Living Armory, featuring biological items of various types. (Please PEACH)

[Almarck]

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I’ve decided to redesign alot of things. Ditched the evolution mechanic for something more flavorful, “Synergies”. Living items now benefit from equipping other items. Additionally, I’ve reorganized the abilities and traits of weapons.

Still would like feedback.

For now, ignore any references to evolution while I start to work on modifying things.

Living Armory
Not all adventuring equipment adventurers find is made of cold metal or preserved leathers. Sometimes, many of them find tool as and equipment that are of a far more unusual, living nature. While it is not unheard (and indeed expected) of for primitive cultures to make use of animal bones and skin, there are cases where the tools themselves are as alive their weilders.

Whether such objects are created from an advanced civilization that understood how to twist flesh before learning to master fire, of alien intelligences from deep in the earth, or even the result of a mad alchemist’s plans, it doesn’t matter. What is important to know is that these objects are sometimes as much creatures in of themselves, sometimes able to act as animal companions and familiars in addition to its use as an object.

For the Adventurers

Living items are the results of a mad and eldritch magic and usually alien thought patterns taken and applied to living things. That said, while living items function very similarly to ordinary items (especially in the case of living items meant to replicate manufactured items), living items possess numerous boons and abilities that separate them from mundane equipment.

The most obvious change from mundane equipment is that living items very rarely need maintenance and repair. Metal armor may get dinged and singed during battle, blades dull and rust after drawing blood, bows need more arrows to keep firin. It then becomes up to the wearer to ensure that his equipment is fully repaired and restored for any upcoming engagements.

Living equipment do not possess this limitation. Dents and fractures, even those that severely hinder the item become mended if enough time is applied. Swords clean themselves of blood and welts in their form the flesh and hardened carapace being filled in, good as new. A ranged living weapon supplies its own ammo, only running out when its bearer fires it faster than it can produce.

The other most obvious change is that to live, living items may bond with their owner, allowing their functions and purposes to be used with only a thought. Even more impressive is that living items can work in tandem, connecting to each other to improve their overall capabilities. Each additional item improves the overall whole more efficiently.

To races like the aboleths, the yith, and other races that sponsor and develop living equipment, the ideal warrior is one that is clad in head to toe (or other appendage) in technorganic armor, each and every piece of equipment a part of a much larger whole. Before even magic is involved, the warrior is personally powerful, self-sufficient soldier.


Rules system:

In Living Armory, the weapons and armor are alive. They still function similarly to normal items in that they posses hitpoints, hardness, and follow a number of item specific rules such as taking half damage from energy attacks. They may even be enhanced and modified as normal items, though again they are alive.

The ascetics and look of a living item do not matter much, other than to give and define a simple understanding of function. An item meant to harm is clearly displayed as such, a bladed item is obviously meant to cut through foes, an item that shoots electricity forewarns its function with mild crackles of static around its barrel. For example, in the case of a living item meant to emulate a gun, the item may resemble anything from a long barreled weapon, an over-elongated pitcher plant, or even a strange nightmarish protrusion that spits spikes out one end. The look doesn’t matter, so long as the function is obvious to anyone who knows what the item is supposed to represent.

The other rules are represented by a number of special traits specific to living armory items listed at the bottom of this page.

Spoiler: Creating and Modifying Living Items

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Instead of following mundane crafting rules, living items have their own specific system.

Living items do not reproduce unless otherwise stated, but there are ways to create more of them.

Living items are created by the introduction of a lifeseed, a product of specially created trees that possess many traits similar to plants and animals. A lifeseed may be used to create nearly any type of living item, but doing so requires introducing the proper strands of DNA in the correct sequence of events. This determines the inclination and traits the item will possess.

Creating Living items does not need a feat.

Living Items follow 3 stages of development in no set order: Conceptual, Larval, and Completed.

The Conceptual stage is the process of instilling instilling life into a dormant lifeseed, encouraging it to hatch and consuming living matter through the installation of chemicals and DNA sequences. Typically, this is all done in a large pot of flask to contain the growing item. During this phase, chemicals and food must be given to the growing seed, to determine how it is to grow and develop. Living matter and chemicals of the appropriate type to determine brings the cost equal to 1/2 the item’s market value.

Regardless of the item, beginning the Conceptual stage requires only 1 hour of work after which the item moves into its Larval stage.

Once in Larval stage, the item starts developing on its own, multiplying and dividing its cells into the desired form chosen during the Conceptual phase. A Larval stage item does not require any work to maintain other than adding more food on a daily basis. Larval stage typically lasts 1 day for every 1,000 gold in the base item’s cost.

Once the Larval stage is finished, the item is complete and ready to use, the Completed stage.

Spoiler: Universal Living Item Traits

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Living Thing:Due their organic nature, spells that function based on repairing an inanimate object or construct do not work on living equipment. Instead, spells that affect living creatures may be used on living items, such as cure spells, and magic fang, instead of magical armor. Additionally, some spells, such as Phantasmal Killer may be used to "destroy" a living item. Druids may also wear and benefit using living items as they are classified as nonmetal items, despite their seemingly unnatural nature.

Self-Sufficiency: Despite being living creatures, living equipment does not need to be directly fed. Instead, any piece of living equipment is able to draw energy and raw materials to itself in a variety of different ways, such as siphoning off excess magical energy, draining miniscule and unnoticable amounts of psychic power from their holder while he sleeps, soaking up energy directly from the sun, or even taking nutrition from enemies damaged by the weapon itself. Regardless of the method or methods used, the item is completely self sufficient, so long as it is in active use.
Should an item not be in close contact (roughly 10 feet away) to another living creature or be used for a whole week, the item falls into dormancy and needs an hour to be reawaken itself once contact has been restablished.

Self-Recovery: Living equipment is capable of self repair. Every hour, a living armory item recovers hitpoints. Living items that are broken lose that condition once they are healed above half their hitpoints.

Unnatural: Regardless of the origins of living equipment, one constant remains; they are all the results of twisting life to suit the needs and desires of their creators. As a result, all living items are considered creatures of the aberrant type when that creature type is called into question. (for example, activating a Ranger’s Favored Enemy bonus on sunder attempts). Unless otherwise stated, they are also mindless and incapable of moving.

Untamed Living items are never masterwork, and under normal circumstances nor may they be enchanted as mundane equipment is able. Attempting to enchant an item destroys it. Magical effects meant to empower a creature apply as normal.

Melding: Living items may physically and/or psychically join with their user via a process of powerful grips, clamps, telepathy, and other esoteric phenomena. Regardless of the function, the user benefits

For armor and other equipment, this functions as Graft Armor except that the wearer may rest in his armor and suffer no penalties for doing so, on top of the usual benefits.
(For those who cannot use the link: while melded: Maximum Dexterity Bonus increases by 1, the armor's Armor Check Penalty is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0), any arcane spell failure is reduced by 10%, and the armor is treated as one step lighter for all purposes except armor proficiency (light armor is still considered light armor)

For weapons, this functions as Graft Weapon, except that it may also apply to all living weapons regardless of the number of hands used to wield it effectively. In the case of a weapon that require two hands, only one hand is required to grafted to the living weapon, but the other hand must be free to enable full use of the weapon, suffering the usual penalties for improperly holding a weapon if the other hand is not free. Weapons that are capable of being used twohanded or onehanded may be used in either state at the weilder’s discretion.
(Aside from making it impossible to disarm and damage caused by sunder is applied to the weilder instead of the weapon, the weapon may be treated as a manufactured or natural weapon at the wielder's discretion. It also add a +1 competence bonus to attack and damage rolls using the weapon. A hand that is occupied with a melded living weapon may be used freely, but takes -2 to rolls that involve finesse.

Unlike the above powers, melding lasts for as long as the wearer desires, days, months, even years may pass and the wearer may still cling to his armor.

The statistics blocks for items are written under the assumption that the wielder hasn't melded with the item.
Only physical creatures with a constitution score (or other living items) may meld with a living item. Living items may still be used by creatures that cannot meld with them, but doing so does not allow the item to be used to its fullest.

There are also a few unique traits that are not universal to living equipment, but are commonly associated with them.

Spoiler: Special Living Item Traits

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Autonomous: Some items are more complex than others, able to act as fully living creatures. Such items often have creature statistics that may be used in certain circumstances depending on the item in question. In any case, the creature’s hardness always applies regardless if it moves or not.

In all cases, statistics are provided either by referencing an existent creature or providing new statistics in the item’s description. If the living item’s information ever conflicts with the creature’s statistics or information, default to the creature’s hitpoints, AC bonuses, and saves instead of the item’s, treat the creature as a mindless aberration and not an unattended nonmagical object, and treat the item’s hardness as an untyped Damage Reduction of equal value.

Companionable: Autonomous living items occassionally have the benefit of being able to be bound as a familiar or animal companion, as listed in the item's abilities. In all cases, either statics blocks are given or a reference to a similar creature is made, as well as what manner of magical binding applies.


Networking: Many living items when melded with a host are able to also to tangibly affect other living items attached to the same host. When this occurs, one or both of the items in question gains a benefit.

There is no limit to how many items joined via Networking, nor is there a limit to how many times one item may be joined with other items, excluding the limitations of the wearer’s inventory slots and limbs able to hold weapons.


Format: Current ItemName of second item: Benefit applied to second item
Ex. Venon-Sack. Melee weapon: Poisons foes struck with attacks from this weapon

Intelligent: Despite their powers, most living items are very base, either possessing animal or even simpler intellects, barely able to be registered as able to think. Some items are capable of complex thinking patterns, sometimes even to a better degree than their wielder’s.

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Note: Living Armory items may not become Intelligent items the same way other unliving items are able to, nor do they follow the normal rules of intelligent magical items. Living items do not need to be magical to become intelligent, but being magical or intelligent does not prevent allowing the item to also be the other. The rules living items use to become intelligent have their own section defining their use.