User:Viatos/Grass-Cutter Meditant (3.5e Class)

Grass-Cutter Meditant
"I am not proud. I do not parade my killing to mark my skill. And so, you will be forgotten. Draw."

The Crane strides forward boldly, and slays its enemy in a single perfect strike. Armored in pride and grace, it believes itself invulnerable. But pride and grace are not armor; the Crane survives because it is swift. And where the Crane is swift, the Sparrow is swifter still. The Sparrow never rests; it cannot, for it knows death awaits the restive. The Sparrow trusts in its wings, not its name, to guard it from harm. It shifts, hops, and flutters, always wary, always wise. When it strikes, it strikes between two heartbeats: one in the past, a heartbeat wasted on anticipation - and one from a shattered future, a heartbeat that will never sound.

The Grass-Cutter Meditant is no silk-robed master, eager to show off his accomplishment; he does not love the sword, but the land it defends. He draws because that defense demands he draw. His motions are simple and clean, suited to clearing fields of wheat and foes in equal measure, and with equal ease.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Grass-Cutter Meditant.

They do not allow you to gain other special monk abilities such as Diamond Soul or Abundant Step.

 (Ex): Ostentation is merely a distraction. A sparrow is not a peacock, and neither should be a samurai. While unarmored and wielding only a single one-handed weapon, you may add a +2 bonus to Initiative and Iaijutsu Focus checks.

At 4th level, while subject to the conditions above, your attacks increase their critical threat range by 1 before any other modifications.

At 7th level, the bonus to Initiative and Iaijutsu Focus rises to +4.

At 10th level, while subject to the conditions above, your attacks increase their critical multiplier by 1.

 (Ex): You gain extra uses of your Reap the Harvest feat per day equal to your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1).

 (Ex): The Grass-Cutter welcomes foolishness. At 2nd level, you may sheath your weapon as part of a total defense action. While taking a total defense, the first threatened opponent who attacks you in the round provokes an attack of opportunity, for which they are considered flatfooted.

 (Ex): "If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win a hundred battles without jeopardy." At 3rd level, you may spend a Void Point to make a Sense Motive check as a full-round action to attune to one enemy you can see. This actions provokes attacks of opportunity from all but the target, who instead considers you to be taking a total defense. The DC for this check is 10 + 1/2 the target's HD + their Charisma modifier. If you succeed on this check, you gain a +1 insight to AC and saves and a +4 insight bonus to opposed skill checks and rolls to confirm critical threats against the target for a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom modifier or until you take damage from an attack.

At 6th level, these bonuses increase to +2 (AC and saves) and +6 (skill checks and critical threats). At 9th level, they increase to +3 and +8.

This ability may be triggered as part of the Sense Motive check preceding an iaijutsu duel.

 (Ex): Once per day per class level, you may declare use of a special stunning strike against an opponent to whom you have attuned with Waiting For Rain as a melee attack. If this attack strikes, they must make a Fortitude save at DC 10 + your class level + your Wisdom modifier or be stunned. If you have or later gain the Stunning Fist strike, you may expend uses of it to power this ability. Declaring a stunning strike is a free action, but a missed attack still expends a use of this ability.

 (Su): By spending a Void Point, you may take a total defense as a full-round action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity to enter a powerful samurai trance known as the Grass-Cutting Meditation. While in this trance, you gain a +2 perfection bonus to Constitution, Dexterity, and Wisdom and the benefits of the haste spell (self only) as a caster of your character level. The trance lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1 + your (newly improved) Wisdom modifier.

 (Ps): At 3rd level an Grass-Cutter Meditant taps into the vast psionic powers of his namesake. He gains the following as psi-like abilities: 1/day- disable, false sensory input, mindlink.

At 6th level, the psi-like abilities change and improve. 3/day- disable, false sensory input, mindlink; 1/day- ego whip, id insinuation, psionic dominate, thought shield.

At 9th level, the psi-like abilities change and improve again. At will- disable, false sensory input, mindlink; 3/day- ego whip, id insinuation, psionic dominate, thought shield; 1/day- psionic modify memory, remote viewing, wall of ectoplasm. The saving throws for all psi-like abilities are Charisma based.

 (Ex): At 3rd level an Grass-Cutter Meditant who is underwater changes his immediate surroundings into a vicous cloud of mucus that extends out in a 5 foot aura. Any creature coming into contact or inhaling this chemically altered water must succeed on a Fortitude save DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Constitution modifier or lose the ability to breath air for the next 3 hours (but gains the ability to breath water). The afflicted creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from the water. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and another failed save renews the duration for another 3 hours. The aura does not function outside of water.

At 6th level, your mucus oozes even on the surface. Any creatures striking you with natural attacks or unarmed strikes are subject to the effect of the mucus cloud. However the mucus coat on your body is weaker than when underwater, and a successful saving throw renders the subject immune to your mucus coat for 24 hours (they are not immune to your mucus cloud if the are subsequently submerged in water with you).

At 9th level your underwater aura extends to a 10 foot radius, and you gain the ability to make a touch attack as a standard action, forcing the subject to save or be effected as if struck by your mucus cloud, regardless if they are underwater or on the surface.

 (Su): At 4th level, a Grass-Cutter Meditant can attempt to enslave one living creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a Will save DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma or be affected as if dominate person was cast on the target, caster level equal to character level. An Grass-Cutter Meditant has telepathy with the enslaved subject andthe subject obeys the Grass-Cutter Meditant until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new save every 24 hours to break free. The control is also broken if the Grass-Cutter Meditant dies or travels more than 1 mile from its slave. He may only have one enslaved subject from his enslave ability at a time, if he gains another he must release the first one (though they are subject to other abilities, such as an acutal casting of dominate person). The Grass-Cutter Meditant gains an additional use of enslave every 3 levels after.

 (Ex): At 4th level an Grass-Cutter Meditant's body begins to radically mutate. They gain breathing vents along their back, neck, or chest, their eyes become blank red orbs devoid of pupils, and they grow a fish tail. Their inhuman appearance is now very obvious, gaining a +2 bonus on intimidate checks. They can no longer wear normal armor but must wear armor for unusual and monsterous creatures (you are permitted to modify existing armor, the cost of unusual armor is x2 the mundane price of the same armor for a normal person).

The Grass-Cutter Meditant benefits from the changes, gaining darkvision out to 60 feet (or improving existing darkvision by +30 feet), gaining the Aquatic subtype with the amphibious special quality, allowing him to breath both air and water. You may speak aboleth without need of augmentation, as you now have the appropriate number of "speaking holes". He gains a swim speed equal to his base land speed, and gains a +8 bonus on swim checks. He may take 10 on swim checks even if rushed or threatened.

 (Su): At 5th level an Grass-Cutter Meditant's stomach becomes ble to digest all manner of organic matter both cooked and uncooked, and he develops a taste for intelligent beings eaten fresh. If the Grass-Cutter Meditant consumes the nervous system of an intelligent being which has perished in the last 24 hours, he gains flashes of memory and insight from the consumed being. He may borrow either the skill ranks or a feat from the consumed creature for the next 24 hours. He can ignore racial requirements but otherwise must qualify for the feat to use it. He retains the skill ranks or the extra feat until the duration expires or he consumes another being, overwriting the old benefit with a new one.

 (Ex): At 7th level an Grass-Cutter Meditant undergoes another terrible mutation. His body hunches and elongates, becoming more fish-like with humanoid limbs hanging off of them, and he develops a third eye. He appears more aboleth than whatever the creature's former race was, gaining an additional +2 bonus to intimidate. He gains two additional tentacles, and the reach of his tentacles increases by +5 feet. His swim speed increases to x1.5 his base land speed as he becomes more adapt in the water than on land.

 (Ex): At 8th level the Grass-Cutter Meditant's vast memories stretch back far and sometimes provide brillent insight onto a situation that the disciple remembers from ages past. Once per day he may duplicate the effect of psionic moment of prescience as an extraordinary ability. In epic levels he gains another use of this ability at 11th and every 3 levels after.

 (Ex): At 10th level the transformation is complete. The Grass-Cutter Meditant loses his arms and legs, gaining small tentacles which have the mobility to act as hands and which are capable of wielding weapons as before. His body completely shifts into that of an aboleth of the size of the original creature. As a particular surface aboleth the Grass-Cutter Meditant loses his land speed and instead gains an extraordinary hover speed (good) equal to his former land speed. For all purposes his hover speed is his land speed and things which applied to land speed now applies to his hover speed. He loses his boots item slots but retains all other item slots and gains an additional four ring slots fit around his main tentacles.

The Grass-Cutter Meditant gains telepathy out to 100 feet and +2 Str, +4 Con, and +2 Wis. The Grass-Cutter Meditant becomes immortal and no longer has a maximum age. His type changes to Aberration, and he may count as a member of initial race or as an aboleth as benefits him, including qualifying for aboleth only feats and prestige classes. As the eons pass, eventually the Grass-Cutter Meditant will grow to the size of a normal aboleth and be utterly indistinguishable from an aboleth.

The epic Grass-Cutter Meditant gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic Grass-Cutter Meditantfeats) every 3 levels after 10th.

Epic Grass-Cutter Meditant Bonus Feat List: <-list of bonus epic feats->

Playing a Grass-Cutter Meditant
Combat: An Grass-Cutter Meditant is a psionic character who may have a few powers known, but does not focus on them. He may be a gish, and with a healthy consitution bonus and the reach of his tentacles he can make for an ideal tank.

Advancement: The Grass-Cutter Meditant can qualify for the Savant Aboleth prestige class, or focus his efforts elsewhere. Psionic gish classes help greatly.

Resources: Grass-Cutter Meditants are usually loners and insane, or cursed, but some aboleths have been known to foster and evolve Grass-Cutter Meditants as their own for some sinister purpose known only to itself.

Grass-Cutter Meditants in the World
"Gods should respect their elders..."

NPC Reactions: Surely, this giant monsterous fish swimming through the air looking like a beast out of time and sanity won't cause a stir? But who are we kidding, the Grass-Cutter Meditant desires to become a monster, and the NPCs shall treat him as such.

Grass-Cutter Meditant Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Nobility and royalty) can research Grass-Cutter Meditants to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Grass-Cutter Meditants in the Game
Adaptation:

Sample Encounter: Pending

EL 15: