Crossbreeder (3.5 PEACH)

[Anecronwashere]

NOTE: Uses the 3rd party book Encyclopedia Arcane: Crossbreeding

This has been sitting on my laptop for ages, I thought I'd post it (and a few other Homebrew I have that needs tweaking before being posted)
Please Evaluate And Critique Honestly.

Crossbreeder



IT'S ALIVE! -Doctor Frankenstein after a successful experiment

The Crossbreeder is an expert in the field of Magical Biology and the science of combining creatures. From Mind Flayers crossed with Angels, to a RatMan a Crossbreeder can make and analyze them all.

Adventures: A crossbreeder is always searching for exotic creatures to study and to collect tomes on Transmutation and other Crossbreeding studies.

Characteristics: Crossbreeders are rather weak on their own, but given access to a lab and a few creatures can be a great addition to the team. Provided the team don't mind capturing a Medusa rather than slaughtering it.

Alignment: The crossbreeder may be Any Alignment, but they tend towards Neutral.

Religion: Not many Crossbreeders are religious or all that pious, some believing that the Gods are merely powerful Outsiders. Sometimes not even that, because just about any Crossbreeder can make a Merfolk from a Human and a Fish. Why do we venerate the Gods for something any mortal could do.

Background: Many Crossbreeders are drawn to it for the power of a certain race or even thinking they should have been a specific race. Being essentially Transracial. Though those likely won't persue any further levels after their transformation. Others are simply interested in combining creatures, being the stereotypical mad wizard making an Owlbear just because.

Races: Any Race can be a Crossbreeder, though the more Pure-focused races (those believing in their own racial superiority) will be less represented

Other Classes: Same as a Wizard for the most part. Wizards look either down or up depending on personal preference on the dereliction of Spellcasting to focus on Crossbreeding

Role: Buffer though potentially any depending on Self-Crossbreeding

GAME RULE INFORMATION
Abilities: Intelligence is needed for their class abilities, so is Charisma. Con is welcome to bolster their low HD
Alignment: Any
Hit Die: D4

Prerequisites: 5th level Wizard spells, Transmutation Specialization
Know: Arcana (12 ranks), Craft: Any (8 ranks)
Special: Must have successfully Crossbred any 2 Creatures together

Class Skills
The Crossbreeder's class skills are:
Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (Int), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha)

Skill Points at First Level: (2 + Int modifier) x 4
Skill Points at Each Additional Level: 2 + Int modifier

Crossbreeder

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per day
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Crossbreeding Practise, Favored Base, Breeding Program I
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Same Type Combo	+1 level of existing class
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Breeding Program II
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Efficient Rituals	+1 level of existing class
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Breeding Program III
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	2nd Favored Base, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:	+1 level of existing class
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Breeding Program IV
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Reduce, Reuse. Recycle:	+1 level of existing class
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	Breeding Program V
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Ultimate Crossbreeder, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle:	+1 level of existing class

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: All natural weapons and all Simple Weapons

Crossbreeding Practice: Levels in this class count as Wizard levels when calculating your Crossbreeding check

Favored Base: Choose 1 Creature type, gain +1 for every odd level in Crossbreeder you have when using a Creature with that type.
-At level 11 choose a second type to apply the bonus too.
Note: Using 2 creatures of the same type (Animal and Animal for instance) does not give the bonus twice, but if the 2 Bases are your two different Favored then apply it twice

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: As the Crossbreeder grows in level he finds out little shortcuts, reroutes to conserve some of the massive expenditure he incurs.
Same Type Combo: At 2nd level 1/4 of the cost of a Crossbreed may be regathered for use in any other Crossbreeding Ritual that contains the same Types for both Bases. This can't be used in conjunction with any other Reduce, Reuse, Recycle feature
Efficient Rituals: At 4th level for every 2 over the DC 500GP (up to 1/2 the cost of the Ritual) is conserved and able to be reused in any ritual. This can't be used in conjunction with any other Reduce, Reuse, Recycle feature
Repeat Performance: At 6th level 1/2 the cost of a Crossbreed may be reused for the same Crossbreed, combining the same creatures with the same stats for the same Crossbreed. This can't be used in conjunction with any other Reduce, Reuse, Recycle feature
Very Efficient Rituals: At 8th level for every 2 over the DC 1,000GP (up to 3/4 the cost of the Ritual) is conserved and can be reused in any Ritual. This can't be used in conjunction with any other Reduce, Reuse, Recycle feature
Lucky Magic: At 10th level all the money used in a Ritual is not expended if the Crossbreeding check Crits (Natural twenty)

Breeding Program: Any Crossbreeder can tell you all about the risks of a ritual, from a miscarved glyph, to a shoddy cage letting a creature out. Many of a Crossbreeder's experiments have been halted because the creature being combined escapes or dies. The solution? Make more.
-At 1st level the Crossbreeder gets access to the Breeding Ritual, a special form of Ritual designed to quickly create a population of Cageborn for use in Crossbreeding.
-At 3rd level the Crossbreeder may start to attempt to breed certain traits into their Cageborn. The Crossbreeder may increase one of the Cageborn's Abilities by 2 by adding +4 to the Check and succeeding on a secondary Crossbreeding check DC20 + Increased Ability Mod. If they fail the secondary check reduce the selected Ability score by 1 from the Base stats. Creatures with deviations less than or equal to 4 in total (counting every + and - as +1) count as the same species for Breeding Rituals. They must have the same Type however.
-At 5th level the Crossbreeder may attempt to introduce a single quality per generation from a different species. By carving a 3rd circle that intersects the two original and the center piece a 3rd 'parent' may be used. Doing so adds +4 to the check and and extra 1,000GP to the cost. Having an extra quality counts as having 2 deviations.
-At 7th level the Crossbreeder gets better at blurring the lines between Species. Creatures can have 4 Deviation +1 Deviation per 2 Crossbreeder level and still be counted as the same Species. They must still have the same type though.
-At 9th level may create 2 Cageborn with a single Breeding Ritual. They are completely identical, having the same statistics, the same results from any mishaps or any increases/subtractions to ability scores etc.

Ultimate Crossbreeder: On attaining this level the Crossbreeder has studied the down even to the base of a creature, understanding them inside and out. He can even pull a long-forgotten 1/2 finished organ or ability from the body of the beast. Due to this when Crossbreeding the Crossbreeder may add +20 to the DC to add either an extra quality or +5 to an Ability score (these may be shifted from their stat if you don't want to add +5 to all of them but add +1 to the DC like any other Shifting)

Breeding Ritual:

Spoiler

A Breeding ritual differs from a regular Ritual in that it leaves the Base Creatures alive and unharmed and requires two of the Same Species of creature.
The check for a Breeding Ritual is DC10 + 1/4HD + 1/2 Special Qualities/Attacks +1/Deviation

The cost of a Breeding Ritual is 1,000GP + 500GP/HD + 500GP/Deviation

If the two parents have differing attributes or Special Qualities (like a Cageborn that has been bred to have a higher Str) then average them, rounding down (you may Bump but not Shift for the usual GP costs and DC increase).

The creature created by this Ritual has the following Template added to it (Ignore this template when using as Crossbreeding material, it is not carried over)
Cage-Born:

Spoiler

Cage-Born is an inherent template added onto any creature made in a Breeding Ritual or descended from one.
Size & Type: Same as base Creature
Hit Dice: Same as base Creature
Speed: Same as Base Creature

Special Qualities: Unable to be activated, but still on the sheet except for the following:
-Hibernate: The creature goes into a state of hibernation that lasts up to 3 months. During this time the creature has no need to eat, breath or drink. When it awakes it must consume 2 weeks worth of food in one day or starve (taking 1 point of CON damage each day until it has consumed 2 weeks + (number of days awake) worth of food). It must consume 2 weeks worth of food to activate this feature.
Remove Template: This Template is removed whenever this creature is used in a Crossbreeding Ritual not the Breeding Ritual.

Abilities: Str, Dex, Int effectively 10 when used in a check (ie trying to break out of manacles)
CR: -

New Feats:

Spoiler

Practiced Crossbreeding:
Prerequisites: Spellcraft 4 Ranks
Benefit: Your crossbreeding level for the wizard class increases by 4. This benefit can't increase your crossbreeding level to higher than your Hit Dice. However, even if you can't benefit from the full bonus immediately, if you later gain Hit Dice in levels of noncrossbreeding classes, you might be able to apply the rest of the bonus.

Expert Crossbreeding:
Prerequisites: Practiced Crossbreeding, Spellcraft 12 ranks
Benefit: Treat your Character Level as your Crossbreeding Level

Dominant Creature:
Benefit: Select one creature in a Crossbreeding/Breeding Ritual. Qualities that are possessed by this creature transferred to the Crossbreed, or Abilities Bumped up to it's maximum add +1/2 rather than +1 (adding 500GP instead of 1,000 and rounding down in the case of fractions). The Non-Dominant creature's Bumped Abilities or passed-down qualities add +1.5 to the check and cost 1500GP.
Normal: Each quality and Bumped Ability costs 1,000GP and +1 to the check regardless of which creature

BoneBreeding:
Prerequisites: Any Necromancy Spell capable of Creating an Undead
Special: Studied at least 3 different species of Undead for 5 months each
Benefits: Treat Undead as having the Abberation Type when determining Creature Type Modifier.
Undead Type is a quality that can be brought for 1,000GP and +1 check modifier, otherwise use the Resultant Creature Types table to determine Type as if an Abberant
Normal: Undead are unable to be Crossbred

Biomachine:
Special: Studied at least 3 different Construct blueprints for 5 months each
Benefits: Treat Constructs as having the Abberation Type when determining Creature Type Modifier.
Construct Type is a quality that can be brought for 1,000GP and +1 check modifier, otherwise use the Resultant Creature Types table to determine Type as if an Abberant
Normal: Undead are unable to Crossbreed

Increased Deviations:
Prerequisites: Breeding Program IV
Special: Cageborn more than 6 Deviations from the closest (family tree-wise) Non-Cageborn progenitor
Benefit: The number of Deviations between your creatures increase as you make adjustments, optimizing their forms at the expense of too much change between Original and Augmented. Something you've learned to compensate for. Number of Deviations allowed is 4 + Crossbreeder level
Normal: Deviations are 4 + 1/2CL

Templated Cageborn:
Prerequisites: Crossbreeder level10
Benefit: Sometimes, not every offspring is quite identical to both parents. Something the Crossbreeder can capitalize on.
Adding Template(s) to a Cageborn adds 30 +ECL boost the template(s) give (Max 10). Templated Cageborn are unable to Breed with Untemplated creatures of the same Base, instead treated as a different Species, though if given the same Template(s) the two Templated Cageborn may be Bred.
Cageborn made this way cannot take Template(s) worth more than +10ECL in this way (even over several generations. DMs and Players are advised to keep an eye on which Templates were added via this method, though removing them by nullifying every effect it gave removes the ECL for a new Template).
Templated Cageborn can change Type from the original Base Creature

Epic Templates
Prerequisites: Templated Cageborn, 21st level
Benefit: Templates added onto a Cageborn through a Breeding Ritual are capped at Crossbreeding Level (not Crossbreeder). So a Wizard20/Crossbreeder10 would be able to stack 30ECL worth of Templates.
Note: +10ECL is still the limit for each individual Templated Cageborn in a single generation. If a single Template is more than 10ECL it may be brought over multiple generations, the effects not showing up in the Cageborn until it is fully paid for and disappearing if used in a Crossbreeding Ritual that isn't a Breeding Ritual just like Cageborn does
Normal: Only 10ECL worth of templates may be added

Master Templates
Prerequisite: Epic Templates, Templated Cageborn, 21st level
Benefit: The ECL cap disappears. Otherwise as Epic Templates, with +10ECL cap per generation.

So what does everyone think?

Changelog:
-Added some Feats
-Changed Breeding Program IV so it's 4 +1/2 level as opposed to 1/2 level (which isn't a bonus to the normal)

[EdroGrimshell]

Okay, I have made a PrC with the same premise and this looks nothing like it, but is good for the purpose you made it for. I can't give a full critique because every game I tried to use the system in ended before even starting, except one where I used it on my familiar prior to the game start.

[Anecronwashere]

Thanks. It's just been sitting there, so I thought I'd post it, see if someone more experienced than me could find any flaws.

[Anecronwashere]

Editted in some Feats and changed Breeding Program IV to actually give a bonus (before it actually ended up being -1 Deviations)

[Malanorea]

Why are there starting age and gold if it's a prestige class?

[Anecronwashere]

Because it was a Base Class in it's first draft and I never noticed I didn't change it when I made it a PrC

[ntg]

When I read Crossbreeding, I thought "how nifty!" Then I saw how uberly difficult it would be to breed anything with a little complexity, so I did what you did. Even though my crossbreeding prestige class looks and functions a tad differently, it still accomplishes the main objective: making awesome freakishly customizable monsters! Good work

[Anecronwashere]

Thanks

My main problem with it was the cost however, because with sufficient time and a couple Favoured Bases you could get some mid-level complexity going on but it is prohibitively expensive until you're hitting Epic levels
Hence the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.


Any chance I can get a link to your PrC?