Iron Mind

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Malath can re act to danger before her senses would normally allow her to do so. She retains her Dexterity bonus to Armor Class even when caught fl at-footed.

Woodland Stride (Ex): Malath can move through natural thorns, briars, overgrown areas, and similar terrain at her normal speed and without damage or other impairment. However, thorns, briars, and overgrown areas that are magically manipulated to impede motion still affect her.

Possessions: +2 mithral chainmail, Large +1 dire fl ail, Large master work composite longbow (+6 Str bonus) with 30 Large arrows, gauntlets of ogre power, amulet of natural armor +1, cloak of resistance +2, ring of protection +1, wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), potion of cure moderate wounds, 6 pp.

Elite warriors trained to resist mental compulsions of all kinds, members of the iron mind prestige class defend dwarf and gnome kingdoms against intrusions by mind fl ayers, dark elf enchanters, and the like. An iron mind becomes one with her armor, and its presence protects her from mental assault as thoroughly as it wards against physical blows. Iron minds combine the protection and assurance that their armor provides with rigorous training to overcome physical injury through mental power into one seamless fi ghting technique. Not content to simply play a defensive role, iron minds train fi ercely for confrontations against mind-controlling foes. They then seek out those foes before the threat to their homelands grows too great. Too few to march openly against mind fl ayer cities, the iron minds instead concentrate their efforts against powerful solitary foes: illithid scouts and envoys, evil fey, and others capable of mind control. Dwarf psychic warriors are by far the most likely individuals to follow the path of the iron mind, but other races or classes occasionally dedicate themselves to the philosophy. Prospective iron minds from other races and classes often multiclass before beginning their training in the prestige class, taking levels in ranger and wilder more frequently than other class levels. Wherever mind fl ayers or other such foes menace dwarf communities, iron minds are there to bolster the mental defenses of their compatriots. Iron minds try to blend in among the dwarves they’re with, then surprise attackers by revealing their formidable psionic powers at a crucial moment.

Adaptation: This prestige class is more diffi cult to deconstruct and modify than others because it draws on so many disparate themes: enmity toward mind controllers, the dwarven desire for collective defense, and the power of psionics. Changing any one of these elements results in a different class. For example, the drow might have a prestige class designed for protection against mind fl ayers, but it would eliminate the Armor Profi ciency (heavy) requirement and replace the damage reduction class feature (and perhaps the lend resolve class feature) with abilities more evocative of the drow, such as better spell resistance or new spell-like abilities.

Hit Die: d10. Requirements

To qualify to become an iron mind, a character must fulfi ll all the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +3.

Skills: Concentration 8 ranks.

Feats: Armor Profi ciency (heavy), Invest Armor*, Iron Will.

Powers: Able to manifest one 1st-level psionic power. *New feat described in Chapter 6.

Class Skills

The iron mind’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis* (Wis), Climb (Str), Concentration (Con),

Craft (Int), Jump (Str), Knowledge (psionics)* (Int), Profession (Wis), Psicraft* (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), and Swim (Str). See

Chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions. *A psionic skill described in Chapter 3 of the Expanded

Psionics Handbook.

Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifi er.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the iron mind prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Profi ciency: Iron minds gain no profi ciency with any weapon or armor.

Powers Known: At every level except 1st and 6th, an iron mind gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class she belonged to before she added the prestige class. She does not, however, gain any other benefi t a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, psicrystal special abilities, and so on). This essentially means that she adds the level of iron mind to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly. If a character had more than one manifesting class before she became an iron mind, she must decide to which class she adds the new level of iron mind for the purpose of determining power points per day, powers known, and manifester level.

Armored Mind (Su): An iron mind trains extensively in her armor, learning to trust its protective qualities implicitly.

An iron mind wearing heavy armor can expend her psionic focus to add a morale bonus equal to the armor bonus from her armor (not including any enhancement bonus) to a single Will save. Using armored mind is an immediate action (see the Swift and Immediate Actions sidebar, page 136). The iron mind must decide whether or not to use this ability before rolling the saving throw. An iron mind can use this ability once per day at 1st level, twice per day at 4th level, three times per day at 7th level, and four times per day at 10th level.

Damage Reduction (Ex): When psionically focused and wearing heavy armor, an iron mind of 2nd level or higher gains damage reduction 1/—. This damage reduction stacks with damage reduction of the same sort (such as that of a barbarian), but not with other types.

Table 5–9: The Iron Mind Base Attack Fort Ref Will

Level Bonus Save Save Save Special Powers per Day

1st +0 +0 +0 +2 Armored mind 1/day — 2nd +1 +0 +0 +3 Damage reduction 1/— +1 level of existing manifesting class 3rd +2 +1 +1 +3 Mind over body 1/day +1 level of existing manifesting class 4th +3 +1 +1 +4 Armored mind 2/day +1 level of existing manifesting class 5th +3 +1 +1 +4 Damage reduction 2/—, mettle of will +1 level of existing manifesting class 6th +4 +2 +2 +5 Mind over body 2/day — 7th +5 +2 +2 +5 Armored mind 3/day +1 level of existing manifesting class 8th +6 +2 +2 +6 Damage reduction 3/—, lend resolve +1 level of existing manifesting class 9th +6 +3 +3 +6 Mind over body 3/day +1 level of existing manifesting class 10th +7 +3 +3 +7 Armored mind 4/day, barbed mind +1 level of existing manifesting class

An iron mind’s damage reduction improves by 1 point every three levels above 2nd (to 2/— at 5th level and 3/— at 8th).

Mind Over Body (Ex): An iron mind trains to ignore pain, focus her will, and overcome her body’s natural responses through sheer willpower. Once per day, an iron mind of 3rd level or higher can use her Will save modifi er in place of her Fortitude or Refl ex save modifi er. The save is still treated as a Fortitude or Refl ex save, and the result determined as normal for such a saving throw. For example, if an iron mind had evasion and used mind over body to apply her Will save modifi er to a Refl ex save against a fi reball in place of her normal Refl ex save modifi er, she would take no damage on a successful save, as normal for evasion. An iron mind can use this ability once per day at 3rd level, twice per day at 6th level, and three times per day at 9th level. Using mind over body is an immediate action (see the Swift and Immediate Actions sidebar, page 136). The iron mind must decide whether or not to use this ability before rolling the saving throw.

Mettle of Will (Ex): Beginning at 5th level, an iron mind’s mental prowess allows her to shrug off many effects that would otherwise harm her. If she makes a successful Will saving throw against any spell or special ability that would normally be reduced by a successful save, she suffers no effect from the attack. This includes any effect with a saving throw entry of “Will half” or “Will partial,” as well as any other attack that applies a lessened effect with a successful Will saving throw. This ability applies only when the iron mind wears heavy armor. Lend Resolve (Ex): At 8th level and higher, an iron mind can expend her psionic focus to grant an ally within 30 feet a bonus to his Will save equal to the iron mind’s class level. The iron mind must be able to see the ally in question. Using lend resolve is an immediate action (see the Swift and Immediate Actions sidebar, page 136). The iron mind must decide whether or not to use this ability before the ally rolls the saving throw.

Barbed Mind (Su): Any time a 10th-level iron mind succeeds on a Will saving throw against a mind-affecting effect, the creature that caused her to attempt the saving throw takes 1d6 points of nonlethal damage and 1 point of Wisdom damage from contacting the character’s mind. This ability only applies when the iron mind wears heavy armor. Jodmara Garenil, an iron mind

SAMPLE IRON MIND

Jodmara Garenil the Iron Mind: Female dwarf psychic warrior 5/iron mind 3; CR 8; Medium humanoid; HD 5d8+15 plus 3d10+9 plus 8; hp 74; Init +1; Spd 20 ft.; AC 24, touch 12, fl at-footed 23; Base Atk +5; Grp +8;

Atk +10 melee (1d10+4/×3, +1 dwarven waraxe); Full Atk +10 melee (1d10+4/×3, +1 dwarven waraxe); SA —; SQ armored mind 1/day, damage reduction 1/ —, darkvision 60 ft., dwarf traits, mind over body 1/day; AL LN; SV Fort +9* (+11 against poison), Ref +4*, Will +9*; Str 16, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 6. Skills and Feats: Appraise +0 (+2 stone or metal related), Autohypnosis +9, Concentration +13, Jump –9, Knowledge (psionics) +3, Psicraft +5; Invest Armor*, Iron Will, Psionic Body**, B, Psionic Meditation**, Psionic Weapon**, B, Weapon Focus (dwarven waraxe)B . *New feat described in Chapter 6. **A psionic feat described in Chapter 3 of the Expanded Psionics Handbook. Armored Mind (Su): Once per day, while wearing heavy armor, Jodmara can expend her psionic focus to add a +8 morale bonus on a single Will save. Using this ability is an immediate action (see the Swift and Immediate Actions sidebar, page 136). Jodmara must decide whether or not to use this ability before rolling the saving throw.

Illus. by S. Belledin