Twisted Minds, Twisted Bodies: Psionic Aberration PrCs

[Stratovarius]

Heteromorph

"I am one, I am three, I wield a power greater than thee."
- Janus the Many-Faced, Outsider Heteromorph

All good things come in threes, and the same can be said about the life cycle of a heteromorphic creature. It is an acquired talent in this case, not one that comes naturally, unlike so many others, but one that is still there, shifting between its native form, its fully aberrant form, and a twisted middle ground that shares some features from either, but is truly neither. The taint of the aberration has infect the heteromorph's being, but rather than expunge it as would be done with so many other diseases, it was welcomed, and transformed from a sickness into a tool that could be used to gain a great deal of power, once it was controlled. Controlled it was, and lead to a dual life, one as human, one as aberration.

Becoming a Heteromorph
Life as a heteromorphic creature begins with a slow process of change into a partially aberrant life form, and from thence into being able to control just what the heteromorph really is. Knowledge of this style of creature is coupled with an inherent, mentally driven ability to change the form and function of their body, an ability sculpted and honed with hours of dedicated and practice to where they are easily able to control and alter their own bodies, constantly changing forms between one type and the next, although once set in motion, the process of changing begins its own series of rhythms, and that leads to the creation of the three-fold being that the heteromorph becomes.

Table 1: Heteromorph
Hit Die: d8

Level  BAB    Ref   Fort  Will   Special Abilities       Manifesting
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1    +0     +0    +2    +0     Heteromorphic Form      ---
  2    +1     +0    +3    +0                             +1 manifesting class
  3    +2     +1    +3    +1     Morphic Mind            +1 manifesting class
  4    +3     +1    +4    +1     Aberrant Bleedthrough   +1 manifesting class
  5    +3     +1    +4    +1                             +1 manifesting class
  6    +4     +2    +5    +2     Morphic Mind            +1 manifesting class
  7    +5     +2    +5    +2     Aberrant Bleedthrough   +1 manifesting class
  8    +6     +2    +6    +2                             +1 manifesting class
  9    +6     +3    +6    +3     Morphic Mind            +1 manifesting class
  10   +7     +3    +7    +3     Aberrant Bleedthrough   ---

Class skills (4 + Int modifier per level):
Autohypnosis, Climb, Concentration, Craft, Jump, Knowledge (psionics), Profession, Search, Swim.

Requirements:
Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering) 4.
Feat: Writhing Body, Writhing Mind
Psionics: Able to manifest 3rd-level powers.
Base Attack Bonus: +4.
Special: Must know three powers that alter your body's shape. (Bite of the Wolf, etc.)

Class Features
Three bodies and one mind, the heteromorph blends together the power of a strong intellect with the natural ability to alter his form to become a three-fold home.

• Powers Known: At every level indicated on the table, the character gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This means that she adds the level of Heteromorph to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.
  If a character had more than one manifesting class before she became an Heteromorph, she must decide to which class she adds the new level of Heteromorph for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.
• Heteromorphic Form (Ex): You have taken a step down the path to the life of an aberration, and now have taken a further, and possibly final step along that path. To become a true aberration was never your ultimate goal. Rather, it was to steal away the power that resided in their warped bodies and minds, and to abscond with that. You have learned how to accept their form, but it has come at a cost that you are no longer true to your birthmother's race. Stuck somewhere in the middle, you have only yourself to blame as you bridge the gap between what you truly are, and the aberrations who made you into what you wished to acquire. Each morning, you choose a single aberration, whose challenge rating must be equal to or less than your level. You acquire three forms: Self, Aberration, and Hybrid, and constantly switch between the three forms, and it is in those forms that your power resides. Heteromorphic Form lasts for one hour per class level, and may be activated or deactivated with a full-round action. Every three rounds that your are under the effect of Heteromorphic Form, your form changes to the next in the cycle, from Self to Hybrid to Aberration and back to Self again.
  Self: While in this form you are as you appear normally.
  Hybrid: You gain (or lose) one half the difference between your physical statistics and those of the chosen aberration. You gain one half of the aberration's natural armour, and you gain the physical attacks of the aberration, but none of the special qualities that affect those attacks. Thus, while you may select the form of a Neothelid, you do not gain its improved grab or swallow whole abilities. All damage from the chosen physical attacks is reduced by one step. 1d8 becomes 1d6, and so forth. You manifest as a manifester of one half your normal level.
  Aberration: You become the aberration as presented in the creature's entry, losing all feats, skills, manifesting or spellcasting abilities, mental and physical scores, or special qualities that you may possess, with the sole exception that the aberration form is advanced so that its hit dice equals your level. Items are subsumed into the body of the creature and cease to function.
• Morphic Mind (Ex): The two facets of your personality and knowledge draw slowly together, as you learn and understand the differences between them, and how those differences can be overcome to return you to full use of your capabilities. At third level, while in Aberration form, you may manifest as a manifester of one half your normal level. At sixth level, while in Hybrid form, you may manifest as a manifester of your normal level. At ninth level, while in Aberration form, you may manifest as a manifester of three quarters your normal level. Round down on all calculations.
• Aberrant Bleedthrough (Ex): As your mental abilities repair and recombine themselves, so do you attune yourself to the new qualities brought to the fore by your aberration's impingement on the rest of your being. You become able to use several of the abilities that he uses, and to learn as he does. It is, after all, what you wanted, to gain the abilities of the aberrations that you so dearly worship. At fourth level, while in Self form, you gain a single spell-like or psi-like special quality of your chosen aberration. At seventh level, while in Self form, you gain a single supernatural special quality of your chosen aberration. At tenth level, while in Self form, you gain a single extraordinary special quality of your chosen aberration. You may use these as many times per day as can the aberration from which they were taken.