More questions about intelligent items and RAW

[Pezzo]

I'm looking for ways to improve intelligent items and I got lot's of RAW questions, last questions assumes the previous answers are yes.

1- Can they be created with both item templates and creature templates? Let's say for example dwarvencraft and dark.

2- Can they acquire creature templates?

3- Can an intelligent full plate be the target of awaken construct?

4- Can it be the target of greater humanoid essence?

5- Can it be PAO'd into an animal and awakened?

5- A dry lich and an heartfire fanner help a polymorphed intelligent item to craft 5 canopic jars, the intelligent item can cast greater shout (which should cover caster level requirement), the dry lich provides the walker in the waste level requirement and the heartfire fanner (an undead one, that can sing for years without stopping) provides the crafting feats with his class feature. Can the intelligent item become a dry lich without class levels? The organs would be taken out while it is polymorphed into something with organs.

6- Can canopic jars be intelligent items?

[Chronos]

Intelligent items are items, and they are creatures (of the Construct type). They can therefore get templates of either type (provided the template can be applied to that type of item, or to that type of creature). Most creature templates can't be applied to a construct, but I'm sure there are some that can.

Awaken Construct looks like it would work. Note that it'd reset the mental ability scores, not add to them, so it might well decrease them. Note also that the construct does not gain any physical ability scores, so it still wouldn't be able to move around on its own.

I can't remember where Humanoid Essence is from to double-check, but I'm guessing it would work, too.

Polymorph Any Object would be a mess, but that's just because that spell is always a mess.

One of the requirements to become a dry lich is to undergo the Sere Rite, and one of the requirements to undergo the Sere Rite is to be a 10th-level Walker in the Waste (just crafting the canopic jars isn't enough). So there's no way to get the template without the class levels.

Canopic jars, however, regardless of whether you can do anything with them, can be intelligent like any other permanent magic item.

[Pezzo]

RIP dry lich dreams
Common lich is a no go either, because it requires XP to craft the philactery :(

Humanoid essence is from races of eberron page 187, the target is "construct touched" and changes type to humanoid (it also removes all construct immunities).

If awaken construct works, could it be possible to empower and maximize it?

If polymorphed into an animal and awakened would the +2 HDs put it at 2HDs or still null HDs?
If no HDs, is there any way go give it real HDs and become a cohort, so that it can gain XP? can greater humanoid essence plus curse of lycanthrophy work?

The DC for its spell is keyd to charisma right?

[Duke of Urrel]

As a dungeon master, I apply the rule that the Polymorph Any Object spell doesn’t work on magic items ("Magic items aren't affected by this spell.") to all magic items, including intelligent ones, even though the latter are creatures of the Construct type.* So as your dungeon master, I would forbid the Polymorph Any Object spell to have any effect on an intelligent magic item, and it would make no difference to me whether you wanted to change it into an Animal or an Undead.

Not all dungeon masters are as strict as I am, of course.

Another rule in the description of the Polymorph Any Object spell that may impede your plans is this one: "This spell cannot create material of great intrinsic value..." As a dungeon master, I consider every magic item, even a lowly magic scroll, to contain at least some material of great intrinsic value. (Even a magic scroll requires unusually expensive ink.) So as your dungeon master, I would forbid the Polymorph Any Object spell to change anything that is not a magic item into a magic item.

Again, not all dungeon masters are as strict as I am.


________________
*I allow the Polymorph Any Object spell to affect mundane objects that are the subjects of the Animate Objects spell, because these are creatures of the Construct type but not magic items.

[Pezzo]

I reread the PAO description and it shouldn't work because of this:
[q=srd] Magic items aren’t affected by this spell.[/q]
So an intelligent item would be a valid target for the spell, but it would be immune to its effects.

Luckily the 4th level polymorph spell doesn't have that restriction.
Now, I'm sorry, but I got more silly questions :p

We have an intelligent full plate, is it possible to enchant it's gauntlets and armor spikes? Are those weapons part of its body?
If it gets an "incarnate construct" spell (SS page 67 / 121 for the template) to turn into a humanoid or giant, then it gets killed and raised as ghost, is it still an armor? What happens to its gauntlets and armor spikes? Would having been made of riverine (stormwrack 128) do anything for the ghost, since it's bodyshape was kept togheter by a force effect?

[smetzger]

Another way to create an intelligent item is with the Item Familiar feat