Type change priority

[Wildstag]

So a recent character of mine had the potential to gain two creature types through multiple character options. In this case, it was the potential to become a saint before finishing the PrC Primeval. Would I have changed from Humanoid to Outsider to Magical Beast? Or would the Outsider overrule them all.

As an alternative, suppose I were playing a character with the Draconic racial class. At whatever level I finish it at, I become a Dragon. If I were later to complete the Green Star Adept PrC, I would logically swap from Dragon to Construct.

To take it a step further, if an undead creature ends up becoming, say, a Divine Agent, do they lose Undead status and become an Outsider at level 10?

How do creature types interact with each other? Does the most recent one always override the previous ones or could one type always take priority?

[Doctor Despair]

So a recent character of mine had the potential to gain two creature types through multiple character options. In this case, it was the potential to become a saint before finishing the PrC Primeval. Would I have changed from Humanoid to Outsider to Magical Beast? Or would the Outsider overrule them all.

As an alternative, suppose I were playing a character with the Draconic racial class. At whatever level I finish it at, I become a Dragon. If I were later to complete the Green Star Adept PrC, I would logically swap from Dragon to Construct.

To take it a step further, if an undead creature ends up becoming, say, a Divine Agent, do they lose Undead status and become an Outsider at level 10?

How do creature types interact with each other? Does the most recent one always override the previous ones or could one type always take priority?

The newest one changes their type, as far as I'm aware. So they'd go from Humanoid to Outsider to Magical Beast, as you said... although, as I'm typing that, I feel like there was a hierarchy of types that prevented you from doing things like changing dragon or undead types to other types. An initial google search doesn't yield anything on "type hierarchy" though. Can anyone verify, or am I making that up?

[Kelb_Panthera]

Savage Species has a type pyramid. Outsider and undead sit at the top IIRC.

[Doctor Despair]

Savage Species has a type pyramid. Outsider and undead sit at the top IIRC.

Ah, gotcha. So that would mean this character would become an outsider and stay one, with whatever subtypes they've accumulated along the way, I think.

[frogglesmash]

Type Pyramid:
1. Animal, Humanoid, Vermin
2. Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid
3. Fey, Giant
4. Dragon, Humanoid (Shapechanger)
5. Aberration
6. Elemental, Ooze, Plant
7. Construct, Outsider, Undead

Kind of a weird choice to include "Humanoid (Shapechanger)," and no other subtype combos. Maybe it was to accommodate lycanthropes.

[Khedrac]

Type Pyramid:
1. Animal, Humanoid, Vermin
2. Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid
3. Fey, Giant
4. Dragon, Humanoid (Shapechanger)
5. Aberration
6. Elemental, Ooze, Plant
7. Construct, Outsider, Undead

Kind of a weird choice to include "Humanoid (Shapechanger)," and no other subtype combos. Maybe it was to accommodate lycanthropes.

The problem is that Savage Species and the Type Pyramid is 3.0 not 3.5 and so it needs the DM to update it to 3.5 Shapechanger wasn't a subtype in 3.0, it was a type in its own right (so it blocked anti-humanoid spells).

[Wildstag]

Interesting. So then a Dragon would lose a lot to become an Outsider, by way of losing immunities and hd while only gaining the need to not eat or drink. I wonder then, if in my example of an Undead becoming a Divine Agent, if there'd be any changes. I see that Vecna is an Undead instead of an Outsider like the other deities, so maybe they just wouldn't become an Outsider at level 9. They would certainly lose a lot anyway, I think everything loses by becoming an Outsider.

[ShurikVch]

Don't forget about such thing as Augmented Subtype (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/typesSubtypes.htm#augmentedSubtype):

A creature receives this subtype whenever something happens to change its original type. Some creatures (those with an inherited template) are born with this subtype; others acquire it when they take on an acquired template. The augmented subtype is always paired with the creature’s original type. A creature with the augmented subtype usually has the traits of its current type, but the features of its original type.

Thus, from your examples:
Magical Beast (Augmented Humanoid)

Features
8-sided Hit Dice, or by character class.
Base attack bonus equal to ¾ total Hit Dice (as cleric).
Good Reflex saves (usually; a humanoid’s good save varies).
Skill points equal to (2 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die, or by character class.
Traits
Darkvision out to 60 feet and low-light vision.
Proficient with its natural weapons only.
Proficient with no armor.
Magical beasts eat, sleep, and breathe.
Construct (Augmented Dragon)

Features
12-sided Hit Dice.
Base attack bonus equal to total Hit Dice (as fighter).
Good Fortitude, Reflex, and Will saves.
Skill points equal to (6 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die.
Traits
No Constitution score.
Low-light vision.
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects.
Cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired by exposing them to a certain kind of effect (see the creature’s description for details) or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain.
Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless).
Not at risk of death from massive damage. Immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points or less.
Since it was never alive, a construct cannot be raised or resurrected.
Because its body is a mass of unliving matter, a construct is hard to destroy. It gains bonus hit points based on size, as shown on the table.


Construct Size
Bonus
Hit Points


Fine
—


Diminutive
—


Tiny
—


Small
10


Medium
20


Large
30


Huge
40


Gargantuan
60


Colossal
80

Proficient with its natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with any weapon mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with no armor.
Constructs do not eat, sleep, or breathe.
Strongly depends on what the creature was in life

But for Undead without Augmented Subtype:

Outsider (Augmented Undead)

Features 12-sided Hit Dice.
Base attack bonus equal to ½ total Hit Dice (as wizard).
Good Will saves.
Skill points equal to (4 + Int modifier, minimum 1) per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die, if the undead creature has an Intelligence score. However, many undead are mindless and gain no skill points or feats.
Traits
Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Unlike most other living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature—its soul and body form one unit. When an outsider is slain, no soul is set loose. Spells that restore souls to their bodies, such as raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection, don’t work on an outsider. It takes a different magical effect, such as limited wish, wish, miracle, or true resurrection to restore it to life. An outsider with the native subtype can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be.
Proficient with all simple and martial weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Outsiders not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Outsiders are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
Outsiders breathe, but do not need to eat or sleep (although they can do so if they wish). Native outsiders breathe, eat, and sleep.


But don't forget: transition to Outsider don't give you back your missing Con - thus, you still have the Constitution Nonability (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/specialAbilities.htm#constitution):
Any living creature has at least 1 point of Constitution. A creature with no Constitution has no body or no metabolism. It is immune to any effect that requires a Fortitude save unless the effect works on objects or is harmless. The creature is also immune to ability damage, ability drain, and energy drain, and automatically fails Constitution checks. A creature with no Constitution cannot tire and thus can run indefinitely without tiring (unless the creature’s description says it cannot run).

[Wildstag]

Interesting, so it would be more advantageous to go from Magical Beast to Outsider (from the base of Humanoid). I guess the game wasn't designed with the thought of having two additional types during an adventuring career.

Edit: Unless the new "original" type is expected to be the first acquired one, but that might be a stretch.