The Unwilling Soul [PEACH]

[pyrefiend]

First of all, if you are playing in my campaign, please don't read what's written below.

When a creature spends it's life fighting against some injustice, and dies during the completion of it's revenge, a powerful bond is created. Normally, a being that dies in such away moves on to the afterlife happily, having finally finished its life's work. But when its actions are undone only a few moments after its death, it may be too much for the soul to take. Some wretched souls attempt to make the ultimate journey: to actually return to their material form and live again, if only long enough to make sure their actions weren't in vain. These creatures are not the undead- their animating souls are the same as those they had in life, and pure willpower keeps their body alive, not negative energy. However, the journey back to the material plane wreaks havoc on the soul that attempts it. The being is reanimated, yes, but the only part of its soul that survives is its obsession with finishing the undone task.

Unwilling Soul
"Unwilling Soul" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature with an intelligence score higher than 3 and a constitution score, except for those creatures whose body and soul form one unit, such as elementals and outsiders. Unwilling souls appear as they did in their previous life, except that any signs of a metabolism are gone, and they seem to pulsate with barely visible energy. Their eyes are replaced with glowing points of light.
Size and Type:
The creature’s type changes to construct. It is a shadow of the creature it once was, a broken body temporarily animated by a damaged soul. It retains all subtypes, and gains the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Hit Dice:
The unwilling soul is powered by pure force of will, not by a functioning anatomy. As such, bonus hitpoints are not determined by size, as is normal for constructs, but by the creature's wisdom or charisma modifier, whichever is higher.
Special Attacks:
An unwilling soul retains all of the base creature’s special attacks, and gains one new one:
Force of Will(Su)
The unwilling soul's dedication and purpose are so strong that it is actually capable of manipulating the physical world through sheer force of will. The creature can use mage hand at will and telekinetic force and telekinetic thrust each one per day. Mage hand is used at a caster level equal to the creatures hit die, and telekinetic force and telekinetic thrust are each treated as being augmented a number of power points equal to half the creature's hit dice.
Special Qualities:
The base creature retains all special qualities, and gains the following special qualities.
Unliving(Su)
The unwilling soul cannot be returned to natural life through any means, including resurrection of any kind.
Quest Dependent(Su)
Unwilling souls are animated only by their desire to complete one specific task that was undone after their death. If they are ever completely unable to perform this task, or spend a full day not actively attempting to accomplish the task, their soul departs from the body, killing it. If the unwilling soul is ever killed, the broken soul has no choice but to return again. The unwilling soul is remade again after 2d8 hours at the exact spot where it died. However, remaking the journey taxes the soul further, and the creature returns with a wisdom and charisma 2 points lower than previously. This ability drain cannot be restored by any means, even through powerful magic such as wish or miracle. If the unwilling soul's wisdom or charisma is drained to 0 in such a way, its very soul is destroyed and the being falls inanimate.
Feats:
An unwilling soul gains Track as a bonus feat
Challenge Rating:
Same as the base creature +2.
Alignment:
The base creatures' alignment changes to lawful evil, and it remains as such until it is destroyed.
Advancement:
As base creature.
Level Adjustment:
-

[pyrefiend]

A bump for good measure. Does anyone have any ideas on what this thing's challenge rating adjustment should be? I know its an inexact science, and input at all would be appreciated

[afroakuma]

Its CR bump shouldn't be too high. The template adds three spell-like abilities and switches a modifier. It also hands over the Track feat and makes the enemy a tad more tenacious than a recurring villain with a decent handwave. I wouldn't even go +2. Maybe +1.

[The Rose Dragon]

Aberrations always have Constitution scores, since they are living. Even psion uncarnates have Constitution scores. The only creature types that don't have a Constitution score are Constructs, Deathless and Undead.

[afroakuma]

Missed the abberation type; that is wrong for more reasons than just the Con score. You're really looking for Deathless or maybe Construct.

[pyrefiend]

I debated whether or not it was appropriate to take away their constitution... In the end, I decided to do so for fluff reasons. Really though, it doesn't matter all that much if they have it or not, since constitution counts for little after hitpoints. I might as well let them keep it, since I don't think they're true constructs or undead.

[afroakuma]

Make them constructs; they are given additional HP from their animating force, and still lose a Con score. It also defends their wills against several effects, while demonstrating weakness in their corporeal form.

[pyrefiend]

Missed the abberation type; that is wrong for more reasons than just the Con score. You're really looking for Deathless or maybe Construct.

Why? When a creature is resurrected, its type doesn't change. Really, that's all thats going on here, except that the resurrection is unnaturally brutal and abnormal. They might be Deathless, but I wouldn't know because I don't have the book that creature type comes from. I think I remember them being some sort of positive energy undead, but that wouldn't really fit either.

[afroakuma]

Hence my final comment regarding Construct. You're looking at a will that is holding onto its body until completion of a quest. It's not truly alive, but by no means dead. It is a relatively functional, nondecaying meat body held up by the tenuous grasp of its old soul. It's practically a flesh golem.

[pyrefiend]

Make them constructs; they are given additional HP from their animating force, and still lose a Con score. It also defends their wills against several effects, while demonstrating weakness in their corporeal form.

Yeah, its a good fit mechanically, but it doesn't make sense for fluff reasons. The creature's original soul still resides within the body, whereas constructs are basically just material "shells" animated by magic. I agree that aberration doesn't fit perfectly either, but I'm not sure construct is any better.

Edit: You're right. It might be an unusual construct, but its still a construct. Thanks for the help.

[afroakuma]

A golem is a material shell animated by an elemental's will.

[pyrefiend]

Yes, and golems in general don't stray from that idea much. They are "animated objects or artificially constructed creatures" which is basically what I said but a bit more vague.

[afroakuma]

The animating force for a golem is a spirit from the Elemental Plane of Earth. The process of creating the golem binds the unwilling spirit to the artificial body and subjects it to the will of the caster.

Glad I was able to help.