Psychometabolism (Shapechanging)
[Formbound]
Level: Egoist 3, Formbound Spiritist 3, Formbound Surger 3
Display: Ma
Manifesting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal
Target: You
Duration: 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw: None (harmless)
Power Resistance: No (harmless)
Power Points: 5
Manifesting this power allows you to alter your physical shape into the appearance of one imprinted creature (see the [Formbound] descriptor). The assumed form can have challenge rating up to your manifester level, to a maximum of 15. Assuming the creature’s form grants you a +10 circumstance bonus to Disguise checks made to mimic that creature or a member of that creature’s race (if your new form is the same size as the creature’s; see below). If you use your own form as the imprint, you may alter your guise to anything that would be considered normal for your race.
You gain all the mundane movement modes (such as swimming or burrowing) and natural attack forms the creature possessed, and lose your mundane movement modes and natural attacks (except those granted from effects such as claws of the beast) for the duration. You are not automatically proficient in your new form’s natural attacks (any attack made with them suffers a -4 penalty) unless you are an anyform savant.
In addition, if the imprinted form is larger or smaller than you, your size changes by one category in the appropriate direction (and you gain the appropriate size modifiers to attack rolls, reach, hide checks, and armor class). In place of normal ability score modifiers from a size change, you receive a +2 bonus to Strength and a -2 penalty to Dexterity per category increase, or a +2 bonus to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to Strength per category decrease. Your new size may further be altered through effects such as expansion or compression. Additionally, you gain an enhancement bonus or penalty to your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores equal to the imprinted form’s corresponding ability modifiers. Treat nonabilities (scores of “-”) as if they were scores of 0 (-5 modifier). If you use your own form as an imprint, your ability scores (and size, naturally) do not change, and you retain your own racial natural weapons, if any.
While in an assumed form, your racial abilities are temporarily suppressed, which has the following effects: You lose all racial bonuses to attack rolls, skill checks and saving throws, you lose any special senses you may have had due to your race (such as low-light vision or darkvision), and you may no longer use racial extraordinary or supernatural abilities (including racial feats). While your type is unchanged, you lose any of your subtypes and gain those of the imprinted form (although the Extraplanar, Native, Psionic and Shapechanger subtypes are never gained or lost this way). Naturally, this doesn’t apply if you use your own form as an imprint.
If the assumed form is capable of speech, you can communicate normally. When the change occurs, your equipment remains worn or held by the new form (if the form is capable of holding or wearing the items in question) or melds into the form and becomes nonfunctional (if it isn’t). If you are slain while under the effects of this power, you revert to your original form, though you remain dead.
If you are under the effect of another [Formbound] power that grants you characteristics of an imprinted form (such as assume ability), you may only assume the form of the imprinted form that the existing effect is using. For instance, if you are under the effect of assume ability using the imprint of a dire lion (gaining the lion’s Improved Grab ability), assume form could only grant you the dire lion’s shape, and not the shape of any other imprint, even your own.
Augment: This power may be augmented in one or more of the following ways:
- If you spend 2 additional power points, this power’s duration becomes “1 minute/level (D)”
- If you spend 2 fewer power points, you can assume any animal form you are familiar with of up to 2 Hit Dice, even without an imprint. If you use this augment, you gain the animal form’s racial bonuses on skill checks, as well as any low-light vision, darkvision, scent, or blindsense abilities they may have, and your size changes to that of the animal (instead of only one size category).
- When you begin manifesting this power, you may instead choose to prolong its manifestation time, increasing it to 1 minute. If you do so, your size may change up to three size categories (instead of one), to a maximum or minimum (as appropriate) final size of the imprinted form.
- For every additional power point you spend, the maximum CR of a form that this power can assume increases to 15+the number of additional points spent. It still cannot exceed your manifester level.