Formless creature [Archive] - Wizards Community

Formless creature [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Alyss
06-14-07, 07:53 AM Is there a creature that has no form of its own?
obrysii
06-14-07, 08:23 AM How could it bare children of its species if it has no form?
Mai_ariti
06-14-07, 09:16 AM Well. . .Phasm sort of don't, unless a puddle of amorphous goop counts as a form.

As to Reproduction, I don't think anyone knows how Black Puddings multiply either so I don't think that is a concern.

Where are you going with this one? More information on what you're seeking would help us to answer.
obrysii
06-14-07, 10:23 AM My point was, if it has literally no form ... it can't produce more of itself since it never had an original form.

A black pudding reproduces via fission, and a phasm does indeed have its own form.
lint trap
06-14-07, 10:41 AM Is there a creature that has no form of its own?

Still no idea what you're talking about. What does form mean? Does it mean nonphysical, insubstantial, continually changing? And why are you looking for such a creature?
EternalZzyx
06-14-07, 10:49 AM The unbodied (SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm)) from the XPH might come close, they don't have any real form of their own. Anything with the stranger with burning eyes PrC from the tome of necromancy no longer has it's own form.
RealSorceror
06-14-07, 11:51 AM The unbodied (SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm)) from the XPH might come close, they don't have any real form of their own. Anything with the stranger with burning eyes PrC from the tome of necromancy no longer has it's own form.
Aww, you beat me to it. :mad:
Ogg
06-14-07, 12:34 PM Slyth maybe. Underdark. Haven't done much research on them
Alyss
06-15-07, 04:43 AM Okay, well this will work easier if you guys live in the UK and watch enough TV to know of a specsavers advert. Which I assume you don't.

In this advert, there's a guy being chasing by a bunch of toughs. He gets to a shadowy, dead-end alley, and the toughs start to close in. He faces them, stepping back into the shadow, until all of him is coated in darkness (bar his sunglasses). Then he steps out: except its not a he but a she; he switches genders, and forms, in the middle of the darkness.

Basically, I don't want a race that has a form it can claim as its own. It has no gender, no identity, nothing but a load of other forms it can become.

Weird and very up in the air (so to speak), but do you get what I'm aiming at?
lint trap
06-15-07, 10:01 AM While the role in the advert could easily be filled by a Changeling (from Eberron), I'd say that the Unbodied best fit that role. The only problem is that they're incorporeal, but if you take the Ghostly Grasp feat from Libris Mortis, you shouldn't have much trouble using equipment. Plus, you can look like whatever you damn well please.
Mai_ariti
06-15-07, 02:23 PM Doppleganger Stats can Be found in Races of Destiny. That would work but you have a LA. . .
AllWillFall2Me
06-15-07, 02:29 PM I think what he means is a creature that has no natural form, only alternate forms. It has no shape it can clearly define as it's own, so while it started as a man, that man was no more what it is than the woman, if that makes any sense.
Eerongal
06-15-07, 03:03 PM what comes to mind for me is a chaos beast. Its continually sprouting arms/heads/appendages and then they go away for the next wave of rolling shifts to its body. It's not a playable race, though, as i dont think it has an int score. :P

At least, if i get what you're trying to get at, that is
bahamut920
06-16-07, 02:01 AM Honestly, any race that has "at will" shapechanging ability of infinite duration could be said to have no true form... They have a form that they're born in, but that isn't really an issue when you can just wear other faces/bodies all the time. That said, a doppelganger has the power to do what the OP wants, and to a lesser extent (but with no racial HD or LA) the changeling. Phasms are the typical "gelatinous shapechanger" archetype. On the higher-ECL end, a bunch of fiends have shapechanging abilities at will (the succubus comes to mind instantly, but mariliths and balors have "at will" polymorphs and such, so I don't think it's an uncommon ability on the Lower Planes), as well as most rakshasas.

what comes to mind for me is a chaos beast. Its continually sprouting arms/heads/appendages and then they go away for the next wave of rolling shifts to its body. It's not a playable race, though, as i dont think it has an int score.

At least, if i get what you're trying to get at, that is
Chaos beasts have no fixed form, but they do have a "true" form, seeing as their corporeal instability is their only shapechanging ability. Even they (or especially they) cannot impose order on their forms for long enough to be more than a mass of shifting limbs and organs.
Alyss
06-16-07, 09:58 AM I think what he means is a creature that has no natural form, only alternate forms. It has no shape it can clearly define as it's own, so while it started as a man, that man was no more what it is than the woman, if that makes any sense.

That's it precisely. What is an Unbodied and what book can I find them in?
lint trap
06-16-07, 02:14 PM They're in the Psionic's Handbook, and on the SRD here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm). Bit of a level adjustment, but probably worth it.
ryuspearhead
06-16-07, 06:11 PM i created a formless golem (ink golem )
glorfon
06-16-07, 07:13 PM I once considered writing a science fiction story about an unexplained completely formless creature from space. While formless it apparently still had physical limits and a specific place that it would be ocupying.

To gain sustinence (which it needed for some reason) it would posess another creature an drain its energy.

To reproduce it would (I hope this isn't inapropriate) posses another organism and force it to rape some one. The child of the rape victim would be born possesed by one of theese formless organisms. Then the formless creature would leave the infant and it would die.
Alyss
06-18-07, 07:54 AM Hmmm..I think I'll just make a creature up...the unbodied is good, but I don't use psiconics in my games...So I think I'll just say that it can polymorph into anto small, medium or large humanoid at will, and give it an LA of +2

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Alyss 06-14-07, 07:53 AM	Is there a creature that has no form of its own?
obrysii 06-14-07, 08:23 AM	How could it bare children of its species if it has no form?
Mai_ariti 06-14-07, 09:16 AM	Well. . .Phasm sort of don't, unless a puddle of amorphous goop counts as a form. As to Reproduction, I don't think anyone knows how Black Puddings multiply either so I don't think that is a concern. Where are you going with this one? More information on what you're seeking would help us to answer.
obrysii 06-14-07, 10:23 AM	My point was, if it has literally no form ... it can't produce more of itself since it never had an original form. A black pudding reproduces via fission, and a phasm does indeed have its own form.
lint trap 06-14-07, 10:41 AM	Is there a creature that has no form of its own? Still no idea what you're talking about. What does form mean? Does it mean nonphysical, insubstantial, continually changing? And why are you looking for such a creature?
EternalZzyx 06-14-07, 10:49 AM	The unbodied (SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm)) from the XPH might come close, they don't have any real form of their own. Anything with the stranger with burning eyes PrC from the tome of necromancy no longer has it's own form.
RealSorceror 06-14-07, 11:51 AM	The unbodied (SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm)) from the XPH might come close, they don't have any real form of their own. Anything with the stranger with burning eyes PrC from the tome of necromancy no longer has it's own form. Aww, you beat me to it. :mad:
Ogg 06-14-07, 12:34 PM	Slyth maybe. Underdark. Haven't done much research on them
Alyss 06-15-07, 04:43 AM	Okay, well this will work easier if you guys live in the UK and watch enough TV to know of a specsavers advert. Which I assume you don't. In this advert, there's a guy being chasing by a bunch of toughs. He gets to a shadowy, dead-end alley, and the toughs start to close in. He faces them, stepping back into the shadow, until all of him is coated in darkness (bar his sunglasses). Then he steps out: except its not a he but a she; he switches genders, and forms, in the middle of the darkness. Basically, I don't want a race that has a form it can claim as its own. It has no gender, no identity, nothing but a load of other forms it can become. Weird and very up in the air (so to speak), but do you get what I'm aiming at?
lint trap 06-15-07, 10:01 AM	While the role in the advert could easily be filled by a Changeling (from Eberron), I'd say that the Unbodied best fit that role. The only problem is that they're incorporeal, but if you take the Ghostly Grasp feat from Libris Mortis, you shouldn't have much trouble using equipment. Plus, you can look like whatever you damn well please.
Mai_ariti 06-15-07, 02:23 PM	Doppleganger Stats can Be found in Races of Destiny. That would work but you have a LA. . .
AllWillFall2Me 06-15-07, 02:29 PM	I think what he means is a creature that has no natural form, only alternate forms. It has no shape it can clearly define as it's own, so while it started as a man, that man was no more what it is than the woman, if that makes any sense.
Eerongal 06-15-07, 03:03 PM	what comes to mind for me is a chaos beast. Its continually sprouting arms/heads/appendages and then they go away for the next wave of rolling shifts to its body. It's not a playable race, though, as i dont think it has an int score. :P At least, if i get what you're trying to get at, that is
bahamut920 06-16-07, 02:01 AM	Honestly, any race that has "at will" shapechanging ability of infinite duration could be said to have no true form... They have a form that they're born in, but that isn't really an issue when you can just wear other faces/bodies all the time. That said, a doppelganger has the power to do what the OP wants, and to a lesser extent (but with no racial HD or LA) the changeling. Phasms are the typical "gelatinous shapechanger" archetype. On the higher-ECL end, a bunch of fiends have shapechanging abilities at will (the succubus comes to mind instantly, but mariliths and balors have "at will" polymorphs and such, so I don't think it's an uncommon ability on the Lower Planes), as well as most rakshasas. what comes to mind for me is a chaos beast. Its continually sprouting arms/heads/appendages and then they go away for the next wave of rolling shifts to its body. It's not a playable race, though, as i dont think it has an int score. At least, if i get what you're trying to get at, that is Chaos beasts have no fixed form, but they do have a "true" form, seeing as their corporeal instability is their only shapechanging ability. Even they (or especially they) cannot impose order on their forms for long enough to be more than a mass of shifting limbs and organs.
Alyss 06-16-07, 09:58 AM	I think what he means is a creature that has no natural form, only alternate forms. It has no shape it can clearly define as it's own, so while it started as a man, that man was no more what it is than the woman, if that makes any sense. That's it precisely. What is an Unbodied and what book can I find them in?
lint trap 06-16-07, 02:14 PM	They're in the Psionic's Handbook, and on the SRD here (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/monsters/unbodied.htm). Bit of a level adjustment, but probably worth it.
ryuspearhead 06-16-07, 06:11 PM	i created a formless golem (ink golem )
glorfon 06-16-07, 07:13 PM	I once considered writing a science fiction story about an unexplained completely formless creature from space. While formless it apparently still had physical limits and a specific place that it would be ocupying. To gain sustinence (which it needed for some reason) it would posess another creature an drain its energy. To reproduce it would (I hope this isn't inapropriate) posses another organism and force it to rape some one. The child of the rape victim would be born possesed by one of theese formless organisms. Then the formless creature would leave the infant and it would die.
Alyss 06-18-07, 07:54 AM	Hmmm..I think I'll just make a creature up...the unbodied is good, but I don't use psiconics in my games...So I think I'll just say that it can polymorph into anto small, medium or large humanoid at will, and give it an LA of +2