Stone-Warped

Stone-Warped - Level Adjustment 0
Stone-Warped Names are very simple and typically three or less syllables in length, their simple natures and malformed appearance reflected in their short, biting names that are marked by their sharp, powerful syllables and simple styles. Linguistically, their names can come from most any nationality, be it eastern or western, as the ruins they emerge from are dotted all across the landscape.

Male: Shorok, Gigax, Yak, Syant, Joji, Batreq, etc...

Female: Lilak, Deliax, Rem, Ram, Yuki, Qulia, etc...

Ability Score Modifiers: (+4 CON, -2 DEX, -2 CHA) Stone-Warped are incredibly durable, but neither nimble nor easy to get along with.

Size: Stone-Warped are medium sized creatures, and gain no penalties or benefits because of their size.

Type: Stone-Warped are Half-constructs, and do not need to eat, sleep, or breathe unless they wish to, and gain +2 to Resist Disease, Poison, Exhaustion, Fatigue, and Mind-Altering Effects, and cannot be Raised or Resurrected.

Speed: Stone-Warped are slow and unwieldy, and have a base land speed of 20ft.

Vision: Stone-Warped gain low light vision, and are able to see twice as far as normal in dim lighting.

Languages: Stone-Warped start play with Common and High Human, and intelligent Stone-Warped may select from the following languages: (Draconic, Dwarven, Old Dwarven, Necril, Orc, Giant, Celestial)

Advanced Constitution: Stone-Warped are high durable, and are very difficult to destroy. They gain a racial +2 bonus to CON.

Hardy: Stone-Warped possess hardy and strong constitutions, and gain a +2 Racial bonus on saving throws against poison, spells, and spell-like abilities.

Stoneskin: Stone-Warped are naturally resilient to damage because of their thick rock and metal skin. They gain damage reduction 5, negated by Magic and Adamantine.

Light Blindness: Stone-Warped are creatures of the underground, and rarely go to the surface, if at all. They are blinded when abruptly exposed to bright light, dazzled for as long as they remain in the area.A race born from an ancient union of man and stone created by parties unknown, the Stone-Warped are beings that are seldom seen, but are always given wide births due to their strange looks and sheer durability. It is said some have heard them speaking the language of the ancients. Just how old are they?

Stone-Warped Human Alternate Racial Traits
Daywalker: No longer blinded by sunlight but also become a bit more frail; Lose Light Blindness, but also lose Advanced Constitution

Some Stone-Warped long ago roamed from their ruined homes and began to travel the surface world. In time, as they walked and wandered aimlessly for decades and centuries, they adapted to the light of the sun...though, they slowly lost some of the durability which let them thrive beneath the ground in exchange. They are more adept at the ways of the surface than others of their kind, though most still fear them for their hideous appearance and uneasy, jerky mannerisms.

Nemean-warped: Gain DR5/Magic, Natural And Unarmed attacks may count as any metal for overcoming DR; Replaces Normal Damage Reduction and hardy

Made long ago for war and slaughter, yet never brought to completion, some Stone-Warped fused with the mysterious metal of the ancients, the silvery, liquid-like metal shifting and warping with each step they take, and remaining untarnished even after so many millenia. WIthout the horrid melding of stone and flesh their kin went through, these Stone-Warped are more likely to be accepted into society, though some communities drive them out for fear of their strange makeup.

Ruined Caretaker: Gain the Resonate Homebrew Spell as an at will spell-like ability and always treated as friendly in High Human ruins; replaces Hardy

Created long ago to care for the cities, tower, and citadels which now sit ruined across the lands, some Stone-Warped carry an innate knowledge and ability of the high human ruins, their malformed, twisted appearances welcome in the rotting halls within such places, their motions and commands capable of waking even the most stubborn of sleeping ruins. They frequently abandon the surface and what lies on it to live amongst the ruined, crumbling halls they once called home, content to settle in the shattered remainders of what once was and surrounded by the bones of their former masters.

Stonecunning: Stone-Warped gain a +2 bonus on Perception checks to notice unusual stonework, such as traps and hidden doors located in stone walls or floors. They receive a check to notice such features whenever they pass within 10 feet of them, whether or not they are actively looking. Replaces Hardy

Having been created amidst the stony, magic-infused halls of the high human ruins, many Stone-Warped have an innate knowledge of stonework which is comparable to even the similar sense the dwarves possess. Capable of innately understanding the makeup, design, and oddities of stone, these Stone-Warped are quite capable stonesmiths, and some become crafters with the hope of fixing their former homes.

Ancient Arcanum: Gain a racial +2 bonus to Spellcraft checks, always have Spellcraft as a class skill, and gain SR equal to 8 + HD. Replaces Advanced Constitution

Built by the high humans to serve as servants to their twisted experiments, some Stone-Warped are inscribed with ancient runic markings and sigils, the powerful magicks carved into their stony flesh granting them an innate understanding of magic and the workings of it...and a natural defense against it.

Finished Product: Ability Score Bonuses Replaced by (+2 CON, +2 DEX, -2CHA), Gain Nemean-Warped and Daywalker Racial Traits, Racial Level Adjustment becomes 1

Exceedingly rare, there exist some Stone-Warped who are nary warped at all...in fact, they look identical to humans, save for metallic skin in places and a bulkier frame. They stand as the final goal of their race, ideals for their fellows to strive for and praise as heroes. Their metal joints oiled and polished, their bodies durable, and their minds confident, these Finished Products of the Stone-Warped race gather together in small, tightly-knit communities where they serve as caretakers for their more malformed brethren, their ability to stride the surface letting them ensure that supplies are kept well-stocked. These Stone-Warped are cocksure and arrogant at times, and pity their worse-off brethren, seeing it as their duty to ensure they lead full, rich lives irregardless of deformities.

Well-Oiled Machine: Base Land speed increases to 35ft; Replaces Movement speed and Hardy

Some Stone-Warped possess greater freedom of movement than most other races, their stony joints perfectly designed and allowing them for faster movement than most surface races that stand on two legs. Such an ability is a treasure to the dour, frequently malformed Stone-Warped, and such individuals are idolized by their fellows.

Abandoned and Forgotten: Gain Hatred against any creatures with the human subtype, and gain a racial +4 bonus to intimidate; replaces Advanced constitution

The worst off of their kind, some Stone-Warped were never even brought to full completion, their bodies a ramshackle, half-completed mess of stone and flesh which leaves them in constant pain. Left and abandoned by those who made them, their burning, ending hatred for being created in the first place consuming them and driving them...even as their bodies fall apart and wither away, they stand steadfast and alive, as if hatred itself is keeping them alive. Furious, spiteful, and murderous, these Stone-Warped nearly attack all humans on sight, seeking to inflict even a tenth of the suffering they must endure at any cost.

Racial Feats:
Didact's Faithful Child:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, Character Level 5th

Effects: Once a day when you reach 0 hp, you can attempt a fortitude save (DC 10 + The damage amount you were reduced past 0). If you succeed, you stay at 1hp.

The stone-warped venerate the mysterious, valiant Minor God, known to others as ‘The Didact’ and to the stone-warped as ‘The Stonefather’. In the stories, tales, and myths passed down through their culture, they speak of how he was the first to lead them, to treasure them and command them as he would his own children...of how he was the first, and only, being to truly love the stone-warped even despite all their horrible deformities. The stone-warped who venerate him even now, after all this time, still have his blessing upon them and find it harder to fall in battle.

Didact's Mournful Child:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, Character Level 5th

Effects: Once a day, you may reflect a mind-affecting spell back upon the one who cast it as an immediate action. You must be conscious and aware to use this ability. If the caster is immune to mind-affecting effects, or is outside of your line of sight, they have a 50% miss chance against the spell.

The Didact, or, as the stone-warped know him, ‘The Stonefather’, is venerated in stone-warped society as their first and only patron...yet, they also speak of him as dead...or, at the very least, as incapable of returning to the material plane again. Regardless of the version of the tale, some stone-warped mourn their patron deity each hour of the day, their deformed bodies soothed and protected by his valiant touch, shielding them from harmful effects and letting them redirect them back upon the caster.

Didact's Praetorian Guard:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, Character Level 7th, Must have either the 'Didact's Faithful Child' or 'Didact's Mournful Child' racial feats

Effects: You may make two additional attacks of opportunity per round identical to the effects of the combat reflexes feat. These stack with any gained from other sources. You may treat any armor or shield you wear as having armor spikes, and deal an extra damage die when using them. When using the demoralize combat action, you may frighten your foe instead of shaking them if you exceed the DC by 10 or more.

In the oldest of stone-warped tales, they speak of The Didact as leading them personally into battle, commanding them personally as he lead them by the millions against their enemies, finding worth in an otherwise discarded race where all others had abandoned them as trash. The stories, if they are to be believed, speak of the most terrifying force the world had ever seen, a tide of stone and steel that trampled all who dared stand against it...and among those ranks were a select handful of stone-warped, personally selected by the Didact as his personal guard. These Stone-warped passed on their highly deadly combat effectiveness to their children, and their grandchildren, and even today, remnants of their martial prowess still remain, allowing their descendants to fight as their ancestors did, their armor growing ephemeral spikes and long, flowing purple capes to complement their ferocious natures.

Didact's Honored Legatus:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, Character level 7th, Must have either the 'Didact's Faithful Child' or 'Didact's Mournful Child' racial feats

Effects: You gain a racial +4 on initiative, may always act in the surprise round when one exists, and, as a free action 3/day, grant an ally within 30ft the ability to roll twice for initiative and choose the result.

In the same tales which spoke of his honored guard, there is also mention of the Didact’s treasured generals, his highly capable commanders, his Legatii who he relied upon to direct the unending tide of stone and steel which he so deftly commanded with the prowess only a god could reach. These commanders passed on their knowledge down through the ages until the current day...and their children react as fast as lightning, and find themselves capable of inspiring their allies to do the same.

Didact's Pontifex:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, At least 1 Level of a divine spellcasting class, Character level 5th

Effects: Gain two of the following domains as a cleric of your level: War, Community, Glory, or Liberation.

Though most all stone-warped worship him as their patron deity, there are none more pious nor zealous in their faith as the descendants of the Didact’s former Pontifexes, his priests which carried his standard into battle and preached his name across the land. These stone-warped which pursue divine casting find themselves empowered with additional domains, taken from their god’s personal list of domains.

Legio XV Tempestus Divinitatus:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, Character Level 9th, Must have either the 'Didact's Faithful Child' or 'Didact's Mournful Child' racial feats, Must have either the 'Didact's Praetorian Guard' or 'Didact's Honored Legatus' racial feats

Effects: You may treat any and all weapons you wield, including natural attacks, as having either the 'Shocking Burst' or 'Holy' weapon enchantments. Only one may be active on a given weapon at a time, and activating, deactivating, or switching them is a move action.

Though today they only speak the name without the understanding of what it meant, the stone-warped of today occasionally find amongst their kind absolute paragons of power, honor, and justice. Though they know it not, these stone-warped are the last dregs of the Didact’s personal legion...before he ascended to godhood. Though none know his origins, he was said to command the fifteenth legion amongst his people, a legion which, after many long, arduous campaigns in which they proved their worth many times over, was given the title ‘Tempestus Divinitatus’, or, as it is known in the language of the Didact’s former kin, ‘Divine Tempest’. His legion was legendary for their prowess, and their descendants who inherit this power find themselves capable of enhancing their weapons at but a twitch.

 Scion of the World Anvil:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, 'Ruined Caretaker' alternate racial trait or 'Well-Oiled Machine' Alternate Racial trait, Character level 6th

Effects: Gain One of the following as bonus languages: (Abyssal, Infernal, Aklo, Celestial, Ignan, Aquan, Terran, Auran). Your character is always treated as friendly by creatures who speak that language as their native tongue. Additionally, Gain the following effects based on the language you chose. You may not choose a language you already have unless you already have all of the languages, whereupon you still gain the effects as normal but do not learn the languages.

Abyssal: Gain acid, cold, and fire resistance 5. Treat your CHA score as 4 points higher for dealing with, making deals with, or talking to Demons or Daemons.

Infernal: See perfectly in all kinds of darkness, even that created by a deeper darkness spell.

Aklo: Gain telepathy(100ft). However, in addition, your voice becomes synonymous with eldritch insanity and any time you speak aloud, all creatures within 50ft of you must make a will save (DC = 10 + CHA modifier + 1/2 HD) or be affected by a Confusion effect, as per the spell, for 1d3 rounds. Any creature affected thusly, whether or not they make the save, cannot be affected more than once in 24 hours.

Celestial: A righteous aura surrounds you when you fight or get angry. Any hostile creature within a 20-foot radius of you must succeed on a Will save to resist its effects(DC = 10 + CHA modifier + 1/2 HD). Treat your CHA score as 2 points higher than normal for this DC. Those who fail take a –2 penalty on attacks, AC, and saves for 24 hours or until they successfully hit you. A creature that has resisted or broken the effect cannot be affected again by your aura for 24 hours.

Ignan: Can infuse any weapon you are wielding with fire for a total of rounds a day equal to your CON modifier. This fire adds an additional 1d6 damage to the weapon, and grows to 2d6 at 10th level.

Aquan: Can infuse any weapon you are wielding with cold for a total of rounds a day equal to your CON modifier. This icy cold adds an additional 1d6 damage to the weapon. Additionally, you can instead use these rounds to grant yourself a Waterwalking or Waterbreathing effect for those rounds instead. You are treated as having the Jet(100ft) universal monster ability in water.

Terran: Gain a burrow speed equal to your base land speed. Gain Sonic OR Acid resistance 5.

Auran: Can infuse any weapon you are wielding with lightning for a total of rounds a day equal to your CON modifier. This electricity adds an additional 1d6 damage to the weapon. Additionally, you can instead use these rounds to grant yourself a feather fall effect for those rounds instead.

The world anvil was the the first and eternal act of hubris the high humans ever dared to commit, dwarfing even the legendary terror that they wrought with the creation of the Etherion Cannon...though none live who remember its true nature, some stone-warped emerge from the underground and enter their kind’s society who speak languages of the outer planes, and demonstrate a myriad of effects which all seem to hearken back to their odd natures, and how their learned their chosen language. Counting themselves amongst the allies of the race(s) who speak their additional language, they have been known to speak of the mightiest angels, demons, elementals, and even eldritch beings from the realms between the stars as they might a close friend...

Nemean Shifting Matrix:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, 'Nemean-Warped' alternate racial trait, Character level 5th

Effects: Gain Disguise self as an at-will spell-like ability

Carrying odd, still-active technologies powered by arcane sigils and glyphs within their malformed exteriors, some stone-warped are able to use their powerful metal bodies as if it were quicksilver, using it to change their appearances like magic and hide their normally very recognizable forms. Whether this is due to actual magic or some sort of property of their quicksilver-like bodies is unknown, but to the stone-warped, being able to change their appearances is the greatest treasure they could hope for.

Stone-Sense:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, 'Stonecunning' alternate racial trait, Character level 4th

Effects: Gain Tremorsense 60ft

Special: You can take this feat more than once. For every additional time it is taken, you gain +10ft of tremorsense.

Being so completely connected to stone as to be made of it partially, some stone-warped emerge who simply claim to ‘see through stone’...as if the very stone is willing to act as their eyes no matter the situation.

Arcane Conduction Engine:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, 'Ancient Arcanum' alternate racial trait, Must not possess 'Divine Conduction Engine' feat, Character level 8th

Effects: Lose SR, but a number of times per day equal to your CON modifier, any creature within 60ft of you that attempts to cast an arcane spell must make a caster level check (DC = 10 + 1/2 CON modifier + 1/2 HD) or be automatically counterspelled. You may turn this ability on and off as a swift action, but may not designate between friend or foe unless you expend two uses of the ability for the day.

Amongst those rare Stone-warped who carry remnants of magic power, arcane sigils, circles, glyphs, and other etchins all over them, there rarely emerges one who seems to be the natural conclusion of such a stone-warped, taken to the extreme. Each carries within them a whirling, churning magitech conduction engine at their core, a mass of pure, solid mana around which spin several concentric spirals, never pausing or tiring in its arcane function. Though there are two types of such engines, one of them is able to tap into that engine that slumbers inside of them like a magical dragon to snuff out the very magic of their foes, the engines within them churning and roiling with arcane might and reaching across space to cut an opponent's magic off at the source.

Divine Conduction Engine:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human, 'Ancient Arcanum' alternate racial trait, Must not possess 'Arcane Conduction Engine' feat, Character level 8th

Effects: Lose SR, but a number of times per day equal to your CON modifier, any creature within 60ft of you that attempts to cast a divine spell must make a caster level check (DC = 10 + 1/2 CON modifier + 1/2 HD) or be automatically counterspelled. You may turn this ability on and off as a swift action, but may not designate between friend or foe unless you expend two uses of the ability for the day.

Amongst those rare Stone-warped who carry remnants of magic power, arcane sigils, circles, glyphs, and other etchins all over them, there rarely emerges one who seems to be the natural conclusion of such a stone-warped, taken to the extreme. Each carries within them a whirling, churning magitech conduction engine at their core, a mass of pure, solid mana around which spin several concentric spirals, never pausing or tiring in its arcane function. Though there are two types of such engines, one of them is able to tap into that engine that slumbers inside of them like a gift from the gods above, the engine within them burning with pure divine might and acting out at their command to, quite literally, sever a foes’ connection to their deity itself and halt their magic in its tracks like a divine counterspell.

The Magitech Collective:

Prerequisites: Stone-Warped Human or High Human Race, Character level 5th

Effects: So long as any number of Stone-Warped, High-Human, and some Constructs with this feat are within 200ft + 10ft/level equal to your CON modifier, you gain telepathy with them, the ability to cast Detect Thoughts at will on them, and the ability to see, hear, and feel through their senses. If they are within 100ft of you, you know their rough location. Within 50ft, you know a precise location. However, any who have this feat may use the same abilities on you so long as you so remain connected to the collective.

Special: You must make a will save (DC 15 + 2/every applicable member within range) to shut yourself off from the collective, but can only do so for a number of rounds equal to your CON score every day. Re-entering the collective is a free action, but to leave it again provokes another will save and is a move action.

Though those of today can only hope to guess at the purpose, several scholars, mages, and other casters have discovered that some stone-warped seem to have be connected to some vast, unseeable network that links them to others of their kin...and, in some rare cases, the automatons and golems that patrol the halls of high human ruins linked to them by a means beyond magic. Even the odd human has been known to have a connection to this link, claiming that they can see, feel, and sense through it as if it were their own, to feel and read the thoughts of those nearby within this ‘collective’. These beings, regardless of race, possess a bond not even the most capable of mages can fathom, acting as one and in unison, even when opposing each other.