Playing as a Brain in a Jar

[Randel]

I looked through the Libre Mortis book and found the Brain in Jar which frankly seems kind of cool. I'm wondering how I could go about playing as one, either as a spellcaster or a psionic user.

However, I'd like to use a race with no Level Adjustment (due to level adjustment limiting caster power and if I'm just a brain in a jar then I need all the casting power I've got). The Brain in a Jars natural flight and other special abilities aren't really interesting to me. I'm getting the idea of something that is virtually defensless and immobile aside from casting. Maybe some limited flight and telekinesis (probably through casting spells or psionic powers) but by default just a brain in a jar. Maybe have someone else carry the jar around until they need my casting power.


But, I also know that familiars and psicrystals have special abilities that their owners can make use of. I suppose I could play as a fefluffed psicrystal for a guy who can't use powers himself and has to carry me around... or I could have somethign weird where I'm a brain in a jar and I mentally control a zombie or something and have them carry me around.

Anyway, the main question here is how can I go about playing as a Brain in a Jar without (somethign that could for all intent and purposed just be a magic item with class levels) without any level adjustement while still looking cool and fitting in with the general 3.5 rules.

Also, I'm really curious how I could go about playing this in a zombie game. I mean, there are zombies out there trying to eat peoples brains but I'm an exposed brain in a jar that can cast spells!

Plus, if I can come up with an LA 0 Brain in a jar player race then there could be a setting where mad necromancers harvest peoples btains for evil purposes or whatnot, kind of like the warforged but cheaper and with spellcasting.

[Urpriest]

Well if you just want to be a psionic inanimate object then there's always the psionic sandwich trick...

[Mystic Muse]

Homebrew to the rescue! http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170469

[mootoall]

Well if you just want to be a psionic inanimate object then there's always the psionic sandwich trick...

I don't even want to know ... Anyway, if I may, I'd like to introduce you to the virtually universally well regarded Improved Monster Classes on the Homebrew thread of this very board! I think they did a Brain in a Jar class that was pretty interesting, don't remember the specifics though. EDIT: DAMN YOU SWORDSAGEEEEEE!

[nedz]

What level are you starting as ?
A Level 1 Biaj would be find of tricky.

You want to be a caster:
How are you doing the Somatic and Verbal and Material components ?
Ok Eschew Materials is cheap, alternatively you could use your jar as a focus perhaps for a cleric of the god of jam jars
Silent Spell and Still Spell each carry a +1 spell level cost though.

Maybe a psi would work better, but I don't know much about those I'm afraid though I'm sure someone else will oblige.

If you were 6th level you could take leadership, just to have someone to carry you around. Not sure wht the cha mod is for a Biaj ?

How about Druid ?
An animal companion to carry you around, and then you wildshape into ... , well anything really.

A warlock would be cool, SLAs should be castable so you can blast things and then do other cool stuff, and you can take fell flight at 6th.

How are you going to see to be able to target any of this stuff ?
A level of Mindbender for telepathy ?
A familier - pseuodo-dragon gets you telepathy and it has blind sense ?
Can a jar wear a Helm of Telepathy ?

For that matter: what items can a Biaj actually use ?

Otherr options:
Fiend of possession (PRC from Fiend Folio) might work?
As might an incorporeal race, though your unlikely to pick one of those up for LA+0

[Mystic Muse]

I don't even want to know ... Anyway, if I may, I'd like to introduce you to the virtually universally well regarded Improved Monster Classes on the Homebrew thread of this very board! I think they did a Brain in a Jar class that was pretty interesting, don't remember the specifics though. EDIT: DAMN YOU SWORDSAGEEEEEE!

Just doing my job.

[Psyren]

I don't even want to know ...

Sure you do

[mootoall]

Sure you do

What has seen cannot be unseen ....

[Coidzor]

What has seen cannot be unseen ....

Better than seeing him get eaten by the troll.

[Kaulesh]

What level are you starting as ?
A Level 1 Biaj would be find of tricky.

You want to be a caster:
How are you doing the Somatic and Verbal and Material components ?
Ok Eschew Materials is cheap, alternatively you could use your jar as a focus perhaps for a cleric of the god of jam jars
Silent Spell and Still Spell each carry a +1 spell level cost though.

I was thinking about that. Creatures can always cast spells in their natural form, though. There's an argument you could make that being a floating brain in a jar is your natural state.

[Urpriest]

I was thinking about that. Creatures can always cast spells in their natural form, though. There's an argument you could make that being a floating brain in a jar is your natural state.

There isn't any rule like that. This is why there's a feat in Savage Species to use unusual limbs for somatic/verbal components.

[Arcane_Secrets]

Perhaps you could have a psionic possession ability that would allow you to also see through their senses in addition to taking them over, and then you could go around switching bodies. Depending on the anatomies of your targets (there's nothing about this that is even remotely good), perhaps you could even coerce them into performing surgery on themselves, and then carrying your jar in their bodies so that way it isn't even immediately apparent that you're manipulating them.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

An Unbodied is a playable floating, incorporeal brain. Natural Psion (Telepath) manifesting ability, Telekinesis since you'd need a corporeal form to move anything, Telepathy, and it can disguise itself as any corporeal creature of small to large size at will. The +4 LA really hurts, but it's definitely playable given the advantages of an incorporeal primary caster. I'd put it at least at Tier 3, and it would be amazing for a gestalt character.