Gaining templates as rewards

[crouchingmoose]

I'm doing a high powered campaign where by the end each PC will be some of the most powerful beings in existence. Part of this power is going to come in the form the PCs each gaining a template (that represents a fragment of their power from a past life). The issue I'm running into is I can't decide on templates for 2 of the characters. Based on how the rewards are being gained, it's fine if they are inherited or acquired. I'd like to keep the difference is power for the characters about even, so please don't suggest Paragon or something like it. Any ideas on templates they would be happy with that also have minimum negatives with them


What I've got so far is
Cleric gets Saint
Shadowcraft Mage is getting Dark
Elan Psionic Monk is getting a Psionic flavored version of Spellwarped.



The 2 PCs I'm having trouble with are

Killoren Druid/Master of many forms/Planar druid of Lamannia (Been looking at Greenbound [I'm afraid might be to powerful] and Woodling [meh], shes Wildshape focused BTW)

Warforged Artificer (Really haven't seen anything that jumped out at me)

[Pyromancer999]

Well, woodling would fit with the Killoren part of the Killoren Druid, depending on the exact fluff for what exactly the Killoren represents.

As for the Warforged, Dustform is always powerful template for a Construct.

Also, comments on the rest:

-The Saint template fits themeatically, but it is also well-known for being one of the most powerful templates for its LA. You may want to consider something else for that one, perhaps something more tied to its deity's fluff.

-The Shadowcraft Mage seems to be getting the short end of the Stick with this. Why not go up another LA and just give them the Shadow creature template?

-For the Elan monk, Phrenic would most likely be better than a modified Spellwarped, even if you apply it despite the Elan already being a psionic creature.

Overall, the power level of the templates is pretty unequal as-is. It would probably be best to do some more research so that you can make the power gains more equal than not.

[Mr Adventurer]

Dark is bull**** in comparison to Saint! If Saint is your benchmark you need to ante up.

[Blackhawk748]

Id go with Shadow over Dark, and Saint is the only template ive ever heard of that is still worth its LA without Buy Off, as most of its powers level up with you. Im gonna second Dustform, not only is it potent but its cool.

[crouchingmoose]

Overall, the power level of the templates is pretty unequal as-is. It would probably be best to do some more research so that you can make the power gains more equal than not.

yeah I was afraid of that. I'm starting to think about possibly giving some characters multiple templates to give them the same amount of power boost that the Cleric would be getting from saint. I think it's worth mentioning that all of these templates aren't going to be applied until the characters are trying to prep for the final fight against the BBEG so the LA wont really come into effect since they wont be leveling after getting the templates anyways. What template combinations would you guys recommend that could match saint in terms of power (ignoring LA of course)?

[Flickerdart]

What if you gave them bloodlines instead of templates? They're all relatively similar in power.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Cleric: Saint is way better than you may realize, make sure the rest of the party gets templates of comparable power.

Shadowcraft Mage: Shadow Creature from Lords of Madness (also in Manual of the Planes) would be better, if you think it's too good then make the every-4-HD abilities only gained via racial HD, so he only ever gets one of those.

Psionic Monk: Phrenic Creature (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm), and let him spend a feat on Magic in the Blood from PGtF to make all the 1/day abilities usable 3/day. Also consider switching the Wis and Cha bonuses it gives him, and making the DCs for what it grants Wis-based.

Killoren Druid: Half-Elemental in Manual of the Planes (Update Booklet (https://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a) puts them at +3 LA) get a lot of bonuses but it's spread around enough that it won't be any better than Saint, plus some themed spell-like abilities. Air and Water both give +2 Wis, and both have their share of fun/useful spell-like abilities.

Warforged Artificer: It really depends on what he does. Is he a blastificer, buffificer, meleeficer, archerficer, minionficer, or some combination of those? You're also somewhat limited as most templates can't be applied to Warforged. There's Half-Fiend (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/halfFiend.htm) or some portion thereof (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/sp/20031010a), and there are also variants for that (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20060630x&page=1) so you can base it on a specific fiendish ancestor.

[Dread_Head]

Half Fey could work for the Killoren Druid.

[crouchingmoose]

Talking about this here has definitely help me come up with some answers. If each character only gets 1 template, then they are all going to be outclassed by the saint template. That much has been made apparent. What I'm thinking the best thing to do now is to come up with something that fits each character, but can be equally as awesome as the saint template.

So far I'm sold on the LoM shadow template for the Shadowcraft mage (total concealment is perfect for him)
For the druid, I'm starting to like the idea of her getting access to all of the Half-Elemental templates and either picking one when she picks her Killoren aspect, or being able to switch between them at the same speed she wild shapes.
The psionic monk, i'm thinking something along the lines of Ioun stones, enough to match the power these templates are giving (using the implanted rules from Pathfinder so they are permanent and he doesn't have to worry about them)
Still not sure about the WF Artificer, but I'm still playing with some ideas.

Like I said, these are all just ideas, but I wanted the communities opinions on them.