Elementalhood

[Gorbash]

Is there a way to acquire the elemental template (other than being an Elemental Savant) as a caster? I'm curious mainly for fluff reasons, since I play a gnome wizard/earth dreamer with affinity to earth and all things related, and in an agreement with the DM, once we finish our Shackled City campaign, we will have a special session or two, where every one of us will be able to set his affairs in order and attain some goal he's been aspiring to throughout the campaign (our party cleric will become a saint, ranger/beastmaster will become a werebear etc). So, no loopholes allowed, rules exploit etc (since it kinda ruins the point).

[Jack_Simth]

Elemental Familiar will technically do it, as, while the spell is designed to target your familiar, the actual target line is "living creature touched", so it can technically be used to turn yourself, permanently, into a Tiny elemental for good.

Depending on your DM, you get stats modified as per the Monstrous Characters section of the DMG - the -6 Int they all share will bite, as a Wizard, but the other benefits are nice.

[Gorbash]

Just the thing I tried to avoid... If the spell's name is Elemental Familiar and requires that you have a familiar to cast the spell on it, it is certainly not intended to be used on yourself... I appreciate the effort, but that's an exploit... I'm looking for a ritual, epic spell or something along those lines, not a WotC's mistake for not typing one familiar touched...

[Jack_Simth]

Epic spell okay?

Not a problem, then; it's a straightforward application of Transform. As a Gnome, looking for Earth, you're small, so you want to go with a Small Earth Elemental (could do Medium, if you'd prefer - it doesn't change much).

Base DC: 21
You're changing type, so +5
Hit dice are below 15 in either case, so no cost there.
Each Ex and Su ability is +10 - and the Earth Elementals have no Sp abilities, so that's fine. Outside the type (which is set above; anything tied to it is otherwise free), you've just got three Ex abilities on the Earth Elemental (Earth Glide, Earth Mastery, and Push) for +30 (+10 each).
It's Permanent by default.
Pre-mitigation spellcraft DC: 56.
Mitigation:
Time will do the job, here, just fine. Extra 10 minutes: -20; extra 18 days: -36. Between the two, you're at spellcraft DC 0.

If you want to spend XP, gold, and research time on it, skip the mitigation. An Earth Memphit only has two Ex/Su abilities, so is 10 points less expensive on the spellcraft DC, but has Spell-like abilities that you won't get.

Edit: Hey - you edited out Epic spells. Huh. Ah well.
Edit2: Still, researching spells is within the rules. Talk to your DM, research a spell of the highest level you can cast that does the effect you're after. You want the type, plus one to three of the elemental's Ex abilities, maybe some stat changes. It's not exactly a broken effect compared to the stuff Wizards can pull off at high levels to begin with. Maybe have a side effect of the spell be that you're immune to Alter Self, Polymorph, and Shapechange afterwards - get rid of some of the cheese spells that Wizards are famous for.

[Gorbash]

I put it back. :D Had to check with DM first if epix are allowed and I did, so I put it back when he said it was an ok way to do it.

Oh and btw. I already have earth glide (granted through Earth Dreamer prestige class), and what do you mean HD is below 15, number of it or what?

Still looking for more ways to do it, so if anyone knows other way of doing it, please tell.

[Jack_Simth]

I put it back. :D Had to check with DM first if epix are allowed and I did, so I put it back when he said it was an ok way to do it.

Oh and btw. I already have earth glide (granted through Earth Dreamer prestige class), and what do you mean HD is below 15, number of it or what?

Still looking for more ways to do it, so if anyone knows other way of doing it, please tell.

Number of HD of the critter you're using Transform to become. Small Earth Elemental has 2 hit dice, Medium 4, Large 8, Huge 16. For you, turning into a Small or Medium earth elemental would be the same Spellcraft DC. For a medium sized critter (such as a Dwarf), that list would include Large, too.

[Gorbash]

I see. Just one more question - Does that spell function like a buff and it can be dispeled or does it change my type into elemental for ever and ever?

[Dhavaer]

I see. Just one more question - Does that spell function like a buff and it can be dispeled or does it change my type into elemental for ever and ever?

Since the duration is permanent, it can be dispelled just like any other spell. Being Epic, though, it can resist antimagic.

[Ecalsneerg]

I see. Just one more question - Does that spell function like a buff and it can be dispeled or does it change my type into elemental for ever and ever?

It's permanent, so it can be dispelled. But for a +2 increase to the spellcraft DC, it's possible to add a +1 to your level for the purposes of dispelling. with a lot of artificial help, you should be fine.

[Talic]

In Theory, PaO could do it.

[bosssmiley]

Make a really good story case to your GM, then kitbash a racial transition class from the Genasi and the articles on Racial Transition classes on the WOTC site. They already have Celestial and Fiendish as worked example, so I imagine it would just be a logical extension of that.