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Just saying, the implantation process is actually pretty damn brutal, especially if you have low Charisma and your GM makes you do everything by the book. Having to fast for at least three days, up to eight, along with a DC 20 Charisma check is harsh. Although, I guess that's kind of obviated if the ioun stone you're trying to implant is a clear spindle.
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I saw an illustration somewhere of a character with ioun stones implanted onto their skin, and thought it looked cool, as well as being less obvious than being your own miniature solar system.
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As per the description under Ioun Stones:
Implanted Ioun Stones
Not all the secrets of the ioun stones lie with the Ancients. While the First Humans mastered the intrinsic powers of the stones, uncovering new attributes and binding them to devices, the Second Empire explored the interaction of ioun stones and the mind and body, and in time devised a means of implanting an ioun stone within the flesh. This process, originally believed to be irreversible, protected the ioun stone from harm and theft while still providing its full powers to the owner.
Binding a stone to a single owner is a lengthy process. To begin the ritual, the owner meditates with but a single stone in orbit around him. The body must be cleansed by fasting for a period of at least 3 days. If the fast is broken or interrupted, the process must begin anew. At the end of the fast, the owner makes a DC 20 Charisma check; taking 10 is not permitted on this check. Success indicates the stone has bonded with the owner, and may be implanted. Extending the fasting increases the chance of bonding with the stone, but the character may suffer the effects of starvation and thirst if he persists after several failures; the character gains a +1 circumstance bonus to the Charisma check for each full day past the third spent in fasting, to a maximum of +5. Failing the check means the owner must start over.
Once the owner establishes this bond with the stone, he can have it implanted in his body, which takes 1 hour. This requires a DC 25 Heal check (with a –5 penalty if the owner is the one performing the surgery) and a DC 25 Knowledge (arcana) check to succeed. Failure inflicts 1d6 points of Constitution damage and means the implantation process must start again. Success binds the stone on the surface of the owner’s skin in a location of his choice (usually the head, arm, or hand), where it becomes one with the owner’s flesh, deals him 1d2 points of Constitution damage (which he can heal naturally or with magic), and gives him the full benefits of the ioun stone. Once implanted, an ioun stone may not be sundered or targeted by effects and cannot be removed without the owner’s consent while he is alive (barring complete removal of the implanted body part).
Rumors exist of stranger, darker magics that allow spellcasters to channel spells through their implanted stones, or that cause the stones to shatter if the owner is killed, but those with any actual knowledge of these procedures are dead, hidden, or not talking.
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Yeah, I was directed to that right after I asked the question. It's a serious process for a character, for sure.
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I would point out that an Ioun Wyrd must have at least 1 fully functional Ioun Stone which it's master gains the benefit of so ling as it's within 30'.
Therefore as a Starting Familiar the PC has to fork out for the functional Ioun stone even if the GM agrees to write off the construction cost and say he acquirred a wild one.
I'm pretty easy going as a player but I'd feel a bit aggrieved if the GM gave the pure Spell Caster an Ioun Stone as bonus starting loot just "because".
I know pure Spell casters are weak and need a helping hand and all that but..... (tongue in cheek)
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http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/h-l/ioun- stones/dull-gray-stone-ioun-stone/I would point out that an Ioun Wyrd must have at least 1 fully functional Ioun Stone which it's master gains the benefit of so ling as it's within 30'.
Therefore as a Starting Familiar the PC has to fork out for the functional Ioun stone even if the GM agrees to write off the construction cost and say he acquirred a wild one.
I'm pretty easy going as a player but I'd feel a bit aggrieved if the GM gave the pure Spell Caster an Ioun Stone as bonus starting loot just "because".
I know pure Spell casters are weak and need a helping hand and all that but..... (tongue in cheek)
The question is whether a dull gray ioun stone is "functional." If so, what's its function?
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To orbit the head, of course!
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If you need to start at level 1 with a non-dull-gray Ioun Stone to justify the Ioun Wyrd familiar, there are a bunch of traits that give you enough cash to start with a 150 GP Cracked Amethyst Pyramid or Cracked Gold Module. Taking a trait to justify a weird familiar seems fair.
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Well, if you spend 70 gold, you can purchase spellcasting. Tap Inner Beauty and Eagles Splendor. That'd give you another +4 to your Charisma check, on top of the +5 for fasting. There may be other cheap means to boost this check, but I couldn't find them quickly.
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I dislike the image of tiny baubles orbiting my head too. Honestly I feel all the mechanics available to stop them from doing so are equally ludicrous because I feel I shouldn't have to invest any of my character's resources at all to achieve such a negligable effect. Its a trap I find rather insulting, to be frank. Ioun Stones aren't more or less expensive because of that little visual caveat so I see absolutely no reason not to simply craft an item with identical functions which I can simply keep on my character's person.
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Hasn't been mentioned yet, but the Torc of Innocuous Gems from the Spymaster's Handbook also keeps Ioun Stones out of the way, albeit at the cost of the neck slot.
It also makes them nonmagical and they do not provide their abilities.
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I dislike the image of tiny baubles orbiting my head too. Honestly I feel all the mechanics available to stop them from doing so are equally ludicrous because I feel I shouldn't have to invest any of my character's resources at all to achieve such a negligable effect. Its a trap I find rather insulting, to be frank. Ioun Stones aren't more or less expensive because of that little visual caveat so I see absolutely no reason not to simply craft an item with identical functions which I can simply keep on my character's person.
Being slotless makes them more expensive doesn't it.
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Being slotless makes them more expensive doesn't it.
Yes, slotless items are more expensive than slotted items. The equivalent items I'm proposing would still be slotless, and so have the same prices, they just wouldn't orbit your head.
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Don't fear the orbiting stones, embrace the madnessGood Lord!
Those mechanics make me sad. Why give me the ability to craft at 6th, when the earliest I can get Ioun Angel 2 is level 10 (This ain't 3.5)? And I can already craft from scrolls, or better yet, drop the requirement. Otherwise, it's a good, fluffy idea.
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I dislike the image of tiny baubles orbiting my head too. Honestly I feel all the mechanics available to stop them from doing so are equally ludicrous because I feel I shouldn't have to invest any of my character's resources at all to achieve such a negligable effect. Its a trap I find rather insulting, to be frank. Ioun Stones aren't more or less expensive because of that little visual caveat so I see absolutely no reason not to simply craft an item with identical functions which I can simply keep on my character's person.
I completely agree, and made the following change to Ioun Stones in my Shattered Star campaign (which I thought fits well with how they interact with the shards).
◦Ioun stones no longer orbit a owner’s head. Instead, these stones must be embedded into masterwork items to function. Each item can have 1 ioun stone embedded at a time.
◦DC 10 Craft appropriate item and 4 hours of crafting time is needed to add or remove an ioun stone.
◦There is no cost in gold for this specific “crafting”. No crafting materials are needed when performed by a PC. NPC crafters will not charge for this service when the masterwork item or ioun stone is purchased from them.
◦Non-magical masterwork items will show the ioun stone’s magical aura. If the item has its own enchantments, only the more powerful magical aura is revealed between two.
(I know this is the Rules forum whereas these are House Rules, but thought it was fitting for this conversation topic.)
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I saw an illustration somewhere of a character with ioun stones implanted onto their skin, and thought it looked cool, as well as being less obvious than being your own miniature solar system.
Was that pic of green robed wizard with burning glaive? :D
That guy has tons of ioun stones in his statblock let me tell ya : D
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I think if you don't want to deal with the quirks of the ioun wyrd familiar (or having a familiar), then the wayfinders are the best way to house your stones. They have the added benefit of resonance as well, which, being a random effect, is always awesome (because random is where fun comes from).
The Random Resonance table is really quite cool, and even the venerable Dull Grey gets a resonance bonus!
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I would point out that an Ioun Wyrd must have at least 1 fully functional Ioun Stone which it's master gains the benefit of so ling as it's within 30'.
Therefore as a Starting Familiar the PC has to fork out for the functional Ioun stone even if the GM agrees to write off the construction cost and say he acquirred a wild one.
I'm pretty easy going as a player but I'd feel a bit aggrieved if the GM gave the pure Spell Caster an Ioun Stone as bonus starting loot just "because".
I know pure Spell casters are weak and need a helping hand and all that but..... (tongue in cheek)
Unfortunately, you added a word that is NOT in the Ioun Wyrd entry: "fully". It simply says a "functional ioun stone", NOT a "fully functional ioun stone".
Cracked and flawed ioun stone are functional. I'd even go so far as to say a Dull Gray ioun stone is functional. It has no powers (i.e. confers no benefit), but it's still a functioning ioun stone and it still whizzes around and it's still listed as a magic item with crafting costs.
If I were GM, I'd definitely allow a 1st level character to take an Ioun Wyrd at no cost, BUT they'd have to provide the ioun stone. I'd further allow the PC to use a Dull Gray Ioun Stone (25 gp) as the needed ioun stone.
While if I were GM I'd be inclined to make the PC pay for the Dull Gray Ioun Stone, I wouldn't have a problem with another GM giving a free one with the familiar.
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I would point out that an Ioun Wyrd must have at least 1 fully functional Ioun Stone which it's master gains the benefit of so ling as it's within 30'.
Therefore as a Starting Familiar the PC has to fork out for the functional Ioun stone even if the GM agrees to write off the construction cost and say he acquirred a wild one.
I'm pretty easy going as a player but I'd feel a bit aggrieved if the GM gave the pure Spell Caster an Ioun Stone as bonus starting loot just "because".
I know pure Spell casters are weak and need a helping hand and all that but..... (tongue in cheek)
Unfortunately, you added a word that is NOT in the Ioun Wyrd entry: "fully". It simply says a "functional ioun stone", NOT a "fully functional ioun stone".
Cracked and flawed ioun stone are functional. I'd even go so far as to say a Dull Gray ioun stone is functional. It has no powers (i.e. confers no benefit), but it's still a functioning ioun stone and it still whizzes around and it's still listed as a magic item with crafting costs.
If I were GM, I'd definitely allow a 1st level character to take an Ioun Wyrd at no cost, BUT they'd have to provide the ioun stone. I'd further allow the PC to use a Dull Gray Ioun Stone (25 gp) as the needed ioun stone.
While if I were GM I'd be inclined to make the PC pay for the Dull Gray Ioun Stone, I wouldn't have a problem with another GM giving a free one with the familiar.
It's not entirely unreasonable to assume functional means "fully functional", since to my knowledge the cracked/flawed stones are only from one specific softcover, or have they continued to make more since then?
Expect table/GM variation on what counts as "Functional" I guess.