Using animated objects

[danielxcutter]

I've looked at them, and I think that while they're not super powerful, they could work.

A few questions:


What shape of object is ideal? Does it even matter that much? I hear wagons are decent...

So, I can only make animated objects that aren't made of magical material, then? If GP value is no problem, then what should they be made of, if possible? Adamantine is great, but are there any others?

How tough are they to fight, anyways? At high levels they're not even a joke, but at low levels, an animated adamantine statue would be reeeaaally tough to fight.

[Inevitability]

1. Ideally, you want something that is flexible and sheetlike, but also counts as wheeled, with as high a hardness as possible. A large, wheel-shaped cloth woven from adamantine fiber (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_fiber) could be considered to qualify on all accounts, or at least on three of them.

2. I suggest checking this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?442820-Special-Materials-Index) list.

3. Animated objects can represent so many creatures of so many kinds that judging whether they're tough for something of their CR isn't really an answerable question. At best, you could describe one specific instance and ask whether it's too strong or weak.

[danielxcutter]

1. Ideally, you want something that is flexible and sheetlike, but also counts as wheeled, with as high a hardness as possible. A large, wheel-shaped cloth woven from adamantine fiber (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_fiber) could be considered to qualify on all accounts, or at least on three of them.

2. I suggest checking this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?442820-Special-Materials-Index) list.

3. Animated objects can represent so many creatures of so many kinds that judging whether they're tough for something of their CR isn't really an answerable question. At best, you could describe one specific instance and ask whether it's too strong or weak.

Hmm... How about an animated Riverine statue, for starters?

[Deophaun]

So, I can only make animated objects that aren't made of magical material, then? If GP value is no problem, then what should they be made of, if possible? Adamantine is great, but are there any others?

Hmm... How about an animated Riverine statue, for starters?

The water swirls and flows continuously, sandwiched between fields of magical force
Probably not.

[Psyren]

In Pathfinder they're pretty customizable due to the CP mechanic. They start out a bit weaker since you need to spend CP to get them back to the material's baseline hardness, but you can add bonus attacks, special abilities and other things.

[noob]

And if using pathfinder you can make a tiny animated object with many natural attacks and which is usable as an arm and then make it gain tons of str or dex by spending 5000 gold every 2 str and then you can give anything the ability to one full round attack everything to death with only gold.

[danielxcutter]

Hmm, I see. What about in 3.5?

[noob]

I believe my favourite animated object in 3.5 is diminutive adamentine weave carpet with two wheels.
If you want to you can give him natural weapons of anything you can mind control: get an amulet of natural weapon throwing and make wolves or whatever throw its natural weapons then grab them and give them to the animated object(since it is a construct it will be proficient with all the natural weapons it gets "Proficient with its natural weapons only")

[Psyren]

Hmm, I see. What about in 3.5?

In 3.5 the abilities are based solely on the object's shape. Thus to get a variety of abilities you need pretty incongruous objects like the adamantine carpet with wheels described above.

[danielxcutter]

In 3.5 the abilities are based solely on the object's shape. Thus to get a variety of abilities you need pretty incongruous objects like the adamantine carpet with wheels described above.

That's kinda silly.

[Âmesang]

I want to pull an Exodus: Ultima III and animate the floor (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jmgoFYt8y0&t=5m30s). :smalltongue: (Bit of language warning in the link)

[unseenmage]

In 3.0 there was also the Minor Servitor spell from Savage Species. It made free willed intelligent animated objects that could be dispelled. Was technically overwritten by the Awaken Construct printing in Spell Compendium.
I still use it though.

As for materials, RAW Riverine works just fine. It is explicitly a special material and special materials are explicitly not magic items.

By a similar token an object afffected by Shrink Item can also be affected by Animate Objects because simply affecting an object woth a spell does not make it a Magic Item.

Which leads me to another fun trick, use Hardening, Augment Object, etc on your object before Animating it.
There's even a spell in one of the Dragon Mags (sorry can NEVER remember its name) that grants the Hardness of stone to whatever object you use it on.

Alchemical items are also not Magic Items and can therefore be Animate Object-ed. Shapesand being a favorite of mine. Though Awaken Sand gets you a more powerful Construct, it is free willed.

Animating a humanoid leaves the option of Permanency + Awaken Construct on it later if so desired. Be aware though, the 'Dispellable' quality, due to there being no RAW on the issue, might peraist; which leads to weirdness.
In PF however, your Animated Objects can alternatively just be created as golem-like true constructs from the start.

Speaking of humanoids, Animate Object corpses are a hilarious way to prank the local clergy.

Other favorite special materials of mine include Living Metal, Livewood, Aurorum, Soarwood, Obdurium, and Thinaun Steel. Wovem together into a single statue that is then animated you can get some really odd side effects implied.
Like if there's a soul trapped in the Thinaun Steel yout construct technically contains a soul.
The Livewood makes it at least partly alive.
The Soarwood can make it lighter than air if there's enough.
The Living Metal parts technically regain hp.
And the Aurorum, if used for its nat weapons, can reform if sundered.
Add in some Shapesand and Quintessence and things get REAL fun. :smallsmile:

As far as I know there is exactly zero benefit to the Animated Object from being composed of different special mateials/alchemical substances. Upon animation you just pick one of the Hardnesses and the critter gets that one.

Speaking of Quintessence, it has got to be my favorite thing to Animate that I've never gotten to play with. Just imagine a rolling wad of timestuff mucking about for amusement.
Quintessence can be aninated because, like the stone created with Wall of Stone, the substance made is real and physical with a delineated weight and volume. Both spells have an Instantaneous duration so both substances are objects and not magical effects.

Other than that the only other !!FUN!! uses I can recall for Animate Objects involve some of Tippy's old suggestions.
Things like Animated Objects all get their own actions so arrange them correctly and they could commoner railgun wands to each other and even fire them potentially.
Or even building your castle from all Aninated Object stones so that when attacked the entire thing can defend you.

Edit: Oh yeah, almost forgot. If you plan on giving your Animated Objects Intelligence later on there are some monstrous feats that are Natural Weapon specific so building your Obdurium statue with horns and a tail and four arms is probably a good idea.
Building them with wings of course should be a no brainer.

[noob]

By raw wings do not make animated objects fly unless the gm choose them to work this way.(there is a list of stuff which helps movement and it says that other stuff might change the movement in other ways but wings are not in the first list so it do not necessarily allows to fly unlike being cloth like which allows flight)

[Nodsiu]

What if wings be cloth like?

[noob]

I was wrong on cloth like it is sheet like:

A sheetlike object can fly (clumsy maneuverability) at half its normal speed
well the object needs to be sheet like so only having wings that are sheet like without being sheet like is insufficient.
But now if you make a sheet like object with wings it will still be able to fly but the wings were not needed for flight.(but there is feats based on having wings which is why unseen mage gave it wings)

[Psyren]

As for materials, RAW Riverine works just fine. It is explicitly a special material and special materials are explicitly not magic items.

Except Riverine's description explicitly says it is magical. Specific trumps general.

[unseenmage]

Except Riverine's description explicitly says it is magical. Specific trumps general.

Probably, I never used the stuff myself. Abhor it on principle. It just doesnt fit the mold of 'special material'. Should have been a spell effect.