Awakened Gelatinous Cube

[oslecamo]

I would say there's space for a capstone of your cube familiars having a chance of rebuilding themselves some rounds after sacrificed.

But no to counting as actual wizard levels. You already have CL and spell slots for qualifying for prcs, and none of the other monster classes with wizard-based casting count as wizards either, and if it's only needed for qualifying for stuff like uncanny foretought, then good riddance.

[VennDygrem]

Hey, just wondered. Trying to make it as close to being a Gelatinous Cube Wizard as a Gelatinous Cube would get.

I'm trying to put this together as a character in another game, and it can always be houseruled if need be, but it needn't be part of the class itself. Also, I was kind of underwhelmed by the amount of casting the character had access to compared to a Wizard of comparable level, until I realized that at the end of the day when the low-level human wizard was out of spells, he's just a scrawny guy with a a crossbow, while the low-level gelatinous cube wizard is still a gelatinous cube. Maybe with less invested in the slam attack, but hey, that's more than the wizard has.

Anyway, made those few changes, and also made some clarifications about how stub familiars differ from stub cubes. Theu don't gain HD or special abilities gained with HD, because they get familiar abilities and don't really need them since they're not meant for combat anyway. And they don't need HD since they follow familiar-rules for HP.

[oslecamo]

Yeah familars have built-in progression.

And yes when doing monster spellcasting prcs you have to remember that unlike a pure caster, the gelatinous cube has other tricks to fall back when the going gets tough.

Looking good enough to me now, added to the index!

[VennDygrem]

Ok, yes, thanks!

Although, I just thought of something; technically as-written, a GCW can sacrifice a familiar and add the boost to a spell he is casting from a wand or scroll. Should I add a note to counteract that? I don't think the boosts are so huge that it would be game-breaking, but it does make them more powerful and usually someone needs to take feats or classes to be able to do that (though they can do so more often, usually).

I don't want to break anything.

----
Also, should I open up Cast Absorbed Spell a bit? As it's written right now, you can only cast a divine spell or an arcane spell that you can't normally cast or one that you've already learned. Should you have the option to cast a spell you've learned so long as you're dissolve it from the target caster?

[Raineh Daze]

You know, thinking about it as-is, the Gelatinous Cube is permanently locked to not being able to see beyond 60', since its Blindsight never increases. They can't see people on the other side of a battlefield. >_>;

On the flip side, they can see around corners.

I'm still not sure a 60' sight range at level 20 is a good thing. 5'/HD or 60', whichever is bigger? :O

[oslecamo]

Gelatinous Cube is just a 3 level investment. You have 17 other levels until 20 to pick some other kind of long-range super sense.

[Raineh Daze]

How many classes give you some form of sight and work with a cube of dissolving gloop? Sure, making hybrid monster abominations work, but...

[oslecamo]

Gate Guard?

[Raineh Daze]

Gate Guard?

Something that substitutes Strength for Con does not seem the best choice for a class that only gets CON bonuses. Also it can't use Iaijutsu Focus due to having nothing to draw.

[oslecamo]

Doesn't need to, Gate Guard allows you to use Iajutsu focus with unarmed strikes!

(as for Con, just take malformed body or something).

[Raineh Daze]

Doesn't need to, Gate Guard allows you to use Iajutsu focus with unarmed strikes!

(as for Con, just take malformed body or something).

But it doesn't have unarmed strikes. It still can't 'draw' anything because it can't put it anywhere.

So... the only class that gives it more than 60' of vision requires a feat to benefit from the stat bonuses the gelatinous cube gets, at the same time weakening the Cube stuff. That doesn't seem a good follow on.

[ketaro]

Let the blobs it can split off from itself share senses with it so it can virtually scout at distances and expand it's 'sight'?

[VennDygrem]

Keep in mind that the Gelatinous Cube ' metaphorical and literal bread-and-butter is waiting for food/foes to come to it, not going out and seeking such things. It doesn't need to be able to see something across a battlefield because it isn't meant to be on a battlefield. The fact that such a character has been awakened and is, for whatever reason, now an adventurer is kind of a secondary point.

If you really need to justify going from one end of a wide open space to the other to get at an opponent, well, Gelatinous Cubes aren't deaf. They can still hear, though whether that is relevant or not is situational.

If it's still an issue, maybe a feat can be devised to allow the cube ' blindsight to increase.

Improved Sense [feat]

Prerequisites: Extraordinary sensory ability with a fixed range (eg. Dark vision 60-ft, Blindsight 15-ft, etc.)

Benefit: One of your extraordinary sensory abilities now extends beyond normal limits. Increase its range by an amount equal to 5-ft. for every HD you possess.

Special: You may take this feat more than once. It's benefits do not stack. You may apply its benefits to one more of your special senses.

[Raineh Daze]

Keep in mind that the Gelatinous Cube ' metaphorical and literal bread-and-butter is waiting for food/foes to come to it, not going out and seeking such things. It doesn't need to be able to see something across a battlefield because it isn't meant to be on a battlefield. The fact that such a character has been awakened and is, for whatever reason, now an adventurer is kind of a secondary point.

If you really need to justify going from one end of a wide open space to the other to get at an opponent, well, Gelatinous Cubes aren't deaf. They can still hear, though whether that is relevant or not is situational.

If it's still an issue, maybe a feat can be devised to allow the cube ' blindsight to increase.

Improved Sense [feat]

Prerequisites: Extraordinary sensory ability with a fixed range (eg. Dark vision 60-ft, Blindsight 15-ft, etc.)

Benefit: One of your extraordinary sensory abilities now extends beyond normal limits. Increase its range by an amount equal to 5-ft. for every HD you possess.

Special: You may take this feat more than once. It's benefits do not stack. You may apply its benefits to one more of your special senses.

My main reason for bringing it up was that most other occurences of blindsight in this entire subforum scale. This... does not.

[VennDygrem]

Hmm, do the other examples begin at 60 ft? Are those scaling blindsight abilities on top of normal vision, or on otherwise blind creatures? I'm only asking out of laziness as I'd rather not scour all the blind sighted monster classes while browsing on my mobile phone.

>_>  <_<

Still, maybe the blindsight range could increase at pre-specified HD points to balance the fact that you get it right away. Or limit such increases to only those who invest in all 3 levels.

[oslecamo]

My main reason for bringing it up was that most other occurences of blindsight in this entire subforum scale. This... does not.

Most other ocurrences of blindsight in this entire subforum aren't gained at level 1.

The actually blind monsters that get blindsight at 1st level get it at a fixed value.

[Raineh Daze]

My main reason for bringing it up was that most other occurences of blindsight in this entire subforum scale. This... does not.

Most other ocurrences of blindsight in this entire subforum aren't gained at level 1.

The actually blind monsters that get blindsight at 1st level get it at a fixed value.

... doesn't that mean that the things that can already see therefore end up also being better at seeing blind? O_o

[oslecamo]

Considering how spot penalties work, the alternative is that blind creatures would end up being better at noticing enemies far away than creatures that can actually see.

[Raineh Daze]

Considering how spot penalties work, the alternative is that blind creatures would end up being better at noticing enemies far away than creatures that can actually see.

... well, if it scales at 5 ft/HD or 60' (whichever is better), then it caps out at 100' at level 20. I don't think the penalty is really significant at that point and distance.

[VennDygrem]

I honestly don't think it's too bad.  You give up normal sight which has its own limits under a lot of common situations (like darkness, in fog, etc. ) and gain a far better mode of sense but with a set limit of range. It's not the worst handicap, especially given the benefits.