If you had, say, a ~275lb pile of crystal, could you polymorph it into a living Carnivorous Crystal? It's basically the same size and material...
I'm staring at my evergrowing collection of black sapphires I have used to bind souls, and I think I actually have enough to make a size medium Carnivorous Crystal. Just don't want to ruin my crystals and accidentally free all these souls, you see?
Would the souls stay trapped in the now "living" crystal? The soul is released if the crystal is destroyed... does polymorphing an object into something new destroy the original? Or just change it? Is there a difference when it comes to releasing the soul imprisoned in a black sapphire?
Would it possibly create something more sinister than the typical Carnivorous Crystal... there's a stupid amount of HD worth of souls sitting in that pile. I have been at this a while.
Anything else I could possibly make out these? Some sort of golem, maybe? A power supply of some sort?
Not too many people in the soul trading business... even fewer trading souls than football cards. A few Dreamthief Hags and a couple of the Horsemen...
Should I just keep saving the gems, pile them in a vault to swim in like Scrooge McDuck.
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275 pounds of precious gems, not semi-precious stones or similar breaks PF's economy hard. You could buy kingdoms or bribe end-of-AP adventurers with that stuff (about 10^8 gp?).
If you polymorph a gem into a beetle or similar any effects on the gem remain. PAO is a permanent effect at best, not instantaneous - it can be dispelled and the gem is still there under the enchantment.
It might be you'd get something like the haunted construct (isolation) template on a carnivorous crystal like this.
IIRC there's some prestige class which can use trapped souls to substitute for gp in making magic items.
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Yes, the Souldrinker... I'm business associates with a Dreamthief Hag Souldrinker... she is about as close as one could call a friend, I suppose. She has all sorts of things she can do with these things, including eat them... or whatever she does. Maybe it's her pet that eats them.
Regardless, thank you for pointing me towards that template. The suggestion for the Isolation haunt is fitting, and will be used for the initial recipe...
Still needs feats and further refinement, but here is the first draft:
Carnivorous CrystalCR 12
XP 19,200
NE Medium ooze (earth, extraplanar)
Init -5; Senses blindsight 120 ft.; Perception -5; Aura isolation (30 ft., DC 18), subsonic hum (60 ft., DC 22)
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 5, flat-footed 18 (-5 Dex, +1 deflection, +12 natural)
hp 168 (16d8+64+32)
Fort +11, Ref +0, Will +0
Channel Resist +4 DR 10/—; Immune cold, electricity, ooze traits; Resist fire 20
Weaknesses brittle, vulnerable to sonic
OFFENSE
Speed 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee slam +18 (7d8+9/18-20 plus entrap)
Special Attacks crystallize, entrap (DC 22, 1d10 rounds, hardness 10, hp 10), razor sharp
STATISTICS
Str 22, Dex 1, Con 18, Int 4, Wis 1, Cha 14
Base Atk +12; CMB +18; CMD 23 (can’t be tripped)
Feats
Skills Climb +14, Stealth +0 (+5 in rocky environs); Racial
Modifiers +5 stealth (+10 in rocky environs)
SQ freeze, split (critical hit from a bludgeoning or sonic attack, 15 hp)
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Brittle (Ex)
Bludgeoning and sonic attacks can inflict critical hits on a carnivorous crystal. A successful critical hit from such attacks causes the carnivorous crystal to split, even if the attack causes no damage. The crystal remains immune to precision-based damage, such as damage from sneak attacks.
Crystallize (Ex)
A creature entrapped by a carnivorous crystal’s attack must succeed at a DC 22 Fortitude save each round or become helpless. If a helpless creature fails this save, it becomes petrified as its body crystallizes. In 1d4 hours, the petrified victim shatters and a new carnivorous crystal emerges from the remains. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Infused Soul (Su)
A haunted construct is infused with the soul of a creature who died nearby. The soul provides the haunted construct a semblance of unlife as a ghostly apparition surrounds its body and controls its actions. This allows the haunted construct to apply its Charisma modifier as a bonus on Fortitude saves, and it gains a number of bonus hit points per Hit Die equal to its Charisma bonus. A haunted construct is healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy as if it were an undead creature. It reacts to magical and supernatural effects, such as detect undead and searing light, as if it were an undead creature.
Isolation (Su)
Each haunted construct gains one of the following haunts tied to its artificial body. This haunt functions until the haunted construct is destroyed but acts on initiative count 10, as usual for haunts, affecting each creature within 30 feet. The Perception DC to notice the haunt is equal to 15 + the haunted construct’s CR. The save DC against a haunted construct’s special attack is equal to 10 + half the haunted construct’s Hit Dice, and the caster level is equal to the haunted construct’s CR. A creature can attempt the listed saving throw at the end of its turn each round to negate the haunt’s ongoing effect; once a creature successfully saves against the effect, it is immune to that effect for 24 hours.
The spirit inhabiting this haunted construct died trapped and alone; notice ambient sound disappears and other sounds are quieted; effect each target believes it is alone in the world; it cannot perceive, target, nor interact with anyone it considers an ally (Will negates); this is a mind-affecting effect; destruction a boisterous celebration of friendship lasting at least 1 hour at the site of the haunt.
Razor Sharp (Ex)
A carnivorous crystal’s slam attack deals devastating piercing and slashing damage, and threatens a critical hit on a roll of 18, 19, or 20.
Subsonic Hum (Su)
An active carnivorous crystal gives off supernatural sonic vibrations. Any living creature starting its turn within this aura must succeed at a DC 22 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. A creature that successfully saves cannot be affected by the same carnivorous crystal’s subsonic hum for 24 hours. This is a sonic mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Unholy Beacon (Su)
Haunted constructs act as a focal point for negative energy, exuding a constant 20-foot aura that functions as the spell desecrate. Additionally, undead creatures within the aura gain the benefits of the haunted construct’s damage resistance or hardness, if any.
ECOLOGY
Environment any underground (Plane of Earth)
Organization solitary, colony (2-4), or formation (5-10)
Treasure incidental
Natives of the endless caverns of the Plane of Earth, carnivorous crystals normally lead quiet existences, subsisting on minerals leeched from the surrounding rock. Living creatures, however, provide a veritable feast, as devouring the minerals in their bones and blood allows a crystal to reproduce in mere hours instead of years. Though lacking in anything that could be called intelligence, carnivorous crystals sense the living, and hunger for the sustenance trapped within their bodies. On the Plane of Earth and in the deepest caverns of the Material Plane, ancient carnivorous crystals grow without bounds, reaching incredible sizes.
Challenge Rating: Base creature’s CR + 1.
Alignment: Any evil, most commonly neutral evil.
Armor Class: A haunted construct gains a +1 deflection bonus to AC.
Defensive Abilities: Haunted constructs gain channel resistance +4.
Ability Scores: If the base creature’s Charisma score is less than 10, then its Charisma score changes to 14; otherwise a haunted construct receives a +4 bonus to Charisma. A haunted construct receives a +4 bonus to its Intelligence score and generally has the same skills the soul had in life. If the base creature lacked an Intelligence score, it gains an Intelligence score of 4 and generally selects the same feats its soul had in life.
So, 8 feats for this thing...
Ability Focus (Crystalize, Hum, Isolate)
Weapon Focus Slam
Vital Strike
Improved Critical
Improved Vital Strike
What else? Is something like Improved Initiative even worth it? Outside a surprise round, it's probably not ever going first even with Improved Initiative. Lol.
You might also want to look at id oozes, and haunted one templates if you're going to be fiddling.
I can't tell if you're doing this as a GM, as a player, or just to do it, but if it's the second one, make sure to clear it with the GM first because it's deeeeeefinitely uncertain - especially as the polymorph any object once couldn't create anything with a template (though it seems that's a restriction or clarification that's been removed in the PF version? so I gues that's a never mind! XD).
Also, what are your duration factors?
> kingdom: +5
> size: +2
> related: +2
... and that's enough, so nevermind. XD
Huh. Being in 3.5 recently really has skewed my memory of PF, it seems.
Is there a specific reason you wanted a carnivorous crystal instead of a crystal golem?
Also, I don't know what you're character has access to, but blood crystal seems relatively fitting, somehow, as does dream crystal toxin.
Random stuff, but I hope it helps! :D
EDIT:
I have no idea if this would be over-the-top, but I was thinking (since I linked the crystal golem above) that it might be interesting to take something of a page from the mithril golem and have two forms - the more "ooze" form and the more golem-form. But that's likely too much. Also, ioun golems are crystal-like, as are crystal dragon and crysmals, though I am unsure how much you want to lean into the whole "crystal" theming.
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So, 8 feats for this thing...
Ability Focus (Crystalize, Hum, Isolate)
Weapon Focus Slam
Vital Strike
Improved Critical
Improved Vital StrikeWhat else? Is something like Improved Initiative even worth it? Outside a surprise round, it's probably not ever going first even with Improved Initiative. Lol.
I mean.
Dude.
Leadership. :V
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Doing just to do it, for now. If I can develop it into something to use down the road, I will.
The idea is that some eternal undead is essentially bored, and has a collection of soul-containing gems. Without any special plans or intentions for what is created, they go about trying to repurpose these gems into something powered by the souls trapped within... sealing the fate of souls to never reach the afterlife.
The Unholy Beacon thing is cool, as I like the idea of the Carnivorous Crystal meandering along with a bunch of zombies and skeletons gathered around it... just following its aura, feeding off that energy... undead are immune to/unaffected by the Sunsonic Hum.
This isn't meant to be something super scary, just evil and gross and sad for all those souls. Just an abomination made by a bat$#!+ crazy undead necromancer...
Definitely could polymorph it from black sapphire to blood crystal, and polymorph that lump of blood crystal into the Carnivorous Crystal... a sickening side effect of all the souls lost within this haunted monster is that every attack introduces the target to Dream Crystal Toxin...
Good. Good.
Cool!
In that case, more random ideas-time!
While you don't want to make it an inevitable, since you're blurring the lines between construct and not-construct, you might want to check out inevitables' ability Constructed.
Constructed (Ex) Although inevitables are living outsiders, their bodies are constructed of physical components and in many ways they function as constructs. For the purposes of effects targeting creatures by type (such as a ranger’s favored enemy and bane weapons), inevitables count as both outsiders and constructs. They are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects, necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless). Inevitables are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain. They are not at risk of death from massive damage. They have bonus hit points as constructs of their size.
Overlaps somewhat with ooze immunities, but not entirely, and since you've got the "haunted construct" thing going on, it might be appropriate.
While we're on that, you might want to give your lich craft ooze and/or craft construct for flavor. Obviously not for the exact mechanics (as you're using PaO), but its nice. Also possibly useful to make sure your creature isn't particularly vulnerable to a single dispel magic or similar effect.
Other possible sources of inspiration include commando construct and soul bound construct.
Similarly, something like ghoulish (or even a variant of plague beast) creature to spread disease leading to undeath (like the apocalypse zombie disease) or spore zombie.
The terror creature template could represent the terror/torment of the creatures trapped within the the gems.
While it's not exactly any of these, the hive mind swarm, grave knight (sacreligious aura), dream eater might be a good place to look at ideas, as might (dipping into d20pfsrd):
positive energy charged creature (the carnivorous crystal is technically alive and has literal souls, so it might make sense it is charged with positive energy, too, creating these horrible creatures)
crystal creature disease
negative energy charged creature if you'd like to go the other direction from positive charge
nightmare creature for giving bad dreams
I'm not recommending all of these or even any of them, but they make for good possible ideas to mine for various ideas. Similarly, immortal ichor is a neat concept for undead-making ooze of raw evil! :D
Also something-something black blood of orv, something.