I am designing an NPC by applying the Trompe L’oeil Template (Horror Adventures, page 242) to an AP NPC. The AP NPC is a spellcaster with a variety of magic items and a familiar.
The template specifically specifies some enhancement bonuses which apply to any weapons or armor depicted in the painting before it was enchanted. I suspect that no other magic items the NPC might be wearing at the time of the painting would have any effect when the Trompe L’oeil steps out of the painting.
Example: If the NPC has a robe of resistance and the robe was worn by the NPC when the painting was made, would the resistance bonuses granted by the robe also be granted to the Trompe L’oeil? Or would I subtract the bonus that was applied to the NPC stats to which I am applying the template?
The other question concerns spells. Would the Trompe L’oeil have only the prepared spells that were prepared by the model for the painting or would the Trompe L’oeil be able to prepare spells like a living spell caster? Since it is a construct that presumably does not need to rest, it's not clear whether it would regain spell slots later once expended.
In this case the NPC is a witch who stores her spells in a familiar. Would the familiar (assuming it was part of the painting) also come out of the painting and if so would it function as a witch's familiar normally does, providing some bonuses to skills and as a repository of spells that the Trompe L’oeil could use to prepare different spells?
Some of these are not major issues as the monster will likely be destroyed in the battle for which it is being prepared, but I like idea of a painting as an NPC which could be a continuing character in a campaign, so I'm curious to know how others would approach these issues. Thanks in advance.
1. The only meaningful gear a trompe l'oeil starts with is masterwork copies of the weapons and armor it's painted with.
2a. The trompe l'oeil has the same abilities as the creature to whom you're applying the template, save anything that the template explicitly overrides. If the original can prepare spells, so can the construct.
2b. Even if a creature does not need to rest to survive, preparing spells still requires either rest (for arcane casters) or the correct time of day (for divine casters)
3. The familiar is a class feature of the character in question, so the trompe l'oeil should have it as well. It'd have the same repository of spells as the original.
How the tromp l'oeil advances over time as a character is strictly GM territory. Does it diverge from its original? Can it gain experience and take other class levels? If you're the GM, decide how they work in your game and have fun with it! The possibilities are as endless as any other Cloning Blues situation.