Hi!
I would like to create a Ghostly Cohort for my Ancestor Oracle, but I don't want an Evil Undead!
In Bestiary 2, I found the "Petitioner" (CR 1). May be a good idea?
Lorewise...petitioners aren't ghostly. They're outsiders formed from the departed souls of mortals. I'm not sure they can exist outside of the aligned plane they form on.
An outsider formed from the departed soul of my Oracle's ancestor... it's OK!
The Petitioner's CR is "1" instead of "+1": what does it mean?
An outsider formed from the departed soul of my Oracle's ancestor... it's OK!
The Petitioner's CR is "1" instead of "+1": what does it mean?
It means it's a CR 1. Only templates say things like CR+1, because it modifies the base creature. Petitioner's are a base creature.
Really though, if just asks your GM to okay a non-evil ghost if that's how you really want to go about it. Petitioners aren't really ghost like, they're not incorporeal. They are souls made flesh, they only vaguely remember who they were in life. Petitioners are the first stepping stone to becoming greater outsiders, awaiting their time to become an angel, archon, azata, demon, daemon, devil as determined by their alignment.
Only templates say things like CR+1, because it modifies the base creature. Petitioner's are a base creature.
OK... but in Bestiary 2 I read: “Petitioner” is an acquired template that can be added to any creature whose soul migrates to one of the Outer Planes following its death (henceforth referred to as the base creature).
Accordingly, che Petitioner's CR should be "+1" instead of "1". Maybe that's an errata.
PS: Chaotic Neutral Petitioners (the "Shapeless") are incorporeal too: they seem really ghostly!
PPS: sorry for my very poor english.
Only templates say things like CR+1, because it modifies the base creature. Petitioner's are a base creature.OK... but in Bestiary 2 I read: “Petitioner” is an acquired template that can be added to any creature whose soul migrates to one of the Outer Planes following its death (henceforth referred to as the base creature).
Accordingly, che Petitioner's CR should be "+1" instead of "1". Maybe that's an errata.
PS: Chaotic Neutral Petitioners (the "shapeless") are incorporeal too: they seem very ghostly!
PPS: sorry for my very poor english.
You're right, petitioner is a template.
However, the petitioner template changes the base creature so much that it actually makes the creature CR 1 instead of modifying the existing CR. This in part because it removes all racial hitdice and class levels and instead gives the creature 2d10 HD. The petitioner also loses all existing skill ranks, defensive abilities, racial bonuses to armor class, and all existing feats (but gain one feat as a 2 HD outsider, usually toughness). Basically not a whole lot of the original creature carries through besides ability scores and size, so the template changes the creature to CR 1.
Of course, there is a clause for non-CR 1 petitioners when creatures have ability scores or an unusual size.
CR: A petitioner's CR is 1. In some cases, at the GM's discretion, particularly large or unusual petitioners with higher than normal ability scores may begin with a higher CR; compare the petitioner's statistics to the values on Table 1–1 on page 293 to help determine an unusual petitioner's starting CR.
Really the whole idea of a petitioner is that it's the soul of the person that has departed to the afterlife, petitioner to the gods. If the spirit is lingering, it's not really a petitioner but a ghost (or other undead).
The ghost template has no alignment restriction, so you can have a ghost ancestor without it being evil.
Really the whole idea of a petitioner is that it's the soul of the person that has departed to the afterlife, petitioner to the gods. If the spirit is lingering, it's not really a petitioner but a ghost (or other undead).
The ghost template has no alignment restriction, so you can have a ghost ancestor without it being evil.
Mmmh... non-evil Ghost are so unusual ("even the ghost of a good or lawful creature can become hateful and cruel in its afterlife...").
Furthermore, my paladin companion will not be pleased. :D