Symbiants Requested by Andrew Costello from our campaign Thank you! Of all the shattered worlds, none are so bold as the reality from which the symbiants hail A race unto themselves, symbiants keep no tradition or society that would be recognizable to other races Instead, they define themselves by the creatures with whom they form a bond Once bonded, they learn how to protect their ally while growing stronger alongside it Not all symbiants bond with creatures the same way Some act as little more than a unique set of tools to be called upon for help, while others dominate their host, becoming its primary focus In the end, how much control either the symbiant or its host has is determined with each level of experience gained Symbiant Options To gain access to symbiant options, a character must first select the symbiant race or race trait (below) All other options can be taken individually or combined, representing the strength and complexity of the bond between a character and its symbiant Symbiant Racial Traits: Characters who pick up symbiant racial traits retain the base traits granted by their normal race, unless those traits would be replaced Symbiant Archetype: The symbiant archetype replaces class features of other classes If a class doesn’t have a class feature, the character doesn’t gain that feature from the symbiant archetype A summary of what the symbiant archetype replaces can be found on Table: Symbiant Alternate Class Features Symbiant Convergence: A symbiant convergence grants more potent strength and power to the symbiant by drawing away from its host’s other available magic item slots Symbiant Feats: Each of these feats grant the character an enhancement related to the symbiant’s race or archetype option Symbiant Race Trait You gain the race bond, bonded outsider, and dual-minded symbiant racial traits You count as a symbiant when qualifying for abilities, feats, and the symbiant class If you are already a symbiant, you gain up to race points’ worth of symbiant racial traits Those traits not count against your racial limit Symbiant Racial Traits 192 Symbiants, like farrealmers, are represented in many different ways This is similar to a +0 template being added to a given race to represent its bond with the symbiant Racial Bond: Most symbiants not survive long without a host to whom they can bond In addition to the traits below, choose a base race that acts as the symbiant’s host The host also loses any resistance (but not immunity) to fire or sonic damage and effects it may have (unless it also possesses the Symbiant Adaptation feat) Bonded Outsider (0 RP): Symbiants are outsiders with the augmented and native subtypes, as well as any subtypes possessed by their host Unlike other outsiders, this does not grant the symbiant darkvision The symbiant counts as both an outsider and its host’s type for the purposes of effects such as the ranger’s favored enemy class feature Defense Traits Dual-Minded (1 RP): Symbiants gain a +2 bonus on all Will saving throws Reactionary (1 RP): Once per day, when a symbiant rolls for initiative, it can roll twice and take the better result It must decide to use this ability before rolling its check Feat and Skill Traits Hive Memory (1 RP): Pick up to two skills These skills are always considered class skills for the symbiant Offense Traits Bite (2 RP): Symbiants gain a bite attack which deals 1d4 piercing damage on a hit This is a primary attack, or a secondary attack (made at a –5 penalty) if the symbiant is also wielding manufactured weapons Weakness Traits Fire and Sonic Vulnerability (–5 RP): All symbiants have vulnerability to fire and sonic damage, taking 50% more damage from those types They also suffer a –4 penalty on all saves against non-damaging fire, light, and sonic effects Alternate Racial Traits A symbiant can replace either its own or its host’s racial traits with any of the following traits (or combination of traits) totaling the same race points (RP) A symbiant cannot have more than traits from the same category as racial traits (advanced and monstrous symbiants may be available, at the GM’s discretion) Symbiant Strength (0+ RP): Symbiants will sometimes override a host’s natural attributes with their own This grants the symbiant +2 Strength, +2 Intelligence, –2 Wisdom This alters and replaces the host’s ability score modifiers If the host’s former ability scores were worth or more RP, the symbiant gains an equal amount of traits listed here without replacing the listed traits Defense Traits Danger Sense (2 RP): The symbiant gains a +1 bonus on Reflex saves to avoid traps and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks made by traps In addition, it gains a +1 bonus on Perception checks to avoid being surprised by a foe These bonuses increase by every character levels the symbiant attains beyond 1st (to a maximum of +6 at 18th level) This ability counts as trap sense for the purpose of any feat or class prerequisite, and can be replaced by any archetype class feature that replaces trap sense The bonuses gained from this ability stack with those gained from trap sense (from another class) Fearless (1 RP): The symbiant gains a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear effects This stacks with similar bonuses such as lucky Illusion Resistant (1 RP): Some symbiants gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusion spells or effects Unnatural (2 RP): Symbiants will sometimes unnerve normal animals, and train to defend themselves against the inevitable attacks from such creatures Members of this race take a –4 penalty on all Charisma-based skill checks to affect creatures of the animal type, and receive a +4 dodge bonus to AC against animals Animals’ starting attitude toward members of this race is one step worse than normal Feat and Skill Traits Silent Hunter (2 RP): The Symbiant reduces the penalty for using Stealth while moving by and can make Stealth checks while running at a –20 penalty (this number includes the penalty reduction from this trait) Movement Traits Climber (2 RP): The symbiant has a climb speed of 20 feet, and gain the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks that a climb speed normally grants