[3.5] A Sentient Hat Piloting A Mannequin

[Thurbane]

So I saw a joke in the FB feed today, about terrible character ideas, one of which was "A Sentient Hat Piloting A Mannequin".

I was wondering, how would you do this RAW in 3.5? Doesn't need to be a PC playable character, NPC would be fine.

My first thoughts are an intelligent magic item (maybe Hat of Disguise), dominating an unintelligent Construct or Undead? Does item domination even work on mindless creatures?

Creature wise there is Raggamoffyn or (awakened) Raiment, but neither are really "hats".

For the "mannequin", maybe Zombie, or Wood Golem (Dragon 341 - although I prefer avoiding Dragon content). Animated Object (mannequin)?

All feedback welcome, but the closer we stick to 3.5 RAW (no PF, no homebrew) the better for my own purposes.

Cheers - T

[Dimers]

Yeah, I'd go for intelligent-item hat. One relatively cheap way to 'drive' is getting an actual mannequin object and using control object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/controlObject.htm) power as a continual magic item (since the duration is so short).

[Thurbane]

There actually aren't that many magical hats in D&D that I can find, although you could re-fluff helms etc. I guess.

Bird Feather Headdress (?)
Cowl of Warding (?)
Hat of Anonymity
Hat of Disguise

..also, list of intelligent item powers is pretty limited in terms of things that would be useful for animating a mannequin. BoED adds a few new intelligent item powers, but not many. I also feels there's an Eberron book that adds a whole bunch of minor powers (mostly cosmetic) that can be added to items?


Found it. Just in case anyone else ever has this question, I was thinking of the "Magic Item Effects" sidebar in Secrets of Xen'drik, page 157.


Just stumbled upon a source for some new Intelligent item powers by chance - BoED of all places.

Several of the intelligent items (pages 116-118) have powers beyond those listed in the DMG:


Caduceus - ease pain 1/day, vision of heaven 3/day
Hwyrr, the Clarion Harp - elation 3/day, Faerinaal's hymn
Iasalas, the Watershod - water walk 3/day
Torvion, the Fifth Shield - eyes of the avoral
Zaethwar, the Sinflayer - ease pain 3/day, refereshment 3/day


Now I want to check intelligent items in other source-books and see if any other new powers have been slipped in there.

[Dimers]

You'd prefer not to use the design-your-own-item rules, then? 'Cos a continual item of control object could certainly be a hat, and could be intelligent.

[daremetoidareyo]

Soulfused construct dustform mimic (hat) riding a mannequin animated object companion because of the class levels in urban druid?

[Thurbane]

You'd prefer not to use the design-your-own-item rules, then? 'Cos a continual item of control object could certainly be a hat, and could be intelligent.

Ideally no, but it always an option.


Soulfused construct dustform mimic (hat) riding a mannequin animated object companion because of the class levels in urban druid?

Fiendishly complex. I love it. Downside is that Soulfused has an Int score barely higher than a dog.

[tyckspoon]

Fiends of Possession (fiendish Prestige Class, Fiend Folio iirc) and Haunting Presences (Libris Mortis, a kind of undead that can be created with the Haunt Shift spell) have rules allowing them to possess and animate an object. The same rules, in fact, they're largely copy-pastes of each other.

[Thurbane]

Fiends of Possession (fiendish Prestige Class, Fiend Folio iirc) and Haunting Presences (Libris Mortis, a kind of undead that can be created with the Haunt Shift spell) have rules allowing them to possess and animate an object. The same rules, in fact, they're largely copy-pastes of each other.

Interesting - were you thinking FoP to animate the mannequin, or FoP inside the hat?

Maybe an intelligent magic item hat, dominating the FoP inside the mannequin?

[Luccan]

Not sure about host, but what about the Raggamoffyn from MM II? It has a host control ability and can be made of any discarded items. The smallest might work as forming a hat on their host.

[The Viscount]

A Haunting presence (Libris Mortis pg 6) focused on the hat potentially riding a mannequin animated by a fiend of possession? Or perhaps the other way around. The rules don't really address what happens if there's a struggle for control, but might work. I'd just say they're bickering about every decision.

A Haunting presence of a Deathshead (Tome of Magic) haunting a hat on top of a Warforged with Darkwood body should do it, alternatively.

[Venger]

Ideally no, but it always an option.



Fiendishly complex. I love it. Downside is that Soulfused has an Int score barely higher than a dog.

Give the hat a headband of intellect to make it smarter.

Psionic sandwich into a hat is also an option and provides native access to control object. An animated object mannequin with control body when it needed to exert precise manipulation is also an option.

Gotta do something with all those training dummies of the master after they get used.

[Biggus]

Reminds me of the Archchancellor's hat in Terry Pratchett's Sourcery, start off as merely an intelligent item which persuades its wearer to do things its way, but when he fails a will save and loses his mind it continues moving his body around like a puppet anyway.

[ben-zayb]

Ghostly Visage is more mask than hat, but that seems the closest in concept to what you are trying to do.

[Bohandas]

You'd prefer not to use the design-your-own-item rules, then? 'Cos a continual item of control object could certainly be a hat, and could be intelligent.

Or the item itself could take levels in a class that can take the control object power. Its a psionic ability so the item's inability to move on its own presents no obstacle


There actually aren't that many magical hats in D&D that I can find, although you could re-fluff helms etc. I guess.

Bird Feather Headdress (?)
Cowl of Warding (?)
Hat of Anonymity
Hat of Disguise

..also, list of intelligent item powers is pretty limited in terms of things that would be useful for animating a mannequin. BoED adds a few new intelligent item powers, but not many. I also feels there's an Eberron book that adds a whole bunch of minor powers (mostly cosmetic) that can be added to items?

It's relatively simple to reverse-engineer the pricing formula

[Jack_Simth]

So I saw a joke in the FB feed today, about terrible character ideas, one of which was "A Sentient Hat Piloting A Mannequin".

I was wondering, how would you do this RAW in 3.5? Doesn't need to be a PC playable character, NPC would be fine.
If it doesn't need to be a PC?

An Intelligent Magic Item (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm) is an NPC (type construct) with an Int score.
It can thus take class levels.
Give it levels in Psion (preferrably Egoist, so it can have hands when it needs them).
It eventually builds a Psion Killer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/psionKiller.htm), which it rides on and orders around.

Any construct would do, really, and it doesn't necessarily have to have crafted it itself. Psion is particularly useful due to the lack of a need for components.

[Malphegor]

The way I'd do it if you don't want to be a ghost is as follows:

How about an Intelligent Item Hat of Animate Objects, which is also an ancestral relic (because you might as well upgrade yourself), and you've been handed down for generations.

(assuming level 5 spell if created by an Urban Druid), you technically only need to be active for 16 hours/day since everybody tends to rest 8 hours but I dunno how to parse that in the formulas for custom items.

Should be... Spell level × caster level × 2,000 gp

So 5x9x2000... So...90000gp to exist, I think? Maybe there should be a discount there since you have to constantly be touching the animated object?

As an Ancestral relic though you probably don't need to pay this gold yourself, instead this was your cost of creation by the people who owned you.

Plus side of this method is you can animate any inanimate object that Animate Objects can up to caster level of 9.

[Heliomance]

Dvati Fiend of Posession, one in the hat, one in the mannequin? Alternatively, the hat body could be Psionic Sandwich'd rather than possessing it.

[SangoProduction]

Spheres of Power has the Wraith class (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/wraith). While it was designed for pathfinder, and uses way too much text for what it does, the two systems are similar enough for it not to matter much.

If you take Path of the Poltergeist:

The poltergeist may actively possess unattended objects, animating them to serve. These objects count as being willing. The object must be of a size the wraith could animate per the Animate Objects talent of the Enhancement sphere, using his class level as his caster level. The object gains the statistics and abilities as an animated object per the Animate Object talent of the Enhancement sphere.

So, you get to possess objects as part of a class, rather than as a 14 HD demon/devil who then takes a prestige class.

You may take Object Ride as a Wraith Haunt at level 3 (or level 1, with the archetype below), letting you make a hat your Refuge, letting you stay in the hat indefinitely, until you want to possess the manikin.

The wraith may spend a spell point to passively possess an object for up to 1 hour per level. Attended objects receive a Will save. The object can be no smaller than Tiny and no larger than Huge. At level 10, the minimum object size decreases to Diminutive and the maximum increases to Gargantuan. The wraith retains his normal senses while possessing an object.

Additionally, the wraith may designate a single object within the normal limits as his refuge. Possessing the refuge does not require a spell point. Designating an object as a refuge requires a 1-hour ritual. Designating a new object causing any previous refuges to cease functioning as a refuge.

And lastly, you can take the Unbodied class archetype (http://spheresofpower.wikidot.com/unbodied), which basically makes it so you aren't allowed to not be possessing something. Thus, you aren't a person possessing a hat. You are just a hat spirit.

[ShurikVch]

The Hat is Telepath/Thrallherd who rolled 100 on Reincarnate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/reincarnate.htm) table and was turned into Cerebral Hood symbiont (Fiend Folio)
The Mannequin is Medium-sized Awakened Tree
The Hat is shaped like a hat, and tree - like a mannequin, because somebody used on them Despoiler of Flesh (major artifact from Book of Vile Darkness, works like PAO on steroids, but too excessive changes may kill the target)

[Segev]

I don't have much to contribute to the mechanical conversation, here, but I think I found the perfect character image:

http://www.geocities.ws/kmcphai1/jeff.jpg

[Bohandas]

I don't have much to contribute to the mechanical conversation, here, but I think I found the perfect character image:

http://www.geocities.ws/kmcphai1/jeff.jpg
That was my favorite show when I was a kid

[Telonius]

That was my favorite show when I was a kid

If there is a command word involved anywhere, it has to be "Hocus Pocus Alimagocus."

[unseenmage]

Hm.

Plants count as objects for the purposes of spells

Are there any hag plants that we could awaken and play?

Maybe just use the 3.0 LA for a treant or Animated Object and have its roots puppeteer an ancient giant statue from whose head it grows?


Arms and Equipment Guide should have some fashionable headwear. As should the weather outside books. Stuffing magic into them shouldnt be too hard.
Psionic sandwhich or that spell that copy pastes a personality could work.
This doesnt give us control though.

Symbiotic template where a Greater Humanoid Essenced Animated Object Hat has been fused to the head of something playable?