Symbiotic Weapons (Items and Prestige Class) [Transfer From Old Forum]

Keep in mind that this is only a copied forum from the old software; I copied the first post onto my computer and am now reposting it. If you made any comments on it last time, please refrain from repeating them; they have (with a few exceptions) been taken into account.

A symbiotic weapon is an intelligent weapon (usually a sword or lance, but can be almost anything) of Intelligence score of 5 or higher that develops a symbiotic relation with its wielder if it and the wielder are both compliant. (It generally "chooses" a subject, hence the Intelligence score.) If the wielder is unwilling, then the weapon attempts to dominate (spell-like ability, Will save DC is equal to the caster level of the item) the subject (in the case of Evil weapons), becomes irremovable (in the case of Neutral weapons) or, in the case of Good weapons, attempts to persuade the subject to take up its cause by using the Diplomacy skill. If a person who is not chosen by the weapon attempts to wield it, he or she takes 1d4 negative damage per caster level of the item in the case of Evil weapons (Maximum 15d4; either DC 20 Reflex or DC 25 Will for half; the Evasion and Improved Evasion feats apply if the Reflex save is used), is unable to touch the weapon, in the case of Neutral weapons, or is receives a suggestion (Will save DC is equal to caster level) to not touch it, in the case of Good weapons. If the wielder willingly joins with the weapon, then he or she gains access to the Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon prestige class (outlined below).

Recap and Other Info
--Symbiotic is a special weapon enhancement that can be added to a normal weapon; the weapon must already be intelligent.
--A symbiotic weapon has its own alignment and agenda. Damage it deals is treated as that of its alignment for the purpose of damage reduction. (i.e., a Lawful Evil symbiotic weapon would be treated as Lawful aligned and Evil aligned.)
--Each symbiotic weapon is entirely different, with a different alignment, a different personality, and a different agenda. Each also has its own powers, expressed as various other enhancements. (So, for example, Soul Edge [from the Soul Calibur series of games] might be a +5 Neutral Evil symbiotic demonic greatsword.) It has its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, although it possesses no Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution.
--The more levels the wielder has in the Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon prestige class (outlined below), the more powerful the weapon becomes.
--When not being wielded, the weapon has blindsight. When being wielded, it sees from the eyes of the wielder and has blindsight.
--The weapon can communicate empathically (via emotions) with anyone. If the weapon possesses an Intelligence score of 7 or higher, it can communicate telepathically with its wielder. If it has an Intelligence score of 12 or higher, it can communicate telepathically with anyone it can see.
--Just as its wielder does, the weapon may choose to improve one of its abilities for every four levels its wielder takes in Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon, and once again when its wielder reaches 10th level.


Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon

Prerequisites: Must be in possession of, and the willing wielder of (or dominated by), a symbiotic weapon.
Class Hit Dice: d10
Alignment: Any; it gradually switches to match that of the weapon.

A bearer of the symbiotic weapon is one who, either by his or her own free will or due to being dominated by the weapon, wields a symbiotic weapon. As the wielder and the weapon fight more together, they become more familiar, eventually becoming unto one dual being. The power of the wielder and the weapon keeps pace, growing swiftly and gaining more supernatural and spell-like abilities as they go.


Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon (Bsw) Advancement Table

Level Base Atk W R F Special
1 +1 +2 +1 +0 Weapon Bond, Alertness, Weapon Familiarity, Blindsight
2 +2 +3 +2 +0 Summon Weapon, Alignment Shift
3 +3 +4 +3 +1 Improved Weapon Familiarity, Bonus Feat
4 +5/+1 +5 +4 +2 Improved Weapon Bond, Alignment Shift
5 +6/+2 +6 +5 +3 Improved Summon Weapon
6 +7/+3 +7 +6 +4 Weapon Grafting, Greater Weapon Familiarity, Alignment Shift
7 +8/+3 +8 +7 +5 Duo Soul, Greater Weapon Bond
8 +9/+4 +9 +8 +6 Bonus Feat, Alignment Shift
9 +10/+5 +10 +9 +7 Bonus Feat, Perfect Weapon Familiarity
10 +11/+5/+1 +11 +10 +8 Perfect Weapon Bond, Soul Merge, DR 5/adamantine, Final Alignment Shift

Weapon Bond: As they become more powerful, the minds of the weapon and the wielder become increasingly intertwined, giving the wielder bonuses when using the weapon. At level 1, the wielder gains their choice from the feats Improved Grapple, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, or Improved Critical. (If all of those feats are already possessed, then the wielder gains Whirlwind Attack. If that is also already possessed, the wielder gains an additional +1 to hit and damage.) At level 3, the wielder gains the same selection of feats. The ability is bestowed again at levels 7 and 10, which each give the same selection of feats.
Alertness: The weapon has blindsight, which grants the wielder the Alertness feat.
Weapon Familiarity: Each time the wielder gains this ability (levels 1, 3, 6, and 9), he or she gets a cumulative +1 proficiency bonus to hit and to damage while using the weapon.
Blindsight: The weapon has blindsight of 60 ft., and bestows the same upon its wielder. (The wielder's blindsight is from the perspective of the weapon; thus, if the weapon is being swung around, the DM might choose to consider it momentarily ineffective.)
Summon Weapon: Once this ability is acquired, the wielder need not carry the weapon on his or her person; it sits in a pocket of otherspace and can be summoned to his or her hand as a move action during his or her turn. Additionally, the wielder can, if disarmed, summon the weapon back to his or her hand as a move action. This ability improves at level 5, when the wielder can summon the weapon as a free action (but still only during his or her turn).
Alignment Shift: At levels 2, 4, 6, and 8, if the wielder's alignment is not identical to that of the weapon, it shifts 1 step toward it. This does not occur if you are dominated by the weapon. If you renounce the weapon before level 10, all weapon-induced alignment shifts automatically reverse. Bonus Feat: The Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon may choose as a bonus feat any bonus feats a fighter may choose.
Weapon Grafting: At level 6, the wielder may choose to have the weapon become one with the hand that is holding it at any time, as a free action during his or her turn. While engaged, this ability makes Disarm checks against the wielder automatically fail. He or she may also disengage this as a free action during his or her turn. Additionally, while grafted, the wielder may make a grapple attempt at no penalty, even while holding the weapon.
Duo Soul: At level 7, the wielder's outlook on the world and the weapon's become so similar that the wielder's outlook is now completely alien to others. For the purposes of spells from the enchantment school, the wielder is a magical creature rather than a humanoid.
Soul Merge: At level 10, the weapon and wielder become so intimately familiar as to be completely indistinguishable from one another in personality. The wielder is now completely immune to spells from the enchantment sphere (they may not choose to be affected by an enchantment spell), and counts as a magical creature for all intents and purposes, although they may still be raised from the dead as a humanoid. Additionally, since the two are almost unto one being, the wielder is no longer able to renounce the weapon.
DR 5/adamantine: At level 10, the wielder's skin takes on a metallic sheen and the appearance of his or her weapon, so that the weapon appears to be almost like a part of his or her body. This sheen does not serve merely aesthetic purposes: it is also as hard as the metal of the weapon, granting the wielder Damage Reduction of 5, which can only be bypassed by adamantine weapons.
Final Alignment Shift: If, at level 10, the wielder's alignment is not identical to the weapon's, it becomes so automatically and permanently (unless the weapon is destroyed, in which case it reverts).


Templates

Dominated Bearer (Inspired by Earin)

Bearers who are dominated by an evil symbiotic weapon recieve the following changes:
1. +1 to Str, Dex, and Con and -1 to Cha as long as they remain dominated.
2. Dominated Bearers resist the domination as they would the spell. The DC to resist is equal to the weapon's caster level+the number of Bsw levels the subject has.
3. A spell that reveals alignment reveals the true alignment of the person (not that of the weapon), and also reveals, separately, the alignment of the weapon.


Ex-Bearers of the Symbiotic Weapon
If the wielder of a symbiotic renounces it (or, in the case of a dominating evil weapon, breaks the control) before level 10, or if the weapon is broken, they become an ex-Bearer of the Symbiotic Weapon. They instantly lose all supernatural abilities granted by the class (i.e., Weapon Bond, Alertness, Blindsight, Summon Weapon, Weapon Grafting, Duo Soul, Soul Merge, and Damage Reduction). They retain all feats (including bonus feats), save bonuses, ability score increases, and hit dice gained from the class. All weapon-induced alignment shifts reverse. If the character becomes an ex-Bearer due to the weapon being broken, they also must make a Fortitude save at the time of the weapon's destruction (DC 15+1 per level in Bsw) or die instantly, due to the shock of having half of one's mind ripped away. If the save is successful, the character instead makes a Will save or loses 10,000 XP (DC 20+1 per Bsw level halves XP loss).

Eeeee... This is hard to read. Can you A) Put the table bit in an actual table (If you don't know how, read here) and B) Put some line breaks in between each of the ability descriptions. Also, you don't seem to have listed BAB progression in the table.

Now that that's over, it seems like a pretty good class, though, I would consider it slightly overpowered. Too many bonuses to the weapon.

What happens to the Bearer if the weapon is destroyed? I'd assume they just become an ex-Bearer, but I think you should elaborate on that a bit. I'd also guess that Soul Merged Bearers would take some other kind of penalty if thier weapon was destroyed somehow, and I'd also think that they would get some sort of bonus against sunder checks. You also forgot thier BAB, though considering how combat-oriented this class is I would guess you had full progression in mind...

Also, I'd say overpowered... A +5 Keen, Adamantine, Flaming (or other energy), Brilliant Energy, Vorpal, Epic, Symbiotic, Intelligent weapon at level 10 Bearer? I'm not even including the additional bonuses that go to the user there, such as the plus to hit and the damage reduction... Seems a bit much to me.

I'd suggest you take a look at the Shining Blade of Heironious PrC in Complete Divine for ideas on balancing this; that class has a similar feel to it. I'd say that particular class is maybe a bit underpowered myself, but it's got some ideas that I think this class could incorperate.

Balance aside, I really like the flavor behind this class. An intelligent weapon and its user becoming so closely bonded that they actually become one entity... It's a good concept. When I start DMing, I might make some villains from this class...

Yes, I agree it is a bit overpowered...but then, there is the argument that it is entirely up to the DM whether the character gets his/her hands on one of these things. Any hints on what enhancements to remove to reduce the power?

If the weapon is destroyed, the character instantly loses all supernatural abilities granted by the prestige class (i.e., everything that's not a save bonus or a feat; it is like becoming an ex-paladin in that respect) and also has to make a Fortitude save at the time of the weapon's destruction (DC 15+1 per level in Bsw) or die instantly, due to the shock of having half of one's mind ripped away. If the save is successful, the character instead loses 10,000 XP (DC Will 20+1 per Bsw level for half).

Naturally, since the weapons are almost always powerful magical items (frequently artifact-level), they are appropriately difficult to destroy. See the Dungeon Master's Guide for details.

P.S.: What is BAB? What is PrC? Also, the only 3rd Ed. books I own are the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual, so referencing me to more specialized materia probably won't help.

BAB = base attack bonus
PrC = Prestige class

Even with a DM deciding whether or not a player will ever be able to have such a weapon, due to the overpoweredness of the class I'd be willing to bet that that would be a "no" about ninety percent of the time. Hence, my suggestion that you look at the Shining Blade.

The basic idea behind the Shining Blade of Heironeous is a warrior that can give temporary powers to his/her weapon a limited number of times per day. For example, at a certain level s/he could make his/her weapon Shocking X times per day for Y rounds, and it would stack with any bonuses the weapon already had and any other bonuses that s/he'd granted it earlier that were still in effect. That PrC was meant to be entered from Paladin, so Charisma determined a lot of those variables. If you choose to go this way with this class, you could have it based on Character/Class levels, perhaps.

Sounds good. I removed the weapon enhancements, that should balance things out. Feel free to add more suggestions.

BTW, what would the vB code for "a table with six columns" be?