Animated Manipulators (3.5e Equipment)

Animated Manipulators
''A metal shoulder harness and spine lays across your back and about your neck, clicking into place with a hiss and a sharp jolt of pain as it digs into your skin. After a moment of discomfort the tenticular metal arms rise to attention, claw hands snapping in at the ready.''

Animated Manipulators are actually a unique intelligent wondrous item which also goes by the name of Grift. It is a pair of metal tentacles which extend from your back with claw hands which are suitable for lifting, holding, and grabbing (but not so much wielding items). It has the same strength score and abilities as your normal hands, but cannot wield weapons or shields and any tasks which require fine manipulation take a -2 penalty if using the arms to perform the task. It can be used to make unarmed strikes or slam attacks provided you already have one.

Though you control the arms, the arms actually have an intelligence all of their own (NE, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 12, Ego 0, 30 ft. vision and hearing, empathy. It understands Common and Qualith, the obscure written-only language of illithids, 10 ranks in Knowledge Psionics, hardness 10, 60 hp). It keeps its intellect and the fact it is self-autonomous a secret from its users, slowly influencing them to perform acts of evil and vice to achieve their goals, and discouraging the host from ever unequipping the manipulators. They learn the desires of their hosts and encourage them to achieve these goals through brutality. At any time it can assume direct control of its arms and act on its own, able to make a slam attack that deals 1d6 + the user's Strength modifier or its Charisma modifier and using the users BAB or +11 for its BAB, whichever is higher. It can also walk along its arms at a speed of 20 ft. It only does this when it feels it is in danger and not at the request of the user. Winning a successful Ego check during a conflict prevents it from self automating for 24 hours, but it does make a -2 penalty on all uses of the arm as it struggles against its bonds. Attempting to remove it without it consent also deals 1d4 Con damage as it does not unlink itself from your spine properly.

Rumors persist it is not entirely unique. They say illithids mass produce these intelligent items to help guide them and assist them in tasks (having few to no personality conflicts with their evil natures). Supposedly a more powerful version with four arms exists which also grants the user a climb speed of 20 ft. This version costs an additional +10,000 gp.

Prerequisites: Craft Universal Item, control object.

Cost to Create: 5000 gp, 400 EXP, 10 days.