Segev
2020-12-16, 01:38 PM
Astral construct has an interesting clause: "An astral construct generally appears as an animate clump of ectoplasm with a vaguely humanoid shape, but the manifester can mold or sculpt one according to his or her whim within the limits imposed by the creature’s size. The quality of such 'construct sculpture' is determined by a Craft (sculpting) check. A result of 10 to 19 creates a creature that is recognizably similar to the desired creature shape; a result of 20 to 29 creates a construct that looks like an accurate portrayal of that creature type; a result of 30 or higher creates a construct that looks like a specific individual. No matter how high the Craft (sculpting) check result, though, an astral construct’s appearance can’t hide the otherworldly material from which it is formed." (emphasis added)
Even a level 1 Astral Construct is a Small creature in size. They only get bigger as they go up. Other Small creatures include halfings and goblins, which gives us a rough size of about half-a-human. Astral construct lasts 1 round/level and takes a full round to manifest.
Ectoplasmic creation creates objects of up to 1 cubic foot in volume per level, of non-living, organic matter (wood, most fabrics, etc.) over the course of one minute, and it lasts for 1 hour/level.
Interestingly, a human 3-year-old is on average 3 feet tall and 30 lbs, and thus about the same size as a halfling. 30 lbs. is 13608 grams. A human body has the density of 1 g/cm3, so a halfling has a volume of about 13,608 cm3. A cubic foot (ft3) is 28,317 cm3, which means that a halfling is less than a cubic foot.
This...is odd, to me. I think I must have messed up math somewhere, or gotten some bad information from Google, so I invite people to double- and triple-check me on this.
If I'm right, though, this makes astral construct and ectoplasmic creation have some interesting competing standards.
The interesting thing is the sculpting of the Astral Construct.
The default may be a bipedal, roughly humanoid shape, but the sculpting allows any shape that fits the size (and presumably the mechanical capabilities, like slam attacks and movement). A level 1 Astral Construct is half the volume of an ectoplasmic creation by a level 1 manifester, and falls behind fast as levels go up due to ectoplasmic creation scaling with ML without need for augmentation. Ectoplasmic creation also lasts for an hour per level, vs. the astral construct's 1 round/level (barring feat support).
For quick creations of less than half a cubic foot per level, though, is there anything that prevents the creation of an Astral Construct that has a shape like a tool or other item you need?
If you are leaning heavily into astral construct with feat support from Advanced Constructs, the utility construct option can extend the duration to 1 hour/level; do you need ectoplasmic creation? Obviously, you can make bigger things with ectoplasmic creation for fewer power points, but an Astral Construct is faster to make. And it is one fewer power known, if you're feeling a pinch, there. Also, you can get anything with just craft(sculpting), since it's just a shape of a creature with defined natural armor ratings for its hardness (in non-mechanical terms).
So, I think this means they're both useful. What is an open question, to me, is just how much astral construct can be used to make tools and such. Especially with the Utility Constructs menu item from Advanced Constructs, can you equip your utility construct with built-in tools, e.g. lockpicks? Can you make a Medium construct that is shaped like a door that stands in a doorway? Can you make a Small astral construct with, say, the flame touch energy attack in the shape of a wok or cooking pan to fry your meal?
A utility construct of higher level could be a smallish wagon that is self-driving, too.
One nice thing about astral construct using creature sizes is that it's a lot easier to figure out how big something really is that way. Ectoplasmic creation uses cubic feet, which, as my analysis at the start shows, might be a lot bigger in practice than it sounds. It doesn't say you're making something that fits in a number of cubic-foot blocks, but has that volume. This means a single cubic foot, if my estimates of halfling size are right, can make a statue of a halfling that's twice the volume of a real halfling (I think that means about a quarter-again the height).
This also means that, say, a wooden wagon likely has far smaller real volume than it takes up in terms of "the size it would be as a creature." But calculating that is kind-of nightmarish.
Anyway, just some thoughts and questions for discussion.
Even a level 1 Astral Construct is a Small creature in size. They only get bigger as they go up. Other Small creatures include halfings and goblins, which gives us a rough size of about half-a-human. Astral construct lasts 1 round/level and takes a full round to manifest.
Ectoplasmic creation creates objects of up to 1 cubic foot in volume per level, of non-living, organic matter (wood, most fabrics, etc.) over the course of one minute, and it lasts for 1 hour/level.
Interestingly, a human 3-year-old is on average 3 feet tall and 30 lbs, and thus about the same size as a halfling. 30 lbs. is 13608 grams. A human body has the density of 1 g/cm3, so a halfling has a volume of about 13,608 cm3. A cubic foot (ft3) is 28,317 cm3, which means that a halfling is less than a cubic foot.
This...is odd, to me. I think I must have messed up math somewhere, or gotten some bad information from Google, so I invite people to double- and triple-check me on this.
If I'm right, though, this makes astral construct and ectoplasmic creation have some interesting competing standards.
The interesting thing is the sculpting of the Astral Construct.
The default may be a bipedal, roughly humanoid shape, but the sculpting allows any shape that fits the size (and presumably the mechanical capabilities, like slam attacks and movement). A level 1 Astral Construct is half the volume of an ectoplasmic creation by a level 1 manifester, and falls behind fast as levels go up due to ectoplasmic creation scaling with ML without need for augmentation. Ectoplasmic creation also lasts for an hour per level, vs. the astral construct's 1 round/level (barring feat support).
For quick creations of less than half a cubic foot per level, though, is there anything that prevents the creation of an Astral Construct that has a shape like a tool or other item you need?
If you are leaning heavily into astral construct with feat support from Advanced Constructs, the utility construct option can extend the duration to 1 hour/level; do you need ectoplasmic creation? Obviously, you can make bigger things with ectoplasmic creation for fewer power points, but an Astral Construct is faster to make. And it is one fewer power known, if you're feeling a pinch, there. Also, you can get anything with just craft(sculpting), since it's just a shape of a creature with defined natural armor ratings for its hardness (in non-mechanical terms).
So, I think this means they're both useful. What is an open question, to me, is just how much astral construct can be used to make tools and such. Especially with the Utility Constructs menu item from Advanced Constructs, can you equip your utility construct with built-in tools, e.g. lockpicks? Can you make a Medium construct that is shaped like a door that stands in a doorway? Can you make a Small astral construct with, say, the flame touch energy attack in the shape of a wok or cooking pan to fry your meal?
A utility construct of higher level could be a smallish wagon that is self-driving, too.
One nice thing about astral construct using creature sizes is that it's a lot easier to figure out how big something really is that way. Ectoplasmic creation uses cubic feet, which, as my analysis at the start shows, might be a lot bigger in practice than it sounds. It doesn't say you're making something that fits in a number of cubic-foot blocks, but has that volume. This means a single cubic foot, if my estimates of halfling size are right, can make a statue of a halfling that's twice the volume of a real halfling (I think that means about a quarter-again the height).
This also means that, say, a wooden wagon likely has far smaller real volume than it takes up in terms of "the size it would be as a creature." But calculating that is kind-of nightmarish.
Anyway, just some thoughts and questions for discussion.