I had an idea for a racial trait, which is loosely based off of an archetype I did a while back (Witch Archetype – Binder). I've been considering using it (the trait) for a few things:
1. Racial feat for dhampir or another race.
2. An attribute for an entirely new race.
3. A new hex.
I'm leaning toward options 1 and 2, but pricing is a concern, as potential for abuse and perceived “power”. The trait is as follows:
Imprint Vestige (Su) A member of this race may capture and imprint the vestige of a newly dead corpse. Imprinting a vestige requires a full-round action which provokes attacks of opportunity and the corpse of a living creature that has been dead for no longer than 1 hour per character level she possesses. At the end of the process, the vestige is absorbed into the member of this race. Once imprinted, the imprint remains until a new vestige is harvested, after which the old vestige is lost forever. The member of this race gains this as an alternate form, usable a number of minutes per day equal to his character level. These minutes do not need to be consecutive, but they must be spent in 1-minute increments.
While assuming this alternate form, the member of this race is able to draw upon the imprinted vestige, gaining a +10 insight bonus on Disguise and Bluff checks made to impersonate that individual. In addition, the member of this race detects as if she had used misdirection on the imprinted vestige.
While a member of this race will revert to his natural form when slain, only true seeing or similar magic reveals his natural form.
Special: No corpse can be used for this purpose more than once and whether successful or not, the corpse is no longer suitable for use with the speak with dead spell. A harvested corpse may still be raised or resurrected normally. The vestige absorbed is the same trace of personality that a spellcaster accesses when she uses the speak with dead spell. A vestige is not the soul of a person who has died; it is the traces of that personality left behind in the body after death.
Constructive criticism and comments are appreciated.
Bump.
Last bump.
I think this should be a general feat, with harvest vestige and maybe character level 7 or 9 as prereqs.
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I like the idea very much.
Maybe a chain of feats so that you can use abilities the corpse had while alive through emulating the appropriate polymorph spells like Beast shape, Elemental body and so on.
Also you could add a check to successfully imprint the vestige, with a DC based on the HD of the creature while alive. And the character would get a bonus to the check if he dealt damage to it and even more if he killed it. An additional bonus to the check if eating significant part of the corpse would be creepy but true to the theme I think.
This ability could be augmented to include destroyed undead and non-living creatures too, maybe as another feat or based on the character's level.
Been a busy day with the daughter, but I was able to do a bit on my phone while we were at the park. I'll post it in an hour or two once my wife gets home.
A druid archetype would be interesting; I've done a witch archetype (link is in the original post) which I based this version off of.
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Been a busy day with the daughter, but I was able to do a bit on my phone while we were at the park. I'll post it in an hour or two once my wife gets home.
A druid archetype would be interesting; I've done a witch archetype (link is in the original post) which I based this version off of.
Yes, I read it. But it is more general IMO, using vestiges as magical energy IIRC.
While here I am most enthusiastic about the whole imprinting the abilities of the creature.
No worry for the delay. I think I can manage ;-)
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I did a bit more work on it today. Meant to do this last night and post, but real life got in the way.
It is very unrefined right now, but should give a general idea with some of Raven's suggestions taken into account.
so awesome...I "affectionate term" you so much for this.
Thanks! I added in a couple new feats and got full wording on them. The text needs a bit of refinement (I go for the least amount of text to get a point across, generally).