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Morph Bark · 02-23-2012, 11:13 AM

BOTANIMORPHIST

Picture by Sam Taylor, commissioned by Narsilion of DeviantART

We should not have played florist, brother! ~ Edison Aldwick
We are EXTREME BOTANISTS. ~ Alucard Aldwick

Hajike, Tobiume! ~ Momo Hinamori

Do power of nature is oft misunderstood. Some try to protect it, others try to conquer it. But you know better, or should. Nature is to be nurtured so that it itself can protect and conquer! Druids may be nature’s warden, but nature is your warden and shall harbor you as you harbored its offspring as if it were your own.

Adventures: Why do people adventure? For fame and fortune? Sure! To see places? Why of course! To meet people? Eh, some might do that. You have all those same reasons or ones of your own. Botanimorphists often like to travel and find new flora, even across the planes. Many indeed have a great desire to visit the Plane of Wood. Others are in it simply for the money or to showcase their artistic botanic skills.

Characteristics: Your choices are not as widespread as students of the arcane arts or the powers Druids acquire, but yours come more readily and often. With your ‘seeds’ of power, you grow plant creatures to fight for you and aid you, modify your own green weapons and gain control of the battlefield.

Alignment: A Botanimorphist is different from a Druid, who gains her powers from nature. Instead, a Botanimorphist gives power to nature, and while many have at least a Neutral aspect, it is not required. A Botanimorphist can be of any alignment.

Religion: Almost all Botanimorphists pay respect to Obad-Hai, though a number also revere Boccob or Kord or Ehlonna. Those who pay homage mostly to racial deities tend to show so in their designs.

Background: You know how that one time a wizard tried to transmute a living, wooden god? Yeah, me neither, and that’s because the wizard was transmuted into being frickin’ dead. Botanimorphists begin a similar way though, but smaller. Try tulips first.

Races: Strangely enough, some would say, there are many more dwarves than elves that become Botanimorphists. This is apparently because botany involves making a structured arrangement of plantlife, which suits the lawful bend of dwarves, while elves have always tried to build their houses around and within trees rather than warp the trees or cut them into planks for those purposes. For the same reason, and perhaps also for the ‘green’ kinship they feel, goblins are also common Botanimorphists. Humans make a good third though.

Other Classes: Druids tend to view Botanimorphists in fair enough light, though the extremists find their practice abominable. Wizards give you the slow clap for doing similar things as the inventor of the owlbear. Rangers think you’re a cool guy, and Bards can’t help but wonder how pretty you can make things, or if your plants can dance.

Role: You’re in control. That’s the gist of it. You can have a creature or more on your side to send out and keep your enemies where you want them, snare victims in your vines and poison them to hell and back.

Adaptation: It might be a little hard to play a Botanimorphist in a desert or space setting, but most of their powers can be adapted easily enough to work in any other environment. Unless an apocalypse has already happened, there should be plenty of plantlife to go around to kickstart a Botanimorphist’s interest and powers and let them grow.

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Botanimorphists have the following game statistics.
Abilities: Constitution is important for save DCs for a lot of your abilities. Intelligence is necessary if you want to have plenty of variety in powers and to let your creatures learn more tricks if you create them. Dexterity is important for your AC and attack rolls. Charisma can be handy if you want to be a scout.
Alignment: Any.
Hit Die: d6.
Starting Age: As cleric.
Starting Gold: As sorcerer.

Class Skills
The Botanimorphist’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (arcana/geography/nature/the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str) and Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at First Level: (4 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 4 + Int modifier

BOTANIMORPHIST

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Seeds
1st	+0	+2	+0	+2	Least Seed, Pollen, Rebuke Plants, Vine Whip (1d6)	1
2nd	+1	+3	+0	+3	Body of Nature 1/day	2
3rd	+2	+3	+1	+3	Vine Whip (2d6)	2
4th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Photosynthesis I, Summon Bulbling	3
5th	+3	+4	+1	+4	Vine Whip (3d6)	3
6th	+4	+5	+2	+5	Body of Nature 2/day, Lesser Seed	4
7th	+5	+5	+2	+5	Body of Nature II, Commune with Plants, Vine Whip (4d6)	4
8th	+6	+6	+2	+6	Photosynthesis II, Solar Charge	5
9th	+6	+6	+3	+6	Vine Whip (5d6)	5
10th	+7	+7	+3	+7	Body of Nature 3/day, Graft Plants	5
11th	+8	+7	+3	+7	Greater Seed, Vine Whip (6d6)	6
12th	+9	+8	+4	+8	Body of Nature III, Commune with Plants (tremorsense), Photosynthesis III (share with allies)	6
13th	+9	+8	+4	+8	Rise From the Grave, Vine Whip (7d6)	7
14th	+10	+9	+4	+9	Body of Nature 4/day, Pollen Burst	7
15th	+11	+9	+5	+9	Vine Whip (8d6)	8
16th	+12	+10	+5	+10	Gaia Seed, Photosynthesis IV	8
17th	+12	+10	+5	+10	Body of Nature IV, Commune with Plants (one mile), Vine Whip (9d6)	9
18th	+13	+11	+6	+11	Body of Nature 5/day, Gift of the White Lotus	9
19th	+14	+11	+6	+11	Vine Whip (10d6)	9
20th	+15	+12	+6	+12	Metamorphosis, Photosynthesis V	10

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: The Botanimorphist is proficient with all simple weapons, all martial ranged weapons, the handaxe, the sap, the battleaxe, the greataxe and the scythe. The Botanimorphist is not proficient with any type of armor, nor any type of shield.

Seeds: One of the core abilities of the Botanimorphist is his ability to nurture something and make it grow into something greater, something better, something else entirely. He does this by planting 'Seeds' in his various fields of power. A Botanimorphist has an amount of Seed Points as shown on the table. He gains a bonus amount of Seed Points equal to his Intelligence bonus, but this amount of bonus Seed Points never exceeds his class level.

There are four abilities a Botanimorphist can invest Seed Points in: Pollen, Vine Whip, Body of Nature and Summon Bulbling. These each have their own 'advancement tree' of Seeds that a Botanimorphist can use to upgrade his abilities. A Botanimorphist automatically knows all Seeds, as long as he has access to that level of Seed (Least, Lesser, Greater and Gaia), but he must specialize in one of the four advancement trees. A Botanimorphist may never invest more Seed Points into any one of the other three advancement trees than he has in his specialized ability's advancement tree. He may change his specialization every time he gains a new level in Botanimorphist.

Investing Seed Points requires 10 minutes of concentration to invest all Seed Points available and cannot thereafter be changed for that day.

Pollen (Sp): As a standard action a Botanimorphist can create a small puff of pollen within 5 ft of him. The puff has an area of 5x5 ft and deals 1d4 points of damage (Reflex half; DC 10 + 1/2 Botanimorphist level + Con mod). Creatures of the plant type are immune to this damage and are instead healed for 1 point of damage. You can use this ability at will. Using this ability does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Rebuke Plants (Su): A Botanimorphist can rebuke or command plant creatures by channeling elemental energy through his body, like an evil cleric can rebuke undead. His effective cleric level for this purpose is equal to his Botanimorphist class level.

Vine Whip (Su): A Botanimorphist can use basic magic to grow a whip made of vines from his arm and use it as a weapon (growing the vine takes a free action). This vine deals an amount of slashing damage as shown on the table and is a one-handed melee weapon with a reach of 15 ft. However, a vine whip does not normally threaten this area around the Botanimorphist. Attacking with a vine whip requires a touch attack against the target. However, while a vine whip deals lethal damage (unlike a normal whip), any armor or natural armor bonus the target has is substracted from the damage roll. A vine whip counts as both a natural weapon and a manufactured weapon for the purposes of spells and feats.
A vine whip can be used to trip, but cannot be dropped to avoid being tripped if the Botanimorphist is tripped during his own trip attempt.
A vine whip grants a +2 bonus on disarm checks. You cannot be disarmed from your vine whip, but it can be sundered.
Weapon Finesse can be used to use one's Dex modifier in place of one's Str modifier for the attack roll.

Body of Nature (Ex): From level 2 onwards, a Botanimorphist can, once per day, make his body more durable as the power of nature seeps through his skin and turns his blood into syrup. He gains Damage Reduction 2/slashing, a +2 natural armor bonus to AC and a +2 bonus on saving throws against poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph and stunning. However, he takes 1 extra damage per die of fire damage he takes. If the damage is static (doesn't require die-rolling), he only takes 1 extra damage. This lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your Con modifier.
At every 4 levels past level 2 you gain one extra daily use of this ability.

At level 7 the Damage Reduction increases to 4/slashing and the natural armor bonus and save bonuses increase to +4.

At level 12 the Damage Reduction increases to 6/slashing, the natural armor bonus increases to +6 and the Botanimorphist becomes immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph and stunning while Body of Nature is active.

At level 17 the Damage Reduction increases to 8/slashing, the natural armor bonus increases to +8 and the Botanimorphist also becomes immune to mind-affecting effects.

Photosynthesis (Su): From level 4 onwards, a Botanimorphist gains Fast Healing 1 whenever they stand in full sunlight. It may only be full illumination and must come from actual sunlight and not even a daylight spell will otherwise activate this Fast Healing.

This Fast Healing increases by 1 every 4 levels past 4 (level 8, 12, 16 and maxing out at Fast Healing 5 at level 20).

From level 12 onwards, a Botanimorphist may, as a swift action, share his Photosynthesis with all of his allies within 30 ft. He may only do this for 3 * his Int modifier rounds per day. After activating this ability, he need not spend swift actions to keep it going in subsequent rounds and he can deactivate the ability as a free action.

Summon Bulbling (Sp): From level 4 onwards a Botanimorphist has the ability to summon a creature akin to a familiar, which is called a Bulbling. A Bulbling can be made more powerful by investing Seed Points into this ability, but its basic stats are as shown in the spoiler below.

Spoiler

Commune with Plants (Sp): From level 7 onwards, a Botanimorphist can use speak with plants as a spell-like ability useable at will.

At level 12, a Botanimorphist's ability to communicate with plantlife is heightened to an almost telepathic level, allowing them to spend a standard action concentrating to gain tremorsense out to 15 ft for 1 minute, but only in areas with plantlife. He can use this ability three times per day.

At level 17, this ability is increased even more to the point that the Botanimorphist can use commune with nature as a spell-like ability useable at will, except the range is only one mile and it does not function underground (unless there is sufficient plantlife).

Solar Charge (Su): Every hour an 8th-level or higher Botanimorphist spends in full sunlight, they gain a bit of energy from the sun. They build up these "solar charges" up to a maximum of half their Botanimorphist class level. Solar charges disappear at the end of the day. A Botanimorphist can expend solar charges to accomplish one of the following effects:

Expend 1 solar charge as a standard action to cast light with a caster level equal to his Botanimorphist level.
Expend 1 solar charge as a standard action to heal themselves or a creature touched for 1d8 points of damage per 2 Botanimorphist levels.
Expend 1 solar charge as a swift action to make his Vine Whip deal an extra 2d6 points of damage (2d8 against undead or creatures vulnerable to sunlight).
Expend 1 solar charge as a swift action to make his Body of Nature ability last 1 round longer.
Expend 2 solar charges as a swift action to double the duration of his Summon Bulbling ability.
Expend 3 solar charges as a standard action to cast daylight with a caster level equal to his Botanimorphist level.
Expend 8 solar charges while meditating for 1 minute to gain 1 extra Seed Point for the next 24 hours.

Rise From the Grave (Su): From level 13 onwards, if the Botanimorphist dies and is buried in an area with plantlife, or his corpse is left on fertile ground for 7 days, he rises back up from the ground 24 hours later as if raised by a raise dead spell. This happens even if dying would actually put the Botanimorphist back one level, thus causing him to technically no longer have this ability if he becomes a level 12 Botanimorphist. However, if this happens, he does lose access to this class ability until he becomes a level 13 Botanimorphist again.

Pollen Burst (Su): From level 14 onwards, once per encounter a Botanimorphist can create a burst of pollen in a 20 ft radius around him to affect his allies (but not himself). This removes the fatigue, shaken and sickened conditions from any affected allies and diminishes the exhausted, frightened, nauseated and panicked conditions by one step. Furthermore, any allies with the plant type are healed for 5d8 points of damage.

Gift of the White Lotus (Su): From level 18 onwards, once per day a Botanimorphist can create a stronger version of his Pollen Burst ability. When he uses this ability, which takes a standard action, all allies within 30 ft (including himself) are affected by a heal spell with a caster level equal to the Botanimorphist's class level, except the amount of hit points healed has no cap.

Metamorphosis (Ex): At level 20 a Botanimorphist becomes permanently immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph and stunning, not just while Body of Nature is active. Furthermore, he no longer takes extra fire damage while Body of Nature is active and he counts as being of the plant creature type whenever doing so would be advantageous to him.

~SEEDS~*
*Many more to come after I post this outside the contest! Promise!

Pollen

Spoiler

Vine Whip

Spoiler

Body of Nature

Spoiler

Summon Bulbling

Spoiler