A different kind of divine enforcer

[Captain Kablam]

Essentially, in a campaign I'm running the players are seeking the Macguffin treasure, and a god (one of the good guy ones) sends down an agent to stop 'em. Simple enough.

However, rather than simply throwing an angel at 'em (because aside from being too obvious, it ruins the potential for good "Nice Job Breaking It, Hero" moments later on), I'm making a heavy hitter more inspired from Hindu mythology (side note: should I really call it that? it's an actual religion followed, not a dead belief system).

Getting to the heart of the matter, one, are there any player races, not homebrewed, that have more than one arm? Two, is there any precedent for LA when it comes to adding limbs? Three, do Dragon Shaman levels at all count for the purposes of prestige classes that require Caster Levels, and if so what gets progressed when said class may improve spells per day? Four, are there any books or Dragon mags, as far as 3.5 is concerned, that strike up things with a flair for Hindu?

[Red Fel]

1. Diopsid and Thri-keen come to mind. Both are insectoid, though. Don't know if that's quite what you had in mind.

2. The Insectile template in Savage Species is LA +2, and it grants four extra arms, changes type, adds climb speed and natural AC, tremorsense, unflankable, and increases to Dex and Wis. It's actually a bit insane what you get for just +2. I could see it being a +1 LA if you're just adding arms, although I can't think of RAW for that. Remember also that there are various arm grafts you can take instead, and they don't cost LA.

3. I don't believe that Dragon Shamans count as casters. Maybe if they used invocations, but that's not the case. I don't think they count, and I don't think they benefit from "+1 spellcaster level" PrCs.

4. Have you heard about Rakshasas? They're all over the place, frighteningly powerful, generally Evil. You could certainly make the case that one has been coerced into or voluntarily sought redemption via service to a Good deity, however, and the players would be understandable in assuming it was naughty.

[Seerow]

DMG2 had rules for some weird templates, I think that an extra set of arms is one of the ones included. I'll check.


Edit: DMG2 page 157. Aberrant Limbs Unique NPC Ability. +1 CR/+2 LA. Gains the multi-weapon fighting feat as a bonus feat.