Skull Master (3.5e Race)

Author: Ganteka Future (talk) Date Created: 3 October 2014 Status: Skulltacular Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Skull Master

"You must be ashamed of your tiny skull, hiding it inside of meat, GRAAAAH!"

Skull masters are Medium-sized skulls that hover about. Sometimes they're the exoskeletal husks of a head. They just sorta show up around places. How and why is a mystery. They're not even the remains of any actual creature, or so it would appear. They can't be created with typical means that would create undead, and they don't like to be commanded. They do like to bite, and often do so to manipulate objects since they don't have hands. They're rather good at it.

Two magical spheres in its eye sockets serve as eyes.

Skull masters have no souls. When they die, that's it. Though unusually, another one often just shows up and appears to know what's going on. Again, no one knows how or why.

Racial Traits

• Undead: They are skulls animated by negative energy and lack a Constitution. 
• Medium: As a Medium creature, a skull master has no special bonuses or penalties due to its size.
• Skull Master base land speed is 10 feet. Hover 20 (perfect). 
• Darkvision: A skull master can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and a skull master can function just fine with no light at all. 
• Skull Master Traits: As undead, skull masters are immune to poison, paralysis, stunning, disease and death effects. They are not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, energy drain and damage to its physical ability scores (though a skull master has no Constitution score). However, unlike most undead, they are still subject to susceptibility to mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns and morale effects), though they gain a +2 bonus to resist such effects. While they cannot take nonlethal damage, they instead take half damage as lethal damage from such damage sources. They otherwise have undead traits as listed there. 
• Chompers: A skull master has a mean set of teeth as a Feral Strike weapon. See the details below. 
• Stubborn Master (Ex): Skull masters don't like to be forced into doing things. They may double-roll Will saves against mind-affecting effects, applying a −2 penalty to each roll and taking the best of the rolls. Additionally, any die rolls used as part of a Turn Undead attempt against a skull master are double-rolled, taking the lower die of each pairing as the result. (You may want to roll the second die after the first instead of simultaneously when attempting a Turn Undead against other creatures at the same time, since they don't benefit from the skull master's stubbornness.) 
• Big Ol' Flying Skull (Su): At ECL 5, a skull master is tough enough to be able to fly, gaining a flight speed equal to its hover speed, though it can only maintain flight for a continuous number of rounds equal to its Charisma modifier (minimum of 1). A skull master no longer able to maintain flight sinks at a rate of 60 feet per round and never takes fall damage so long as its hover is not suppressed. At ECL 10, a skull master can fly without limited duration on its own. 
• Head Gear (Su): A skull master is a big head. It has magic item slots for its face and head. It may wear rings by gathering them into its eyes. It can wear armor in the form of helmets. Additionally, it gains an enhancement bonus to its armor (so long as it has at least 1 armor bonus) based on the total value of magical gear it is carrying. It gains a +1 bonus at 1,000 gp, +2 at 4,000 gp, +3 at 9,000 gp, +4 at 16,000 gp and +5 at 25,000 gp. If it wears any armor providing at least 1 armor bonus and fights defensively or takes a total defense action, it gains a +3 shield bonus to its AC (which overlaps with other shield bonuses it may somehow have). 
• Glowy Eyes (Su): A skull master may command its eyes to glow like candle light, shedding dim illumination. 
• Graaaah! (Su): A skull master may charge up a really distracting attack as a full-round action. Creatures which are not friendly toward the skull master must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 ECL + Charisma bonus) or get distracted (as a mind-affecting effect) and suffer a −2 penalty on AC, attack rolls, saves, skills, ability checks and ability DCs for 1 round. After charging up for a full-round, any HP damage dealt by the skull master on his next turn is doubled (such as that from a weapon attack or a damaging spell). A creature in melee combat with a skull master when it is charging up may make an attack of opportunity if it immediately forgoes its Will save attempt.
• Automatic Languages: Common
• Bonus Languages: Any (except secret languages such as Druidic)
• Favored Class: Any
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Chompers

Chompers are a Feral Strike weapon, which function as masterwork weapons, even being able to be enchanted as melee weapons. Feral Strike weapons may not have the dancing, throwing or returning enchantments.

Any creature possessing a feral strike weapon is automatically proficient with it.

A skull master may designate a "one-handed" or "light" feral strike weapon as being in his "main hand" or "off-hand". He may change these feral strike weapon designations once per round as a free action. A skull master has the option of attacking with his chompers as though they were a two-handed weapon, adding 1 0.5 ½ times the creature's Strength modifier to damage.

The skullmaster cannot be disarmed of these weapons. These weapons can be sundered as normal, becoming unusable when reduced to 0 HP. He can regain use of his feral strike weapons in several ways:

• Any healing that restores ability damage restores an equal number of HP to his feral strike weapons.
• Any healing that he receives while at his maximum total of HP goes to his feral strike weapons. He may choose to divide the HP among his feral strike weapons to heal how he chooses.

Chompers

Simple Light Melee

Cost:	— gp
Damage (Small):	1d8
Damage (Medium)1:	1d10
Critical:	×3
Weight2:	— lbs
Type3:	Slashing and Piercing and Bludgeoning or Nonlethal
HP4:	10
Hardness:	5

1. See Damage Increases by Size to calculate the damage for a weapon larger than Medium or smaller than Small.
2. Weight figures are for Medium weapons. A Small weapon weighs half as much, and a Large weapon weighs twice as much.
3. When two types are given, the weapon is both types if the entry specifies "and", either type (player's choice at time of attack) if the entry specifies "or", or each end of the double weapon is a different type if the entry specifies "/".
4. The hp value given is for Medium armor, weapons, and shields. Divide by 2 for each size category of the item smaller than Medium, or multiply it by 2 for each size category larger than Medium.

Size & Weight Statistics

Table: Skull Master Random Height and Weight

Type	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Skull	4'	+1d12	140 lb.	× (2d8) lb.
Husk	4'	+1d12	80 lb.	× (2d6) lb.

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