Astral Constuct and Sculpting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Astral Constuct and Sculpting [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Risingdragon145
11-20-07, 12:06 PM I have read over the Astral Construct power and can find no reference to the use of the craft sculpting skill. I pose this quandary because I have heard some on this board make reference to sculpting and Astral Construct so I was wondering if someone could clarify the connection?

Thanks for your input! :D
DreamerInsane
11-20-07, 01:07 PM http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/astralConstruct.htm
Risingdragon145
11-20-07, 01:38 PM Thanks!
PhaedrusXY
11-20-07, 02:48 PM It doesn't really make the power any different statistically. It's just fun for roleplaying purposes.
Zathress
11-20-07, 03:20 PM I enjoyed crafting astral constructs to look like other PC's or even the monster.
Fighting a minotaur well I make my Astral Construct look like a minotaur.

My new psion Serena will try and make her constructs look like skull crusher ogres in full plate. In honor of her fathers undead servant Nutcracker an awakened zombie skull crusher ogre.
Lycanthromancer
11-20-07, 05:48 PM Once I was playing a blue shaper/constructor, and we were fighting against an advanced dracolich shadowdragon at 16th level. I was the focus of the attack, as I'd ****ed off the wizard that controlled it, and I'd been paralyzed by the dragon (which was bad). So, to escape, while I had one of my astral constructs grappling it (with four others using the Aid Another action), I had another construct pick me up and run off into the surrounding forest and bury me under the leaves. While it was digging, I used the constructor's ability to manifest multiple constructs at once to create 4 1st level constructs, and shaped them to look exactly like me, then had the constructs hide themselves (poorly). When the dragon had finally destroyed my grappling construct, it came after me, and since it couldn't see me, it snatched one of my clonestructs, instead. I managed to destroy it shortly thereafter when I had another ginormous construct pin it and had the other party members beat it to death.

Good times; good times.
Racinante
11-20-07, 06:05 PM ...and shaped them to look exactly like me, then had the constructs hide themselves (poorly). When the dragon had finally destroyed my grappling construct, it came after me, and since it couldn't see me, it snatched one of my clonestructs, instead.

No matter how high the Craft (sculpting) check result, though, an astral construct's appearance can't hide the otherworldly material from which it is formed.

Seems the DM was lenient on having the dragon grab a construct instead of you. If the dracolich still has blindsense, he could have pinpointed the square you were in and start digging. Regardless, he would not have been fooled by the constructs.
Lycanthromancer
11-20-07, 06:27 PM We were all under cover; since the dragon couldn't actually *see* me or them, it had to use its blindsense, which apparently wasn't specific enough to determine a living creature from an identically-shaped construct. Meh. It worked.
InkBlot
11-20-07, 07:15 PM I once played a gnome warblade/shaper named Leon A. O'Sackie, who was very attached to his riding dog Bonepart. His astral constructs were almost always sculpted to look like Bonepart (a big saint bernard), especially when they had the Trip Attack or Celerity options. Once, when the part snagged a job guarding a caravan full of hot harem girls, Leon used an astral construct shaped like a hot harem girl to taunt the other party which had tried to get the job. Another time, Leon used a flying construct to lift him up to the roof of a building (there were ninjas) and I couldn't think of anything better than "a globby pterodactyl thingy."
CrimsonDeath
11-20-07, 07:43 PM Seems the DM was lenient on having the dragon grab a construct instead of you. If the dracolich still has blindsense, he could have pinpointed the square you were in and start digging. Regardless, he would not have been fooled by the constructs.

The Dracolich would need a DC 20 Spot check or DC 15 Heal check even to notice that he wasn't dead (assuming a Dracolich's paralyzing touch works like the one the Lich has). Blindsense means he doesn't have to make Spot checks to notice a creature, but it doesn't say anything about determining whether that creature is dead (and therefor actually an object) or alive.
Risingdragon145
11-21-07, 11:52 AM Where is the Constructor PrC from? It sounds like something that I would want to read up on...:D
InkBlot
11-21-07, 12:04 PM The Constructor (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625b) is from The Mind's Eye; the last bastion of hope for psionics at Wizards Of The Coast. For a long time, the Mind's Eye was the only source for official psionics material from WotC beyond the XPH, so it has gained universal acceptance among those who frequent this board. It's still the best psionics splatbook that was never published.
Risingdragon145
11-21-07, 12:23 PM Thank you very much! :)
heavenisme
11-24-07, 07:21 AM 1. Could you make your astral construct look like a dragon? Could you ride it like Eragon?

2. How about putting your psi crystal in its head so it can have some intelligence & manifest your powers?

3. How about you get skin of the construct, manifest it on your psi crystal?

4. What would a homebrew astral construct power that could do the above look like.

5. Or a skin of the construct power that let you ride around in your astral construct immune to damage and powers until the skin was destroyed?(what would that look like?)
InkBlot
11-24-07, 11:10 AM 1. Yes, you can make it look like whatever you want. You just can't change it's size.

2. No way to do this. Maybe in a 3rd party book.

3. Skin Of The Construct is a feat, and the psicrystal's Share Power ability doesn't let you share feats. The psicrystal can't meet the prerequisits for the feat on it's own without some extraordinary hoop-jumping.

4. Whatever you want. It's your power.

5. Whatever you want. It's your power. Although, I think this power exists in Untapped Potential (a 3rd party book). Google for more info.
Jaid
11-24-07, 12:42 PM 2) agree with inkblot, except that something which is at least very close to this exact concept is in dreamscarred press's High Psionics: Psicrystals Expanded, iirc

5) this power does in fact exist in UTP, more or less... it's the astral juggernaught power, as i recall. rather high level though.
Ryuu_Tenshi
11-25-07, 08:39 AM 2) agree with inkblot, except that something which is at least very close to this exact concept is in dreamscarred press's High Psionics: Psicrystals Expanded, iirc

5) this power does in fact exist in UTP, more or less... it's the astral juggernaught power, as i recall. rather high level though.

It is, if I recall, a 9th level power; however, it is a 9th level power that lets you ride around in a giant mecha that you made with your brain :D

There is also a prestige class in Hyperconsious (another third party book) which allows you to first create something akin to psionic mirror images (well, it's actually a power, but the PrC expands upon it), and at higher level these mirror images become 3rd level constructs (or even 4th level if you're psionically focused) that really DO look identical to you. In my humble opinion, the best part about them is that unlike Mirror Image they can be directed to do different things than you, so if you combine it with the Persist Power feat, you can have, I believe, your HD worth of constructs that look just like you following you around and doing what you tell them by 15th level :D
Racinante
11-26-07, 02:42 PM The Dracolich would need a DC 20 Spot check or DC 15 Heal check even to notice that he wasn't dead (assuming a Dracolich's paralyzing touch works like the one the Lich has). Blindsense means he doesn't have to make Spot checks to notice a creature, but it doesn't say anything about determining whether that creature is dead (and therefor actually an object) or alive.

Not sure where you get the DC 15 Heal check.

If the creature is dead, however, it is not a creature and is not noticed with blindsense.

Furthermore, the dracolich, with blindsense, would be able to determine the location of every creature in its range with a spot check made vs each creatures hide check. Since the dracolich is using non visible cues to find the creatures, the rules for spotting an invisible creature do not apply.
CrimsonDeath
11-26-07, 06:23 PM Not sure where you get the DC 15 Heal check.

Here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lich.htm), under "Paralyzing Touch". Like I said, I couldn't find the stats for a Dracolich, so I used the stats for a Lich and assumed that the paralyzing touch was the same.

And I thought Blindsense allowed you to detect creatures without even bothering with a Spot check.
Racinante
11-26-07, 06:38 PM Here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lich.htm), under "Paralyzing Touch". Like I said, I couldn't find the stats for a Dracolich, so I used the stats for a Lich and assumed that the paralyzing touch was the same.

And I thought Blindsense allowed you to detect creatures without even bothering with a Spot check.

I see. Still, I believe the dracolich would know who it had paralyzed and who it had not. As for blindsense usually does not need to make Spot or Listen checks to notice and locate creatures within range of its blindsense ability

So here I would have given the PC an opposed roll for actually trying to hide from the dracolich, as opposed to being invisible and in the open.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Risingdragon145 11-20-07, 12:06 PM	I have read over the Astral Construct power and can find no reference to the use of the craft sculpting skill. I pose this quandary because I have heard some on this board make reference to sculpting and Astral Construct so I was wondering if someone could clarify the connection? Thanks for your input! :D
DreamerInsane 11-20-07, 01:07 PM	http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/astralConstruct.htm
Risingdragon145 11-20-07, 01:38 PM	Thanks!
PhaedrusXY 11-20-07, 02:48 PM	It doesn't really make the power any different statistically. It's just fun for roleplaying purposes.
Zathress 11-20-07, 03:20 PM	I enjoyed crafting astral constructs to look like other PC's or even the monster. Fighting a minotaur well I make my Astral Construct look like a minotaur. My new psion Serena will try and make her constructs look like skull crusher ogres in full plate. In honor of her fathers undead servant Nutcracker an awakened zombie skull crusher ogre.
Lycanthromancer 11-20-07, 05:48 PM	Once I was playing a blue shaper/constructor, and we were fighting against an advanced dracolich shadowdragon at 16th level. I was the focus of the attack, as I'd ****ed off the wizard that controlled it, and I'd been paralyzed by the dragon (which was bad). So, to escape, while I had one of my astral constructs grappling it (with four others using the Aid Another action), I had another construct pick me up and run off into the surrounding forest and bury me under the leaves. While it was digging, I used the constructor's ability to manifest multiple constructs at once to create 4 1st level constructs, and shaped them to look exactly like me, then had the constructs hide themselves (poorly). When the dragon had finally destroyed my grappling construct, it came after me, and since it couldn't see me, it snatched one of my clonestructs, instead. I managed to destroy it shortly thereafter when I had another ginormous construct pin it and had the other party members beat it to death. Good times; good times.
Racinante 11-20-07, 06:05 PM	...and shaped them to look exactly like me, then had the constructs hide themselves (poorly). When the dragon had finally destroyed my grappling construct, it came after me, and since it couldn't see me, it snatched one of my clonestructs, instead. No matter how high the Craft (sculpting) check result, though, an astral construct's appearance can't hide the otherworldly material from which it is formed. Seems the DM was lenient on having the dragon grab a construct instead of you. If the dracolich still has blindsense, he could have pinpointed the square you were in and start digging. Regardless, he would not have been fooled by the constructs.
Lycanthromancer 11-20-07, 06:27 PM	We were all under cover; since the dragon couldn't actually see me or them, it had to use its blindsense, which apparently wasn't specific enough to determine a living creature from an identically-shaped construct. Meh. It worked.
InkBlot 11-20-07, 07:15 PM	I once played a gnome warblade/shaper named Leon A. O'Sackie, who was very attached to his riding dog Bonepart. His astral constructs were almost always sculpted to look like Bonepart (a big saint bernard), especially when they had the Trip Attack or Celerity options. Once, when the part snagged a job guarding a caravan full of hot harem girls, Leon used an astral construct shaped like a hot harem girl to taunt the other party which had tried to get the job. Another time, Leon used a flying construct to lift him up to the roof of a building (there were ninjas) and I couldn't think of anything better than "a globby pterodactyl thingy."
CrimsonDeath 11-20-07, 07:43 PM	Seems the DM was lenient on having the dragon grab a construct instead of you. If the dracolich still has blindsense, he could have pinpointed the square you were in and start digging. Regardless, he would not have been fooled by the constructs. The Dracolich would need a DC 20 Spot check or DC 15 Heal check even to notice that he wasn't dead (assuming a Dracolich's paralyzing touch works like the one the Lich has). Blindsense means he doesn't have to make Spot checks to notice a creature, but it doesn't say anything about determining whether that creature is dead (and therefor actually an object) or alive.
Risingdragon145 11-21-07, 11:52 AM	Where is the Constructor PrC from? It sounds like something that I would want to read up on...:D
InkBlot 11-21-07, 12:04 PM	The Constructor (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040625b) is from The Mind's Eye; the last bastion of hope for psionics at Wizards Of The Coast. For a long time, the Mind's Eye was the only source for official psionics material from WotC beyond the XPH, so it has gained universal acceptance among those who frequent this board. It's still the best psionics splatbook that was never published.
Risingdragon145 11-21-07, 12:23 PM	Thank you very much! :)
heavenisme 11-24-07, 07:21 AM	1. Could you make your astral construct look like a dragon? Could you ride it like Eragon? 2. How about putting your psi crystal in its head so it can have some intelligence & manifest your powers? 3. How about you get skin of the construct, manifest it on your psi crystal? 4. What would a homebrew astral construct power that could do the above look like. 5. Or a skin of the construct power that let you ride around in your astral construct immune to damage and powers until the skin was destroyed?(what would that look like?)
InkBlot 11-24-07, 11:10 AM	1. Yes, you can make it look like whatever you want. You just can't change it's size. 2. No way to do this. Maybe in a 3rd party book. 3. Skin Of The Construct is a feat, and the psicrystal's Share Power ability doesn't let you share feats. The psicrystal can't meet the prerequisits for the feat on it's own without some extraordinary hoop-jumping. 4. Whatever you want. It's your power. 5. Whatever you want. It's your power. Although, I think this power exists in Untapped Potential (a 3rd party book). Google for more info.
Jaid 11-24-07, 12:42 PM	2) agree with inkblot, except that something which is at least very close to this exact concept is in dreamscarred press's High Psionics: Psicrystals Expanded, iirc 5) this power does in fact exist in UTP, more or less... it's the astral juggernaught power, as i recall. rather high level though.
Ryuu_Tenshi 11-25-07, 08:39 AM	2) agree with inkblot, except that something which is at least very close to this exact concept is in dreamscarred press's High Psionics: Psicrystals Expanded, iirc 5) this power does in fact exist in UTP, more or less... it's the astral juggernaught power, as i recall. rather high level though. It is, if I recall, a 9th level power; however, it is a 9th level power that lets you ride around in a giant mecha that you made with your brain :D There is also a prestige class in Hyperconsious (another third party book) which allows you to first create something akin to psionic mirror images (well, it's actually a power, but the PrC expands upon it), and at higher level these mirror images become 3rd level constructs (or even 4th level if you're psionically focused) that really DO look identical to you. In my humble opinion, the best part about them is that unlike Mirror Image they can be directed to do different things than you, so if you combine it with the Persist Power feat, you can have, I believe, your HD worth of constructs that look just like you following you around and doing what you tell them by 15th level :D
Racinante 11-26-07, 02:42 PM	The Dracolich would need a DC 20 Spot check or DC 15 Heal check even to notice that he wasn't dead (assuming a Dracolich's paralyzing touch works like the one the Lich has). Blindsense means he doesn't have to make Spot checks to notice a creature, but it doesn't say anything about determining whether that creature is dead (and therefor actually an object) or alive. Not sure where you get the DC 15 Heal check. If the creature is dead, however, it is not a creature and is not noticed with blindsense. Furthermore, the dracolich, with blindsense, would be able to determine the location of every creature in its range with a spot check made vs each creatures hide check. Since the dracolich is using non visible cues to find the creatures, the rules for spotting an invisible creature do not apply.
CrimsonDeath 11-26-07, 06:23 PM	Not sure where you get the DC 15 Heal check. Here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lich.htm), under "Paralyzing Touch". Like I said, I couldn't find the stats for a Dracolich, so I used the stats for a Lich and assumed that the paralyzing touch was the same. And I thought Blindsense allowed you to detect creatures without even bothering with a Spot check.
Racinante 11-26-07, 06:38 PM	Here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/lich.htm), under "Paralyzing Touch". Like I said, I couldn't find the stats for a Dracolich, so I used the stats for a Lich and assumed that the paralyzing touch was the same. And I thought Blindsense allowed you to detect creatures without even bothering with a Spot check. I see. Still, I believe the dracolich would know who it had paralyzed and who it had not. As for blindsense usually does not need to make Spot or Listen checks to notice and locate creatures within range of its blindsense ability So here I would have given the PC an opposed roll for actually trying to hide from the dracolich, as opposed to being invisible and in the open.