Epic Athas 3.5 by redking (WIP)

First time on here, love to see the rest of the Preserver Metamorphosis completed. Love the direction that it is going. The Dragon Metamorphosis is excellent!!!

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Me too~!

Thanks! Iā€™m keen to have the entire supplement completed.

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What about using the Energy Charge ability from MMIII? If I recall correctly, there is nothing in the game that actually uses this ability, making it an oddity in the game.

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I am not familiar with it. Can you fill me in on it?

It grants positive levels which are the opposite of negative levels, might make a good template for a Preserver Metamorphasis Aura type ability or healing/restoring aura or something.

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Interesting. Iā€™ll check it out.

Thank you! Honestly havenā€™t thought about it in a while, will need to get back to it sometime, but it heartens me that you like it.

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I look forward to reading it!!!

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I am planning to revise or eliminate Lifebender (Ex), a benefit under the Psiotheurgy [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment] feat. As it stands, the mechanic complicates calculations and probably isnā€™t needed anyway because Gentle Metamorphosis (Ex) serves a similar purpose but is better.

Now that I am in the final phases of completing this work I have to critically examine all the things in it before it is ready for prime time.

Added this ability to psiotheurgy. Metamorphose Advanced Being (Ex): You can use the metamorphosis seed to apply the advanced being trait to yourself. At 63 ranks of Psiotheurgy, you can apply the advanced being trait to others using the metamorphosis seed.

Gentle Metamorphosis is altered thusly -

Gentle Metamorphosis (Ex): You can use the metamorphosis spell on yourself without the spell counting towards the maximum 10 uses of metamorphosis that a single creature can withstand. When casting gentle metamorphosis, you may not use a focus structure (a singular exception for the Pristine Tower). You can cast one additional metamorphosis on or yourself without counting against the ten-time limit once for every 12 ranks you have in this skill. Metamorphosis spells cast on other creatures must be via the gentle metamorphosis ability (and thus limited by the number of times an individual creature can receive a gentle metamorphosis based on your ranks in the psiotheurgy skill).

Advanced Being is now a trait that opens up salient feats, not a subtype. This harmonizes better with 3.5e. I will update the PDFs at a later date as I am still working on it.

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Rajaatā€™s epic psionic enchantment to create his champions has been revised with additional factors. A new mitigating factor, draining the sun, which is canonical has been added and lifebender dropped. The DC is set high enough that Rajaat can only successfully cast this spell in the Steeple of Crystals with the Dark Lens.

Anoint the Champion

Transmutation (psionic enchantment)

Spellcraft DC: 354 DC
Components: V, S, F
Casting Time: 1 minute
Target, effect or area: Creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

To develop: 3,186,000 Cp, 64 days, 127,440 XP. Seed: metamorphosis (28 DC). Factors: change type to dragon (+50 DC). Add advanced being trait (+30). Add Polyglot epic feat [non-combat] (+35). Self-sustaining (+10). Ageless (+10). Fast healing 5 (+90 DC). Genocidal Focus (+100 DC). Create and attach elemental energy vortex (+520 DC). Special Death (+50 DC). Signature Spells (+90 DC). Mitigating factors: psionic enchantment via expenditure of epic power slot (-19 DC). Sacrifice 2000 HD of living creatures (-100 DC). 130d6 backlash damage (-130 DC). Burn 16000 XP (-160 DC). Drain the sunā€™s energy (unique ad hoc during Green Age yellow sun -250 DC).

You cast this spell on a creature with at least 19 HD (less, and the spell fails). The creatureā€™s type becomes dragon; it loses all previous types and gains all advantages of the new type. Additionally, it gains the advanced being trait. It no longer can die of old age, and no longer suffers penalties to attributes for aging. It is self-sustaining, meaning that you have no need to eat, drink, breathe, or sleep. It gains the ability to comprehend and speak any language of creatures that you interact with, and read and write any language, per the Polyglot [Epic] feat. It quickly heals wounds, gaining Fast Healing 5. It gains the Genocidal Focus and the Signature Spells ability from Legends of Athas, and the ability to grant divine spells to templars. Additionally, the advanced being created by Rajaat may only be permanently killed in a particular manner unique to that being.

Rajaat used this psionic enchantment in conjunction with the Dark Lens in place at the head of the Steeple of Crystals at the Pristine Tower to create his champions. By using the Dark Lens thusly, Rajaat receives a +150 bonus to Spellcraft checks. The Dark Lens used in the Steeple of Crystals allows the creation and linking of elemental vortices to an advanced being (it can be done without the Steeple of Crystals, but not without the Dark Lens), allowing the new champion to recruit templars to the cause and provide them with divine spells.

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I love this. It makes perfect sense from gameplay and narrative perspectives. The interplay between the Dark Lens and the Steeple of Crystals is well thought out. Both of those could have pages devoted to them and the interactions and uses each has.

The idea that Rajaat baked a specific kill switch into each of his Champions when he made them is also perfectly in keeping with the vile little runt.

Kudos mate, youā€™ve hit the ball out of the park yet again!

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Changed Psi-Spell Artisan to apply specifically to psionic enchantments. Applies to each of the 5 ranks. Also added the psionic enchantment tag.

Psi-Spell Artisan Rank 1 [Epic] [Psionic Enchantment]

You can develop epic spells and powers as psionic enchantments with less expense in time and resources.

Prerequisites: Advanced being, Epic spellcasting, epic manifesting, Epic Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Spellcraft 24 ranks. Knowledge (arcana) 24 ranks, OR Knowledge (religion) 24 ranks OR Knowledge (nature) 24 ranks, Epic Skill Focus (Psicraft), Psicraft 24 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 24 ranks.

Benefit: When determining the cost of raw materials for researching an epic spell that expends an epic power slot as a mitigating factor (a psionic enchantment), you multiply the Spellcraft DC by 7,000 gp instead of the usual 9,000 gp and reduce the development time and XP cost accordingly.

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I am cleaning up and clarifying the metamorphosis seed. This fixes the main problem with the Athas dot org metamorphosis - that there were effectively unlimited applications. Now a creature can metamorphose ten times, and only in the service of advancing transformation into a dragon, avangion or other. Any random abilities or gaps are plugged by gentle metamorphosis.

Special: This seed can only be used on a single character or creature a maximum of 10 times total as there is only a certain amount of strain of metamorphosis that the body can tolerate (and it is also the reason why Kalak and Abalach-Re seek shortcuts in the metamorphosis ā€“ it is beneficial to get the most out of each metamorphosis since each individual creature can only be affected by metamorphosis 10 times total). All metamorphosis spells, except for gentle metamorphosis (see psiotheurgy feat), must be in the service of transforming into some higher form, like a dragon or an avangion advanced being. A creature cannot use the metamorphosis seed to create an array of cherry-picked abilities that do not advance its progress into the higher form (except for gentle metamorphosis , as mentioned above).

Gentle metamorphosis for reference:

Gentle Metamorphosis (Ex): You can use the metamorphosis spell on yourself without the spell counting towards the maximum 10 uses of metamorphosis that a single creature can withstand. When casting gentle metamorphosis, you may not use a focus structure (a singular exception for the Pristine Tower). You can cast one additional metamorphosis on or yourself without counting against the ten-time limit once for every 12 ranks you have in this skill. Metamorphosis spells cast on other creatures must be via the gentle metamorphosis ability (and thus limited by the number of times an individual creature can receive a gentle metamorphosis based on your ranks in the psiotheurgy skill).

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It just occurred to me that if avangions are aberrations, how about pseudopod arms that grow out of the avangionā€™s body as needed?

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That could work too.

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I favor one or more permanent Force of Mind effects as substitute limbs, tweaked so the effective strength is equal to the primary mental stat.

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A belated update for Epic Athas. This is a conversion of the 2E spell ā€˜Pactā€™ from Dragon Kings. This was a difficult one because under 3E norms, no epic caster would ever bother with it. Therefore I had to bring it up to contemporary standards. There is also a very similar spell in Dragon Kings called Planar Vassal. This spell replaces both. Here it is.

Pact

Conjuration (Calling)

Spellcraft DC: 51 DC
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 minute
Target: One elemental or outsider
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: No and Yes; see text

To develop: 459,000 gp; 10 days; 18,360 XP. Seed: summon (DC 14). Seed: compel (19 DC). Factors: summon CR 25 creature (DC +46). Change summoning to calling and include dimensional anchor and magic circle against evil (ad hoc +30 DC). Change attitude to helpful (+5 DC). +10 to DC of targetā€™s save (+20 DC). Mitigating factors: psionic enchantment via expenditure of epic power slot (-19 DC). 33d6 backlash damage (-33 DC). Burn 3600 XP (-36 DC).

This spell functions like lesser planar binding, except as follows. You may call a single creature of 25 CR or less and the spell integrates a magic circle against evil and a dimensional anchor. The creature gets two saving throws, one for the calling and one for the compulsion effect (DC = the standard epic spell DC + 10). The creature might, for example, fail its saving throw to be called but pass its saving throw to be compelled, which means it arrives without its mind being affected. If the creature fails both saving throws, the called creature arrives in the calling circle with its NPC attitude set to ā€˜helpfulā€™. This attitude could be worsened depending on how the caster treats the creature. Like the normal planar binding spell, the creature can make independent attempts to escape, and must be persuaded to aid you.

Pact takes much uncertainty out of the calling creatures from other planes, which are often hostile when called to Athas. The mindbending effect of this spell makes the called creature helpful; however, you must still enter negotiations with the creature as described in the lesser planar binding spell description, and you get a +6 bonus on your Charisma check against the creature if the creatureā€™s attitude remains helpful (+3 if friendly, and +0 if indifferent). Creatures called by this spell can serve the caster for up to 1 day per caster level.

Edit: Iā€™ve updated the feats, spells, metamorphosis and minority report to the latest versions in the OP.

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New 27/06/2021 Dray race with dragonblooded and human subtypes, instead of the dragon type given in Terrors of Athas. LA +2. 1st generation dray have a favored class of barbarian, and 2nd generation dray have a favored class of templar.

Unfortunately it appears that I can no longer edit my OP and cannot add this to the top of the page.

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Itā€™s an interesting take on the Dray. Iā€™ll admit Iā€™m not convinced by the stat bonuses for either 1st or 2nd Generation Dray. Gen1 (in Terrors of Athas) go from being slightly tougher than a Mul to being as strong as, and much tougher than, a Half Giant under your revision, which I just donā€™t see. Similarly, the Gen2 stats strike me as OTT, particularly when you factor in the synergy between the Cha bonus and Templar spellcasting/secular aptitude. At the very least Iā€™d drop the Cha bonus and instead make it a Diplomacy skill bonus when used against other Dray (representing their reverence of Dregoth and His templars).

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Ugh. Well thatā€™s no good.

Right you are. Iā€™ll tone down the ability scores. I might just get rid of human descended too. Adjudication for effects could be a hassle.

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