Looking for INT/Caster templates

[Azraile]

Going to make a Tressym wizard.... looking for some good templates I can throw on to give them better int (and probably dex too)

it's for a Dragonstar game where most people are going to be rocking lots of LA aprently and high high stats (a lot over 20)

It's been a while sence I've hit the DnD games and templates are super hard to track down.... least the good ones.

[lylsyly]

It would be hepful to know how much LA you can freely use/are you using LA buyoff rules or a combination of both.

The one time I played a Tressym I used the half air elemental template: +2 to everything but strength and kinda fitting for a flying creature. It's in the Manual of the Planes (3.0) with the LA +3 being assigned in the 3.5 update booklet. Has a fair list of one a day SLAs as well.

Half Celestial (MM) is LA +4 and gives bonuses to all 6 stats. also has a fair list of SLAs and would give you a slight boost to your fly speed. Gives some spell resistance and DR as well.

Monster of Legend (MM2 with LA+7 assigned in 3.5 Update booklet) Serious boosts to all Physical scores and +2 to all Mental scores. As a Special attack you could get casting as a 5th level cleric with spells from Protection, Strength, and War domains on your list. You can get 2 Special Qualities from a list that includes Always on Haste ;-)

If your really going nuts with the LA maybe you could even take all three :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

[Biggus]

If you can ignore the "usually evil" part, Spellwarped (MM3) would work well; it gives +4 Int and +2 Dex, as well as +4 Con, for a relatively modest +3LA.

Btw, there are at least two lists of templates and what they do online. I won't link to them directly as I'm not sure if they're legal.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

There aren't many templates worth +2 LA, but phrenic (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/phrenicCreature.htm) is one of them. All those psi-like abilities (always manifested at a manifester level equal to your HD) are pretty decent. Only a +2 Int, though.

[Gruftzwerg]

If you are looking for strong INT boosts in general I would suggest to invest elsewhere ;)

Invest into UMD:
Max. UMD (e.g. Flexible Mind feat) to UMD Horseshoes of Flame (30k gold)
3/day for 7h (=21h uptime/day) you get:
- untyped (!) +2 DEX, + 10 INT and +6 CHA
- fly speed of 90ft (good maneuverability)
- +1d4 fire dmg for hoof attacks don't apply since UMD don't help us to get actual hoofs :/
- badass nightmarish look^^

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Depending on what level you're starting at, what resources you're allowed, and how much optimization is acceptable at your table, there are a number of ways you could gain large amounts of Int, almost all of which are NOT template-based.

I'm telling you the following assuming you want to remain a tressym and don't want to change physically into something else. Not all are compatible (the first two, mainly), but they're all things you can do to increase your Int score.

Body-swap (via the mind switch (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/mindSwitch.htm) power, for example) with someone or something else that either doesn't mind being physically changed into something else or doesn't have the capacity to care (for example, a stone you polymorph any object (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/polymorphAnyObject.htm)'d into a living creature). Have polymorph any object cast on you in your new body. This will give you the Int score of your new form, along with the body. Have it cast a second time to make it Permanent, if it wasn't already. Now dismiss the body-swap so you're back in your new body with your new intellect. If you don't want the PAO to be dispelled or disjoined, use a Device (from Ravenloft: Legacy of the Blood) for a nonmagical scroll of polymorph any object. Good forms for this are sarrukh (Int 30, from Serpent Kingdoms) and, if you've got access to the Reserves of Strength feat to break the HD cap on PAO, great wyrm prismatic dragon (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/dragonEpic.htm#prismaticDragon) (65 Int, from the Epic Level Handbook).

Have the aspect of the wolf spell (from the Spell Compendium) cast on you by a friendly druid to grant you the animal type. Now have the same druid cast an Intensified (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/feats.htm#intensifySpell) awaken (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/awaken.htm) spell on you. Now your base Int is 36 (3d6 Maximized, then doubled). Now dismiss aspect of the wolf, or let it run out naturally.

While under the effects of the body-swap above, have someone hit you with either bestow curse (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/bestowCurse.htm) or the greater version thereof (from various places, including Races of Destiny and Complete Divine). One of the expanded uses of the spell is to alter your age category. So have it boosted to venerable age while in your swapped body. Your mind gains the Int, Wis, and Cha boosts, while the body suffers the ravages of physical aging. Now swap back to your old, younger body. You keep the mental benefits (+3 to all mental stats) while your body hasn't aged at all.

Alternatively to the bestow curse aging trick, swap bodies, move your new body to a fast-time plane where time moves at a ridiculous pace (such as 1 year on the new plane per second on your old one), allow yourself to age normally, and then go back to your old body and swap back. Works best if the fast-time plane is also timeless with regards to magic, so your body-swap doesn't expire. You actually lived through the time in question, so your DM can't argue that you don't get to keep your Int boost, somehow.

Use planar binding (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBindingLesser.htm) to call up two efreet (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/genie.htm#efreeti) that can grant wish (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wish.htm) for you 3 times each, for free. That way, you get a +5 inherent bonus to your Int score without having to pay the exorbitant cost of 25,000 XP. Just enter a pact with what you call up, such that you agree to call them up tomorrow and use their wishes on their respective behalves, so long as they agree not to corrupt your wishes today. You don't even have to magically enforce it, if they're at all intelligent. Even Evil ones should be smart enough to not try to renege on this deal, since it's a REALLY good deal on their end. It's not like they can use their wishes for themselves, after all.

The acorn of far travel / (un)hallow trick (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?546179-Un-Hallow-that-Stacks&p=22712846&viewfull=1#post22712846) allows you to permabuff yourself. Just add fox's cunning (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/foxsCunning.htm) as a spell you have always on. Why this instead of a headband of intellect? Well, for one, it's not an item, so it doesn't cost money, and it can't be stolen. For two, it's a transmutation spell, so see below.

The Ability Enhancer feat (Dragon Compendium) increases the ability bonuses granted by any transmutation spell (including fox's cunning, polymorph any object, and awaken) by +2. Won't work on bestow curse or wish unless you find some way to alter them into transmutation spells (see below).

Once every 5 levels, the spell versatility (https://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/classes/specialistWizardVariants.htm#:~:text=Spell%20Versa tility%20(Ex),it%20were%20a%20transmutation%20spel l.) ACF allows a wizard to turn any wizard spell into a transmutation spell. This allows the Ability Enhancer feat to be used on stuff like (greater) bestow curse and wish.

At level 15, the transmutation focus caster ACF (Dragon #348) doubles the ability score bonuses granted by one transmutation spell per day. This is even better with the Ability Enhancer feat above. A permanent fox's cunning with a +12 bonus ([+4+2]x2) sounds rather nice, da?

[ShurikVch]

Not, exactly, a template, but Deep racial variant (Dragon #306) gives +2 Int at the cost of LA +1