According to the Soulbound Construct template, the host construct gains "the Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based skills of the soul held in the soul focus. If the host construct already has any of these skills, select the higher total bonus between that of the base creature and that of the host construct."
My question is does that mean the host construct gains the skill ranks in the aforementioned skills from the base creature used for the soul focus as bonus skill ranks above and beyond the host construct's original ranks in the skills (so long as it is not greater than whichever of the two creatures had the higher bonus), thus exceeding the normal total number of skill ranks the host construct should have?...
OR...
The total skill modifiers of the relevant skills (if higher) from the base creature used in the soul focus are treated more like virtual total skill modifiers (thus cannot be used to fulfill prerequisites)?
A part of me thinks that for game-balance, maybe the skill ranks gained from the increased Intelligence for the host construct should be used to purchase ranks in the aforementioned skills of the base creature (if higher than the host construct originally had) until it matches the number of skill ranks the base creature had in those skills, but I am not sure that is the route to go.
It's pretty clear-cut with the "bonus feats" the template grants to the host construct but for the skills, I think a GM can reasonably choose between the first and second interpretations I mentioned above. Ultimately, while there isn't much of a difference between the first two interpretations overall in many cases, it kind of matters if you are making a construct that serves the campaign villain that advances in power while hiding as the PCs level-up throughout the campaign.
This particular template also makes me wonder what would be the best 9 HD or less creature to use for the soul focus.
CB
According to the Soulbound Construct template, the host construct gains "the Intelligence-, Wisdom-, and Charisma-based skills of the soul held in the soul focus. If the host construct already has any of these skills, select the higher total bonus between that of the base creature and that of the host construct."
Pretty clear use one or the other. They do not stack.
EDIT: Oh! Just realized you meant if the soul had more ranks than the host has HD. Hmmmm.
I would go with no ranks beyond HD, as this is a general rule of skills.
/cevah
*nods* I limited the bonus skills from the soul to the host by using the HD cap but I also decided that the bonus skills are treated as virtual skill ranks (similar to wearing a headband of vast intelligence) since it is possible to actually lose the template's benefits.
CB
Here's something else worth questioning:
For the sample creature, the Soulbound Annihilator Robot has the following text:
The creatures involved in this example are a Technic League captain and an annihilator robot; any abilities not explained here are described in those entries.
Here's the problem: in the actual template description, there seems to be something missing about class features. When the sample creature's description says "any abilities not explained here are described in those entries.", that would mean that all of the Technic Captain spells and other class features would be part of the Soulbound Construct.
Where in the template's description does it say that the host construct gains the base creature's features?