Living Jar (3.5e Race)

Author: the bluez in the dungeon (talk) Date Created: 27th of April 2024 Status: Complete Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Living Jar

Burial jars filled with earth, hosting the body of an honoured warrior within themselves, they strive to prove their own worth.

Personality

Living jars are positive, heroic and outgoing creatures, whose only purpose in life is to be happy and show their courage and combat prowess by throwing themselves against enemy after enemy, to win or die with honor.

They aren't outright reckless though, and may assess the danger their are in and choose to flee (a difficult decision nonetheless), vowing to grow stronger and try again to overcome their failure.

Despite this, they are not exceedingly violent or brutish: they are instead philosofically inclined, love art (especially that regarding epic heroes and warriors), are thoughful, open to honest discussion, and the majority are good-hearted, or at least find value in positive relationships and moral codes.

Physical Description

They are, as the name implies, big jars, made of clay, ceramic with covers on the top. The jars are finely decorated, truly works of art, filled to the brim with earth containg the corpse of a deceased warrior. Originally this jars where used as graves for those warriors, but the indomitable combat spirit of the warrior filled every nook of the vessel, giving life to the whole.

They have long humanoid arms and short legs, made of the very earth that fills them. They grow in size according to the honor they gathered in their life.

Relations

Their unique appereance makes others wary of them, but they are a jovial and reliable race, often acting heroicly for others with no return other than glory. For this, they may weave many friendly relationships with good people. Their morbid origin if often overlooked, especially in societies' that honour greatly their fallen warriors.

Evil people may try to kill them to use their bodies and fragments in magic rituals and potions.

Alignment

Almost all living jar are good, and most lawful, as they are naturally willing to help those in need with their strength.

The rare evil or chaotic jars have been found scavenging the tomb of heroes with the intentions of stealing the body to use its strength, but such actions are prohibited among them.

Lands

Though the ancient land whence they came is long forgotten, they may be found everywhere, as they travel to find new worthy opponents.

Sometimes

Religion

They have no specific faith, but often worship deities of honor and battle, and they honour greatly those fallen in combat.

Language

Their language is Common, as they historically learned it to better travel through the lands and have been teaching it to their young ever since.

Names

They usually inherit names that are variations of their hero's name, or of other important figures.

Racial Traits

• +2 Strength or +2 Constitution
• Construct (Living): They are grand jars filled to the brim with cemetery earth, hosting the buried corpse of a deceased warrior. 
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a living jar has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Living Jar base land speed is 20 feet.  
• Honorbound: The living jars innate sense of honor is so strong that they can't violate it without feeling lost. They gain the Honorbound flaw with no extra feat. 
• Heroic Burial (Su): Once per day they may call upon the strength of their buried hero to aid them in battle. As a free action they may replicate the heroism spell on themselves, wich lasts 1 minute per HD, using their HD as caster level. They may use an immediate or free action to double the bonuses but reducing the duration to one round. 
• Heart of the Fallen (Ex): Succeding in winning over a worthy foe in combat (an enemy of CR equal or over their HD) fills the living jars with rejuvenating vigor. They gain the Heart of the Enemy feat for free, but the effect doesn't need killing the enemy to activate, just winning your opponent, which must be a worthy foe. 
• Warrior Heritage: As the living grave a famous warrior they inherit some of the combat training of their hero. They gain a bonus Fighter for which they meet the requirements. 
• Jar of Fortune (Ex): Living jars have always a final resort should they lose their life. Whenever they die they explode, due to the release of their warrior's spirit. Everyone within 20 feet of the living jar suffer 1d6 (+1d6 every odd HD they have) of physical damage (bludgeoning, piercing and slashing) unless they pass a Reflex save (DC is 10 + half the jar's HD + their Con modifier) to halve it. This damage hits incorporeal foes normally as its source is the spirit of the warrior within the jar. Living jars at 0 hp or less, but not dead, may choose, as a free or immediate action (for example if they would lose counsciousness), to explode voluntarily. This effectively disintegrates the living jar for the purpose of resurrection. 
• Slam Attack: Their powerful arms are made for attacking. They gain a feral strike in the form of a slam attack, with the statistics presented below. 
• Immunities (Ex): Immunity to poison, paralysis, disease, nausea, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain. 
• Jar Physiology: They have non-humanoid bodies, and as such, armors and clothes, or other wearable items must be specially made for them, resulting in a 50% increase of the cost. They are effectively headless and without eyes, and so are immune to decapitation and blindness (but they can't normally see in darkness), but they also can't put on any item specifically made to be worn on a head. 
• Living Construct Traits: A living jar cannot heal lethal damage naturally. Unlike other constructs, a living jar is not immune to mind-affecting spells and abilities. Unlike other constructs, living jar are subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects. As living constructs, living jars can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a living jar can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a living jar is vulnerable to disable construct and harm. However, spells from the healing subschool and supernatural abilities that cure hit point damage or ability damage provide only half their normal effect to a living jar. A living jar responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A living jar with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. It can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When its hit points are less than 0 and greater than —10, a living jar is inert. It is unconscious and helpless, and it cannot perform any actions. However, an inert living jar does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to it, as with a living creature that is stable. As a living construct, a living jar can be raised or resurrected. A living jar does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but they can benefit from consumables or effects like heroes' feast.
• Automatic Languages: Common
• Bonus Languages: Any, except for secret ones
• Favored Class: Any full BAB class
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Slam Attack

One-Handed Melee

Cost:	— gp
Damage (Small):	1d4
Damage (Medium)1:	1d6
Critical:	×2
Weight2:	— lbs
Type3:	Bludgeoning or piercing or slashing
HP4:	10
Hardness:	8

1. See Damage Increases by Size to calculate the damage for a weapon larger than Medium or smaller than Small.
2. Weight figures are for Medium weapons. A Small weapon weighs half as much, and a Large weapon weighs twice as much.
3. When two types are given, the weapon is both types if the entry specifies "and", either type (player's choice at time of attack) if the entry specifies "or", or each end of the double weapon is a different type if the entry specifies "/".
4. The hp value given is for Medium armor, weapons, and shields. Divide by 2 for each size category of the item smaller than Medium, or multiply it by 2 for each size category larger than Medium.

Racial Options

Feats

• Heroic Spirit

Pathfinder Options

Alternate Racial Feature

• Breathing Sac: Living near water for a prolonged time, made some lacertans develop a specialized organ to allow them to hold their breath for longer. They can for breathe when airless for 10 minutes, as if holding their breath. The same amount of time spent must be used to refill the sac. This feature could avoid inhaled effects. This feature replaces the Trailblazer feature.

• Cuttail: In some unfortunate cases, lacertans may lose their tails and never recover it, especially due to birth or genetic defects, curses or other kind of magic. This a brand of shame for them, and many forsake their home as soon as they can, never to return. They gain the Nomad's Blade feat for free. This feature replaces the Decoy Tail feature.

• Double Claw Style: More martially oriented lacertans learn special techniques with scimitars. You gain Two-Weapon Fighting for free and you treat a scimitar as a light weapon for the purpose of two-weapon fighting. This feature replaces the Saurian Agility feature.

• Fur-coated Reptile: Lacertans living in cold environments have evolved special adaptations to resist the frigid temperature in the form of light but warm hair. They gain cold resistance 5 and fire susceptability 5. This feature replaces the Cold Blooded feature.

• Sandswimmer: In deserts lacertans have less chance of climbing, and so their bodies often adapt to burrow instead. They gain a burrow speed equal to 20 feet when in moving on sand or similar loose soil. This feature replaces the climb speed.

• Guerrilla Warrior: Thanks to their combat tradition and hunting skills, some lacertans learn special war tactics. They gain the Guerrilla feat for free. This feature replaces the Saurian Agility feature.

• Water Way: Lacertans that live along the sea, in swamps, or near other great bodies of water have a tendency to learn to swim instead of climbing. They gain a swim speed equal to 20 feet. This feature replaces the climb speed.

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