So, my wife wanted to try making a character using the Superior Psicrystal (Crystallized Creature) feat. at a certain point you are able to choose small and eventually even medium elementals as you crystallized creature's base form. But many questions began coming up, mostly involving which set of stats would override what?
1) How would BAB work? would you use the base creatures BAB, or something else? would it increase over time?
2) If the base creature had feats, does it keep them?
3) Skill Points: would it keep it's skill points, or use standard psicrystal skill points rules?
4) If the creature had a fly speed, would the flight gained through the psicrystal progression take hold over their normal flight, have no effect, or combine the best of both worlds if this was the case.
5) Finally, when the chart says "any small elemental" or "any medium elemental", does this mean she can literally google 'pathfinder elemental' and just find one of the right size category (I doubt it, but figured i ask for the sake of completion and general clarity)?
bump
Can you provide links? I tried searching for it, but couldn't find it.
Nvm, found it. Reading now.
Okay the description/rules of Crystallized Creature is vague, especially regarding your questions. The only rules it lists for modifying stats is for intelligence and hit points/saves as it levels with you.
Personally, my interpretation of the RAW would dictate that the Crystal Creature would keep all its base stats and begin leveling and gaining new abilities as a Psicrystal.
1) BAB would remain the same as its base creature, and would not increase as it levels with the master.
2) 3) Feats/Skills: keeps them. However, Psicrystals have all the stats of their master, plus 4 ranks in Perception and Stealth even if the master doesn't. I would expect the pre-Psicrystal skills would stack (or overlap, if a particular skill is higher, or become overlapped by the master's skill if the master's is higher) with the master's skills, and gain new skills each level as the master increases his/her own skills each lvl.
4). Movement speeds stack from gaining new levels/abilities/feats. I would expect these also stack.
5) I would say yes, based on RAW, but subject to GM approval. I'm sure there's got to be at least 1-2 that would be too absurd.
final bumb, just in case anyone else has thoughts on this.
So, my wife wanted to try making a character using the Superior Psicrystal (Crystallized Creature) feat. at a certain point you are able to choose small and eventually even medium elementals as you crystallized creature's base form. But many questions began coming up, mostly involving which set of stats would override what?
1) How would BAB work? would you use the base creatures BAB, or something else? would it increase over time?
2) If the base creature had feats, does it keep them?
3) Skill Points: would it keep it's skill points, or use standard psicrystal skill points rules?
4) If the creature had a fly speed, would the flight gained through the psicrystal progression take hold over their normal flight, have no effect, or combine the best of both worlds if this was the case.
5) Finally, when the chart says "any small elemental" or "any medium elemental", does this mean she can literally google 'pathfinder elemental' and just find one of the right size category (I doubt it, but figured i ask for the sake of completion and general clarity)?
Here's how I'd play it: work it like a gestalt creature. It is a melding of the monster that has been basically taken over by the psicrystal.
1) Use the BAB of the creature. It would not increase unless you can add HD or Class levels in some other fashion. (Reasoning: a normal psicrystal does not even have a BAB, so would not add to the gestalt creature as a whole.)
2) It would keep it's feats as long as they aren't contradicted by the feats that apply to the psicrystal (evasion vs improved evasion), or are based on type, since the final type of the gestalt creature would be a construct.
3) Standard psicrystal skill points rules apply.
4) The psicrystal's flight is supernatural/psionic. If the base creature has physical flight (aka wings), it keeps those, and also gains magical/psionic flight as well -- they are largely redundant, however.
5) Any small elemental is exactly that. You are correct that you can use any elemental of small size that your GM allows in the game. In most cases, this will be limited to Air, Earth, Fire and water elementals.