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I'm running Kingmaker as an evil campaign, and one of my players wanted to get into making Soulbound Dolls. So, here is my write-up for the process I came up with. Feedback welcome!
Craft DC: 19
Description: This is a Small-size wooden body with articulated joints, suitable for turning into a Soulbound Doll. The specific features of the body, such as its shape and appearance, are left to the crafter’s choice – however, for best results it should be at least vaguely humanoid. The body has a slot – usually on the chest, neck, or forehead – in which a filled soul gem may be placed. Setting the gem requires ten minutes of work and a DC 15 Craft check; on a critical failure, the gem is damaged in such a way that the soul fragment escapes it (although the gem can be repaired for reuse with 5gp of materials and a further DC 15 Craft check). On a success, the doll comes to life as a standard Soulbound Doll with the same alignment as the soul fragment. On a critical success, if the doll body was supplied with a filled soul gem that was also created with a critical success, the resulting Soulbound Doll has the Elite adjustment.
Once a Soulbound Doll has been created, the soul gem cannot be removed without destroying the doll. However, if the gem is destroyed but the doll body is relatively intact, it may be repaired and reused.
In theory it is possible to create more advanced doll bodies with additional abilities, but even if researched such constructs are likely to require either more complex soul containers or a steady supply of filled soul gems as they burn out their soul energy.
Primary Check: Occultism (Expert) DC 23; Secondary Checks: Arcana DC 18
Range: 10 feet; Target: One dying creature (see text)
Description: This ritual ensnares a fragment of a dying creature’s soul, using it to charge a soul gem that can later be used to create a Soulbound Doll. In preparation for the ritual, a special ritual circle 10 feet in diameter must be inscribed in a cool, dry location and etched with powdered silver and other reagents. Properly creating the circle required a DC 18 Craft check and a day’s work; on a critical failure, the materials are wasted, while on a critical success the circle provides a +2 circumstance bonus to Fill Soul Gem ritual checks.
Once the ritual circle has been created, a creature that is unconscious and at 0 hit points must be placed within it and remain in that state for the duration of the ritual. Once the ritual has been started, the target is placed in a kind of stasis: Even if they were poisoned or dying before beginning the ritual, the magic keeps them on the edge of death until the ritual is either completed or interrupted. This does not prevent the target from being healed, either from outside interference or their own natural abilities (such as regeneration), which of course ruins the ritual.
The strength of the target does not affect the outcome of the ritual, as only a small fragment of their soul is captured in any case; however, unwilling targets (that is to say, any target that would be unwilling if they were conscious and aware) receive a Will save against the primary caster’s Occultism DC; if the save succeeds, the target dies but no fragment is trapped. For this reason, weaker individuals are typically used if unwilling, to reduce the risk of wasted time and effort.
Once completed, the ritual has the following effects:
Critical Success: The target dies and the amethyst becomes a filled soul gem of unusual quality with an alignment matching the target; if combined with a doll body of similar quality, the result will be a stronger than usual Soulbound Doll.
Success: The target dies and the amethyst becomes a filled soul gem with an alignment matching the target.
Failure: The target dies but no soul gem is created. The consumable materials are wasted, but the amethyst may be reused.
Critical Failure: The target dies and the amethyst shatters, ruining all the consumable materials. There is a higher-than-normal chance that the target’s body or soul becomes some sort of vengeful undead, especially if they were unwilling.
Regardless of the outcome of the ritual, the ritual circle can be reused as long as it is not damaged. Ritualists should be warned, however, that any undead created by a botched version of this ritual are likely to attempt to destroy the circle – seeing it as being as much responsible for their wretched fate as the caster.
Heightened (5th): The heightened version of this ritual allows multiple soul gems to be created in one go using a larger, more complex ritual circle that is 20 feet in diameter (200gp; Craft DC 25). Each target needs their own amethyst, but only 20gp worth of consumable materials are used regardless of the number of targets. The ritual can target up to five creatures, requiring one secondary caster per target. Each unwilling target makes a separate Will save, but the result only determines if the ritual fails for them individually. However, if three or more targets succeed their saves, the primary caster suffers a -10 penalty on the check for the ritual.
Note that the write-up for Soulbound Dolls says that resisting should be Will vs Craft DC; however, I changed that to Occultism because I split the process into two parts that my PC will have to learn separately.
Also this ritual is slightly "stronger" than Animate Object, since it's a 2nd rank ritual that creates a 2nd level creature, instead of 3rd for 2nd. I think that's justified that with the additional complexity and needing a sacrifice, though.
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Also this ritual is slightly "stronger" than Animate Object, since it's a 2nd rank ritual that creates a 2nd level creature, instead of 3rd for 2nd. I think that's justified that with the additional complexity and needing a sacrifice, though.
Fair since for Animate Object the ritual is all that is mechanically needed in order to get the creature. For the soulbound doll you are also needing to create the doll body item separately.
Also this ritual is slightly "stronger" than Animate Object, since it's a 2nd rank ritual that creates a 2nd level creature, instead of 3rd for 2nd. I think that's justified that with the additional complexity and needing a sacrifice, though.Fair since for Animate Object the ritual is all that is mechanically needed in order to get the creature. For the soulbound doll you are also needing to create the doll body item separately.
I'm curious as to why the Doll Body is an Item 4 when the creature itself is a Creature 2.
I only ask because my group made friends with an elite Soulbound Doll (CG) and during one of their higher level fights its body was destroyed. They're looking to have another body made since his soulgem is intact, and I'm trying to sus out a method for them to make him a new body.
They've previously been using Crafting to repair him when he takes damage, (which I probably should have assigned a cost for each hp or a range of hps restored when repairing it).