[3.5]Improved monster classes(2.0):adapting creatures for player use-taking requests!

[un_known]

How I'm working it is leaving the normal hydra there with Alternate choices to take. (It was going to be a merge for where the CR sets down a Cryo Hydra nad a Pyro Hydra. Meaning they gain access to Breath's at level 6.)

The normal Mythical Hydra has poison.

D&D versions have Fire & Cold.

So I was going along with that; but if you'd rather not I will set it aside and wait to see how Oslecamo and You decide to go when the Hydra is no longer a draft.

-un_known

P.S. Sorry Jallorn I should have asked you instead of Oslecamo.

[Jallorn]

No, you were right to ask Oslecamo, I just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

Also, the CR for Cryo- is 2 higher with the same number of heads. So I don't think it'd work terribly well as an included possibility.

[Oslecamo]

How I'm working it is leaving the normal hydra there with Alternate choices to take. (It was going to be a merge for where the CR sets down a Cryo Hydra nad a Pyro Hydra. Meaning they gain access to Breath's at level 6.)

CR=Levels rule. Pyro hydra is a template adding +2 Cr so it's made into a 2 level Prc. The basic hydra itself is an huge CR 4 monster with versions for higher CRs up to CR 11, so it gets made into an 11 level class that is huge at level 4.

The normal Mythical Hydra has poison.

We only go call abilities from other sources when we really need it. The D&D Hydra does provide enough abilities to fill 11 levels, and poison would be either weak (lots of stuff immune to it) or disturbingly powerfull when you have two dozen attacks per turn.

So I was going along with that; but if you'd rather not I will set it aside and wait to see how Oslecamo and You decide to go when the Hydra is no longer a draft.

The problems to solve now is if huge size is properly balanced by the penalties, and if the current Hydra abilities make it too powerfull or too weak compared to the other monsters done.

Of course ignore the werehydra for now, it will be re-made once the hydra is properly polished.

[un_known]

I shall wait and see.

[Stycotl]

Guardian Template

[Oslecamo]

Stycotl, I believe it already had been made clear that the basic purpose of this thread is to make monsters playable.


A completely limbless ball that must blindly obey the orders of somebody else definetely doesn't fall on that category. No, just no to something that needs DM fiat just to enter the quest. And an NPC poping out of nowhere and auto-controling a PC is just not fun.

Plus, the original monster clearly states that your old non-psionic abilities are thrown out of the window.

Extra augmentations look abuseable altough I would need to look closer.

Re-training powers doesn't state how much time you need to re-train them, and if you can pick any psionic powers from any list then it's just silly. It's an improved costless psychic reformation.

Free metamagic is just no. That's plain incantrix-level, wich should be sending red lights on your head.

You can do an awakened version, but do it from scratch. And work on the above as well.

And for the record I was the one first desiging the magic item system for floating balls.

Now if nobody has nothing else to say about the Hydra, I'll call it a day and go work on the epic progression of the Anaxim.

Gorgondantess:You have one week to finish the Hunter. If you don't I'll take it on my own hands because I'm geting more and more interested on seeing it done.

[Gorgondantess]

Gorgondantess:You have one week to finish the Hunter. If you don't I'll take it on my own hands because I'm geting more and more interested on seeing it done.

I have levels 1-18 statted out. I'm asking Gareth if he'd like any input on the last 2 levels, as I'm making it pretty much dead-on the WotC Wild Hunt, and he seemed rather disappointed in how that one came out. Don't worry, don't worry, it's all good.

[un_known]

Has the Hydra been updated? I don't really see any changes to it that stand out against what it was before.

Edit: I have a request for whoever wants to make it.

Linnorms (MMII)

A progression that takes a Grey Linnorm to a Corpse Tearer.

Or Possibly a Linnorm Class that has 3 Prestige Classes Grey, Dread, & Corpse Tearer.

[Stycotl]

Stycotl, I believe it already had been made clear that the basic purpose of this thread is to make monsters playable.

if you are trying to imply that my goal is to make them unplayable, you are wrong. if you are also trying to imply that the concept of playability is black and white, you are also wrong.

that is one of the reasons why we have the homebrew board in the first place: to critique and share ideas.

A completely limbless ball that must blindly obey the orders of somebody else definetely doesn't fall on that category.

the will-o-wisp is a completely limbless ball. that one seemed to pass the test.

it doesn't have to blindly obey the orders of anyone unless the dm decides to throw that npc into the group. that is, as usual, up to the dm, and doesn't actually change anything about the dm's game at all.

that said, i had no delusions that this would be the final version of this guy. if someone can think of a better mechanic for this concept, then i'm all ears.

one of the other things i'd thought of was to just not make them immune to mind-affecting effects, unlike most constructs.

No, just no to something that needs DM fiat just to enter the quest.

he doesn't need dm fiat to enter the quest, any more than any other character does.

i would like to hear your reasoning behind this statement though.

And an NPC poping out of nowhere and auto-controling a PC is just not fun.

so again, this mechanic isn't set in stone, and the dm is more than capable of not having the creator pop out if it is going to ruin the game for everyone else.

it specifically states that most of the guardians were created thousands of years ago. most of the creators are therefore dead, and won't be an issue. but the fluff of the creature is that they are created as mindless servants (kinda like the iron golem), and so i am trying to come up with a mechanic that stays somewhat true to that idea, but is still usable.

Plus, the original monster clearly states that your old non-psionic abilities are thrown out of the window.

the original monster entry for the iron golem clearly states that it is a mindless automaton, and therefore unsuitable as a pc. but the whole point of this thread is to make monsters usable, even the ones that are not normally allowable as character choices.

hence the guardian remake. there is no reason in the world, besides the old mechanics of the original monster as written, that the guardian should lose everything but its psionic manifesting. therefore, i changed it.

if it has feats, class abilities, etc, that can only be used with arms, legs, mouths, etc, then those are unusable until the guardian takes a form that would be compatible with them. but with psionics and magic available, that isn't too hard.

Extra augmentations look abuseable altough I would need to look closer.

i didn't find anything that i thought was broken in that list, and it is a pretty awesome idea. but if people find ones that need improvement, i'd be more than happy to weed them out.

Re-training powers doesn't state how much time you need to re-train them,

it's a class feature that takes effect immediately upon gaining that level. just think of it as another power known.

and if you can pick any psionic powers from any list then it's just silly. It's an improved costless psychic reformation.

i intended it to be from the normal list available, but neglected to put that in the entry.

Free metamagic is just no. That's plain incantrix-level, wich should be sending red lights on your head.

that is nothing close to the incantatrix, and you're stretching it with the comparison. if you really can't see this, then the red lights in your head have been on too long.

a few free empowers and extends are hardly abusive, and in particular when confined to 3/day. even if you use them all for quicken power, you're probably not breaking the game unless you were to begin with.

but again, this is the rough draft version. if you really feel that a free maximized energy ray is broken, this is your corner of the playground.

my next idea was to give overchannel as a bonus feat, and then at 12 or 15 hit dice, to give talented. that might look a little more seamless, but in the end, 3 metamagics is not as powerful as those two bonus feats.

You can do an awakened version, but do it from scratch.

the awakened version is just the paragon class, which you already ok'ed in the first post.

and "from scratch" is a little vague. this isn't a cook-a-thon on the food channel. i'm not scrapping all of the paragon class ideas, if that is what you are intending. i'll just work them until they are slick.

And work on the above as well.

already in the works.

And for the record I was the one first desiging the magic item system for floating balls.

either way, it works well. it needs some qualifications though. i mentioned that an ioun stone-type of conversion wouldn't work for some physical-dependent items, but i would bet that there are others that will need special rules.

***************************

so to summarize, you think that he is unusable because:

limbless orb: i already pointed out the wisp. need i go on?

blindly obedient: valid point; maybe a pc can't take the first class level unless his creator is already dead, so that he is already considered to be free-willed more or less.

dm fiat required for play: still waiting on the explanation there.

dm auto-control: again, this mechanic is the first one that i came up with that seemed to work. i didn't post it expecting it to be perfect off of the bat (though that is what you seem to desire).

original monster is different: great, so are all of them. we have awakened skeletons and wolves for crying out loud.

augmentations look abusable, though you would need a closer look: so look closer, and tell me which ones bother you.

retraining time: as any other class ability.

retraining list: nice catch.

free metamagic: i gave him the metamagic sla feat, except that it can apply to any of the sla's and powers that he has. a floating feat. doesn't seem to bad to me, especially since i specifically chose metamagic feats that are general underachievers, with the exception of quicken and extend, which are both nice, but pretty balanced.

anything else? anyone else have any thoughts on the class?

Edit: I have a request for whoever wants to make it.

Linnorms (MMII)

A progression that takes a Grey Linnorm to a Corpse Tearer.

Or Possibly a Linnorm Class that has 3 Prestige Classes Grey, Dread, & Corpse Tearer.

hells no (in my humble opinion)! the linnorms are as unique and befitting their own classes as are the true dragons. what about the rain linnorm (my favorite), flame linnorm, frost, land, swamp, sea, etc?

in fact:

http://annex.wikia.com/wiki/Linnorm_...ns_%26_Dragons)

more work, yes. but better product in the end. i agree though, that they would be a good addition to the project. i think enworld had some 3.5 conversions of all of them a few years ago, though i might be wrong.

[Oslecamo]

limbless orb: i already pointed out the wisp. need i go on?

By all means yes, because the will o wisp and lantern archon can partially fuse themselves with objects to carry them. Your orb cannot.

blindly obedient: valid point; maybe a pc can't take the first class level unless his creator is already dead, so that he is already considered to be free-willed more or less.

Wich just doesn't make sense. If the creator's dead, who's turning him into a floating orb again?

dm fiat required for play: still waiting on the explanation there.

There needs to be something giving it orders. And if your creator's dead, then sucks to be you, because you're doomed to follow his last orders to the end of your existence, and those orders being "Go out there and adventure at leisure!" doesn't seem very plausible.

The golems and skeleton classes are awakened out of the bat. They're those special specimens that automatically have a will of their own, and thus can choose their own path.

dm auto-control: again, this mechanic is the first one that i came up with that seemed to work. i didn't post it expecting it to be perfect off of the bat (though that is what you seem to desire).

Yes, I do expect you to create a Playable Class out of the bat, not a Non Playable Class that's under the DM's control.

original monster is different: great, so are all of them. we have awakened skeletons and wolves for crying out loud.

The wolf was never aproved. And we try to remain in the spirit of the original monster.

In particular, it makes no sense that after your mind has been stripped from your body you still retain all your racial features not to mention stuff like a mind flayer's tentacles. Yes as you written it the orb will sprout tentacles if combined with the mind flayer class, and it will be able to smell very well despite not having nose if combined with a race with scent, and other such sillyness.

Your body is lost. Everything that had to do with your body is lost as well.

The ghost does it.

augmentations look abusable, though you would need a closer look: so look closer, and tell me which ones bother you.

Plenty of troubles to solve before that.

retraining time: as any other class ability.

Non srd.

free metamagic: i gave him the metamagic sla feat, except that it can apply to any of the sla's and powers that he has. a floating feat. doesn't seem to bad to me, especially since i specifically chose metamagic feats that are general underachievers, with the exception of quicken and extend, which are both nice, but pretty balanced.

Quicken is balanced when you have to burn trough your power points like candy to use it. Free quicken is not. Remove it and it may be aceptable for the others.

anything else? anyone else have any thoughts on the class?

Just discard the whole "I'm controled by someone else whitout save! Or not! Or yes! Ah, hell, let the DM decide!". It is an experiment gone wrong and you keep your free will, point.

You specifically lose all your non-psionic abilities. Otherwise it's a DM nightmare to rule what you retain and whatnot. You yourself stated you wanted to play a floating orb. Well orbs don't have noses, they don't have racial features and such other things.

If you want you can later create a flesh and metal floating abomination, but the Watcher isn't the one for that.

[Stycotl]

By all means yes, because the will o wisp and lantern archon can partially fuse themselves with objects to carry them. Your orb cannot.

many monster types can't used weapons or items, unless they are somehow able to be strapped to their sides like saddlebags. you have some invisible figure in your head that is not clearly delineated. not being able to wear gear does not make the class unplayable. except by your personal preferences.

a blink dog can't use pretty much any kind of equipment out there (unless you are seriously imagining the dog wearing magical cloaks, helms, and vests and stuff, in which case, more power to you...), and would have to have everything custom made for it. this is the same thing, except that you––in the mechanic that you made sure we understood you came up with––defaulted to customization as an auto 200% cost. that seems pretty simple to me.

Wich just doesn't make sense. If the creator's dead, who's turning him into a floating orb again?

There needs to be something giving it orders. And if your creator's dead, then sucks to be you, because you're doomed to follow his last orders to the end of your existence, and those orders being "Go out there and adventure at leisure!" doesn't seem very plausible.

The golems and skeleton classes are awakened out of the bat. They're those special specimens that automatically have a will of their own, and thus can choose their own path.

Yes, I do expect you to create a Playable Class out of the bat, not a Non Playable Class that's under the DM's control.

i am working on the new mechanic; so take a deep breath and relax. one of the things that i hadn't thought much about was taking levels in this class from the beginning, rather than starting the game at high HD and already having the race set in stone (like a template). so i'm fixing that.

The wolf was never aproved. And we try to remain in the spirit of the original monster.

the spirit of the original monster has been maintained. you are in fact asking me to distance it from the original monster in more aspects than i think are necessary.

In particular, it makes no sense that after your mind has been stripped from your body you still retain all your racial features not to mention stuff like a mind flayer's tentacles.

physical-dependent. already covered.

Yes as you written it the orb will sprout tentacles if combined with the mind flayer class,

no, it won't. that was pretty clearly expressed in the mechanic.

and it will be able to smell very well despite not having nose if combined with a race with scent, and other such sillyness.

no. it won't. no nose=no to scent.

no wings=no to fly.

no horns=no to gore attacks.

on the opposite end:

inherent magical levitation=yes to levitation.

archon aura of of menace=yes to aura of menace.

yadda, yadda.

this isn't that complicated.

Your body is lost. Everything that had to do with your body is lost as well.

you're preaching to the choir. if you think that the ability needs to be worded better, fine. but trying to tell me that the orb will keep tentacles and noses and such when it specifically states that physical form-dependent features don't work, is a wild goose chase.

Plenty of troubles to solve before that.

so... you think it might be overpowered, but you're not sure because you haven't actually read it yet? the problem would not seem to be with the augments then.

Non srd.

nope. i meant that class abilities are gained automatically upon leveling up (for the most part). that is how this mechanic works. not that retraining was a class ability.

Quicken is balanced when you have to burn trough your power points like candy to use it. Free quicken is not.

Remove it and it may be aceptable for the others.

i disagree. 3/day quicken is, as i mentioned earlier, a floating feat. if it worries you, i'll just go back to the two bonus feats.

Just discard the whole "I'm controled by someone else whitout save! Or not! Or yes! Ah, hell, let the DM decide!". It is an experiment gone wrong and you keep your free will, point.

so, you like my second idea for it.

You specifically lose all your non-psionic abilities.

bull. there's no point in taking a prestige class if it undoes everything that your other classes give you. you want a playable class based off of a template, and a playable template doesn't get rid of all of your previous class benefits.

the distinction between physically-dependent abilities and otherwise seems pretty clear to me, and that is as far as i am going with it. if you and the rest of the playgrounders have ideas on how to word it better so that it is less abusable or confusing, i'm all ears. but i'm not getting rid of every non-manifesting class or racial feature.

if me not conceding your every point gets your blood pressure up too high, so be it. it's not gonna hurt my feelings if you ignore that entry.

Otherwise it's a DM nightmare to rule what you retain and whatnot. You yourself stated you wanted to play a floating orb. Well orbs don't have noses, they don't have racial features and such other things.

it's a dm's nightmare if the dm can't understand that the wording doesn't allow the guardian to have a nose to begin with. as i said, i'm willing to rephrase it to avoid any possible confusion and abuse, but i'm not cutting it all out simply because you don't have the time to read the entry correctly.

If you want you can later create a flesh and metal floating abomination, but the Watcher isn't the one for that.

quit with the cutsie passive aggressive stuff––i sincerely doubt that you are deluded enough to think that this is my goal. i will presume that you can understand the above clarifications: no flesh, no tentacles, no scent, etc, etc. i might or might not be the only one here that thinks this is sufficient, but i am willing to bet that no one else is as confused as you seem to be.

and it's called the guardian, for the record.

[Oslecamo]

quit with the cutsie passive aggressive stuff––

If you really believe that then good day sir! When you've calmed your head feel free to come back here, but I won't spend any more time reviewing (that's how it's called) your work if you're just attacking me personally.

[Gorgondantess]

Stycotl, regardless of whether Oslecamo is being passive aggressive or not (noooooo comment on that), it's his thread, his idea, and he deserves just a little leeway, yes?

[Emperor Ing]

Just out of sheer curiocity, could someone class up the Tarrasque?

[Oslecamo]

Just out of sheer curiocity, could someone class up the Tarrasque?

Done, check out the index at the second post.

[Emperor Ing]

Excellent, wish I noticed it sooner.

[Kobold-Bard]

Excellent, wish I noticed it sooner.

You're not the first to miss it (not me of course, I would never do that >.>) and you probably won't be the last.

ION: I will be doing another monster after work this evening, maybe the Phase Spider.

[Oslecamo]

Anaxim

Spoiler

Show

{table=head]Level| BAB| Fort| Ref| Will| Features
1| +0| +0| +0| +0| Apocalyptic Engine, Electricity Discharge, Spinning Blades, Slams
2| +1| +0| +0| +0| Divine Construction, Str +1, Cha +1
3| +2| +1| +1| +1| Minor Divine Artifice, Dex +1, Wis +1
4| +3| +1| +1| +1| Created Abomination, Bolter Gun, Str +1
5| +3| +1| +1| +1| Improved Divine Construction, Heliblades, Dex +1
6| +4| +2| +2| +2| Lesser Divine Artifice, Str +1, Cha +1
7| +5| +2| +2| +2| Undivine Will, Dex +1, Wis +1
8| +6/+1| +2| +2| +2| Weapons of Mass Destruction, Str +1
9| +6/+1| +3| +3| +3| Greater Divine Construction, Divine Artifice, Dex +1
10| +7/+2| +3| +3| +3| Pneumatic Pummeler, Str +1, Cha +1
11| +8/+3| +3| +3| +3| Sonic Blast, Dex +1, Wis +1
12| +9/+4| +4| +4| +4| Greater Divine Artifice, Str +1
13| +9/+4| +4| +4| +4| Tools of Deicide, Dex +1
14| +10/+5| +4| +4| +4| Undivine Slaughter, Str +1, Cha +1
15| +11/+6/+1| +5| +5| +5| Master’s Divine Artifice, Dex +1, Wis +1
16| +12/+7/+2| +5| +5| +5| Summon Iron Golem 1/day, Str +1
17| +12/+7/+2| +5| +5| +5| Supreme Divine Artifice, Dex +1
18| +13/+8/+3| +6| +6| +6| Summon Iron Golem 2/day, Str +1, Cha +1
19| +14/+9/+4| +6| +6| +6| Apocalyptic Drive, Dex +1, Wis +1
20| +15/+10/+5| +6| +6| +6| Undivine Spark, Summon Iron Golem 3/day, Str +1
21| +15/+10/+5| +6| +6| +6| Potential unleashed, Str+1, Cha+1.
22| +16/+11/+6| +7| +7| +7|Ghost in the Machine, Str+1, Cha+1.
[/table]
Class Skills (2+ Int Modifier): None.

Proficiencies: Anaxim are proficient with their natural weapons only.

Apocalyptic Engine: An anaxim is a monstrosity pieced together by a deranged god, following an apocalyptic design. It loses all racial traits and gains the following:

• Type: Construct (Extraplanar, Lawful)
• Land speed: 30 feet.
• Size: Medium.
• Immune to Electricity.

The anaxim has all the characteristics of the construct type, which include:
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 Fortitude saves (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.
• Constructs do not eat, sleep, or breathe.

Finally, the anaxim gains a natural armor bonus equal to its charisma modifier, and is constantly under the effect of a Nondetection spell, with caster level equal to its HD.

Slam: As a swift action the anaxim can reconfigure one or both of its hands into Slams, these are primary natural weapons that deal 1d6 + Str modifier Bludgeoning damage Further, the slams count both as natural and as manufactured weapons for the purpose of spells. The anaxim can have one hand configured into a slam and another hand configured into a spinning blade if it so wishes, both attacks are treated as primary.

Spinning Blades: As a swift action the anaxim can reconfigure one or both of its hands into spinning blades, these are primary natural weapons that deal 1d6 + Str modifier Slashing damage Further, the spinning blades count both as natural and as manufactured weapons for the purpose of spells. The anaxim can have one hand configured into a spinning blade and another hand configured into a slam if it so wishes, both attacks are treated as primary.

Electricity Discharge (Su): At 1st level, the anaxim has the ability to unleash a potent electrical discharge from its body as a standard action. This discharge can take the form of either a touch attack or, starting at 2nd level, a ranged touch attack.
If used as a touch attack, the electrical discharge deals 1d6 damage, plus extra damage equal to the anaxim’s charisma modifier.
At second level, the anaxim can release the electricity discharge as a ranged touch attack against a target within 60 feet, with no range increment. This attack deals 1d6 points of damage per two class levels of the anaxim.

Divine Construction (Ex): At 2nd level the anaxim gains 1 extra hit point per HD and its base land speed increases by 10 feet.
In addition, the anaxim gains damage reduction X/magic, where X is equal to half of its HD. At 20th level, only epic weapons can pierce the anaxim’s damage reduction.

Ability Score Increases: At 2nd level and every two levels afterwards and at epic levels (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22), the anaxim gains a +1 bonus to strength. At 2nd level and every four levels afterwards and at epic levels (6, 10, 14, 18, 21, 22) the anaxim gains a +1 bonus to Charisma). At 3rd level and every four levels afterwards (7, 11, 15, 19) the anaxim gains a +1 bonus to both dexterity and wisdom.

Minor Divine Artifice (Sp): Starting at 3rd level, the anaxim gains the power to ignite the latent divine power within itself to imitate magic, gaining the power to cast spell-like abilities. These spell-like abilities have a caster level equal to the anaxim’s HD.

At 3rd level, the anaxim can use Blur, Inflict Light Damage and Repair Light Damage once per day per HD. It can also use Lesser Armor Enhancement and Magical Vestment once per day per two HD.

The anaxim can target spells and spell-like abilities such as Magical Vestment and Lesser Armor Enhancement on its own body as if it were armor.

Created Abomination (Ex): Starting at 4th level the anaxim gains resistance to fire and cold equal to its HD, it also gains Blindsight with a range of 5 feet per HD and telepathy with a range of 10 feet per HD. Finally, the anaxim is under constant effect of the See Invisibility spell, this effect improves to a constant True Seeing at class level 14.

Bolter Guns: At 4th level, the anaxim adds two bolter guns to its arsenal, a bolter gun is a ranged weapon with a range increment of 120 feet that deals damage equal 1d6 + strength modifier, and counts as both a natural weapon and as a manufactured weapon. The anaxim can perform iterative attacks with its bolter guns and dual wield them effectively.
The anaxim can take two-weapon fighting, improved two-weapon fighting and greater two-weapon fighting, without needing the minimum dexterity requirement.

Improved Divine Construction (Ex): At 5th level the anaxim gains spell resistance equal to 10 + HD and fast healing equal to half of its HD. Its base land speed also increases by another 10 feet.

Heliblades: Starting at 5th level, the anaxim gains a fly speed equal to 10 feet per class level (up to 200 feet at 20th level), with average maneuverability. At 10th level this maneuverability improves to good, and at 15th level it increases to perfect.

Lesser Divine Artifice (Sp): At 6th level the anaxim gains the ability to cast Inflict Moderate Damage and Repair Moderate Damage as spell like abilities once per day per HD. It can also use Invisibility, Lightning Bolt, Lesser Weapon Enhancement and Greater Magical Weapon as spell like abilities once per day per two HD.

Undivine Will (Ex): At 7th level, the divine spark within the anaxim grows in power, giving it a limited control of its own fate. The anaxim no longer automatically fails any d20 roll on a natural one.

Weapons of Mass Destruction (Ex): At 8th level, the damage from the anaxim’s slam, spinning blades, melee electrical touch and bolt spikes increases to 1d8. In addition, the anaxim’s slam, spinning blades and bolt spikes may be enchanted as magic weapons; the anaxim must be present for the entirety of the enchanting process.

Greater Divine Construction (Ex): Starting at 9th level the anaxim gains bonus hit points per HD based on his charisma modifier and gains a bonus to all saving throws equal to its wisdom modifier. Finally, the anaxim's base land speed increases by another 10 feet.

Divine Artifice (Sp): At 9th level the anaxim gains the ability to cast Inflict Serious Damage and Repair Serious Damage as spell-like abilities once per day per HD. It also gains the ability to cast Armor Enhancement, Lesser Dispel Magic and Displacement as spell-like abilities once per day per three HD.

Pneumatic Pummeler (Ex): Starting at 10th level, whenever the anaxim hits its target with a slam, it may pummel the victim into submission, starting a bull rush or trip attempt as a free action that does not cause an attack of opportunity.
If the anaxim chooses to bull rush its target, it does not need to move along the victim.
If this attempt fails, the target cannot attempt to trip the anaxim in return.

Sonic Blast (Su): At 11th level, the anaxim gains the power to unleash a destructive sound wave. This is a sonic attack that deals 1d6 points of damage per HD of the anaxim to everything in a 60 feet cone, a reflex save can halve the damage, and the DC is based on charisma. Once the sonic blast has been used, the anaxim must wait 5 rounds before using it again.

Greater Divine Artifice (Sp): At 12th level the anaxim gains Inflict Critical Damage and Repair Critical Damage as spell-like abilities useable once per day per two HD. It also gains Greater Invisibility and Weapon Enhancement as spell-like abilities useable once per day per three HD.

Instruments of Deicide (Ex): At 13th level, the base damage of the anaxim’s slam, spinning blade, melee electrical touch and bolt spikes increase to 2d6. And the anaxim’s physical attacks count as adamantine weapons for the purpose of ignoring hardness and damage reduction.

Undivine Slaughter (Ex): Starting at 14th level, whenever the anaxim strikes a target with both spinning blades, the weapons latch to the victim and tear at her flesh, instantly dealing damage equal to the combined damage of the two spinning blade attacks (4d6+ twice the anaxim’s strength modifier, normally).

Master’s Divine Artifice (Sp): At 15th level the anaxim may use Disable Construct and Total Repair as spell-like abilities once per day per three HD. It can also use Greater Dispel Magic and Greater Armor Enhancement as spell-like abilities useable once per day per four HD.

Summon Iron Golem (Sp): Starting at 16th level, the anaxim gains the power to summon an iron golem to its side. Using this spell-like ability is a standard action, but the iron golem takes one round to arrive, and remains for one hour after being summoned, this effect is equivalent to a spell of a level equal to half the anaxim’s HD and has a caster level equal to the anaxim’s HD.
The anaxim can summon an iron golem once per day, at 18th level and 20th level it gains the power to use this ability one additional time per day.

Supreme Divine Artifice (Sp): At 18th level the anaxim may use Ethereal Jaunt, Chain Lightning and Greater Weapon Enhancement once per day per four HD.

Apocalyptic Drive (Ex): At 19th level, the anaxim gains the ability to deliver a brutal onslaught with its natural weapons. The anaxim may perform iterative attacks with its spinning blades and slams (but can only perform iterative attacks with its offhand blade or slam if it has Improved Two Weapon Fighting and Greater Two Weapon fighting), and gains Whirlwind Attack as a bonus feat even if he does not qualify for it.

Undivine Spark (Ex): At 20th level, the divine spark latent within the anaxim flares to power, giving it the power to force reality to comply to its designs like a god would, but in a much more limited fashion. Once per day per four HD, the anaxim can treat the result of any d20 roll as a 20. This is not a natural 20 however, and an actual roll must still be made to determine if it is an automatic success or a critical threat (if such are possible). The anaxim can declare the use of this ability after the actual roll is made.

Potential Unleashed:The Anaxim now works at full power. It can use any of it's SLAs (except summon iron golem) at will. The HD limit on all of it's SLAs and other abilities is removed.

Ghost in the Machine: The Anaxim realizes it isn't actualy a construct. It is a design, an idea. As a free action at any time even if it's it's turn (but only one try per round) the Anaxim can transfer it's consciouness to any manufactured object (including magic items and artifacts) or construct that it can see or one of his summoned iron golems, even if it can't seem them. Intelegent constructs, artifacts and worn items are allowed a Will save to resist this ability (DC 10+1/2HD+Cha mod). The Anaxim can jump again to another object/construct in view on the next turn if it wishes.

The original body can keep following a simple set of instructions of the Anaxim's choice like it was a mindless construct. If entering a normally inanimate object the Anaxim can make it move as if under the effect of an Animate objects spell (CL=HD). The Anaxim retains it's blindsight under it's new form. It takes a search check with DC 10+HD+Cha mod to notice the Anaxim's consciouness is inside something.

The Anaxim can return to his original body as another free action regardless of the distance and barriers between them. Should the Anaxim's original body be destroyed, the Anaxim's divine spark causes the surrounding world to start shaping his current body in a new Anaxim. The original body crumbles into worthless scrap, useless even as magic component to track the Anaxim, including the magic items on it's possession. Bypassers stop to work on the Anaxim's current body, animals join pieces as best as possible with their claws and teeths, the wind and sun themselves start shaping a new Anaxim. The process is completed in 1d10 days, after wich the old object/construct is now completely replaced with a new Anaxim of same level, altough it may look diferent. The new body comes with the same magic items the Anaxim's original body had at it's time of destruction, in the same state/number of charges/etc.

Should the Anaxim have controled an object bigger than medium size the new Anaxim body is of that size, but the construction is unstable. Whenever the Anaxim takes damage it must make a Fort Save DC 10+Damage taken or it's massive body shatters, and from the pieces emerges a regular medium-sized Anaxim.

Comments:

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The first abomination is up!

One might notice that I put some abilities scaling with HD, and others with Class levels. This is intentional because... Well. It is a 20 level class (with an epic progression coming later, I will do that with all abominations) I need to give reason to stick to it, and not just by cramming more stuff into the upper levels.

The anaxim is all about tearing things apart with its claws spinning blades, hammering stuff into smush with its slam, eletrocuting people and... Well, killing things in a thousand of ways. Also all about adaptating its weapons and (body) armor to better murder whatever it is fighting. FInally, as a capstone, this divine misdeed can say "failure is not an option" to the universe and practically declare any action successful a few times per day.

Motivations for anaxim are simple. Deicide, deicide, deicide.

Done by Draken, Epic levels added by me.

[Oslecamo]

The Astral Stalker (mmIII)



Class

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HD: d8
{table=head]Level|BAB|Fort|Reflex|Will|Features
1|+0|+0|+2|+0|Outsider Traits, Rules of The Hunt, Scent, Camouflage
2|+1|+0|+3|+0|Sneak attack (1d6), Poison
3|+2|+1|+3|+1|Throat Dart(1d4), +1 Str
4|+3|+1|+4|+1|Elusive Prey, +1 Cha, Bonus Feat
5|+3|+1|+4|+1|Sneak attack (2d6), Grace of the Hunter
6|+4|+2|+5|+2|Hunter Advantage, +1 Str
7|+5|+2|+5|+2|Perfect Tracker
8|+6/+1|+2|+6|+2|Sneak Attack (3d6), Bonus Feat, +1 Cha,
9|+6/+1|+3|+6|+3|Observe the Prey, +1 Str
10|+7/+2|+3|+7|+3|Evasion, Bonus Feat
11|+8/+3|+3|+7|+3|Unearthly Grace
12|+9/+4|+4|+8|+4|Hunter Eye, +1 Str, +1 Cha
[/table]
Skills: 4+int modifier per level, quadruple at 1st, class skills are: Climb(str), Hide(dex), Jump(str), Listen(wis), Move Silently(dex), Search(int), Sense Motive(wis), Spot(wis), Survival(wis)

Proficiencies: Astral stalkers are only proficient with their own natural weapons

Features:


Outsider Traits: An Astral Stalker loses all racial bonuses and traits, and gains outsider traits (mainly Darkvision 120ft). It is a medium sized creature. It has a basic speed of 40ft, and a climb speed of 10ft. Lastly an Astral Stalker receives a bonus to its armor class equal to its constitution modifier in the form of a natural armor bonus.

Natural Attack: 2xClaws 1d6 (19-20x2)

Rules of the Hunt: Astral hunters live for the hunt, but to keep the hunt pure, and the competition deadly, they have imposed certain rules upon their conduct:

• No Weapons Allowed: Astral Stalkers Claw weapons are treated as +1 weapons for every 4HD, as long as they do not carry or use weapons or armor. (so at 4HD claws are 1d6+1, 8HD 1d6+2 etc)
• No killing other Stalkers: Astral Stalkers are compelled not to attack and other Astral Stalkers
• No Traitors: Astral Stalkers are compelled not to turn on their employers

Scent(Ex): as per SRD

Camouflage(Ex): An astral stalker can use the hide skill in any sort of natural terrain, even if it doesn't normally provide cover, or concealment.

Sneak Attack(Ex): An astral stalker can make a sneak attack like a rogue from level 2,dealing an extra 1d6 points of damage whenever a foe is denied it's dexterity bonus, or the stalker is flanking. This increases to 2d6 at level 5, and 3d6 at level 8.

Poison(Su): From level 2, An astral stalker can naturally produce poison, that can be used to coat either his claws, or his throat darts. The poison is applied as a swift action, and lasts till the end of that turn. This ability is at will.

Poison: Injury; initial damage=Paralysis 1d4 rounds; secondary damage=none; Fort save DC scales at 10+1/2HD+con modifier.

At 10 HD the poison's secondary damage increases to another 1d4 rounds of paralyzis.

Throat Dart(Su): From level 3, an astral stalker gains the ability to fire a throat dart at will, this deals 1d4 points of damage, and can be poisoned (see above). This ability improves every 3HD, so at 6HD the dart does 2d4, at 9HD 3d4 and so on. The range of this dart is 150ft with no range increment

Strength Increase: From level 3 and every 3 level after that an astral stalker gains +1 to his strength

Elusive Prey(Ex): An astral stalker is notoriously difficult to track, anyone attempting to track an astral stalker takes a penalty on survival checks equal to his HD, and the Astral Stalker receives a bonus on saves against any divination spells and effects equal to 1/2 his HD.

Bonus Feat: At fourth, and then again at seventh, and tenth level the astral stalker gets to choose a bonus feat from the following list:
Alertness, Improved Critical(claw), Improved Initiative, Self-Sufficient, Stealthy, or Track

Grace of the Hunter(Su):At level 5 An astral stalker can add it's charisma modifier as a bonus to it's armor class as a deflection bonus.

Hunter advantage (Ex): At level 6 an Astral Stalker adds his Strenght modifier to Hide and Move Silently checks. An Astral Stalker doesn't take a -20 penalty on hide checks for attacking while hiding.

Charisma Increase: From level 4 and every 4 level after that an astral stalker gains +1 to his charisma

Perfect Tracker(Ex): An astral stalker can move at it's normal speed while tracking without taking the normal -5 penalty, it takes only a -10 penalty (instead of the usual -20) when moving at up to twice normal speed whilst tracking. It also ignores track penalties due to terrain and can track any kind of creature trough any kind of enviroment, even a ghost trough the emptyness of the Ethereal Plane.

DR/Magic(Ex): From level 7 an astral stalker gains DR/Magic, this scales at 1/2 the stalkers Hit Dice

Observe the Prey(Ex):For every round an Astral Stalker lays still observing an oponent, it gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls, saves, skill checks and ability checks against that oponent, for 1 round per Cha modifier after the Astral Stalker moves.

Evasion(Ex): An astral stalker can avoid even magical and unusual attacks with great agility. If it makes a successful reflex saving throw against an attack that normally does half damage on a successful save, it instead takes no damage.


Unearthly Grace(Su): At level 11 an astral stalker can use it's charisma modifier as a bonus to any saving throw 3 times per day. At 16HD you can use it 6/day, and at 20HD 9/day.

Hunter Eye(Ex): The Astral Stalker can quickly identify the strenghts and weakness of his oponents. As a move action, the Astral Stalker can atempt a spot check wich DC is 15+Target's HD. If it suceeds then the Astral Stalker automatically learns one of the following (roll 1d3 to determine witch):
-All of the target's racial plus class abilities.
-All of the target's magic buffs, feats and skill ranks.
-All of the target's gear.

The Astral Stalker can use Hunter Eye multiple times against one oponent, and doesn't risk learning the same thing twice. So three sucessfull atempts would reveal all of the above.

FyreByrd's Comments:

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OK so it should (hopefully) be fairly clear, obviously the major thing that will probably provoke comment is the Rules of the Hunt ability, I wanted to have something of the flavour of the class, but realised that it needed to actually reflect something mechanically as well as fluffy, so added in the no weapons provision.

I think it's fairly well balanced, it's not going to be a world beater, but there's a few interesting things in there....anyway peach away!

Change log

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1. Changed Poison & Throat dart to at will
2. Adjusted save DC for poison to scale
3. Adjusted progression of Throat dart
4. Split unearthly grace into Grace of the hunter and Unearthly Grace
5. Shuffled a few bits around to give a more natural progression
6. Added bonus feats
7. Changed DR to scale at 1/2HD

Done by FyreByrd, some final tweaks by me.

[Oslecamo]

Awakened Monstrous Crab

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Hitdice: d12
{table]Level|BaB|Fort|Ref|Will|Feature
1|+1|+2|+0|+0|Crustacean Body, Crab Grab, +1 str, +1 con
2|+2|+3|+0|+0|Powerful claws, Swim, Amphibious, +1 str, +1 con
3|+3|+3|+1|+1|Constrict, growth, +1 str, +1 con[/table]
Skills: 2+int modifier, quadruple at first level. Class skills are Hide, Listen, Spot, Survival, and swim.

Proficiencies: Monstrous Crabs are proficient only with their natural weapons.

Features
Crustacean Body: The Monstrous Crab loses all other racial traits and bonuses and gains vermin traits (Basically immunity to mind affecting effects and darkvision 60 feet) except that it retains an Int score. It is a medium sized vermin with a base speed of 40 feet. It has two natural claw attacks dealing 1d6+str mod damage each, and it takes no penalty for attacking with both claws in a full attack.
It does not have hands capable of fine manipulation, and cannot wield a weapon in either set of claws.
It also gains a natural armor bonus equal to 2+con modifier.

Crab Grab: If the monstrous crab hit an opponent that is at least one size category smaller than itself with a claw attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. In adition the monstruous crab ignores freedom of movement effects on his oponents.

Ability score increases: The monstrous crab gains one point of strength and one of Constituction each level.

Powerful Claws: At second level, the monstrous crab's claw attacks do+1/2 HD extra damage. If it scores a critical with a claw it adds 1,5 times his strenght modifier instead of just 1. Additionally, it gains a racial bonus on grapple checks equal to it's HD.

Swim: The monstrous crab gains a swim speed equal to it's HD times 5, although it cannot swim faster than it's land speed.

Amphibious:The monstruous crab can breath underwater indefinitely, and does not need to make constitution checks to avoid drowning. It takes no penalty for fighting underwater.

Constrict: With a successful grapple check, a monstrous crab can crush a grabbed opponent, dealing damage equal to it's claw damage. It may constrict each grabbed opponent once per round, including the round it grabs the opponent.

Growth: at third level, a monstrous crab grows to large size. At 10 HD, it grows another size category, and again at 20.

Spoiler

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It's That Damn Crab! Yay!
One of the reasons That Damn Crab is usually considered over powered for it's CR happens to be it's 7 hit dice combined with it's huge con moddifier. that's a lot of hit points, and a third level party isn't getting through that. By making it a class, it loses 4 HD, and a lot of con. So that drops it a lot of hp it would have gotten, so d20 HD it is. It therefore loses 29 hp overall, which is a little more ballanced. since the monster had 66, that leaves it with 37 still, which is going to be hard for the DM to get through.
It gets only half (Con+HD) nat armor, when I wanted to put full (con+HD), which helps a bit more.
Possibly the biggest ballancer, problem with turning it into a class, and turn-off to players looking at it, is that it's mindless. No skill points, no feats, and no class levels except monster levels until you figure out how on earth to gain an intelligence score. The easiest way, of course, is to take all three levels, and then a monster prestige class with an increased intelegence, but that IS sub-optimal. Mwuh hahahahahahahah...!

Changes:
10/09/07
-Yah, should have gone awakened. removed mindless quality, added awakened to the name.
-Added Con per level.
-d12, not d20 HD
10/09/08
-reduced bonus from powerful claws
-remembered to let it breath underwater.

Done by flabort, some tweaks by me.

[Starbuck_II]

Still didn't add water breathing/amphibious.

But Mindless trait was 1/2 the power of That Damn Crab: mind affecting spell immune. Mind blank is appropriate effect for the crab (you could make it happen when have 10 HD) thematically.

[Oslecamo]

Still didn't add water breathing/amphibious.

Check out swim. Perhaps I should put it in separate?

But Mindless trait was 1/2 the power of That Damn Crab: mind affecting spell immune. Mind blank is appropriate effect for the crab (you could make it happen when have 10 HD) thematically.

Why exactly? The original damn crab is just immune to mind affecting, it doesn't have the full mindblank effect. The crab class already has immunity to mind affecting effects.

[Starbuck_II]

Gah, missed that part of class.
Okay, looks great than

[Stycotl]

If you really believe that then good day sir! When you've calmed your head feel free to come back here,

you are making the assumption that i am agitated to begin with. disagreeing with you does not imply anger or agitation.

and i have done nothing to warrant the mods kicking me out of a forum thread, and you certainly don't have the authority to do so––especially for merely disagreeing with your design philosophy and control issues, whether or not i call you out on your arguing habits.

but I won't spend any more time reviewing (that's how it's called) your work if you're just attacking me personally.

telling you to quit with the passive aggressive stuff is not an attack.

either way, i already told you that if you didn't want to acknowledge the guardian, then don't. no sweat off of my back; i'm still using it, and anyone else that wants to is free to do so. when i tune it up better, i'll update my entry and be done with it.

Stycotl, regardless of whether Oslecamo is being passive aggressive or not (noooooo comment on that), it's his thread, his idea, and he deserves just a little leeway, yes?

i do not disagree with your statement, and have given him much leeway. in an effort to cooperate with the goal of the thread, i have changed things that i think do not need changing.

but there is a line, and i already stated that he can take it or leave it (as far as that line is concerned). i am not telling him he's stupid or that he needs to change or anything. i am merely saying that he is free to disregard my entry, because i am not going to do everything the way he wants it done.

this is the playground, and as i mentioned earlier, he is the one that started this. therefore, we listen to his ideas about how the game goes. but a playground and a cooperative homebrew thread both require some kind of collaboration and mutual respect, and if he insists on everything going exactly his way, he strips the plaground of the creative freedoms that they would otherwise have, and he's gonna lose players.

that's it. that's all i'm saying, and now i'm done saying it.

and yes, i do consider snarky these types of remarks to be passive aggressive:

Stycotl, I believe it already had been made clear that the basic purpose of this thread is to make monsters playable.

If you want you can later create a flesh and metal floating abomination, but the Watcher isn't the one for that.

and i'm not personally attacking anyone by mentioning it, though they are certainly free to become offended if they choose.

[FyreByrd]

The Astral Stalker (mmIII)



Done by FyreByrd, some final tweaks by me.[/I]

Thanks for finishing this up for me Oslecamo, had really busy weeks, the last couple so only really had time to keep up with my pbp's, not anything else!

[Niezck]

I'm gonna go ahead and request the Multiheaded template from Savage Species. 'Cus it's awesome.

[Oslecamo]

Guardian (prc)



Guardian Template

An obsidian orb two feet in diameter and utterly without flaw, this object simply sits there, passively reflecting your curious expressions in its smooth surface.

A guardian is the disembodied mind of a powerful psion that has been permanently embedded into a perfectly formed obsidian sphere. Although their identities are effectively erased by the embedding, guardians‘ minds remain potent tools and they retain full use of their psionic abilities.

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Prerequisites:
-Must be a living sentient creature with at least 3HD and 10 Str, 10 Dex, 10 Con and 10 Cha.
-A character able to manifest 5th level or higher level psionic powers must perform a week-long special ritual on the creature, costing 100 GP for each HD.

Optional:Spend 1000 GP per HD, or 10.000 GP per HD instead.

HD: d10
{TABLE]Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Feature
1|+0|+0|+0|+0|Anima Extinguished, Body of the Artifact, Immortal Artifact, Psionic Might
2|+1|+0|+0|+0|Jewels of the Ether, Immortal Mind, Meditation, Rolling Stone
[/TABLE]
Class Skills: See Anima Body of the Artifact.

Proficiencies: A guardian gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Anima Extinguished (Ex): The character's charisma score drops to 1.

If the 1000 GP were spent the character is treated as under a permanent dominate monster effect from the one who performed the ritual.

If the 10.000 GP were spent then the character comes completely under control of the one who performed the ritual and must obey it's orders blindly whitout saves ever allowed.

Body of the Artifact (Ex): Unlike other monster prestige classes, you lose your racial traits and previous levels and their associated bonus (except skill points and feats, see below).

You then gain both Guardian levels and after that Psion, Psychic Warrior levels and/or any Prestige class for wich you meet the pre-requisites (your choice) untill you reach your old number of HD, except that all your levels give a d10 HD and you retain your old skill points and class skills plus feats (some of them may become useless due to your new nature). Any class level taken after this gives normal skill points. You don't gain new feats just for re-taking your levels.

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For example, a 3rd level character could become a guardian 2/psion 1, but not guardian 1/psion 2. A 10th level character could become a guardian 2/Psion 8, but not a guardian 1/Psion 9.

You gain the below construct traits and are a small sized contruct with no movement ability, thus having no Str, Dex or Con score.

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* 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.
* 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.

In adition you gain an extra +1 HP per HD. At 10 HD this bonus retroactively increases to +2 per HD. A guardian must still meditate 8 hours per day to recover it's daily power points.

You receive -5 penalty to AC and Reflex Saves for being immobile but gain a bonus to Nat armor equal to your highest mental stat.

As an immobile object you have no working limbs. You can still see and hear but not talk. You can only take purely mental actions (like manifesting powers).

Altough the typical Guardian is an obsidian sphere it's body can be built in any shape and material the creator wishes as long as it's small sized and it suceeds on the apropriate craft check. This never changes the guardian abilities.

Immortal Artifact (Ex): A guardian doesn't ages. It has DR/adamantine equal to it's HD due to it's compact shape.

In adition, a guardian standing still looks just like a part of the scenery. It takes a Sense motice, Search or Knowledge(psionics) check with a DC of 20+HD to recognize it as a construct.

When a guardian manifests powers, it takes a Spot check DC 10+1/2 HD+Highest Mental Stat to recognize it as the source of the power, unless the observer is adjacent to the guardian, in wich case it feels a "tingle" on his head pointing at the Guardian revealing it as the source of the power, so it still needs to make Concentration checks to avoid attacks of oportunity from adjacent enemies.

Psionic Might (Ex): Guardian levels stack with levels in one manifesting class in order to determine effective manifester level, learning new powers and the number of power points gained for each new level, but doesn't retroactively give power points and powers known.

So for example a guardian 2/psion 1 could choose to gain 5 power points per day and learn two up to 2nd level powers instead of three 1st level powers.

Guardian levels wouldn't stack for any other psion ability.

Jewels of the Ether (Ex): A guardian can custom make or have custom-made magic items for it, though the at double the market cost. These treasures take the form of semi-tangible orbs of ectoplasm and ether that float about them like ioun stones. A magic item that relies on its physical form or shape in order to achieve a purpose (such as weapons, armor, shovels, carpets, etc) will not generally function in the shape of an ethereal ioun stone (though secondary functions might still apply).

Immortal Mind (Ex): At 2nd level the guardian gains a +1 bonus to Int and Wis.

Meditation(Ex): A Guardian can't do much besides thinking so it becomes really good at that. As a full round action it may grant himself a bonus equal to it's HD on any Int or Wis-based skill untill the end of his next turn, or it may increase the ML of his next psionic power by 1 by increasing it's manifestation time as shown on the next table:

{table]Original Manifesting time| New Manifesting time
Swift| Move
Move |Standard
Standard |Fullround
Other| Doubles
[/table]

Rolling Stone(Ex):When push comes to shove the Guardian is capable of some limited locomotation. It's capable of moving at a speed of 20 foot per round by rolling around the ground, altough no part of it actualy moves. It still has no Str/Con/Dex scores so it can never deal damage or use combat maneuvers with this movement, anyone can grab it, and it's still unable to use movement skills like tumble, climb and jump, so something like falling inside a pit it's a dead end. It could still block an oponent's path. It never threatens anyone or grants flanking bonus.

Comments

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The objective of the Guardian template is to turn the Character into a small sized limbless sphere. What can you do as a limbless sphere? Not much really. Besides psionics.

Since you lose your original body and your mind is stuffed into a ball you lose all your previous levels, but you get to gain free levels automatically to replace them. There's a precedent of this on the Blackguard.

The original objective of the Guardian template was to create almost mindless servants, but since playing that isn't that fun I put a clause the creator needs to pay an arm and a leg to assure control. The PC will be thus a "budget" guardian, with it's own will. But the possibility of the PC converting oponents into his toys is still there.

As finishing touches you get high DR for making up for your lack of regular defenses, easily blend with the scenario untill you manifest, and a small bonus for taking your time doing stuff.

Guardians on Athas (According to Athas.org)

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Created during the Green Age, guardians are left utterly bereft of any sense of identity or personality by the transformational process and serve instead in a number of ways as immortal slaves for the society that created them.

A guardian can receive and understand complex instructions, and act on them where necessary, but it cannot conceive of itself as anything other than a servile device, a tool that exists to serve its masters.

Guardians are used as border guards, laborers, illumination, hunters, record keepers and so forth. Any task that can be carried out by an intelligent yet utterly dependent psionic mind can be assigned to a guardian.

The overwhelming majority of guardians date back to Athas‘ Green Age, as only a tiny handful still know the science of their creation. Over the millennia, time has not always been kind to the embodied psyches, however, and some guardians are extremely dangerous as a result. Whether through some deterioration in the embedding or, as some have suggested, through a vestigial resurgence of self-awareness, these guardians have become insane. Unable to effectively distinguish between friend and foe, order or obstacle, they lash out with devastating force at whatever they perceive to be a threat.

On Athas, the largest known concentration and use of guardians is in the area of Saragar. A great border network of guardians protects this place and the constructs are seen as integral cogs of local life. Most guardians of Saragar were criminals or deviants in life, and the embedding procedure was used as a particularly final form of punishment.

Contributed by Stycotl

[Oslecamo]

Stycotl
Instead of keeping useless derails I went ahead and changed what I felt was wrong on your work.

In a nutshell:
-Being turned into a guardian is basically being re-born a new being. Thus the level substitution mechanic, that as mentioned as a precedent on the Blackguard.
-Clear option for free willed guardian out of the bat and transformation process details.
-The original guardian certainly does not make you a super psionic machine above a normal psion. Thus removed the whole augmentation thingy, but retains some ability to boost psionics.
-"Emergency button" on the form of auto-movement, because becoming completely defenceless when you run out of powers is not fun.

Now, based on this you can offer change sugestions and/or you can work on your "paragon guardian" that turns it into a psion on crack like you seemed to want.

[TheGeckoKing]

Could I request an Aboleth please? Preferably the Psionic verson, but if you'd think you'll do the arcane version quicker, that's cool. I even have an idea to
fit in that racial memory thing they have:

Memory of the eons: As an aboleth inherits their forefathers memory,
they may call apon it to reveal any secret. At every level up, an Aboleth gains one rank in Knowledge: Deep One's Memory. This skill can only be aquired by leveling up in the Aboleth Racial Class or with Wish and other such things. This skill may be used instead of any Knowledge skill, to gain the same info. I.E Nar'Gath'Oh'Lath the Aboleth wants to make a Knowledge: Arcana check to remember what that rune is, because his Uncle Bah'Ni'Re'Ogoth was a mage. He makes the check as normal, but uses his Deep One's Memory skill instead. This skill may only to used to find out information, and nothing else.

Also, I would gladly request that they don't get gimped for being out of water, but instead the class is toned down from the original monster, and instead they gain a massive bonus for bein underwater.
This is one of my first posts, so don't eat me

[Mystic Muse]

This is one of my first posts, so don't eat me

*eats*

Tastes like Hydra.