Cerebral Animator (3.5e Prestige Class)

Cerebral Animator
"My animated minds will not fall to your pathetic holy symbol."

A Cerebral Animator is a psionic being who wants power over the dead like a necromancer, and has found away to do such by animating a creatures nervous systems and controlling the dead by controlling their movements rather than forcefully causing the soul to re-enter a body and be controlled. The Cerebral Animator cannot control as many dead minions as can traditional necromancers and not for as long as they can either, though he makes up for this with increased potency of his animated minions and increase in his already potent psionic powers.

Becoming a Cerebral Animator
Psions who wish to control the dead usually become cerebral animators, however it is possible for other psionic classes to become cerebral animators although psions are the most common.

Class Features
All the following are class features of the Cerebral Animator.



Powers Known: Every level, a cerebral animator gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if he had also gained a level in whatever manifesting class he belonged to before he added the prestige class. He does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (bonus feats, metapsionic or item creation feats, and so on). This essentially means that he adds the level of cerebral animator to the level of whatever manifesting class the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly.

At a cost of 8 + the number of cerebral animator levels in powerpoints, the cerebral animator may animate the mind of a dead creature, making it move by command of the cerebral animator. The cerebral animator may only animate a number of minds equal to three times his class level + his Psionic manifesting ability. The animated mind gains the following qualities:


 * Darkvision out to 60 feet.
 * Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
 * Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
 * Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.
 * Cannot heal damage on its own, although it can be healed. Positive energy (such as a cure spell) can heal an animated mind. The fast healing special quality works regardless.
 * Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).
 * Not at risk of death from massive damage.
 * Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect an animated mind. These spells turn animated minds back into the living creatures they were before becoming dead.
 * Proficient with any weapons it had proficiency with in life.
 * Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, shields or heavy) it had proficiency with in life.
 * Animated do not breathe, eat, or sleep.
 * No Intelligence score.
 * Loses all feats and skills.
 * Loses any Special attack it had in life except those that are Extraordinary.

The cerebral animator can only animate an animated mind for 1 day per two class level. The cerebral animator cannot animate a dead body that lacks a brain, an example of such a creature would be a skeleton. The cerebral animator cannot animate any creature which has HD greater than his own. The animated mind cannot gain experience points. If a animated mind is killed in battle it can be re-animated at twice the normal power point cost. The cerebral animator is linked to his animated minds and can see, hear and speak through them although he may only do so one animated mind at a time.

As such he has developed a few special psionic tricks to manipulate his animated minds, these tricks help to make his animated minds more potent and dangerous:


 * Armored Skin: Through manipulating the power of the mind the cerebral animator has learned to harden a body to prevent damage to his minions. The cerebral animator may permanently pay 4 power points to permanently give any animated mind he activates +3 Natural armor. This may be taken multiple times, its effects stack.


 * Resistant Body: Through manipulating the power of the mind the cerebral animator has learned to form a thin psionic barrier to lessen the damage to his minions. The cerebral animator may permanently pay 6 power points to grant any of his animated minds damage reduction 3/-. This may be taken multiple times, its effects stack.


 * Psychokinetic Explosion: By manipulating the unstable psionic power flowing throughout his animated minions bodies he may cause a small psychokinetic explosion that destroys the dead corpse in the process. The cerebral animator may pay 8 power points to cause one of his animated minds to explode dealing 2d4 force damage per level of cerebral animator in a 20-ft radius spread, it allows a reflex save for half damage (DC 14+1/2 Cerebral animator level+ Int modifier). This is a standard action that may be used once per round.


 * Instant Animation: The cerebral animator has learned to raise his creations quickly so that he may establish his defensive forces in a battle quicker as to protect himself. The cerebral animator may animate a creature as a free action once per round.


 * Physical Mind: The psionic power that flows through the animated minds bodies is unstable, by refining the flow and making it more potent the cerebral animator increases the physical abilities of their dead minions. The cerebral animator may permanently pay 6 power points to give his animated minds +2 to Dexterity, Constitution and Strength and an additional +2 to any one of these abilities. This may be taken multiple times, its effects stack however only one additional +2 may be given.


 * Stalwart Cranium: The cerebral animator may permanently pay 4 power points to give his animated minds +4 hp per HD they possess.


 * Havoc Storm: The unstable psionic energy flowing throughout the animated minds body can be used for more than just destruction and advanced physical abilities, it can also be used to disturb the psionic powers of other psionic creatures. As a standard action the cerebral animator use the unstable psionic energy from an animated mind to disturb other psioinc abilities using this ability makes the corpse unusable for re-animating either through divine, arcane or psionic means and causes a burst of unstable psionic energy to explode at a location of the cerebral animators choice within 120-ft, the burst is 30-ft wide and causes all creature capable of using powers or psi-like abilities to make a Will save (DC equal to 10 + Cerebral Animator level + Int Modifier) on a failed save the creature may not use any psi-like abilities or manifest psionic powers for a number of rounds equal to the cerebral animators Int modifier x2, on a successful save the target must still make a concentration check (DC equal to 10 + Cerebral Animators total character level) to manifest a psi-like ability or to manifest a psionic power for 3 rounds. Using Havoc Storm costs 10 power points + cerebral Animator level.