Kitten That Walks (3.5e Template)

Kitten That Walks
Summary::Wizards beware. The cats are swarming, and they know how to counterspell!

Tales tell of a terrible monster known as the worm that walks, a pile of maggots imbued of a hivemind intellect of the sacrificed spellcaster which they have feasted upon. However few know of a creature more insidious, more dangerous, a threat which should have been obvious since the first housecats because slaughtering level 1 wizards in their early days of adventuring. The Kitten That Walks, a swarm of adorable fluffy kittens possessed with the mad intellect of one smothered to death in their cuteness!

Creating a Kitten That Walks
Kitten That Walks is a template that can be added to any spellcaster. It uses all the original character’s statistics, special abilities, and equipment, except as noted here.

Size and Type
The character’s type changes to magical beast (it is a creature composed of hundreds of discrete fluffy kittens).

Hit Dice
Increase to d8.

Speed
There is no change in the creature's speed.

Armor Class
The mass of kittens that make up this creature, each looking out for danger, in sum provide a +1 insight bonus to AC per ECL (max +20 at 20 ECL).

Attack
While in humanoid form, the kitten that walks can attack, use weapons, and manipulate objects as a creature of their former type. In swarm form they lack limbs to manipulate objects.

Special Attacks
A kitten that walks retains all the character’s special attacks. It also gains one special attack, engulf.

Engulf (Ex): A kitten that walks can choose to engulf an opponent who is no more than one size category larger than itself. The kitten that walks attempts to embrace its victim, and with a successful melee touch attack, the victim is immediately swallowed up and surrounded by a mass of fluffy kittens, taking 5 points of damage per ECL (max 100 damage at 20 HD) as the biting and clawing kittens nibble and cut away. A victim who spends a full-round action can break free of the embrace and move up to half its speed away from the kitten that walks if desired, but can do nothing else. Otherwise, each round a victim remains embraced, it takes another 5 points of damage per ECL. Constructs are immune to this attack.

Spells: A kitten that walks can cast any spells it could cast as a living character.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): A kitten that walks with an Intelligence or Charisma score of 8 or higher has spell-like abilities depending on its Hit Dice, as indicated on the table. The abilities are cumulative. Unless otherwise noted, an ability is usable once per day. Caster level equals the creature’s ECL, and the save DC is Charisma-based.

Special Qualities
Special Abilities: A kitten that walks retains any special abilities it had in life and gains those mentioned below.

Blindsight (Ex): Kittens that walk have Blindsight 300 ft while in swarm form. It is sound and scent based.

Spell Resistance (Ex): A kitten that walks has spell resistance equal to its ECL +10.

Fluffy Presence (Su): When a kitten that walks engulfs a victim, witnesses must make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the kitten's HD + the kitten's Cha modifier). Those who make the save are sickened from the overwhelming cuteness. Those who fail by 5 or fewer points are naustated in the sea of fur. Those who fail by 6 to 10 points are rendered prone as they are flattened under the weight of kitten. Those who fail by 11 or more points are paralyzed, unable to escape their feline fate. The conditions are cumulative, and last for 1d4 rounds. Those who have seen a kitten use this attack before gain a +5 bonus on their saving throws. The victim of the kitten's engulf attack has a –5 penalty on his or her saving throw.

Discorporate (Ex): If gravely threatened, a kitten can discorporate as a free action, simply falling into a pile of individual kittens that scramble quickly away. So long as any of the component kittens survive, they can breed and create a new body to house the wizard’s intelligence and personality. Discorporating is a dangerous tactic, because once separated, the kittens are treated no differently than other cats. Also, the kitten that walks stands a good chance of losing all its equipment, which clatters to the ground in this state. On the other hand, discorporation almost assures that at least one kitten (if not dozens) will manage to crawl away, and so provide for the kitten's continued existence. There are typically about 20 cats per ECL of the kitten that walks.

Immunities (Ex): A kitten that walks has no discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking.

Swarm Form (Ex): As a standard action the kitten that walks can turn into a swirling cloud of kittens that bite and claw and nibble. The kitten that walks gains the swarm subtype as it turns into a 10 ft. cube of tiny kittens. As a swarm they take half damage from slashing and piercing weapons, and if reduced to 0 hp the kitten that walks immediately discorporates. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. They cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed and they cannot grapple opponents. As a swarm the kitten that walks is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate), with the exception of mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects) if the swarm has an Intelligence score and a hive mind. A swarm takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many evocation spells. A swarm rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage becomes disorganized and dispersed, and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.

In swarm form, the kitten that walks cannot hold anything, cast spells, speak, or make standard melee attacks. Its items are absorbed into its body and cannot be activated, though constantly active items such as a cloak of charisma continue to function as normal. The kitten that walks in swarm form does not do typical swarm damage and distraction abilities. Rather, those the swarm moves over are subject to its Engulf ability.

Swarms do not threaten creatures in their square, and do not make attacks of opportunity with their swarm attack. Spellcasters attempting to cast within the swarm need to make Concentration checks for continuous damage, according to how much damage they have taken from engulf. Those inside the swarm have 20% concealment as their vision is blocked out from so many kittens. Reverting back to normal form is a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

Abilities
+2 Cha

Skills
Skills: Same as the character, except that a kitten that walks receives a +1 racial bonus per ECL on Hide, Listen, Move Silently, Survival checks (max +20 at 20 ECL).

Feats
Same as the character.

Environment
Any.

Organization
Solitary, occasionally with minions or master.

Challenge Rating
Same as the character + 3.

Treasure
Same as the character.

Alignment
Same as the character.

Advancement
By character class.

Level Adjustment
+Level Adjustment::3

Kitten That Walks Characters
By making eldritch preparations on a massive garden of catnip, a powerful spellcaster can improve the likelihood of a kitten that walks that walks emerging from the garden. The body is buried in an elaborate ritual that, the spellcaster hopes, will attract a critical mass of cats. The spellcaster performing the ritual must spend 10,000 gp in rare reagents for the ceremony. Furthermore, the ritual drains 2,000 XP from the spell-caster and requires the following spells: limited wish, polymorph any object, summon swarm (heightened to 7th level), and sympathy. Even if the ritual is performed correctly, there is only a chance that the spellcaster will arise as a kitten that walks. For each prepared but uncast arcane spell the spellcaster had at the moment of being buried by the inevitable pile of cats (or unused spell slots if a spontaneous caster), there’s a 1% chance that a kitten that walks will spring from the garden in 1d4 days. Failure means the spellcaster has been smothered to death by kittens. Some kittens that walk arise spontaneously from ordinary catnip gardens, but such an event is exceedingly rare. An epic spell can create kittens that walk every time without fail. It is identical to gathering of maggots used to generate worms that walk except it involves cats and catnip.