Post/Author/DateTime	Post
JulesCARV 03-29-07, 07:08 PM	I noticed that Astral Seed restores you to something like your state when you manifested the power, not your state when you died. Is there any way of exploiting this for a "thought bottle" effect, using it to evade experience losses or something? It would be useful if you're hit with some sort of level drain effect, since if you lose several levels and no one's around for a restoration, you can just kill yourself and go into your astral seed, limiting the level loss to just one level. However, are there any other ways of exploiting this, which could be used to avoid other forms of experience loss? I don't really see any way to use it to avoid paying for, say, Reality Revision, since you can't spend XP to go below your current level, and astral seed, at best, takes you one level below your current one. Any sleazy tricks out there, though?
angellis_ater 03-30-07, 10:24 AM	Well, you could do some nasty tricks with Mind Switch, as far as I know, but this is mentioned in the power itself. When you die, Mind Switch with someone and smash the crystal. Done. If it can be done right, saves you the 10k XP you would have to spend on a True Mind Switch - even though you still pay that 1 level penalty either way.
AntiDjinn 03-30-07, 10:39 AM	It is the only way that has been published so far that could get your character back after a Mind Seed that has germinated. Once your personality has been formatted and overwritten you are basically gone, but an Astral Seed is a restore from backup. You get your persona back provided the most recent copy stored was of your uncorrupted mind (provided you didn't make the crystal while germinating the Mind Seed). Even if the stored version was mind seeded it will need to go through the appropriate amount of germination time again, so your friends have another chance to save you with the listed effects (and this time they know something is up because they met the persona that you will become). The only way this fails is if the new you replaces your backup by manifesting Astral Seed. This means it has to be at least 15th level, must know the power, and has the XP to spend (and has some reason to suspect that old you has a stored version somewhere). Without Astral Seed even killing and resurrecting you won't get you back; the one that returns will be the current mind associated with that soul.
angellis_ater 03-31-07, 07:28 AM	Hmmm... that does bring up a good question. Could you make an item of "Mind Seed" (I distinctly remember something like that) and have it used on yourself? Does that count as having been "killed"? Is "death" associated with mind & soul or body only? By this thinking (as AntiDjinn puts it above) you can use Mind Seed on yourself and then be "reborn" as a character one level below yourself. That way you suddenly have yourself at 14th level and 7th level - mix that with a little of Thrallherd and you could potentially have yourself as a Thrall (or Servant)...
awaken_D_M_golem 03-31-07, 04:28 PM	I like it. A self-sacrifice of sorts, plus Thrall-ing yourself to "yourself", equals An extremely demented version of [spoiler]trinity theology[/spoiler} "Behave","OK","Die","you'll have to kill me","OK" 2nd EDIT Burn through almost all of your XP. Thrall your 1st level version of yourself to your Seed. "I used to be him","Yeah yeah yeah - Yack yack yack"
MrCelsius 03-31-07, 05:50 PM	The applications are mind-bottling.
AntiDjinn 03-31-07, 08:00 PM	Being Mind Seeded does not count as being killed; your soul never leaves your body, you never appear as a petitioner on an outer plane, protection from Death effects who prevent it, and Resurrection doesn't get you back. It it actually a state that makes you even more irretrievable than just being dead. Other than an Astral Seed set up in advance or divine intervention, there really is no way to get you back. As far a Mind Seeding your thralls, it is probably a bad idea. You don't control your Mind Seeds, they instantly become characters in their own rights. Even if the body you use belonged to a thrall, they stop being that character when the seed germinates. Consider: If you drop a Mind Seed in a Red Wizard of Thay, the resultant character is not beholden to his order anymore (although they might not know that) and is no longer even a wizard, red or otherwise. Drop a seed in a thrall and you cost yourself a thrall (who gets replaced as normal). While the seed will share your memories and presumably your goals, don't assume it will be friendly. If you have a domineering personality (assume yes, if you are a thrallherd) then you won't be happy being subservient, even to the bigger version of you. You could over time become your own worst enemy. For a good sidebar on this, see The Limits of Mind Seed in Secrets of Sarlona where they answer the question of why the Quaori don't just quash all opposition with this one power.
awaken_D_M_golem 04-01-07, 03:29 PM	"Mind Seeding your thralls" I was thinking Thralling your Mind Seeds. I guess , though , it won't work. Given this particular weekend , turning Palm fronds into b[s]asketweaving[/spoiler}. Ooops.