Greater Unseen Servant

[ericgrau]

The idea came from a recent thread on what you can do with an ordinary unseen servant. I was surprised how few results I got when I googled "greater unseen servant". So I thought I'd make an improved version of unseen servant with much greater versatility and less limitations, yet with relatively simple rules.

I went with CR 3 because, in spite of his versatility & miss chance, he has a very low attack bonus & hp.

Greater Unseen Servant
Conjuration (Summoning)
Level: Brd 4, Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Effect: One invisible servant
Duration: 24 hours
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

This spell lets you form an invisible creature from planar energies, which is for nearly all purposes a level 1 human expert. You choose his feats, skills, languages and so on when casting the spell, just as if you were making a new character. You need not have these skills, languages and so on yourself and may even summon one to serve as a translator or guide.

His ability scores are 13, 12, 11, 10, 9 and 8, arranged however you desire. A human expert has (7+int modifier)*4 skill points, any 10 skills as class skills, 2 feats, 1d6+con modifier hit points, simple weapon proficiency and light armor proficiency but not shield proficiency. He does not appear with any equipment, but you may give him equipment. The equipment does not become invisible when the servant picks it up. A servant wearing a large amount of equipment loses his concealment from being invisible. However casting invisibility on this equipment can overcome this issue, and permanency could make the invisibility permanent. If your DM uses any special rules for character creation, they apply to the servant just as they would a non-elite NPC expert.

The servant obeys your commands absolutely, even if given suicidal orders. You communicate normally with him. He is damaged only by area attacks, including splash weapons, and dissipates once his hit points reach 0 (not -10). He does not actually die, but returns to the planes from which he came. He cannot be healed, poisoned and so forth since he has no physiology, nor does he need to eat and so on. Otherwise treat him as a humanoid creature, subject to the same effects as any other.

A greater unseen servant has a challenge rating of 3 if cast before the fight begins. Summons cast during a fight do not change a fight's encounter level.

Material Component:
A tiny faceless doll worth 1 sp.

Servant Freedom
Transmutation
Level: Wiz 7 / Brd 5
Components: V, S, XP
Casting Time: 24 hours
Range: Touch
Target: Unseen servant, greater unseen servant, wood wose, or other variant of unseen servant
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

This spell frees a magical servant and makes him autonomous. A mindless servant is still mindless, much like a zombie. A mindless servant continues to obey orders from the one who created him. If he has no orders he does nothing unless the spell that created him says otherwise. A servant with a mind becomes autonomous and is no longer subject to his creators commands. But he is friendly to his creator and will follow most instructions, at least at first. Once a servant is freed it is no longer an ongoing spell and cannot be dispelled nor disjunctioned. Nor does it have a duration anymore, he stays until destroyed. He is however a supernatural creature and winks out in an antimagic field and his equipment falls to the ground. He returns once the field is removed. Freed servants who expect an antimagic field are wise to carry a visibly magic piece of equipment, and unless it is running or charging it may then automatically notice the field in time to stop.

In the case of a greater unseen servant his level adjustment is +3 and his first level is always a level in expert. A destroyed freed greater unseen servant reverts into his spell material component(s) and may be raised by a resurrection spell (provide the material component is at hand) or a true resurrection spell. Raise dead does not work on a destroyed greater unseen servant.

Xp Cost:
100 xp per spell level of the spell used to create the servant. If the spell created multiple servants, then they may all be freed with one casting of servant freedom.

Note: In high optimization I suggest lowering the LA of a GUS to +2 or +1. Or allow retraining of the expert level and put the LA at +3 or +2. LA buyoff is another option for high optimization that works well with the GUS, since his abilities become less useful at high level. But even then I wouldn't let the last LA get bought off.

[GGambrel]

I don't know about the class level and skills. Since the caster is creating (not calling/summoning) the (greater) unseen servant (GUS), it doesn't seem to me that the GUS should know how to do things the caster doesn't. I think having an Improved/Greater Unseen Servant spell, which isn't subject to the same limitations as Unseen Servant is a good idea though.

Personally I'd lean toward giving the GUS a CL-dependent Str score (probably Str = CL), a faster movement speed, and skill modifiers equal to the caster's (lifing the DC 10 limitation, but probably forbidding the use of Use Magic Device). I'd probably avoid giving the GUS the ability to attack if it can only be affected by area attacks. But that's just me.

[qazzquimby]

Can the GUS speak? I don't mind it knowing things the caster doesn't, so you can conjure a lockpicking expert on a day you think you need one and ect.

I know this isn't what you're doing, but a freed unseen servant as a race or class would be interesting.

[ericgrau]

Can the GUS speak? I don't mind it knowing things the caster doesn't, so you can conjure a lockpicking expert on a day you think you need one and ect.

I know this isn't what you're doing, but a freed unseen servant as a race or class would be interesting.

Yeup he can speak. The spell even says you can create one as a translator.

I didn't think of making it into a race, but it makes sense. I'll think of an LA and put it in the original post. EDIT: Servant freedom spell added. Now I'm imagining an adventuring party bringing a faceless doll into a temple asking a cleric to resurrect it .

I made sure to clarify that area attacks include splash weapons so that mundanes could attack the GUS with alchemist fire. Without a party member with spellcraft they may not figure that out, but even then its attack bonus and damage is super low. So worst case scenario in combat it's only a low damage over time nuisance: foes defeat everyone else then flee or sunder its weapons. If it weren't for the abilities it'd be CR 1/2. Rather than for direct combat, GUS is mainly for the myriad of shenanigans you can pull with an extra body under your control: carrying, fetching, reloading, polymorphing (makes it lose its special abilities though), springing traps, wielding magic items, etc.

[Debihuman]

The original unseen servant is a force so you should probably fix the wording to make it clearer that you aren't summoning just an invisible person. Otherwise, this should be an EVIL spell as that is tantamount to slavery.

A greater unseen servant is an invisible, force that is roughly human-shaped and with human statistics (see below) that performs simple tasks at your command.

The servant obeys your commands absolutely, even if given suicidal orders. You communicate normally with him. He is damaged only by area attacks, including splash weapons, and dissipates once his hit points reach 0 (not -10). He cannot be healed, poisoned and so forth since he has no physiology, nor does he need to eat and so on. Otherwise treat him as a humanoid creature, subject to the same effects as any other.

Well aren't you an evil overlord now? I kinda object to creatures having an Intelligence score and then not being allowed to actually use it. Any unseens servant that is abused in this manner should just tell you to shove off and tell your enemies all your plans and secrets before having to commit suicide.

Debby

[ericgrau]

Dang thwarted by morality. Now I think my options are intelligent but not intelligent, [evil] or what about making it (summoning) instead of (creation)? So it doesn't actually die, it only goes back from whence it came and loses its skills. Perhaps they can be a blend of a life force from the outlands and abilities from mechanus. An animal spirit made smart and then reverted.

[Debihuman]

I don't object to a "greater" unseen servant but I think you have to decide what makes it greater than the standard one. If it is autonomy that you are after coupled with the ability to speak then all you would do is give it Int 10 (no point in making it variable as that just puts an unnecessary burden on calculations and it is squarely average for a 3d6 result).

Here is the original text:

An unseen servant is an invisible, mindless, shapeless force that performs simple tasks at your command. It can run and fetch things, open unstuck doors, and hold chairs, as well as clean and mend. The servant can perform only one activity at a time, but it repeats the same activity over and over again if told to do so as long as you remain within range. It can open only normal doors, drawers, lids, and the like. It has an effective Strength score of 2 (so it can lift 20 pounds or drag 100 pounds). It can trigger traps and such, but it can exert only 20 pounds of force, which is not enough to activate certain pressure plates and other devices. It can’t perform any task that requires a skill check with a DC higher than 10 or that requires a check using a skill that can’t be used untrained. Its speed is 15 feet.

The servant cannot attack in any way; it is never allowed an attack roll. It cannot be killed, but it dissipates if it takes 6 points of damage from area attacks. (It gets no saves against attacks.) If you attempt to send it beyond the spell’s range (measured from your current position), the servant ceases to exist.

I don't recommend changing how the spell works since all you want to do is create a greater version of it. Keep all the standard wording but make changes as follows.

A greater unseen servant is an intelligent version of a standard unseen servant that can perform complex tasks at your command. It can't perform any task that requires a skill check with with a DC higher than 20. However it can perform tasks that require a skill check that can be used untrained. Furthermore, greater unseen servants can speak one language that its creator knows. These are slightly tougher versions of the unseen servants, only dissipating once they have taken 10 points of damage.

Debby

[ericgrau]

I might make another spell, perhaps "improved unseen servant" from that. For this basically wanted say "here's a weak but hard to kill 2nd character. Now get creative and pull some tricks with it".

[Debihuman]

That would be more like a summoning a minion from an outer plane than creating an unseen servant. The problem is that nobody will want a generic servant; so everytime you use this spell, you have to create a 2nd level character. That will slow down the game while everyone waits for it to be statted up. Not a fan of that in game.

Debby