Coralline Prophet

I've written up a prestige class based on my recent interest in saltwater aquaria and coral reefs. The abilities are quite good, but I feel like they are definitely not as good as Wild Shape (what a druid would be giving up) and its questionable whether its ever worth giving up spellcasting, so I think it should be okay for balance. Especially with the feat requirements, since Endurance and Expert Swimmer are hardly first choices for most spellcasters. Submitted for your approval...

Coralline Prophet

“The seas are brimming with life. Behold mother ocean in all her glory!”

-Toren Waterspout, Coralline Prophet

There are few places in the planes so bursting with life and energy as a coral reef, be it one on the material plane, the elemental plane of water, or in the celestial or abyssal seas. Coralline prophets are the devout followers of deities of the ocean and waves or worshippers of the seas themselves who wish to cultivate and spread knowledge and devotion to these cradles of life and abundance. They wear the ocean as their armor and wield it as their weapon, bringing it with them wherever they go as a constant reminder of its strength and beauty.

Becoming a Coralline Prophet

Coralline prophets are usually drawn from the ranks of druids and clerics born on coral atolls or near coral reefs. Although not the only pathway to becoming a Coralline prophet, it certainly is the most common one. Because the spellcasting requirements can be met by arcane spellcasters, the occasional sorcerer or wizard also will choose the path of the Coralline Prophet, despite the armor proficiency requirements, and it is also not uncommon for bards to spread the joy of the underseas jungles with their songs. Although some of the abilities granted by the Coralline Prophet certainly could be of some use in the thick of combat, non-spellcasters rarely if ever pursue this as a career path even if they somehow meet the requirements.

Entry Requirements

Feats: Expert Swimmer (Stormwrack), Armor Proficiency (Light)

Skills:  Knowledge (Nature) 8 ranks, Profession (Sailor) 8 ranks

Spells: Able to cast air breathing (Spell Compendium) and water breathing.

Special: Must spend a continuous twenty four hours swimming in and around a coral reef conducting the Ritual of Encrustation (see below).

Table 1-1 The Coralline Prophet						Hit Die: d8
Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special		Spellcasting
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Watery Companion, Sea Empathy, Coralline Crust AC 4		-
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Boon of the Sea		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Coralline Crust AC 5		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Boon of the Sea		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Coralline Crust AC 6		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Boon of the Sea		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Coralline Crust AC 7		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Boon of the Sea		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
9th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Coralline Crust AC 8		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
10th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Watery Apotheosis, Boon of the Sea		+1 level of existing spellcasting class
Class Skills (2+Int modifier per level): Concentration, Craft, Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Heal, Knowledge (Nature), Profession, Ride, Spellcraft, Survival, Swim

Class Features

Your class features are all oriented around with mystical bond with the coral reef you call home. As your power grows you even begin to bring a piece of the coral reef around with you wherever you go.

Spellcasting: At every coralline prophet level beyond 1^st, you gain new spells per day and an increase in caster level (and spells known, if applicable) as if you had also gained a level in an spellcasting class you belonged to before you added the prestige class. You do not, however, gain any other class benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a coralline prophet, you must decide which class to add each level for the purpose of determining spells per day.

Watery Companion: A coralline prophet gains the services of an animal from the seas, imbued with special magic allowing it to accompany him on his terrestrial journeys. This companion must be chosen from the aquatic animal companions spells list (see Stormwrack, page 50). This ability functions in all ways as (and stacks with) the animal companion ability of the druid class except as mentioned here. Treat the coralline prophet as a druid equal to his class level for the purpose of determining animal companion abilities.

In addition to the normal animal companion benefits, however, the coralline prophet’s watery companion gains two additional benefits. They are under the effects of a continuous air breathing effect as a supernatural ability, and gain a fly speed with clumsy maneuverability equal to their swim speed. Unlike a normal fly speed, however, the watery companion cannot fly more than ten feet off of the ground or other solid, anchored surface, or the surface of water. The watery companion loses both of these abilities if they are ever more than a mile away from their master, but regains them once they are within said distance.

Sea Empathy: A coralline prophet gains the Wild Empathy ability. Treat them as a druid of their class level. This stacks with any druid levels or other classes which grant this ability. In addition, coralline prophets can use this on any creature with an intelligence of 1 or 2, regardless of creature type, if they have the aquatic or water subtypes, and if they are an animal with either of those subtypes, the coralline prophet gains a +4 circumstance bonus.

Coralline Crust (Ex and Su): At first level after the Ritual of Encrustation the coralline prophet’s skin is embedded with hundreds of living stony coral polyps, which slowly over time begin to expand, spread, and grow into a thick, armored shell. This grants the coralline prophet a +4 armor bonus to AC; however, the coral polyps prevent him from wearing armor. This armor bonus increases by 1 at every odd numbered coralline prophet level, to a total bonus of +8 at 9^th level. This armor has neither armor check penalty nor any arcane spell failure, and cannot be sundered or disarmed, or in fact removed at all under normal circumstances. It is counted as light armor for the purposes of how it interacts with class features. The coralline prophet can remove it in a painful procedure taking a full hour and dealing 1d6 points of damage per coralline prophet level to himself; doing so allows him to benefit from normal armor, but he loses all benefits of the Coralline Crust ability as well as all his Boons of the Sea until he spends at least one hour swimming in and around a coral reef to reencrust himself with coral polyps. This armor can be enchanted just like normal armor and is considered masterwork for the purpose. If the coralline prophet removes enchanted Coralline Crust from his body and then reencrusts himself, the new crust will not have the enchantments of the old crust. No one but the coralline prophet himself can remove the Coralline Crust.

The coralline crust is a living creature which thrives on the coralline prophet’s body despite being removed from the water. It provides an environment for the various creatures which grant the Coralline Prophet’s Boon of the Sea abilities. The armor bonus and stable living environment of the Coralline Crust are consider extraordinary abilities, and thus do not go away in an anti-magic field. However, while the boon of the sea creatures themselves are non-magical, the abilities they grant a coralline prophet are considered supernatural and thus cease to function in an antimagic field as the creatures hunker down within the coralline crust’s protective layers until the field passes.

Boon of the Sea (Ex and Su): At 2^nd level and every even coralline prophet level thereafter the coralline prophet gains a boon of the sea. This comes in the form of a living creature or creatures which inhabits his personal coralline crust and grants him special benefits. Although these are living creatures, as long as they remain within the coralline crust, they are considered part of the coralline prophet entity. As such, they cannot be individually targeted, damaged, harmed, or removed in any way except by the coralline prophet himself. They survive and thrive perfectly fine without food, water, or air as long as the coralline prophet himself lives. The coralline prophet can choose to remove one of these creatures from the coralline crust in a process which takes ten minutes and deals him 1d6 points of damage. The creature then becomes a normal creature of its type and acts and reacts as is normal for its type and its current location. The boon of the sea which that creature granted becomes non-functional until the coralline prophet returns to a coral reef and spends one hour swimming in and around it to acquire a new creature of the appropriate type. This does not allow the coralline prophet to change his boon of the sea choices.

The coralline prophet chooses his boons of the sea from the following choices:

Anemones: Large predatory sea anemones sprout from your coralline crust. You can seize these and utilize them as thrown weapons, despite the normal prohibition from removing creatures from your coralline crust. It is a free action to remove an anemone from your crust, and throwing one is an attack action. They are a thrown weapon with a range increment of 10 feet. A direct hit with a sea anemone delivers a potent paralytic neurotoxin, which acts as a poison dealing initial and secondary damage of 1d6 dexterity damage, fortitude save DC 10+your coralline prophet level+your Constitution modifier. You produce one anemone per class level per day for use in this manner, but you can never have more on hand than one per class level per day.

Crabs: Your coralline crust is covered with thousands of tiny crustaceans, milling about. Despite their small size these guys have hard shells, and they deliberately place themselves in harms way for you. They grant you a +2 natural armor bonus, or improve your existing natural armor bonus by 2.

Cuttlefish: A small pod of cuttlefish inhabit your coralline crust, aiding and abetting you in keeping a low profile. Their cryptic skills and color changing allow you to blend in better with your environment, despite the brightly colored coral encrusting your body. You gain a bonus on all hide checks equal to your class level, and can Hide in Plain sight as the ranger ability – i.e., only in natural settings even while observed.

Detritivores: Small creatures such as sea cucumbers, brittle stars, and lawnmower gobies inhabit your coralline crust, ensuring it and you stay clean and healthy. Once per day, if you ever fall below 0 hit points, these detritivores burst into action, cleaning the wound and work to stitch you back into shape. This automatically, without an action, heals you by 1d8 points of damage, +1 per class level. This healing can even prevent death if it would prevent you from dropping below -10 hit points.

Giant Clam: One of these peaceful giants has taken residence on your body. Once per class level per day the clam can attempt to clasp its mighty shell around the weapon of someone who has successfully hit and damaged you. The wielder of the weapon must make a reflex save DC 10+your class level+your strength modifier or be disarmed.

Moray Eel: A moral eel has found a comfortable crevice in which to lurk within your coralline crust. Grateful for the lodging, the eel will gleefully bite opponents who get to close. This effectively grants you a secondary bite attack as a natural weapon. This bite attack deals 1d6 points of damage plus half your strength bonus.

Octopus: A small octopus occupies a small niche in your coralline crust, extending its curious tentacles forth to help you in matters of grasping. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus in all grapple checks, and the octopus can also be used to hold and retrieve items. Retrieving stowed items becomes a swift action, as your octopus anticipates your desire and retrieves whatever item is needed as soon as you reach for it from your pack, even magical ones such as bags of holding. The octopus can also be used to hold items just as a third hand, but it cannot be used to wield weapons or cast spells or hold a shield in such a way as to confer a shield bonus.

Sea Turtle: A small sea turtle takes up residence in and around your coralline crust, venturing out to swim through the air (just like your watery companion, or an ioun stone) in small circles around your body before hiding once more in crevices in the crust. This sea turtle gives you a +2 shield bonus to your armor class, but allows you to still use both hands for other purposes such as wielding a two handed weapon or spellcasting. This shield bonus does not stack with that of any other kind of shield. The sea turtle can be enchanted just like a normal masterwork shield. The same rules for enchanting coralline crust apply to enchanting the sea turtle.

Sea Stars: Your coralline crust is home to numerous larger echinoderms known as sea stars. As a free action you may draw one of these from your crust and use it as a thrown weapon. These thrown weapons act as shuriken in all ways, except you are considered proficient with them automatically. Much like how the coralline crust can be enchanted as armor, you may enchant your entire colony of sea stars as a single weapon, and any sea star thrown will gain the benefits of that enchantment. There are no daily limits on how many sea stars may be thrown, although it is considered common courtesy to allow any thrown sea stars to reattach themselves after a battle.

Sea Urchins: Sea urchins crawl all over your coralline crust. As a standard action you may shake a number of these off into your own square and all those within five feet of you. The next time someone other than yourself steps into these squares, they must make a reflex save DC 10+your class level+your constitution modifier or take 1d4 points of damage and have their movement speed slowed by half. A successful heal check DC 15 or any magical healing restores their movement speed. You may shake off any number of sea urchins per day, but it is common courtesy to allow any urchins to return to your coralline crust after a battle.

Shark: A small cat shark has decided to call your coralline crust its home. Although it is too small to do much damage to opponents, its sharp senses will be a great aid to you. Having a shark in residence grants you the Scent ability with a 30 foot radius. This expands to 200 feet under water, where the shark’s senses come into their own.

Squid: A squid takes up residence in one of the crannies of your coralline crust. When danger is afoot and you need to skip town extra fast, the squid can come to your aid, jetting you across the battlefield nearly instantaneously. For one round, you can move up to ten times your normal movement speed in a straight line as a full round action. This provokes attacks of opportunity as normal, and counts as running in terms of how it affects you and your AC. You can do this at will, but once done you cannot do it again for ten minutes, as it takes a lot out of the squid. In addition, once per day the squid can ink while jetting. This reproduces the effect of a fog cloud spell centered on your original location when you began the jet.

Stinging Cells: The corals composing your coralline crust develop long trailing feeding tentacles used to grasp prey or ward off competing coral which can deliver a painful touch to those who get to close to you with hostile intent. Any enemy who approaches within five feet of you must make a fortitude save DC 10+your coralline prophet level+your Constitution modifier or become sickened for 1 minute.

Zoanthids: Your coralline crust is inhabited by zoanthids, small sessile corals containing powerful contact poisons called palytoxins. Anyone you strike with an unarmed strike or natural weapon must make a save versus this poison, and anyone who strikes you with either of those must also save versus the poison. The save DC is equal to 10+your coralline prophet level+your Constitution modifier, and the initial and secondary damage is 1d4 constitution. The Zoanthids produce enough palytoxin for one dose per class level per day at maximum; after that point the polyps withdraw their tentacles to rest until the next day, and your attacks are no longer poisoned nor are others poisoned by attacking you. You cannot store up poison beyond one dose per class level per day. It is not possible to safely harvest this poison from yourself, as it kills the zoanthids.

Zooxanthellae: The coral encrusting your body is cohabitates with tiny algal cells which enable the corals to photosynthesize. They pass along some of these nutrients to you. On any day that you consume at least one gallon of water and spend at least one hour in direct sunlight, it is unnecessary for you to eat. Spending a full eight hours in direct sunlight makes you so refreshed you no longer need to sleep, either.

Playing a Coralline Prophet

You believe that the coral reef represents a natural paradise beneath the sea, a veritable
Eden which should be admired, protected, and revered. You may worship a oceanic deity, or perhaps merely the sea itself in a broader sense, but your devotion to the coral reef itself borders of the religious. You place your trust in it, and in exchange, it arms you and armors you, providing you with the tools to accomplish your goals and protect the reef from those who might harm it.

Combat

You have many tools at your disposal for both defending yourself and dispatching enemies. Your coralline crust is your first line of defense. Although initially weaker than many armors you might wear, it grows as you do, and soon you can augment it to points that enemies will shy away from attacking you for fear of what your sea creatures might inflict upon them. Offensively as well your friends from the deep can come to your aid, but above all it is important to not forget your spells. Although your boons of the sea are useful, fundamentally you are still a spellcaster and it is through your spells that you will find most success eliminating enemies of the oceans.

Advancement

Coralline prophets have no overarching structure or hierarchies. Many individuals find themselves drawn to the reef and undergo the ritual of encrustation on their own through divine inspiration. Most, however, are inducted into the ranks by small covens of coralline prophets, functioning much like druidic groves do. Regardless of which way you were drawn into the fold, the ritual of encrustation is the same: a twenty four hour ordeal during which chunks of living coral, known as frags, are embedded into your skin and sealed there by magic, all conducted underwater in a coral reef. Loners usually find it necessary to prepare multiple casts of water breathing to survive, unless they can breathe underwater naturally, whereas those trained by covens usually have their breathing needs handled by their superiors.

Coral reefs are usually protected by various druids of underwater races, and thus while a coralline prophet may be in residence in or near one temporarily, most do not actually spend their time exclusively among the reefs. Rather, they are the traveling evangelists of the sea, adventuring on the surface and spreading the glory of the deep seas to the ignorant landwalkers.

When advancing as a coralline prophet, you have important choices to make when selecting boons of the sea, and whether to augment your defensive or offensive capabilities. Your feats should reflect this choice as well, playing to your strengths – a build focusing on sea stars and anemones might select Point Blank Shot, for instance, whereas one focusing on Zoanthids might select Ability Focus (Zoanthids) or Dodge. Also consider feats which augment your spell casting capabilities such as Augment Summoning or Extend Spell – your spellcasting should always be your go to abilities, and you should not ignore it in favor of Boons of the Sea.

Resources

A coralline prophet is their own personal social network. They are constantly aided by all manner of sea creatures in their daily life via their boons and watery companion. Their sea empathy ability also allows them to call upon the services of many denizens of the deep, provided they are skillful at persuading them to come to their aid.

Druids of all sorts are friendly to coralline prophets, although some might find the presumption that coral reefs are somehow extraordinarily special to be a little off-putting. Still, it is rare for a druid to not come to the aid of a coralline prophet to the best of their ability, at least when it counts. Aquatic fey are also usually friendly to them, and intelligent underseas races are usually at least neutral, as even sahaugin understand the importance of preserving their fishing sites from the predations of those who would destroy them, even as they themselves exploit them.

Most other surface groups see coralline prophets as oddities at best and madmen at worst. Although few people are actively unfriendly to them, many think their obsession bizarre and unhealthy, and thus would give them relatively little attention or care.

Coralline Prophets in the World

“A servant of the coral must be every aspect of a coral reef – a sturdy foundation like the coral, a stalwart defender like the sea turtle, a fierce predator like the shark – if they are to truly serve it fully.”

-Gulo Swiftflow, coralline prophet

Although one might imagine that coralline prophets would be most common in races which live underwater, this is not actually the case. Most coralline prophets come communities of land races who live in close contact with the sea and depend on it for their daily sustenance. It is these people who most prize coral reefs, as without their bounty they would starve. In these communities coralline prophets often fill the same role a druid, cleric, adept, or similar would serve, as a shaman, wiseman, and healer.

Organization

As previously noted, coralline prophets have no large organization or leaders. Local covens usually associated with druid groves, often joining larger hierarchies of druids in a full or tangential capacity.

NPC Reactions

Few things seem innately crazier than someone ranting on endlessly about the glories of the deep ocean while standing in the middle of dry land – and it doesn’t help if that person appears to have some sort of skin disease and a flying shark in tow! Coralline prophets wish to spread the good news of the bounty of the sea, but most NPCs would sooner put them in an asylum than give them the time of day. Spellcasters, druids, and adventurers in general are likely to be more understanding of their oddities, but even these may find their obsession off putting. Coralline prophets are nothing if not persistent, however, and are not easily fazed. While few villages not on the coast have been converted to the worship of coral reefs, many have begun to tolerate the itinerant preachers as harmless at worst and occasionally quite helpful, since most prophets have a protective streak a mile wide.

Coralline Prophet Lore

Characters who have ranks in Knowledge (Nature) or the bardic knowledge skill can research Coralline Prophets to know more about them. When a character makes a successful skill check or bardic knowledge check, read or paraphrase the following information, including the information from the lower DCs:

DC 10: Coralline prophets are spellcasters with an interest in coral reefs.

DC 15: They are so closely connected to the sea that they encrust their bodies with pieces of live coral, which acts as a living armor.

DC 20: They also host numerous creatures of the sea within this miniature coral reef, some of which can be quite deadly.

DC 30: Coralline prophets wish to spread knowledge and reverence of coral reefs across the world. Their mystical abilities allow them to become a walking, talking coral reef, complete with an entire scale ecosystem on their own flesh. They can be likened best to a force of nature rather than a single individual.

Coralline Prophets in the Game

Coralline prophets can readily adapt to pretty much any adventuring party, provided its aims do not directly conflict with those of the prophet. They are not significantly more zealous than any other druid or nature-focused cleric, if perhaps a bit more focused. Since a single level of spellcasting is not a hugely onerous sacrifice to make, they can easily serve as a primary spellcaster of a group, but their boons of the sea allow them to serve other roles as necessary as well, adding some flexibility in exchange for raw spellcasting power.

Pokkle

The "queen bee" of a piklit colony:

Pokkle

	Small Magical Beast
Hit Dice:	6d10+6 (39 hp)
Initiative:	+7
Speed:	30 ft. (6 squares), Climb 30 ft.
Armor Class:	17 (+2 size, +4 Dex, +1 deflection), touch 17, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple:	+6/+1
Attack:	Bite +7 melee (1d3-1) or Tail +8 ranged touch (1d6+4)
Full Attack:	Bite +10 melee (1d3-1) and 2 claws +5 (1d2-1) or Tail +11/+6 ranged touch (1d6+4)
Space/Reach:	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks:	Force fling, force aura, death throes
Special Qualities:	Low-light vision, scent, force immune
Saves:	Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +5
Abilities:	Str 8, Dex 17, Con 12, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 19
Skills:	Climb +11, Balance +11, Jump +11, Hide +7, Move Silently +3, Survival +10
Feats:	Weapon Finesse (B), Weapon Focus (Tail), Iron Will, Improved Initiative
Environment:	Temperate and cold forests
Organization:	Single and Pocket (2-8 piklits ) or Purse (9-36 piklits)
Challenge Rating:	3
Advancement:	6-10 (Small), 11-15 (Medium)
Level Adjustment:	-

Pokkles are the matriarchs of piklit society. Larger and more intelligent than piklits, pokkles protect piklit purses with their powerful force manipulation. Pokkles understand halfling, but do not speak.

Combat

Pokkles actively seek out and eliminate threats to their purses. They usually fight from range, making sure to protect any piklits being threatened first and foremost.

Force Fling (Su): A pokkle can fling a small ball of force up to sixty feet from the tip of its tail. This ball deals 1d6 points of damage, plus the pokkle's charisma bonus (1d6+4 for the typical pokkle).

Force Aura (Su): A pokkle is constantly surrounded by a small aura of force. This provides them with a deflection bonus to AC equal to their charisma modifier, minimum one. In addition, they may channel their force aura into any of the following effects, losing some of their deflection bonus to AC while the ability is in use and for some time thereafter. A pokkle may maintain multiple force effects at one time, but can never reduce its deflection bonus to AC below 0:

                Freedom of Movement: A pokkle may, as a free action, give up its deflection bonus to AC to benefit from an effect similar to the spell Freedom of Movement. This lasts up to one minute per point of the pokkle's charisma bonus (four for a typical pokkle), minimum one, but the pokkle loses its two points of its deflection bonus to AC for ten         minutes per round she was under the effect. She may also apply this affect to any other creature within five feet of           her instead of herself.

                Blur: A pokkle may, as a free action, give up one point of its deflection bonus to AC to benefit from an effect           similar to the spell Blur. This may last up to a minute per point of the pokkle's charisma bonus (four for a typical              pokkle), minimum one, but the pokkle loses one point of its deflection bonus to AC for a minute per round she was           under the effect. She may also apply this effect to any other creature within five feet of her instead of herself.

                Mage Armor: A pokkle may, as a free action, give up three points of its deflection bonus to AC to recreate the           effects of a mage armor spell on all friendly creatures within sixty feet of her, not including herself. This effect                 may last up to one hour per point of the pokkle's charisma bonus (four for the typical pokkle), minimum one, but       she loses the three points of her deflection bonus for an additional hour per hour she maintained the mage armor.

                Wall of Force: A pokkle may recreate the effects of a wall of force spell, except the effect is completely shapeable,                 and need not be in a plane. She can create up to three contiguous five by five foot sheets of force per point of   charisma bonus, that can be placed in any manner as long as all are touching and within sixty feet of her. This can       be maintained for one round per point of charisma bonus (4 four the typical pokkle), minimum one. Each round she          maintains them she can change their configuration by taking a move action. It consumes four points of her                 deflection bonus to AC, and she loses this for an additional hour per round she maintained the ability.

Force Immune (Su): Pokkles are immune to all force effects, unless they choose otherwise, and thus can walk through a wall of force, cannot be damaged by magic missiles, and ignore armor bonuses to AC from mage armor.

Death Throes (Su): A pokkle who is reduced to less than ¼ of her hit points may choose to activate this ability as a full round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. She may also activate this when knocked unconscious, asleep, paralyzed, or otherwise helpless, although she must somehow be aware of the danger to herself or her piklits, either from prior knowledge (such as an obvious threat immediately prior to being knocked unconscious or having fallen asleep, or because she retains sight when paralyzed or bound). This ability also activates automatically upon her death. All creatures not immune to force effects within sixty feet of her are immediately pushed back to the edge of a sixty foot radius surrounding her in the shortest distance possible, taking 1d6 points of nonlethal damage per 10 feet moved, and a spherical wall of force is erected in a sixty foot radius surrounding her body. This wall of force extends even into the ground and through objects, although the objects are unharmed. This wall of force lasts one month per point of charisma bonus (4 for a typical pokkle), minimum one, and as it is supernatural cannot be dispelled. The pokkle is killed by the use of this ability, and her body is completely destroyed, and so can only be resurrected via True Resurrection.

Skills: Pokkles have a +4 racial bonus Escape Artist checks and a +8 racial bonus on Jump and Balance checks. They use their Dexterity modifier instead of their Strength modifier for Climb and Jump checks.

The Sown

I waffled back and forth on whether I should design this as a monster (probably as a template for undead creatures) or as a playable race. Eventually my love for playable monsters won over and I designed it as an LA 0 race, although it definitely pushes some boundaries. It can also serve as a parallel to the entlings, since it is another plant race, although I hope you don't think it is a "typical" or "cliche" one.

The Sown

“First you plant the seeds in the body. Then it grows, nourishing itself on the flesh, until a new baby is born.”

-Willow Johannsen, Sown Midwife

The terror inspired by the legions of undead has become a visceral thing for many humanoids, like that of snakes, spiders, or the like. Something inherently about them inspires fear and disgust in them, and causes them to shy away instinctually as every one of their senses screams danger. Although the sown are not technically a form of undead, few people who have met them make a distinction, and certainly the same sort of revulsion is hard to avoid when seeing one of these beings lurch into view.

The sown start their lives as tiny, barely sentient seedlings, capable of a small amount of independent motion and little else. If chance or, more often, their parents see fit to implant them near or in the dead body of a humanoid, however, the seedlings sprout on the dead flesh, consume it for nourishment, and quickly ensconce the skeletal system in a rigging of vines and tendrils, rising up as a verdant mockery of its former self. Dispassionate scholarly treatments of the sown have compared them to a sort of plant-like hermet crab, using the skeletons of former beings in the same way crabs use the shells of former mollusks, but few peasants feel the same way when their Aunt Myrtle comes back from the dead with green vines twisting through her bones.

The sown are at once very similar and very alien to humanoids. They live in communities, they feel emotions, and they are not inherently malicious, but their almost parasitic nature sets them apart from most other sentient creatures causing them to be isolated and reviled. As a result the sown are largely misunderstood, isolated, and suspicious creatures, despite the remarkable similarities between their lives and those of normal humanoids.

The Sown Racial Traits

At first glance the sown appear to be nothing more than undead skeletons. Their joints are connected not by necromantic energy, however, but by trailing vines and tendrils. Small, pointed leaves sprout from these vines, almost giving the impression of body hair, and extraordinarily long vines often sprout from the back of the sown’s skull, mimicking hair. In the springtime the sown also sprout blossoms along their foliage, the color of which varies from individual to individual. The sown typically avoid wearing clothing except that which is necessary for whatever task they are currently performing.

·         +2 Constitution, -4 Dexterity, -2 Charisma. The sown’s unique physiology makes them tough and resistant to things which might kill normal humanoids. However, their joints are stiff and woody and they have a difficult time relating to other races and expressing themselves as individuals due to their plant brain chemistry.

·         Plant: The sown are of the plant type, and have all plant traits save those mentioned below under Humanoid Host.

·         The sown base land speed is 20 feet.

·         Vile Appearance(ex): The sown gain a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate checks and a +2 racial bonus on bluff checks, since their face is unreadable.

·         Racial Skills: The sown receive a +2 racial bonus on Profession (Herbalism) and Profession (Chirurgeon) checks. They also receive a +4 racial bonus on climb checks due to their tendency to live in trees.

·         Humanoid Host (ex): Their adaptation to living as a form of mixture of plant and humanoid has given the Sown several weaknesses as compared to other plants. During the implantation of a seed into the humanoid body and the consumption of the flesh and brain, for instance, the viny tendrils which infest the skull follow typical humanoid pathways for neural tissue, resulting in an intelligence very similar to humanoid, and as a result, the Sown are not immune to mind affecting spells. The necessity for specialized tissues to control movement of limbs and joints as well as sensory organs and a centralized brain have also resulted in a loss of the immunity to critical hits that plants normally have. The sown are still immune to poison, sleep affects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning.

·         Consume (Su): An individual of the sown may take a full minute to incorporate the bones from the corpse of any creature into its own body to replace those it has lost, both by direct replacement and by consuming the calcium carbonate to fortify its existing frame. The body cannot have been dead longer than one month. This process destroys the corpse and prevents any attempts to use resurrect that require a body. The sown who consumes the body heals one point of damage per hit die of the creature consumed.

·         Diet Dependant (ex): Although the sown can photosynthesize and thus do not create traditional food, the sown do require repair to their frames from time to time. At least once per month the sown must consume using its Consume ability a number of hit dice equal to its own. If the sown fails to do so, it takes 1 point of constitution damage each month until it consumes enough bones for all the months it has fasted. This damage cannot be healed until the sown has consumed its fill. 

Automatic Languages: Common, Sylvan Bonus Languages: Elven, Gnomish, Draconic, Undercommon, Terran, Aquan, Auran.

·         Favored Class: Barbarian

 Society

The sown live surprisingly mundane lives, aside from their bizarre physiology.

                Lands: The sown typically live in forests close to humanoid settlements. Because they are almost universally reviled, they tend to live reclusive lives, hiding from their neighbors for their own safety. Their dependency on humanoids requires them to live on close proximity, but contact is usually minimal, and oftentimes the humanoids only clue to the presence of a settlement of the sown will be a series of exhumations and possibly a rare nighttime glimpse of a sowing in progress, a dead humanoid rising from the grave as a new child of the sown.

                Settlements: A settlement of the sown usually involves a small group of five to fifty individuals living in a forest, oftentimes up in the trees where they can easily hide from their humanoid population that they parasitize. Such a group is known as a grove. The sown photosynthesize, so they spend much of the day in the upper branches of trees so they can absorb the sun. Although the sown are intelligent as humanoids and use tools, they typically do not build shelters, as they find the sun and rain nourishing rather than hardships.

                Power Groups: Their alien nature and physiology forces most communities of the sown to live as raiders of sorts, and as such success is often a result of military prowess, and such is often honored amongst them. Most high level leaders as such are barbarians or rangers. Druids however also play an important place as advisors to leaders, and age is considered a status symbol as well amongst the sown, so even one who does not excel in breaking into humanoid settlements to sow the children and retrieve bones for consumption can gain prestige and power over time. The sown generally lack any overall organization beyond the level of individual communities.

                Beliefs: The sown often worship nature deities like Obad-Hai. However, worship of both Evening Glory and Nerull and other deities of death or undeath are not uncommon as well, since it is through death that they gain life. Typically such communities border on the more vicious and predatory of the sown, although it varies.

                Relations: The sown never get along with their humanoid neighbors, and their relations tend to vary depending on the strategy the local sown use for harvesting bodies and bones for sowing and consumption. Some groves live only by digging up recent burials; these tend to have no interaction with the humanoids whatsoever apart from tales of grave-robbing skeletal bogeymen being a part of local folklore. Other groups more towards the evil side actively prey on humanoids, capturing travelers and merchants and even occasionally raiding whole villages. In these instances, the humanoids generally treat them similarly to orcs or other savage humanoid menaces and actively attempt to exterminate them. Some communities of the sown have been known to take up a nomadic lifestyle, often following armies or even adventurers to reap the harvest from battlefields. Regardless of their interactions with humanoids, the sown typically get along well with other plant creatures, fey, magical beasts, and animals, all of whom are more sympathetic to the unique physiology of the sown.

               

The Sown Characters

Fundamentally the sown adventure for much the same reasons as any other race does. A sense of adventure, of curiosity, or a need to prove oneself can all drive one of the sown to seek out the adventuring lifestyle. However, their unusual needs and appearance may shock humanoids, and it is rare that one will find itself accepted in greater society. Still, this means that any of the sown who wish to interact with the world at large tend to become adventurers, because the adventuring career is often the most accepting of strange or bizarre practices.

                The Adventuring Sown: As noted, the same motives which drive other characters to adventure drive the sown. Almost all of the sown who leave their communities turn to adventuring, as no humanoid settlement would ever permit one of the sown to live unmolested within its walls. Their hardy nature and natural isolationism prove an asset to such a prospect as well, and uniquely the sown find it beneficial to take up a career in rampant mayhem and slaughter of evildoers for profit, since it provides a steady stream of bones to consume.

                Character Development: The sown do well as barbarians and rangers, both classes which complement their toughness and immunities. The sown pursue many different career paths, though, even ones which one might think they are unsuited such as rogues and even bards, as their society has much the same needs and pressures as any similarly fringe group, and is such patterned very similarly to most savage humanoids, and few classes are thus absent among them.

                Character Names: The sown tend to name themselves after local plants and trees. Their last names tend to be taken from the gravestone of the humanoid they were sown on, although oftentimes they take from the wrong grave, and the sown who were planted on a fresh kill or battlefield often are given last names to match the individual who sown them.

Roleplaying the Sown

The sown are fundamentally alien yet all the same incredibly similar to other humanoids. Playing up this dichotomy is perhaps the key to roleplaying one of the sown, marking the great differences and the eerie parallels between humanoids and this bizarre race.

                Personality:  The sown are typically very insular and suspicious of humanoids initially; this however stems merely from mutual distrust due to their prior antagonistic relationships. With those one of the sown trusts, they’ll open up and display their true nature, which can be just as varied and individual as any humanoid. It thus would help to conceive two modes of behavior for your character, one for his friends and one for strangers. It is unlikely one of the sown would ever let their guard down among strange humanoids, no matter how close his adventuring friends are, and one who did would likely regret it.

                Behaviors:  The sown do not eat and do not sleep. They must photosynthesize to stay vibrant and consume bones to stay sturdy. They have gender and mate, but their children are sown in the chest cavities of cadavers. While one of the sown may have the same hopes and dreams and fears as a normal humanoid, their day to day realities are colored by these odd behaviors. Consider what sorts of things one of the sown might consider normal behavior, and what behaviors of humanoids might mystify him.

                Language: The sown speak with a strange rasping tongue caused by the scraping of vines on one another. Do be careful in trying to mimic this – don’t strain your vocal cords.