Soulfused Construct

Vulnerability to Turning (Ex): If a souleater is subjected to a turn undead attempt, it must succeed on a Fortitude saving throw (DC 10 + character’s effective turning level) or be dazed for 1 round.

Summoning Souleaters

An evil spellcaster who knows the summon monster VII spell can choose to permanently remove the huge fi endish monstrous scorpion from the list of creatures that he can summon either with summon monster VII or with higher-level summoning spells. If he does so, he can replace it with the souleater. Once the spellcaster learns higher-level summoning spells, he can use them to summon multiple souleaters if he has chosen this option.

In rare situations, raw incarnum can bond with non sentient animated matter—such as the body of a construct—and imbue it with a semblance of life. The soul energy of the incarnum becomes, in essence, the now-living construct’s spirit, granting it a modicum of sentience and free will. A soulfused construct typically understands Common or another humanoid language (such as Dwarven, Elven, or Orc) but cannot speak or write unless it pays skill points for the Speak Language skill.

SAMPLE SOULFUSED CONSTRUCT

This example uses a fl esh golem as the base creature.

Soulfused Flesh Golem Large Construct (Incarnum, Living Construct) Hit Dice: 9d10+30 (79 hp) Initiative: +4 Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares) AC: 19 (–1 size, +10 natural), touch 9, fl at-footed 19 Base Attack/Grapple: +6/+15 Attack: Slam +10 melee (2d8+5) Full Attack: 2 slams +10 melee (2d8+5) Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft. Special Attacks: Berserk Special Qualities: Damage reduction 5/adamantine, darkvision 60 ft., essentia pool 2, immunity to magic, living construct traits, low-light vision, soulbound resistance (2 essentia) Saves: Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +7 Abilities: Str 21, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 3, Wis 11, Cha 5 Skills: Spot +6 Feats: Cleave, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Power Attack Environment: Any Organization: Solitary Challenge Rating: 8 Treasure: None Alignment: Chaotic neutral Advancement: By character class Level Adjustment: —

The eyes of an apparently lifeless automaton crafted from human body parts suddenly display a gleam of intelligence.

Soulfused fl esh golem

A soulfused fl esh golem is a particularly disturbing manifestation of incarnum’s ability to grant life to the lifeless. This ability seems all the more ironic in this case, since the golem is composed of once-living body parts. The soulfused fl esh golem understands Common, though it has no ability to communicate in that language or any other.

COMBAT

Like a typical fl esh golem, this creature uses its powerful fi sts to deal horrendous wounds. Unlike a normal golem, however, it is quite capable of adapting its tactics to fi t its foes or situation. It opens combat using Power Attack, taking a –2 penalty on attacks in exchange for a +2 bonus on damage rolls (not included in the statistics above), but it discards that strategy if it proves to be incapable of hitting its opponent. A soulfused fl esh golem prefers to take on weak or unarmored foes, and it seeks them out even at the price of drawing attacks of opportunity while moving past other enemies.

Berserk (Ex): When a soulfused fl esh golem enters combat, its elemental spirit (which is still bound to it, despite the presence of incarnum) has a cumulative 1% chance each

Illus. by W. England

round to break free, causing the golem to go berserk. The uncontrolled golem goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living creature or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach. Thereafter, it moves on to spread more destruction. The soulfused golem’s creator, if within 60 feet of the creature, can try to regain control by speaking fi rmly and persuasively to it and making a DC 19 Charisma check. After 1 minute of inactivity, the golem’s berserk chance resets to 0%.

Essentia Pool: This soulfused fl esh golem has 2 points of essentia, which it invests in its soulbound resistance ability (see below).

Immunity to Magic (Ex): A soulfused fl esh golem is immune to the effect of any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below. A magical attack that deals cold or fi re damage slows a soulfused fl esh golem (as the slow spell) for 2d6 rounds, with no saving throw. A magical attack that deals electricity damage breaks any slow effect on a soulfused fl esh golem and heals 1 point of damage for every 3 points of damage it would otherwise deal. If the amount of healing would cause the golem’s hit points to exceed their normal maximum, the creature gains any excess as temporary hit points. For example, a soulfused fl esh golem hit by a lightning bolt heals 3 points of damage if the attack would normally have dealt 11 points of damage. A soulfused fl esh golem gets no saving throw against attacks that deal electricity damage.

Soulbound Resistance (Su): A soulfused fl esh golem can invest its essentia in this quality. Every point of invested essentia grants it a +1 resistance bonus on its saves (included in the statistics above). The maximum capacity of this quality is 2.

CREATING A SOULFUSED CONSTRUCT

“Soulfused” is an acquired template that can be added to any construct that has neither an Intelligence score nor the living construct subtype (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A soulfused construct uses all the base creature’s statistics and abilities except as noted here.

Size and Type: A soulfused construct’s type does not change, but it gains the living construct subtype (see Living Construct sidebar). Size is unchanged.

Hit Dice: The soulfused construct retains the base creature’s Hit Dice and hit points (but see Advancing a Soulspark, page 198).

Special Qualities: A soulfused construct has all the special qualities of the base creature except its construct traits, which it loses. It gains the living construct traits detailed in the sidebar, as well as the following special qualities.

Essentia Pool: The incarnum possessing the soulfused construct’s form gives it an essentia pool equal to 1 + 1 per 6 HD it possesses.

Soulbound Resistance: A soulfused construct can invest its essentia in this special quality as if it were a soulmeld. Every point of invested essentia grants it a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws. The maximum essentia capacity of this quality is as normal for a character of the construct’s character level.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Dex +2, Cha +4. The soulfused construct also gains an Intelligence score of 3 and a Constitution score of 10.

Skills: The soulfused construct gains skill ranks equal to its HD + 3. All skills except Speak Language are considered cross-class. Most soulfused constructs spend the majority of their skill points on Listen or Spot, and any

pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs

pqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqrs

LIVING CONSTRUCT SUBTYPE

A living construct is a new subtype of construct—a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Living constructs combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.

Features: A living construct derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the template that gave it sentience or the class it selects.

Traits: A living construct possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature’s entry). —Unlike other constructs, a living construct has a Constitution score. A living construct does not gain bonus hit points through a Constitution bonus (or penalty) as other living creatures do. —Unlike other constructs, a living construct does not have low-light vision or darkvision. —Unlike other constructs, a living construct is not immune to mind-influencing effects. —Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, and energy drain. —A living construct cannot heal damage naturally. —Unlike other constructs, living constructs are subject to critical hits, effects requiring a Fortitude save, death from massive damage, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects. —Unlike other constructs, a living construct can use the run action. —Living constructs can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a living construct can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a living construct is vulnerable to a harm spell. However, spells from the healing subschool provide only half their normal effects to a living construct. —A living construct responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A living construct with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can take only a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When he has fewer than 0 hit points but more than –10, a living construct is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert living construct does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable. —Can be raised or resurrected. —Does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items, such as heroes’ feast and potions. —Does not need to sleep, but must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.