Guardian (prc)Guardian TemplateAn obsidian orb two feet in diameter and utterly without flaw, this object simply sits there, passively reflecting your curious expressions in its smooth surface.Prerequisites: -Must be a living sentient creature with at least 3HD and 10 Str, 10 Dex, 10 Con and 10 Cha.
-A character able to manifest 5th level or higher level psionic powers must perform a week-long special ritual on the creature, costing 100 GP for each HD.
Optional:Spend 1000 GP per HD, or 10.000 GP per HD instead.
HD: d10Level | BAB | Fort | Ref | Will | Feature |
1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | +0 | Anima Extinguished, Body of the Artifact, Immortal Artifact, Psionic Might |
2 | +1 | +0 | +0 | +0 | Jewels of the Ether, Immortal Mind, Meditation, Rolling Stone |
Class Skills: See Anima Body of the Artifact.
Proficiencies: A guardian gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.
Anima Extinguished (Ex): The character's charisma score drops to 1.
If the 1000 GP were spent the character is treated as under a permanent dominate monster effect from the one who performed the ritual.
If the 10.000 GP were spent then the character comes completely under control of the one who performed the ritual and must obey it's orders blindly whitout saves ever allowed.
Body of the Artifact (Ex): Unlike other monster prestige classes, you lose your racial traits and previous levels and their associated bonus (except skill points and feats, see below).
You then gain both Guardian levels and after that Psion, Psychic Warrior levels and/or any Prestige class for wich you meet the pre-requisites (your choice) untill you reach your old number of HD, except that all your levels give a d10 HD and you retain your old skill points and class skills plus feats (some of them may become useless due to your new nature). Any class level taken after this gives normal skill points. You don't gain new feats just for re-taking your levels.
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For example, a 3rd level character could become a guardian 2/psion 1, but not guardian 1/psion 2. A 10th level character could become a guardian 2/Psion 8, but not a guardian 1/Psion 9.
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You gain the below construct traits and are a small sized contruct with no movement ability, thus having no Str, Dex or Con score.
[spoiler] * 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.
* Doesn't heal naturally.
* 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.
* Proficient with its natural weapons only, unless generally humanoid in form, in which case proficient with any weapon mentioned in its entry.
* Proficient with no armor.
* Constructs do not eat, sleep, or breathe.
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In adition you gain an extra +1 HP per HD if you have 5 or more HD. At 10 HD this bonus retroactively increases to +2 per HD, and +3 per HD at 15 HD. A guardian must still meditate 8 hours per day to recover it's daily power points.
You receive -5 penalty to AC and Reflex Saves for being immobile but gain a bonus to Nat armor equal to your highest mental stat.
As an immobile object you have no working limbs. You can still see and hear but not talk. You can only take purely mental actions (like manifesting powers).
Altough the typical Guardian is an obsidian sphere it's body can be built in any shape and material the creator wishes as long as it's small sized and it suceeds on the apropriate craft check. This never changes the guardian abilities.
Immortal Artifact (Ex): A guardian doesn't ages. It has DR/adamantine equal to it's HD due to it's compact shape.
In adition, a guardian standing still looks just like a part of the scenery. It takes a Sense motice, Search or Knowledge(psionics) check with a DC of 20+HD to recognize it as a construct.
When a guardian manifests powers, it takes a Spot check DC 10+1/2 HD+Highest Mental Stat to recognize it as the source of the power, unless the observer is adjacent to the guardian, in wich case it feels a "tingle" on his head pointing at the Guardian revealing it as the source of the power, so it still needs to make Concentration checks to avoid attacks of oportunity from adjacent enemies.
Psionic Might (Ex): Guardian levels stack with levels in one manifesting class in order to determine effective manifester level, learning new powers and the number of power points gained for each new level, but doesn't retroactively give power points and powers known.
So for example a guardian 2/psion 1 could choose to gain 5 power points per day and learn two up to 2nd level powers instead of three 1st level powers.
Guardian levels wouldn't stack for any other psion ability.
Jewels of the Ether (Ex): A guardian can custom make or have custom-made magic items for it, though the at double the market cost. These treasures take the form of semi-tangible orbs of ectoplasm and ether that float about them like ioun stones. A magic item that relies on its physical form or shape in order to achieve a purpose (such as weapons, armor, shovels, carpets, etc) will not generally function in the shape of an ethereal ioun stone (though secondary functions might still apply).
In adition, the Guardian automatically knows the Psionic Repair Damage power. It can use it to craft items from surrounding materials (assuming it has the necessary skills/feats), altough this fully drains his MP for the day for every day of work.
Immortal Mind (Ex): At 2nd level the guardian gains a +1 bonus to Int and Wis.
Meditation(Ex): A Guardian can't do much besides thinking so it becomes really good at that. As a full round action it may grant himself a bonus equal to it's HD on any Int or Wis-based skill untill the end of his next turn, or it may increase the ML of his next psionic power by 1 by increasing it's manifestation time as shown on the next table:
Original Manifesting time | New Manifesting time |
Swift | Move |
Move | Standard |
Standard | Fullround |
Other | Doubles |
Rolling Stone(Ex):When push comes to shove the Guardian is capable of some limited locomotation. It's capable of moving at a speed of 20 foot per round by rolling around the ground, altough no part of it actualy moves. It still has no Str/Con/Dex scores so it can never deal damage or use combat maneuvers with this movement, anyone can grab it, and it's still unable to use movement skills like tumble, climb and jump, so something like falling inside a pit it's a dead end. It could still block an oponent's path. It never threatens anyone or grants flanking bonus.
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Comments
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The objective of the Guardian template is to turn the Character into a small sized limbless sphere. What can you do as a limbless sphere? Not much really. Besides psionics.
Since you lose your original body and your mind is stuffed into a ball you lose all your previous levels, but you get to gain free levels automatically to replace them. There's a precedent of this on the Blackguard.
The original objective of the Guardian template was to create almost mindless servants, but since playing that isn't that fun I put a clause the creator needs to pay an arm and a leg to assure control. The PC will be thus a "budget" guardian, with it's own will. But the possibility of the PC converting oponents into his toys is still there.
As finishing touches you get high DR for making up for your lack of regular defenses, easily blend with the scenario untill you manifest, and a small bonus for taking your time doing stuff.
Guardians on Athas (According to Athas.org)
Contributed by Stycotl from GITP