Zodar
| Zodar | HD: d10 |
Level | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | 6 | | 7 | | 8 | | 9 | | 10 | | 11 | | 12 | | 13 | | 14 | | 15 | | 16 |
| Base
Attack
Bonus | | +0 | | +1 | | +2 | | +3 | | +3 | | +4 | | +5 | | +6 | | +6 | | +7 | | +8 | | +9 | | +9 | | +10 | | +11 | | +12 |
|
Fort
Save | | +0 | | +0 | | +1 | | +1 | | +1 | | +2 | | +2 | | +2 | | +3 | | +3 | | +3 | | +4 | | +4 | | +4 | | +5 | | +5 |
|
Ref
Save | | +0 | | +0 | | +1 | | +1 | | +1 | | +2 | | +2 | | +2 | | +3 | | +3 | | +3 | | +4 | | +4 | | +4 | | +5 | | +5 |
|
Will
Save | | +0 | | +0 | | +1 | | +1 | | +1 | | +2 | | +2 | | +2 | | +3 | | +3 | | +3 | | +4 | | +4 | | +4 | | +5 | | +5 |
|
Special | | Zodar Body, Enigmatic Style, Unknown Origin, Powerful Takedown, +2 Str | | Sublime Grapple, +1 Str | | Constrict, +1 Str | | Black Plate, +1 Str | | Burst of Strength, +1 Str | | Incredible Style, +1 Str | | Sublime Submission, +1 Str | | Show of Strength, +1 Str | | Incredibly Powerful, +1 Str | | Powerful Field, +1 Str | | Enigmatic Grasp, +1 Str | | Whisper of Change, +1 Str | | Power Plate, +1 Str | | Power Style, +1 Str | | Come At Me, +1 Str | | Invulnerability, Words of Change, +1 Str |
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Maneuvers
Known | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 4 | | 5 | | 5 | | 6 | | 6 | | 7 | | 7 | | 8 | | 8 | | 9 | | 9 | | 10 | | 11 |
|
Maneuvers
Readied | | 1 | | 1 | | 2 | | 2 | | 2 | | 3 | | 3 | | 4 | | 4 | | 5 | | 5 | | 6 | | 6 | | 7 | | 7 | | 8 |
|
Stances
Known | | 1 | | 1 | | 2 | | 2 | | 3 | | 3 | | 4 | | 4 | | 5 | | 5 | | 6 | | 6 | | 7 | | 7 | | 8 | | 9 |
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Skill Points: 2+Int mod per level (x4 at 1st level).
Class Skills none.
Proficiencies: Its own natural weapons
Features:Zodar Body: The Zodar loses all other racial bonuses and becomes a construct, with all of its advantages and disadvantages, except for the extra HP:
- No Constitution score.
- Low-light vision.
- Darkvision out to 60 feet.
- Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
- Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromancy effects.
- Cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired by certain spells. The DM may also allow the construct to be repaired with the use of the right skills with the right tools. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from this 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 it was never alive, a construct cannot be raised or resurrected except for limited wish, wish and miracle. The 1st makes the construct lose a level, the other two don't.
- However, it can be "repaired" if destroyed by spending 24 hours of work and 500 GP of materials, which make it lose a level.
The Zodar is a medium sized construct with base speed 30 feet. It has two slam attacks dealing 2d6+Str mod damage each. The Zodar may attack with both fists in a full attack without penalty.
It also gains a bonus to its Nat armor equal to its Str modifier. Despite its appearance, the Zodar is not made of metal, but some sort of ceramic substance surrounding a solid mass of artificial muscle capable of producing tremendous bursts of strength. The Zodar never counts as made of metal, stone or wood for ill effects such as rust attacks and similar.
Finally it gains +1 HP per HD. This bonus retroactively increases by +1 for every 5 HD of the Zodar.
Enigmatic Style: The inner workings of a Zodar don't just replicate flesh muscle fibers-they improve the design, making the Zodar unique among constructs in its ability to replicating martial arts. The Zodar gains known and readied maneuvers and known stances as shown on the table. It can learn those maneuvers from any school it wishes, as long as it fulfills all other prerequisites of that maneuver/school, but the stances must be of the same school of the other maneuvers it knows. Its Initiator Level is equal to its Zodar level and it can only learn maneuvers of a level no higher than 1/2 IL+1. If the Zodar attempts to start a normal grapple, or fights defensively with a magic weapon without using any maneuver, it instantly regains all expended maneuvers.
In addition the Zodar automatically becomes proficient with any non-exotic weapon of the school of maneuvers/stances it knows, and the key skills of those schools also become class skills for the Zodar. This works retroactively, meaning any cross-ranks the Zodar had bought on those skills now count as full ranks. The Zodar’s slams always count as favored weapons for the chosen schools.
The Zodar can choose and prepare its readied maneuvers with 5 minutes of standing perfectly still.
At 4th level, and all subsequent even-numbered level, the Zodar can swap one of its older maneuvers with a new one he qualifies for from the same school.
Unknown Origin: Even the greatest sages have little clues as to who or what created the Zodars, nor for what purpose, having trouble even figuring out how they work, and the Zodars themselves are awfully silent in the matter. Some specialists imagine it's the last remains of some ancient civilization from an alternate reality. Others theorize that it's actually a product from an apocalyptic future, sent back in time to try to change things back in the right path. For now the Zodar cannot speak, and its class abilities cannot be replicated/copied/stolen/similar by other effects.
Powerful Takedown: Zodars prefer to restrain their opponents rather than just punching them into pulp. The Zodar gains Improved Grapple as a bonus feat even if it doesn't meet the prerequisites. If the Zodar has 8 HD or more it ignores Freedom of Movement effects on its opponents for grappling purposes.
Ability Score Increase: The Zodar gains +2 Str at first level and +1 at every other level for a total of +17 Str at 16th level.
Sublime Grapple: At 2nd level when the Zodar uses a maneuver that calls for a basic attack, the Zodar may perform a basic grapple instead. Any effects that would occur if the basic attack hits happen if your basic grapple succeeds instead.
Constrict: At 3rd level when the Zodar suceeds on a grapple check, it may deal 1d6+1.5xStr mod damage to its target. It can choose for this damage to be non-lethal without penalty.
Black Plate: Some are beautifully ornate, while others are plain and simply functional, but in either case the Zodar is protected by a polished armor. At 4th level the Zodar gains DR/bludgeoning equal to ½ its HD and SR equal to 11+HD, which he may lower or raise at any time as a free action even if it isn't his turn.
Burst of Strength: At 5th level, once per hour as a free action the Zodar can double its Str score for all purposes for a duration of 1 round. At 10th level, and again at 15th, he can use this ability an additional time per hour, but not more than 1/round. This also grants the Zodar a racial bonus to Jump and Intimidate checks equal to its Zodar levels plus half other levels.
Incredible Style: At 6th level, 1/day per 6 HD the Zodar can use any one maneuver of a school belonging to one of the schools he knows as if he had readied it, even if he doesn't know said maneuver or doesn't have it readied, as long as that maneuver isn't of a level higher than the highest readied maneuver the Zodar has. In addition, the Zodar's base speed increases by 10 feet.
Sublime Submission: The Zodar may just be human sized, but it knows how to use the size of bigger opponents to its advantage. At 7th level, while grappling, the Zodar never suffers penalties for being smaller than its opponent, nor does its opponent gain bonuses for being larger. The Zodar may also take a -10 penalty on the grapple checks to not count itself as grappled, simply holding its opponent in one of its arms (meaning it can't be used for other tasks like slam attacks). Finally if an opponent tries any kind of teleportation or similar while grappled by the Zodar, the Zodar can choose to go along.
Show of Strength: Zodar can be found anywhere, and only very rarely will two Zodar be found working together. Each Zodar cares only for its goal, whatever it may be, and won't usually meddle with other's affairs. However, when a Zodar does act it is very destructive to its surroundings. At 8th level 1/minute as a move action the Zodar may rip off an adjacent piece of scenery such as a wall chunk or ship mast, as long as it doesn't have a total volume bigger than a 5 foot cube per HD. To do this he must succeed on a Break check against the inanimate object, in which he can use his grapple bonus. If he succeeds, the Zodar can then use it as a thrown weapon with a range increment 10 feet per HD and that affects an area equal to the one it previously filled, dealing damage as your slam two size categories larger. (If multiple targets are in the affected area, roll one attack and compare to each target's AC). This can be combined with a Strike maneuver which normally has a single target, in which case it affects everything in the affected area. Either way the object crumbles after being thrown. If it isn't used within 1d4 rounds after being ripped off it crumbles by itself anyway.
Incredibly Powerful: At 9th level, the Zodar's slam attacks gain an enchantment bonus on attack rolls, damage rolls and grapple checks equal to 1/3 its HD, and count as magic for bypassing DR.
Power Field: At 10th level the Zodar gains a Deflection bonus to AC equal to the modifier of a mental stat of its choice, and its slam attacks gain a permanent Ghost Touch effect.
Enigmatic Grasp: At 11th level the Zodar adds the modifier of a mental stat of its choice to all grapple checks, and its base speed increases by 10 feet.
Whisper of Change: The Zodar can now utter a single sentence fragment which everyone nearby understands to have a big importance, regardless of their language. At 12th level the Zodar can use Limited Wish 1/day as an SLA, save DC 10+1/2 HD+Str mod, except it must pay the XP cost if it duplicates any spell with an XP or expensive material component cost.
Power Plate: At 13th level the Zodar's Black Plate DR becomes equal to its HD and its SR increases by 4.
Power Style: At 14th level 1/day per HD as a free action even if it isn't its turn the Zodar can use its Str score instead of any other ability score when using a maneuver, and count as having max ranks in the key skill of that maneuver's schools for determining its effects. In addition the Zodar can choose to not count itself as grappled without any penalty by holding its opponent in one of its arms (meaning it can't be used for other tasks like slam attacks).
Come At Me: A Zodar prefers not to initiate attacks, but always stands ready to fight in self-defense. At 15th level 1/round if the Zodar is attacked by someone it hadn't harmed in 24 hours, the Zodar can choose to instantly take an extra standard action, which must be spent attacking the one that attacked him. (This action is taken after the opponent’s attack is resolved, and the Zodar cannot affect anyone other than that opponent with the extra standard action, including itself). The Zodar's base speed also increases by 10 feet.
Invulnerability: At 16th level the Zodar becomes impervious to all damage and ill effects (including magic ones) except those from bludgeoning weapons, and the enhancement bonus (if any ) of such a weapon is disregarded when determining the result of the attack. For purposes of this ability, any weapon can be used as bludgeoning in a pinch, but counts as a simple improvised weapon in that case. If the Zodar would become immune to bludgeoning damage by any means, then it loses this ability.
Words of Change: At 16th level the Zodar can now use Wish 1/day as an SLA, save DC 10+1/2 HD+Str mod, except it must pay the XP costs if it creates any permanent lasting effect. Once per year it may create a permanent/lasting effect up to 5000 XP without paying the XP cost. Once per century it may create a permanent/lasting effect up to 10,000 XP without paying the XP cost.
Comments:Ah, the Zodar, your usual mysterious super-powerful humanoid construct from an ancient civilization...Or is it?
Anyway, this had already been done by Libertad, but his approach just didn't feel right to me. Thus I decided to give it a try myself, in particular because he also requested for a version of mine.
First things first, the Zodar seems pretty cool at first glance but then has only a couple iconic abilities and 16 levels to fill.
Anyway I decided that since the Zodar seems to be all “I don't need fancy tricks or massive size, I'm just gonna grab you and punch you until you stop moving,” this was the perfect opportunity for a martial initiator construct. So a mix of maneuvers, grapples and scaling defenses. And of course the iconic burst of strength and “I don't always speak, but when I do you better listen”. Couldn't decide on a school so I just let the players pick. Show of strength is from the spelljammer version where the flavor text says Zodars like to rip off ship's masts and throwing them as massive lances. Of course they didn't provide any rules for it.
So if you want to play a combat machine of few words, the Zodar's for you! And a somewhat late Merry Christmas!
