Author Topic: [3.5] Template: Starmetal Infused Creature (Green Star Adept fix)  (Read 2962 times)

Offline Chemus

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Starmetal Infused Creature


  'Starmetal Infused' is an acquired template that may be applied to any living, corporeal creature with an intelligence score of 3 or greater, except for elementals (hereafter referred to as the base creature).

Size and Type: The creature's type changes to construct, and it gains the Augmented [original type] subtype. Its other subtypes do not change, with the special exception of the living construct subtype, which is lost. Warforged who become starmetal infused creatures gain the Augmented Warforged subtype, may choose to retain or replace their Warforged feats, and may continue to qualify for feats, items and classes as if they were Warforged.

Hit Dice: Change all current and future hit dice to d12's. Reduce level or HD by 2 (see 'Starmetal Displacement Infusion', below). Recalculate HP based on the new HD, but recalculate Base Attack Bonuses, Saves and skillpoints using the same rates as the base creature, including for later advancement by racial HD.

Armor Class: Increase the Natural Armor of the base creature by 1, with an additional +1 per 3 HD or levels.

Attacks: Creatures without a natural attack gain a primary slam attack dealing damage as a club for a creature of that size, plus 1 and 1/2 times the creature's Str modifier. So that's 1d6 for Medium, 1d4 for Small, and 1d8 for Large creatures.

Damage: Treat all the creature's natural attacks as adamantine for the purposes of damage reduction and hardness. Additionally, the creature's natural attacks deal an extra 1d6 damage to creatures with the Extraplanar subtype, while on the Material Plane.

Special Qualities: The starmetal infused creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature, and gains those of the Construct type, with some exceptions, as follows:

Darkvision out to 60 feet, plus Low-light Vision.

Unlike other constructs, a starmetal infused creature is not immune to mind-affecting effects; it's a living mind in a construct body.

Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects. Having no metabolism, the starmetal infused creature is also immune to the sickened and nauseated conditions. (This last is for clarity; it's not called out in the type, but living constructs are listed as immune, so this removes all doubt)

Unlike other constructs, a starmetal infused creature heals damage at the same rate as a similar living creature, though the heal skill has no effect on their rate of healing. The spell mending heals 3 hp of damage, and make whole heals 2d12 plus 1 damage per caster level (maximum +10). If the creature is able to use tools, it may also repair itself as if it had the Craft Construct feat, as can anybody else who has the Craft Construct feat. To do this, they need a heat source and metalworking tools; the cost is 10gp per hit point, and HP are restored at a rate of 1 per 5 minutes' work. 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, unlike other constructs, it was once alive and has the same soul it had before, a starmetal infused creature can be raised or resurrected by any means that would have brought it back to life before becoming a construct.

It gains DR 1/Adamantine at every even HD or level; so DR 1/Adamantine at 2HD,  DR 2/Adamantine at 4th level, etc.

It gains bonus hit points based on size, as shown on the following table.

Creature
Size
Bonus
HP
Small
10
Medium
20
Large
30
Huge
40
Gargantuan
60
Colossal
80

As constructs, starmetal infused creatures do not eat, sleep, or breathe. Additionally, they are immune to aging penalties, cannot be magically aged, cannot die of old age, and so might exist in their current forms for eons.

Special: Warforged may opt to either lose or retain their Composite Plating quality. If they choose to lose it, they also lose the Adamantine Body, Mithral Body and Mithral Fluidity feats, if they had them. They may choose feats that they qualify for to replace them.

Saves: Having no Con score alters the creature's fort save bonuses; Con - is a +0 bonus to Fort saves and Concentration checks.

Abilities: The creature no longer has a Constitution score, Dexterity is reduced by -3, and Strength is increased by +6.

Challenge Rating: As base creature.

Advancement: As base creature; only HD are changed. So if a monstrous humanoid became starmetal infused, and it advanced, it would gain 1d12 HD, +1 BAB, Good Will and Reflex saves, poor Fortitude, and 2+ int skillpoints.

Level Adjustment: +0, but the creature loses 2 levels. See 'Starmetal Displacement Infusion', below.


Example of creature using template here:
(click to show/hide)

Starmetal Displacement Infusion
For a creature to become starmetal infused it must drink a concoction of powdered starmetal and special reagents that costs 3000gp (for Small or Medium creatures; for larger creatures, double the cost for each size category above medium), and takes 1 week to prepare. Once drunk, the starmetal petrifies the creature (DC 1 Fort save to resist; resisting ends the transformation, ruining the infusion) as it rapidly displaces the creature's flesh with starmetal. The process takes 24 hours, during which the petrified creature is helpless and unconscious. While the creature's body is being replaced by the starmetal, it loses some of its life force as its body tries to resist the change. If the creature is too weak, the petrification is permanent; but rather than being stone, the creature is starmetal; stone to flesh will not restore the creature, though polymorph any object, wish or miracle will. If, however the creature survives the process, it wakes up at the end of the 24 hours with its new body fully functional.

Game Effect: Immediately upon losing awareness, a newly infused starmetal creature loses 2 levels as if the spell raise dead had been used on it, additionally, it's set to the minimum XP required for that level. (If losing a level would reduce the subject to less than 1st level, it is simply left petrified at 1 HD, with 0 XP.) No spell, not even restoration, can restore these lost levels and XP.

Feats

Rigid Consciousness
[Racial]

Prerequisite: Starmetal Infused Creature

Benefit: You are immune to mind affecting effects (charms, compulsions, patterns, phantasms, and morale effects). You may not drop this immunity for any but your own spells and abilities.


Hardening
[Racial]

Prerequisite: Starmetal Infused Creature, DR 3/Adamantine

Benefit: Your current and future improvements to your DR from your starmetal infused template is no longer bypassed by anything; it becomes DR X/-.
« Last Edit: June 14, 2015, 07:08:46 PM by Chemus »
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Offline bhu

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Re: [3.5] Template: Green Star Adept (fix)
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2015, 07:21:23 PM »
I like the idea behind this!  This is a pretty neat way to redo the PrC!

Offline Chemus

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Re: [3.5] Template: Green Star Adept (fix)
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2015, 11:28:13 PM »
Thanks! My goal/inspiration was the Necropolitan, but the GSA was what I based and 'balanced' things on.

Any nitpicks or concerns? Is 'phantom' LA 2 too high? Should I remove the Slam, Starmetal damage bonus, Nat AC, Str, and DR in favor of the mind affecting immunity, then reduce the level loss to 1, making it the non-evil feeling Necropolitan template?
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Offline bhu

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Re: [3.5] Template: Green Star Adept (fix)
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2015, 02:47:29 AM »
I like it as is.  Playtesting would be needed to be sure, but i like it

Offline Maat Mons

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Re: [3.5] Template: Starmetal Infused Creature (Green Star Adept fix)
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2017, 03:48:11 AM »
Personally, I think the construct type is better than the undead type.  There seem to be a lot of effects that specifically target undead, so it always seemed to me like you were giving up all your old vulnerabilities for a whole new set of vulnerabilities.  I think becoming a construct would be more of a straight gain. 

I have to say, your reimagining of Greenstar Adept is much… kinder than most of the ones I considered.  There was that one where the class was a terrible affliction…
Quote
Long ago, the gods made the humanoid races from clay and breathed life into them, making them flesh and blood.  In recent times, a few humanoids have begun to transform from beings of flesh and blood into animate clay.  Scholars have been unable to determine the cause of this.  Some have speculated that the power that instills life into creatures has been spread too thin by the proliferation of the races.  Theologians scoff at the notion that the gods' power is limited.  Clearly, they insist, this is a punishment handed down upon the unrighteous.  Among the common folk, it's whispered that this is the result of an arcane experiment gone wrong, a new sort of magical disease.  Anyone showing patches of clay where skin ought to be can expect to be shunned for fear that they may be contagious. 
…that one where the class was an even worse affliction…
Quote
Undeath is generally taken to be the opposite of life, powered by negative energy instead of positive.  In truth, these are but two sides of the same coin.  In places incomprehensibly far off, outside reality as mortals understand it, there exist energies equally opposed to life and undeath. 

Occasionally, a terribly misguided mage will channel this energy, attempting to harness its unfathomable power.  He is not destroyed in the traditional sense.  No soul remains to enter the afterlife or be resurrected.  A ripple goes out through reality, erasing all traces of his existence.  Anything he has ever built ceases to be, everything he has ever done is undone, and only the gods retain any memory of him.  Depending on the amount of power loosed, others may suffer the same fate.  Whole villages have been erased, leaving uninterrupted forest and no recollection or indication that they were ever founded. 

A very few people have gotten near to these events and survived, but they are not wholly spared.  The divine spark that animates them becomes weakened, and can no longer sustain them.  They slowly revert back into the clay from which the gods formed mortals.  The fading soul prestige class represents these individuals, at least so long as they cling to a semblance of existence. 
…that one where you had to die in a horrible accident before you took the class…
Quote
Scholars, metallurgists, and necromancers have long known of the strange green metal thinaun and its curious property of attracting and binding loose spirits.  Recently, a volcano has been discovered in a span of the elemental plane of earth that experiences "leakage" from the elemental plane of earth.  This volcano disgorges a river of molten tinaun from some massive vein deep beneath the surface.  Needless to say, operations were immediately undertaken to collect this valuable metal and transport it to the city of Sigil for sale.  Protective magic keeps the workers from burning whilestanding near the searingly-hot flow, but few operations utilize spells powerful enough to save workers who fall in.  Many workers have lost their lives in this manner.  A few have come back. 

Most souls lost into the molten thinaun are dispersed throughout the entire great mass, unable to pass on to their final reward and beyond any hope of rescue.  A few very willful individuals, however, have managed to coalesce their souls into a small quantity of the metal and form it into a sort of liquid body.  A portion of the essence of the plane of fire which caused the volcano binds to the body, keeping it molten even after being removed from the heat of the river. 
…and several more where you did the molten metal thing, but on purpose, as part of a ritual. 

Offline Chemus

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Re: [3.5] Template: Starmetal Infused Creature (Green Star Adept fix)
« Reply #5 on: February 04, 2017, 03:56:02 PM »
Construct may be >> than undead, but this template doesn't grant mind affecting immunity as each of those templates usually do. Though I obviously did put in a feat to grant that immunity. And though it's a corner case, the construct type leaves one vulnerable to that mace that automatically destroys constructs.

Changing the fluff or method of becoming a construct is cool, but mostly up to the DM; what fits best in his world? Construct 'lycanthropes' or 'disease-zombies' might be interesting, story wise, but most of the mechanics could stay the same.
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Offline SorO_Lost

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Re: [3.5] Template: Starmetal Infused Creature (Green Star Adept fix)
« Reply #6 on: February 04, 2017, 06:19:57 PM »
Personally, I think the construct type is better than the undead type.
It typically is, that's why Warforged are so cool.

Also then you become a legal target for Golem Immunity, an 8th level buff that pretty much just hands you Magic Immunity.