Oms (3.5e Race)

Summary::Squid-like beings from another dimension, they are meditative mystics seeking insight into all things with their great single eye.



=Oms=

"Our tentacles cross time and space, we all travel to the Great Eye at center, and once there then all shall see true."

Personality
Om see things beyond normal mortal eyes. Though lacking mouth and thus "taste", Om are given other senses impossible to explain to those stuck in this frame. Because this unique perspective, Om possess a unique connection and viewpoint, many come off as distant or out of touch mystics. However, this is more an effect of their actual physical place than their moods. As an Om would tell you, Oms vary in range, emotion, and motive as much as humanity.

Physical Description
The Om are most mysterious. Outwardly they seem to be giant octopi, possessing eight tentacles, thick rubbery hide, and a single large eye in the center of their body. Their colors vary like a rainbow, and they move by slowly ambulating on their tentacles (and later, through psionic flight). However, they lack many parts of living beings, including a mouth. In fact, an Om consumes not food, but psionic energies through their eye, and it is processed in ways beyond comprehension. They breath through a series of gill slots in the back of their "head", and this is the only aperture they possess.

By the Oms account, while they are not offended by the octopus comparison, they are puzzled at "the lack of sensory organs to see the Oms rest". To Oms, their physical forms is only a small part of a bigger truth. Also aiding in the idea that Oms are extradimensional creatures comes into play on the subject of reproduction. A rare event, and one poorly described by the non-talkative Om, it is known as children will seem to "bloom" into existence out of thin air 7 months nearby the parents, an activity the Om refer to as their children "finding the surface". On that subject, it's uncertain if Oms possess gender, the Oms aren't telling.

Relations
Because the Om seem distant, they tend to be peaceful with all they encounter, good or evil. Their pacifism sometimes gets them in trouble. When it is impossible for them to make peace, or simply be unbothered, they become devious schemers, preferring less open warfare and more slow, complicated downfalls through intricate plots that would give the greatest schemers headaches to think of.

Alignment
Many Oms come off as neutral, if only because of their passive natures, but in truth an Om can be of any alignment easily.

Lands
Om are not of this world, they come from a strange distant sphere hidden in the depths of the astral sea. The world is hard to find... some say it is hidden under a constant psychic storm, others say that the storms move it around at strange times. The only certain thing is that the psychic storms are indeed related to them in some unknown fashion, and may be responsible for their creation.

Religion
The Om are not terribly religious, though they have the mindset for it. However, they tend to see gods as part of a larger whole, and do not devote themselves often, devoting themselves more to "the cause of good", "the concept of entropy", and other vague, broad terms.

Language
The Om speak in a telepathic language which when "heard" by other come off as the sensation of colors and strange echoes, called Om. They also speak Common when found on the material plane. Their limited telepathy does not allow them to bypass language barriers, but does bypass a silence field. They can also do extremely limited vocalization by vibrating their gills, producing a buzzing noise, which substitutes vocal components in casting.

Names
The Om have a true Om name which cannot be translated into common, and a common name which is generally given to them by others, if the Om happens to like the sound of it or it possesses special meaning. They tend to vowels, and names which can be "sung" well.

Racial Traits

 * ,, : Oms see beyond mortal eyes, yet their bodies are clumsy on land.
 * : Oms hail from the distant Astral Plane and their minds exist even deeper than that.
 * : As medium-sized creatures, Om have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Om base land speed is 20 feet: As an Om grows, it gains greater mobility however, see Psionic Flight below.
 * Oms gain a +2 on Concentration, and Psicraft (or Spellcraft) checks. They may also use Autohypnosis untrained.
 * Oms gain +4 to grapple checks due to their unique forms.
 * Mouthless: Oms need to sleep and breathe, but do not eat. Whatever extradimensional biology they possess, it provides for them in psionic essence.
 * Naturally Psionic: Oms gain 2 bonus power points at 1st level. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.
 * Psionic Flight (Su): An Om is unable to move well in the known world, but as they grow they begin to gain mobility.  At 3 HD an Om may hover (poor) at will.  At 6 HD this improves to hover (average), at 9 HD it becomes a fly speed of 20 ft. (good).  At 12 HD this becomes 30 ft.  At 15 HD it becomes 40 ft., and 18 HD 50 ft. before it stops improving.  It's hover ability remains once it gains a fly speed, with the same maneuverability as flight.
 * Inhuman Form: An Om cannot wear armors meant for a humanoid, and armor specially made for an Om cost twice as much as normal armor.  An Om may also possess four ring slots (rings), two pairs of arm slots (bracers) and two pairs of feet slots (boots) but lacks a torso slot (vests), hand slots (gloves), and head slot (hats) as their bodies simply do not allow for it.
 * Multiple Limbs: Oms possess eight tentacles.  However, not all are able to be used for attacks, as four tentacles are used for mobility (walking on the ground or "swimming" in the air), leaving four to attack with.  Which arms are being used for what at a time does not matter, so much as only four tentacles being accessible for function at a time.  The tentacles are sticky and strong and may wield weapons as needed.
 * Natural Weapons: Four primary tentacles (1d4 plus Strength).
 * Limited Telepathy (Su): An Om may speak telepathically to any creature in "earshot" as if it possessed a mouth.  The telepathy can bypass a Silence spell but not an Antimagic Field, and is not quiet.  Just like regular speaking it is broadcast to anyone with a mind and in range.  Spells with vocal components still must be cast as normal, using their gills to simulate speech.
 * Automatic Languages: Common, Om. Bonus Languages:
 * Favored Class: Psion.
 * Level Adjustment: +1


 * Automatic Languages: Common, Om.
 * Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Auran, Aquan, Terran, Ignan, Beholder.
 * Favored Class:
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::1
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::2