM that air walk still worked, but YMMV It's not like it. (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20031003e)
Speed: The mineral warrior gains a burrow speed equal to one-half the base creature's highest speed. The base creature loses its fly ability, if any. Where it said "forever"? It just lose it's current fly ability, if any. Any fly speed it may gain later should work just fine

[geekintheground]

huh.... for some reason i just figured the "loses its ability to fly" meant it couldnt gain that ability. sweet

[Zanthy1]

Very interesting, but on the template itself, page 98, does it mention the requirements to apply it? I don't have the book on me but I did not see anything saying you needed to go through a special ritual, only that the template could be applied to any race. I could be wrong as I have not read the passage since posting this

[Segev]

Let's not overlook Magic Jar. Put your comatose body in the stone coffin after Magic Jarring a random commoner you're paying 1 gp for a day of borrowing his body for non-hazardous labor. Mineralize Warrior yourself. If you're worried the commoner might become your boss for a year, instead animate and Command a skeleton, then Magic Jar it. You can even destroy the skeleton after you're done Mineralizing yourself and getting your body into a position it can free itself.

[Starchild7309]

I used this on my cohort when I was playing a wizard. Its good enough that since its a "rare" spell, I had to do a drow some major favor to learn it, then I had to convince my cohort to let me cast it on him. He was an earth genasi, so I did this whole, getting closer to your heritage sales pitch. It made my fighter cohort bad azz...we were mid level if i remember correctly at the time so it was well worth it. I think it depends on what hoops your DM may make you jump through to get it. Kinda hard to convince someone to be your slave for a year to become more powerful, especially if you have a reputation for doing dangerous things.