Post/Author/DateTime	Post
celestialkin 12-31-07, 11:23 AM	http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e189/Celestialdragon100/BrainMolecopy1-1.png Hey guys, I recent got a hold of a copy of Dragon #316, and I want to use the psymbiot feat for a character. Would having a pet Brain Mole (XPH p.90) give me the benefits of said feat? If this does work, can some of the more experienced players here please suggest how a character would go about getting one of these animals (or any psionic pets) in game? Maybe there have been official rules for pricing creatures/monsters for purchase? Also, how would a psionic character go about caring for one of these moles? Could he simply feed the mole by letting it drain a bit of it's psionic energy each day? Sadly the monster's entry does not list how much power (how many power points?) one of these moles needs to be properly fed each day, so I am not sure how much of the PC's power it would cost to sustain this thing. Then again, keeping it sustained and keeping it happy might be two different things. As aways thanks in advance for any help!
Solstysse 12-31-07, 09:43 PM	Can you post the text of that feat? I don't have the dragon magazine it's in so it's hard to figure it out. If you post that I'm sure I can help you out!
celestialkin 12-31-07, 09:58 PM	Can you post the text of that feat? I don't have the dragon magazine it's in so it's hard to figure it out. If you post that I'm sure I can help you out! I would appreciate the help Solstysse, but I believe it would be against the rules to post it. It is copyrighted by Paizo. Thanks, though. :)
Solstysse 12-31-07, 10:01 PM	I'll try and find it the but in the meantime, the food question. Their entry says they perfer psionic enegry and getting it will heal them 1hp per 1pp drained until full hp is reached. After that, the extra pp's it get give it nourishment (as if they'd eaten their fill) for 24 hours. The little critters eat small insects normally, unless, I'm guessing they can bring down something larger that will fit into their mouth. They don't appear to have a pp reserve, they actually have psi-like abilities so they don't NEED power points, they crave them...like we crave sugar. It just makes their life easier for healing and for not having to eat bugs for a while. I'm sure pp's just taste better than bugs. :) As far as getting one, they live in temperate forests. As long as there are psionic creatures in the game they should be around...asking npcs in and around such a climate might lead you to finding a "nest of moles" and walking around it would probably bring a brain mole to the surface since you have pp's. As long as you can catch it and tame it via handle animal or paying someone to tame it and the feat allows the use of old molely there you should be kosher.
Solstysse 12-31-07, 10:25 PM	Okie dokie...would this be the same feat that's on page 57 of CP?? They sound about the same if I understand correctly. (gaining bonuses from being around psionic critters with a ML of 3 or higher type feat?) I think it would work...the beasty can manifest two powers at will of a ML 5. So that's the first hurdle...it doesn't say they have to be able to manifest the powers at that time (you can't kill it and keep it's body around) but you could possibly keep it in a cage with some kind of antimagic/anti psionics feild built in. That way it wouldn't take it's obligitory mindthrust on you 3/day but you'd still get the benefits of the bonuses. I'm not sure, with all it's powers, that anyone would let it be a familiar or anything like that but keeping it around might not be bad....perhaps charm monster in a wand to keep it happy and following you around like a puppy! I sightly ugly...dangerous...puppy.
AntiDjinn 01-01-08, 01:09 PM	As far as brain mole diet, their normal ecology probably works along the lines of: A colony of brain moles ambushes a psionic character, feeding on his psionic energy (their preferred food). The rotting corpse of the hapless character attracts insects, which the brain moles can live of off until another being with power points can be felled (normal moles in the same colony also eat insects, which is why it is an advantage for a group of moles to include brain moles). Eventually, the items from the dead character (moles have no use for gold, crystal paraphernalia, or weapons) attracts another psionic character.
Omnirahk, half-Rahkshi 01-04-08, 10:10 AM	Check out Untapped Potential by Dreamscarred press. Among other things, it includes racial substitution levels. A dromite ranger can take a brain mole as an animal companion. (Or a couple of phrenic creatures or the folugub, so you may have better options than a brain mole available). Although this does seriously pigeonhole you into one role. Then again, ranger levels usually are appreciated to enter the (illithid) slayer PrC. If you don't like this, just talk to your DM about acquiring a pet.
SlanderPanic 01-04-08, 02:06 PM	We had a thread on brain moles as familiars about a year back. I think the consensus was that letting someone get one with Improved Familiar at caster level 5 was fair. Aside from that, I think they'd be fairly easy to keep as pets, so long as you catch them young and give them something dark, warm, soft, and scratchproof to sleep in. That said, they'd count for the Psymbiot feat. (It explicitly mentions "psionic creatures.") But I think it's against the spirit of the feat. The idea seems to be to encourage psionic characters to stick close and work together.
CrimsonDeath 01-04-08, 04:41 PM	Aside from that, I think they'd be fairly easy to keep as pets, so long as you catch them young and give them something dark, warm, soft, and scratchproof to sleep in. They're Magical Beasts with an Intelligence of 2, so you should be able to train them with Handle Animal at a -4 penalty.