Lawmonger's page

Did we ever get further clarification on the possible location of the Warlock's Walk octych?

Allan.

It appeared in location 29 of the D20 version of warlock's walk. Its an addition not found in the AD&D notes.

I prefer the AD&D set up - the addition of the octych in Warlock's Walk doesn't really make sense to me, as Dungeon #112 says the disciples of Slerotin scattered them across the world?

Thanks, everyone!

@Scythia - the NPC is expected to be chased and interrogated. The ring is quite likely to end up in the party's hands. I added the disadvantages to try to mitigate the excessive power of the item - unlike the spell it doesnt actually prevent you fighting while wearing it - just makes the wearer rather stoic and detatched.

@Wheldrake - i think its still too powerful as it is - and i'm not sure how much of a reduction in cost the disadvantages might be worth. The trouble with a permanent protection from evil is that it renders the wearer immune to ALL enchantment spells, (there being practically none which do not have either the charm or compulsion descriptor) which is far too good for the mere 4000gp that creating an iitem of it is supposed to cost. Granted 4000gp is about the right cost for a 5th level npcs kit, but its far far too powerful.

@Majuba - iirc I calculated the save bonus as +2 to all saves, divided by 3 then muliplied by 1.5 to account for the additional effect - continuous calm emotions (48000gp) Plus +2 will save bonus (2000gp).

300gp x bonus squared per descriptor? Or for the all the descriptors listed?

Good catch on the charm thing - I thought that the rings main use of the item in the adventure, is to prevent the party simply charming information straight out of the npc - but it doesnt actually prevent that.

*Bump* Am I on the wrong part of the boards?

Hi all,

I'm trying to update an old Planescape adventure to 3.5/pathfinder. Mostly this just means updating or rewriting NPC stat blocks to the new rules but one NPC - a 5th level fighter - has a ring of clear thought, which so far as I know never made it into 3.5. There is a pathfinder version by Iron Hills games, but its effects don't reflect the AD&D rules.

The AD&D version:

My Attempt to mimic this produced:

That's still a bit too good for a ring for a 5th level NPC - So Im trying to create a version that's better suited to an NPC of that level. From the adventure context, he needs to be difficult to charm or terrorize into giving information - so I reckoned a bonus on Will saves against fear, confusion and charm and compulsion effects is appropriate, but I'm not sure how to price it - the rules being for blanket resistance bonuses on all saves.

SO how do I price a ring that grants say a +5 resistance bonus to Will saves vs fear, charm, compulsion and confusion effects?

Thanks!

Probably too late to be helpful now, but stats and some background appear at the back of Dungeon #150.

I had a go at inventing some further magical songs that fit the dark theme - they haven't been playtested:

The Bleak Harvest
Perform DC: 13
Effect:
inflict light wounds - (CL 1st) to all creatures within 30ft including the player. The Will save is DC 13. The caster level increases by 1 for 5 points by which the player exceeds the perform DC.

Danse Macabre
Perform DC: special
Effect:
animate dead - The player can animate corpses within 30ft as zombies. The perform DC 13 + twice the total racial HD of creatures to be animated (min 1 per creature). Once the zombies are animated they remain so for as long as the player continues to play – however the DC to end or maintain the effect is the same as the DC to animate the zombies.
eg: if the player animates two human zombies, with a DC 17 perform check, she must continue to make a DC 17 perform check each round or suffer 2 points of con damage as normal.
The effect lasts only as long as the player continues to play and the zombies created must remain within 30ft at all times. When the player stops playing or if the zombies stray beyond 30ft of the player, the zombies once again fall to the ground as corpses.

Hi All!
Some time ago James Jacobs wrote an AoW campaign diary for his character Tyralandi Scrimm. In it Tyralandi has a strange magical violin, which raised a certain amount of interest here on the boards.
James shared the item in his ask James Jacobs thread about a week ago and it is reposted below in case others were as curious about it as I was:

The Thrice-Damned Fiddle of Tvash-Prull

This ebony and onyx fiddle shows signs of decades of use, but is otherwise in exemplary condition. A small monogram bearing the initials "TP" appears on the back of the instrument, a hint at its former owner. The fiddle gives a wonderful sound when played, and may be employed to produce magical effects should the player attempt a particular song. Two sheets of faded parchment bering a series of musical notes—presumably original compositions by Tvash-Prull himself, are tucked within the hollow recesses of the instrument. Presumably additional magic-inducing songs exist as well.

Each song has an associated Perform DC. If this is met, the player begins aggressively playing the song, releasing the associated magical effect. Effects apply to all friendly characters within a 30-ft.-radius burst centred on the player. The effect lasts only so long as the instrument is played, and the Perform DC must be met each round in order for the song's effects to take place. If the check is missed, the intensity of the song increases, and the player immediately suffers 2 points of Constitution damage. Stopping the furious fiddling is a full-round action that requires a Will save equal to the song's Perform DC. Failure results in increased intensity and further Constitution loss.

Tune Perform Effect
March of the Korreds DC 14 false life
Lynkhab's Lament DC 16 death ward

The Thrice-Damned Fiddle of Tvash-Prull
This ebony and onyx fiddle shows signs of decades of use, but is otherwise in exemplary condition. A small monogram bearing the initials "TP" appears on the back of the instrument, a hint at its former owner. The fiddle gives a wonderful sound when played, and may be employed to produce magical effects should the player attempt a particular song. Two sheets of faded parchment bering a series of musical notes—presumably original compositions by Tvash-Prull himself, are tucked within the hollow recesses of the instrument. Presumably additional magic-inducing songs exist as well.

Awesome! Thanks! :D

Yasha wrote:

Since someone already asked about Tyralandi's theme music...

Will we ever get to see the Magic Item write-up on the Thrice Damned Fiddle of Tvash-Prull?

Didn't I post that to the Tyralandi thread? If not, I can post it somewhere.

Hi James, Did you ever post this? (I'm late to the party I know) I cant find it anywhere on the boards.

In retrospect - thats a ridiculous fear - one allip and hes toast - thanks guys - youve made one very hippy druid very happy.

@ Thanael - :-) Im running an old paizo 3.5 campaign as written, with a group of 3.5 characters, so no pathfinder stuff for me! (I had been running a PF homebrew campaign but no time to prep atm so we switched to something prewritten that weve planned to do for a while.)

@ MrSin - true - I just worry that everything is then Keyed off wisdom.

Got this idea for a beach bum water/wind focused druid who hires himself to merchant ships as a wind-charmer. He doesnt feel turning into an animal fits - plus I think he feels its less paperwork.

I know 3.5 wild shape is hideously powerful - In many ways I suppose im glad he doesnt want it! I think I distrust UA because its so open to abuse - early in my DMing career I was face by a player who would switch an ability for an alternate, then switch part of the alternate for another etc etc - so im instantly wary of it now. Ive had far more experience as a DM, but the easiest solution is simply to say No to UA.

Hi!
I shouldnt worry about the character sheet - you'll get used to it when youve used one.
Lets look at your questions in turn.

1. The amount of combat is really down to your GM - some run combat heavy other not so much - in my campaigns (and I think most) some sessions have lots and some have none at all, depending on whats going on in the story etc.

2. The system is pretty rich - characters can be pretty wildly varied depending on how they are built.

3. There are plenty of supplemental books that increase the variety in creating a character, including races and classes, but again its down to your GM as to which you can use.

Hints and tips is harder, have you any idea what kind of character you might want to play?
Best advice is have a chat with the GM raise your concerns and establish what kind of game they run.

Edit: gah! Sic beat me to the punch!

Hi all!
Ive just started running the Savage Tide A.P, and my goups resident powergamer wants to trade wild shape for a variant ability in Unearthed Arcana:

Druid
The druid might choose to give up her wild shape ability in exchange for becoming a swift and deadly hunter.

Gain
Bonus to Armor Class when unarmored (as monk, including Wisdom bonus to AC), fast movement (as monk), favored enemy (as ranger), swift tracker (as ranger), Track feat (as ranger).

Lose
Armor and shield proficiency, wild shape (all versions).

I'm always suspicious of unearthed arcana, and Im not worried about saying no, but I dont want to just dismiss it out of hand.

So I'm asking - how balanced/broken is this as an alt class feature?

In 3.5 i think the Arcane Heirophant from races of the wild let you cast spells through your companion familiar - it definitely let you have your animal companion as your familiar.

Id go for Half brass dragon kobold barbarian (savage barbarian)
Exposed by his tribe as an abomination ("a metallic chosen one? we dont think our red dragon god would be pleased at all..."), he grew up fending for himself.

Savage barabian gives you more natural armour, small size also has the AC bonus, the str and con bonuses make for lots of rage and serious damage. Especially as a half dragons bite does 1d4 +1.5x str mod damage.

If you are building a level 1 char, you're probably better off thinking in terms of feat trees when choosing your feats.

ranged build
point blank shot is the obvious choice as it open the way to every other archery feat ever - id be aiming for rapidshot because as a ranged character you are limited in the ways you can increase your damage per attack, so you want to make as many attacks per round as possible. Good choice for later levels is deadly aim.

I don't play PFS but I very much doubt there'll be many situations in which you are going to want to make a shot over more than 100ft - your longbow has you covered.

Also anything that increases your initiative is good, especially for a ranged character - you want as many turns of shooting before they get to you as possible. I'd take reactionary, and strongly consider taking improved initiative later on as well - you really really want to get the drop on anyone you fight.

If you want trapfinding your better off taking a level of rogue when you can, you'll get more from it, and even a little sneak attack is good for an archer - you may only get one round of shooting, make it hurt!

Melee build
Power attack is an unusual choice for an inquisitor, they arent typically front line characters. You do have the str and con though. But your right you cant take it at 1st level as an inquisitor.

Alternately you might consider bumping your intellegence and going for combat expertise - in combat inquisitors are all about battlefield control, and feats like improved trip work well with that. As you are the Face you could aim to use improved feint to take advantage of your bluff skill.

first level feat
With a glaive combat reflexes is a good choice - again it gives you a good deal of battlefield control.
Of the choices youve got there Id go for dodge and aim to get spring attack or lightning stance.

Id keep the monster lore, and ditch the medium armour - I prefer the mobility.
If you can Id be tempted to take a level of Cavalier at some point and take advantage of the tactician class feature - make the most of the inquisitors teamwork feats and ability to swap them as a standard action!

Unless I'm missing something, my immediate choice would be the best belt of incredible dexterity I could afford - improves AC and shooting.

Beyond that rings of protection, amulets of natural armour etc.

At 12th level though you might be better off looking for items that give you a miss chance - avoid blinking because it'll mess up your shooting, but a cloak of displacement or similar might be worth looking into.

Thanks guys - I can probably squeeze in a long term mystery/puzzle to deal with and the old talking door is something i hadnt considered.

Hi all!

I'm looking for advice on building dungeon encounters for a deceptive/diplomatic character.

I'm DMing a 3.5 Eberron campaign. The party are 10th level and have just reached the giant and undead infested ruins theyve been working their way towards since 6th level.

The party rogue is a Changeling Rogue/Spymaster who specialises in Bluff, Disguise and Diplomacy and is not much of a combatant.
I'm looking on suggestions for a few dungeon encounters where she can make use of her skills so that everybody has a chance to shine.

The other party members are an Elf Ranger 10, Halfling Artificer 8/rogue 2 and a Human Sorcerer 10.

I have an idea for an encounter where the party must, through deception or diplomacy, organise a meeting between a Ghostly dragon and a powerful Allip (the former was killed by the latter) in order to secure the dragon's aid. But I'd like a few more ideas.

Any Suggestions?

Hi all,

Title says nearly all of it to be honest - im currently running an adventure for my group where the villain is a human rogue (charlatan) - he specialises in decieving innocent third parties into doing his dirty work for him.
He has a personal vendetta against the party rogue and is out to destroy her.

By means of the grand hoax ability and his gang of conartists he has a fair deal of influence in the city where the adventure takes place.

Ive been toying with the idea that i should make him an easy fight, at odds with his serious influence, but part of me feels thats too much of an anticlimax.

Has anybody a view on this?

@KesslerGunner - thats more or less what i had in mind, that and the LotR scene in the mines of Moria, before the troll turns up...

I'll give this one bump.

Anyone got any further ideas?

@ Lincoln Hills - I hadnt considered Mobs, thanks! Re thermopylae, Herodotus' account is better than both :)

@ Serisan - i'm not gming for PFS but i think its a mechanic worth looking into - its rather a fantasy/horror staple after all. Thankfull the fact that the horde'll be chasing them the way they want to go and the fact that my group are both used to the idea of running away and all pretty attached to their PCs will help. Besides opening the door is just my example as its what i intend to do specifically but what im hoping is to produce some quick and dirty rules that could work for "survive till dawn against the undead horde style encounters" - no escape just wait for the sun to rise and incinerate the horde of vampire spawn/ wights whatever...

How are you doing your horde? What is the mechanic for more baddies showing up?

Haven't tested it (i may be in the wrong part of the boards :-s) but i was planning d6 monsters appear per round.

xp total = 3.5xXPxN

But i wondered if anyone had come up with a better, probably more balanced, method.
What im going for is a sense of panic and dread not a TPK.

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone had come up with rules for dealing with endless hordes in pathfinder or 3.5
The kind of setup - a beleaguered group of PCs desperately trying to hold off a never ending horde of monsters while the rogue frantically tries to unlock the very solid door so they can escape.

Basically i'm trying to establish a set XP for an encounter with an unspecified number of monsters.

All help welcome!

I wouldn't get too hung up on trying to make the PF numbers match the 2nd edition/3.5 numbers. A lot of things have changed since then. Using dragonide as a guideline is a good approach.

Thought id compare with mithral - that Allowed me to make an armour that took half plate and took it steps towards hide armour while retaining the Ac bonus.

Mithral halfplate

+8 ac, max dex +2, check penalty -4, asf 30%, spd 20, 25lbs, 9600gp 
 
aurumvorax hide

+8ac, max dex +3, check penalty -4, asf 20%, spd 20, 50lbs, special: fire resistance +2,
20000gp? 15000gp?

You should make it a goal of a quest - not something that can be bought.

Not really Intending to make it easily purchasable - i always feel that dragonhide armour is something you should have to kill a dragon for, otherwise you should pay over the odds for it because dragon leather is not even close to equivalent to your average pigskin.

The NPC who inspired all this will have bought it - or rather commissioned it - he's wealthy enough to pay serious people to hunt Aurumvorax and to have the armour made, but its not going to be available on the highstreet!

Still i want to set a price so i know how much the treasure is worth. :-s

I would compare this to dragon hide for the price.

Well a standard Aurumvorax is small, so presumably you need 4 to make a medium suit of armour? In 2nd ed and 3.5 a single aurumvorax pelt was worth 3000gp but harvesting it requires a DC30 survival check.

Aurumvorax hide : Armorsmiths can work with the hides of aurumvoraxes to produce armor of masterwork quality. Four aurumvoraxes provide enough hide for a single suit of masterwork hide armor for a medium sized creature.

Aurumvorax Hide 15000 gp
AC +8, max dex +4, armour check –3, ASF 20%, medium speed 20 ft, 50lbs.,
Special: +2 fire resitance

Because aurumvorax hide armor isn't made of metal, druids can wear it without penalty.

Aurumvorax hide has 8 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 5. The hide of a aurumvorax is typically 1/2 inch thick.

The price reflects the value of the pelts with a small mark up to allow profit.

Given that dragonhide half plate would be 1500gp i think ive run into the 1 ladder = 2 poles at 1/2 the price problem - though i note theyve fixed that particular one for pathfinder... :)

I think you're going to see just about everyone wearing it. It would be cheap at 10,000 gold.

All of that is true. And also my problem.

The weight and the AC bonus are things i want to keep, as is the token fire resistance - they all hark back to the original 2nd ed concept.

In this instance i'm trying to make what is essentially a robe.
Compared to a robe of the archmagi its pretty lousy - that gives a +5 armour bonus, SR18, +2CL, +4 bonus on all saves.
It also has no ASF, no skill check penalty, no max dex and weighs just 1lb.
It is alignment restricted.
It rolls in at 75000Gp.

I'm happy enough to play with the max dex and Skill penalty - but i want it to be max ASF 10%
Im even content to require an armour proficiency - medium possibly?
But what price should it be?

Anything that weighs 50 pounds is going to have ASF since it will make it more difficult to make gestures. I also think max dex should be lower. Another factor is armor proficiency. - is this light armor?

I always figured that ASF was due to the restrictive unflexible nature of the armour - this stuffs flexible, its just supposed to be very heavy.

I'm looking to build an encounter where the PCs will encounter an enemy that they are not supposed to be strong enough to kill- the hope being that they fight, lose, and then come back at a later time when they're more powerful. But in my experience, parties will never back down or give up until all of them are dead, and nothing short of one-shotting a PC will get the idea into their heads that the enemy is too powerful for them to beat. Has anyone out there specifically ran an encounter like this? And if so, how did it go? Any advice?

I'd prefer to stay away from hand-waving (such as just giving the enemy DR 50/- or simply saying "your attacks do nothing"), as I'd like it to be a fair fight for a higher-level party, but at the moment early in a campaign I'd like for the enemy to be unbeatable.

Any advice would be most appreciated.

Ive had some success at this by making the bad guy sunder all their weapons and KO the wizard. Without their shiny weapons PCs tend to get a lot less confident. The villain then just laughed at them and told them they werent worth killing. Makes the players really HATE the villain, but you cant use it too often or they'll really hate you too!

Hi all!

This idea started out as a desire to give a wealthy spellcasting villain a distinctive look.
I'd been toying with the idea of giving him a pet Aurumvorax from bestiary 2.
I was rooting around and stumbled across the 3.5 version of aurumvorax which notes that the pelt can be sold for 3000gp although the check to skin it is quite high. A little more investigation and i found in 2ed the aurumvorax hide can be made into armour granting AC2.

Anyway on the strength of this i came up with this:

Aurumvorax Fur Coat

This heavy coat of golden fur is extremely effective as a substitute for armour and highly prized by those spellcasters rich enough and strong enough to wear it. 

The coat provides a 
+8 armour bonus
Fire resistance +2
Max dex +3
Armour check penalty -2
arcane spell failure 0%
it weighs 50lbs

Price 6000gp

Do people feel its under/ overpowered for the price? Its non-magical. But the creature is rare and hard to process. Should it cost more? Or less? Or have i, just this once, hit the nail on the head?

I was a bit unsure about the lungs thing with regard to undead, plants etc.
I can see how it applies to the sickened idea, but the damage derives from the belker's smoky claws shredding it on the inside...
undead are immune anyway i suppose - because of the fort save requirement?

I'd happily limit the effect to say 1dx rounds. Although how long x should be im not sure.

the damage and DC derive from the belker bound to the weapon - essentially I used the burning weapon enchantment from the Eberron Campaign Setting as a template.
That binds a small fire elemental to the blade and grants the flaming quality together with requiring a save determined by the elementals DC to avoid suffering from said elementals burn attack it also grants a small bonus to initiative and weighs in as a +2 bonus.

my only concern is that the DC strikes me as kinda low for a +3 weapon and I dont really wanna increase it from that of the belker.

would the extra damage work better if it applied only on a critical hit? the weapon otherwise just renders a creature it wounds sickened on a failed DC14 fort save from smoke? or am i getting too complicated?

Hi All!

I have a new weapon enchantment that i'd like to put before the other DMs that lurk on these boards before I loose it upon my party in a forthcoming adventure in my eberron campaign. Let me know what you think!

Smokebound
Aura moderate conjuration; CL11th
Price +2 bonus
Description
A smokebound weapon has an evil elemental called a Belker bound to it, and appears to be made of coiling smoke. This property can be applied only slashing and piercing weapons.
Any creature wounded by a smokebound weapon must make a DC 14 fortitude save or find his lungs filling with claws of smoke which deal 3d4 points of damage per round. An affected creature can attempt another Fortitude save each subsequent round to cough out the smoke.
In addition, the weapon grants a +2 competence bonus to move silently checks.
Construction
Requirements Bind Elemental, planar binding

The zombie should have lost it's poison bite...

Granted it was a rather liberal interpretation of the template.

PC Name: Roger (Human fighter/cleric/wormhunter)
Adventure: Library of last resort.
Cause: being far to brave to continue living.

confronted with a large black tentacular tree which has just consumed the equally foolhardy but higher AC Rogue/monk of the party, Roger charges into single combat with the monstrosity and fails to penetrate its natural armour. tree strikes back: 6 out of 8 attacks connect dealing nearly 200 points of damage, noble (demented) Roger is torn limb from limb and swallowed peicemeal at -23hp.

thanks! :)

Another New Vestige

This vestige is all that remains of an elven hero disintegrated by a giant's spell during the slave rebellion at the end of the age of giants.

The pile of dust poured onto the summoning symbol fountains up to form the figure of an elven warrior.

I haven't read the Midnight setting, but I don't think you need worry about it being too cliche - you say 1 player is experienced so very few campaigns are going to be entirely original in his eyes, and the other is quite inexperienced and most likely won't mind or notice.

The plot line you've laid down here seems pretty strong to me, and the introductory scene is a more interesting way of bringing the group together than meeting in the pub or being called together by a patron.

having the Party begin as slaves will present you with one problem though: In your first fight - the ambush of the slave cart - they have no particular reason to stick around - they wont have any armour, weapons or gear so getting stuck into the fighting with armed soldiery is not going to seem a great idea. There is the risk that they will simply flee from the encounter, not very heroic but in the circumstances quite sensible.

I don't think you need worry about it being too railroady either:

you are not forcing your players to fight with the resistance. There are a number of points at which the campaign can change course: They may flee or refuse the rebel leader at the beginning (which hopefully wont happen but its a risk), they may decide not to rescue the noble's wife (which should have long term consequences for the party beyond her just being dead), and finally they may decide to work with the agents of the shadow (which given that its underhanded and unheroic should probably result in them being betrayed so that they can seek redemption)

you've laid the foundations for some good characterisation, so I think roleplaying opportunities will develop on their own.

I'm having a go at designing some new feats for an Eberron game I'm intending to run.

I thought I'd share them on here to get some feedback and also invite anyone who wanted to to share any Eberron specific feats, spells, class features etc that they've invented.

Anyway, here we go:

Child of Winter Feat:

PLAGUEBRINGER [GENERAL]
Prerequisites: Wis 13, Child of Winter, Knowledge (nature) 4 ranks, any neutral, nongood alignment (N, LN, N, CN, or NE), able to cast Breath of the Jungle.
Benefit: You can “lose” a prepared spell in order to cast any spell from the list below of the same level or lower.
You may use this ability a total number of times per day equal to your Wisdom modifier.

1. Breath of the Jungle: Fog makes poison and diseases harder to resist.
2. Decomposition: Wounds deal 3 extra points of damage each round.
3. Infestation of Maggots: Touch attack deals d4 Con damage/round.
4. Contagious Touch: You infect one creature/round with chosen disease.
5. Mass Contagion: As contagion, but 20-ft. radius.
6. Pox: One creature/level takes 1d4 Con drain
7. Scourge: Inflicts a disease that must be magically cured, one subject/level.
8. Befoul: Large amount of water becomes poisonous.
9. Despoil: Kills plants, damages objects in 100-ft. radius/level.

The spells all come from the spell compendium, book of vile darkness or Lords of Madness. It is inspired by the Spontaneous affliction alternate class feature in Exemplars of Evil and the Spontaneous Healer/Summoner/Wounder feats in Complete Divine.
I felt it fit thematically with the Children of winter as plaguespreaders.
Is it too powerful?

heres my full 10 level version of the PrC, it utilizes some ideas from LemonNlimE's but it's has it's differences...

as ever comments welcomed.

Ok, with the rebuilt vestige comes a new PrC, its obviously a work in progress, so suggestions will be gratefully recieved!

I am aware that the current name is a bit of a mouthful but i'm trying to combine the idea of remembering with psionics. The Idea is these guys are the holy warriors of the Path of Light and they remember Taratai by binding her.

obviously I'd like to add some more class abilities but I don't want to overpower the class. Its requirement for 3 classes means it can be quite powerful though...

Ok, thanks for the input everyone! This is what I think the final granted abilities should be, unless anyone can spot any flaws?

Taratai's Granted Abilities:

Vision of the Quori: While you are bound to Taratai, you see normally in darkness and magical darkness out to 30ft.

Taratai's Boon: While you are bound to Taratai you may expend your psionic focus to grant allies within 15' a move action and a +2 sacred bonus on their next attack roll if the binder is good or neutral, or a +2 profane bonus on their next attack roll if the binder is evil.
*You may augment this ability by spending a 1 power point. Targets of your affected allies next attack must succeed a will save or be rendered flat footed for the purposes of the attack.
If you choose to augment this ability, using it requires a full round action.

Mindtouched: While you are bound to Taratai, you gain 7 power points. You gain an additional 1 power point for each effective binder level beyond 6th These are added to your pool of power if you already possess psionic power, or they create a pool and you become a psionic creature for the duration of this binding.
You gain access to the psionic powers Dimension Hop, and Telempathic Projection for the duration of the binding. You may manifest each power as a psion would and as if it is a power known by you. You may augment each power as a psion normally could, substituting your effective binder level in place of manifester level. If you have the ability to manifest powers from another class your manifester level and binder levels stack for the purposes of using these powers.

Narrow mind: You gain the benefits of the Narrow Mind Psionic feat.

Strengthen mind: While you are bound to Taratai party members within 30' gain a +4 sacred bonus on saves vs Fear, Sleep and Mind Affecting effects if the binder is good or neutral, or a +4 profane bonus on saves vs Fear, Sleep and Mind Affecting effects if the binder is evil. The bonus increases by +1 per 3 levels beyond 3rd.

Vestige Level: 2

Binding DC: 18

Special Requirement: Yes

Updated, more focused version of the granted abilities:

what do you think?

I showed the vestige to the player who will be running the character for whom I'm developing this stuff.
His comments are as follows, they are in capitals:

comments?

Glad you like it :-)

If i scaled the power points i'd probably set it at 3 points per binder level. Therefore when the binder can first bind Taratai at 3rd level he gets 9 power points, then at 4th he gets 12, at 5th 15, etc.

you are right though that, while the addtition of 7 power points if the character is a multiclassed binder/psion is not too game breaking, scaling points will mean that they rapidly end up with ridiculous numbers of power points.
7 power points and access to the two powers means that the character has a number of uses of each per day which remain useful no matter the level.

I agree that the influence needs clarification.
I go with the idea that the binder would never abandon a disabled or trapped ally. I dont think theyd have a problem with leaving a dead one, but until the ally has died the binder would do his utmost to protect him, no matter the odds. This might be insufficiently inconvenient for an influence though. I think that ally is losely defined as a member of your party in terms of game mechanics. This should include cohorts, familiars etc.

The problem with trying to clarify the spiritual protection is that it does depend rather on the religion of the binder. A binder who worshipped pelor would have a very different idea of spiritual corruption to one that followed erythnul or hextor.

Here's the provisionally complete Vestige for Taratai.

I've also started working on a prestige class connected to this vestige which combines binder levels and a psionic class. It's race specific, but thats partially due to the nature of psionics in my campaign. The class is based on the Tenebrous Apostate.

im working on developing some additional abilites for the PrC, i'm worried the immunities it grants may be overpowered. suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for the feedback,

In response to your suggestions I just thought i'd show my logic for the way i set out those powers.

First, make the extra damage from psionic smite equal to one point per binder level.

Given that the choice of victim with Psionic Smite is not restricted like the paladin's smite evil ability and it can be used in every encounter, I was a bit hesitant to make the psionic smite ability more powerful. I feared a binder would massively outshine a paladin of the same level.

Second, make dimension hop usable once every five rounds.

the uses of dimension hop are limited by the power points the binder has available, so limiting the frequency of use further seems a bit harsh. The thought was that the less inspiring psionic smite ability would balance the greater versatility of the psionic powers.

My other worry was whether the number of power points granted by psionic boon should scale with level: should the vestige grant a number of power points per binder level?

Thanks for the links, i did find the one about designing your own vestiges a while after i last post. I hadn't found the other one though so I shall certainly be looking through that! :-)

Ive followed your advice about making the bonus to diplomacy rather than to Cha and swapped the dimension door for the 1st level dimension hop power from complete psionic.
I've also added a couple of other abilities.

the granted abilities now look like this:

do you think this is balanced for a 2nd level vestige? or still too powerful?