Evolutionist (3.5e Class)

''Importer's note: The Dire Reverend is importing this class from a thread in the Giant in the Playground Forums. The original thread can be found here. The Mutations and the Teratomorphs have to still be brought over, but otherwise the class has been fully imported.''

Summary::These men and women have discerned a path towards a transcendence of what they were born as, no simple transmutation and no unnatural energy twisting their selves, but a true change on the very building blocks of the divine design of their lives. Length::20 Minimum Level::1 Base Attack Bonus Progression::Other Fortitude Save Progression::Other Reflex Save Progression::Other Will Save Progression::Other Class Ability::Other Class Ability Progression::Other

Allowed Alignments::Lawful Good Allowed Alignments::Lawful Neutral Allowed Alignments::Lawful Evil Allowed Alignments::Neutral Good Allowed Alignments::Neutral Allowed Alignments::Neutral Evil Allowed Alignments::Chaotic Good Allowed Alignments::Chaotic Neutral Allowed Alignments::Chaotic Evil

Evolutionist
Throught the strange reaches of the world, one will find many who seek the power that they never acquired by accident of birth. They are wizards using transmutation to become wyrms and giants, they are druids becoming beasts and elemental beings. Others are not so fortunate, and they are born or endowed with wretched powers grafted to their flesh and to their soul, with no option but to control or be controlled by these alien and vile energies that twist them into monsters.

Evolutionists are neither. These men and women have discerned a path towards a transcendence of what they were born as, no simple transmutation and no unnatural energy twisting their selves, but a true change on the very building blocks of the divine design of their lives. They have discovered how to become greater than they started as, not simply borrow the greatness of other beings.

Making an Evolutionist
Abilities: Any given evolutionist can find use for any ability score. Those who focus on combat will certainly appreciate strength, dexterity and constitution, those who favor more eldritch paths to power will prefer intelligence or charisma.

Role: Any individual evolutionist, depending on how exactly he chooses to mutate, can perform any type of role. Some are perless frontliners, while others are skirmishers or healers or stranger things still.

Background: Evolutionists have found an art, and a science they treat with the same reverence a wizard has for his magic. They have not stumbled on insane powers from beyond or devotion for forces and ideals greater than themselves or into stranger things yet. But into an untapped knowledge of the basic workings of life itself.

Organization: Evolutionists sometimes congregate, specially those who favor a specific creature type.

Alignment: Evolutionists have no particular alignment.

Races: Evolutionists are more common among the humanoid races of the world, those poor masses that almost universally gained nothing but their limbs and their wits in the grand design of the gods. But rare and unthinkably powerful is the creature that blessed with might by birth, finds and follows this path.

Religion: Some evolutionists, specially those who try to emulate extant species, follow the gods of the creatures they aspire to. Still others eschew the gods entirelly, focusing on their prowess and potential to dismiss their design for all life and become zealous in their anti-theism. More still simply follow the deities who align with their views of the world.

Other Classes: Evolutionists are an oddity to most, and their choices often paint the view of others to them. Druids feel uneasy around these individuals, and unfriendly or even hostile to those who follow aberrant paths, the same goes for rangers, but with greater latitude depending on their enemies of choice. Monks are specially likely to clash with evolutionists, as their paths to perfection can be at extreme odds.

Adaptation: Usually, the evolutionist will be a man or woman who is following a path to monstrous transcendence. But this class can just as easily be used to show the development of a young monster into an adult member of its great race.

Starting Gold: 3d4x10 (75gp)

Starting Age: Simple.

Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Evolutionist.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Evolutionists are proficient with all simple weapons and light armor but not with shields. They are innately proficient with any natural weapons they may acquire.

Each level afterwards, he gains three mutations. Whenever the evolutionist gains a level, he may chose to lose any one mutation he has to gain a different one, he cannot chose to lose a mutation that would cause him to no longer qualify for another mutation, feat or prestige class.

The list of mutations can be found here.

 : The evolutionist gains a +4 bonus on all knowledge checks made to discern information about a creature.

 The evolutionist gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat, he may treat unarmed strikes as grouped natural weapons (as many as he has fists or analogous limbs to use) or as manufactured weapons as he prefers.

Teratomorphism is a much more radical alteration of the evolutionist’s body, a full array of widespread changes meant to achieve a more complex final result than the relatively simple addition or improvement of biological components that is a mutation. At second level and every three levels afterwards, the evolutionist can chose one Teratomorphism. At first he can take only a Teratomorph change from the Teratomorph I list, but each time this ability is gained he also gains access to a higher level of potential changes. The same ability cannot be taken more than once. The changes wrought by Teratomorph are considered extraordinaire effects.

The list of Teratomorphs can be found here.

 : At 10th level, the evolutionist becomes something… Different from whatever he used to be. The evolutionist may choose to change his creature type to Aberration, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Magical Beast or Monstrous Humanoid. He may chose to remain a humanoid if he is one, but most other creatures agree that humanoids are a step down in the evolutionary ladder. The evolutionist gains the augmented subtype pertaining to his old type. If they don’t already have it, aberrations, dragons, magical beasts and monstrous humanoids gain Darkvision out to a range of 60 feet (stacking with any other Darkvision not granted by creature types) while giants and fey gain low-light vision. In addition, the evolutionist gains two extra mutations and one benefit from the following list, depending on his creature type:


 * Aberration: The save DCs for the evolutionist’s supernatural and psi-like abilities increases by +2.
 * Dragon: The damage die of all the evolutionist’s breath weapons increases by one step and the save DC for them increases by +2. The save DC's for all the evolutionist's extraordinaire special attacks also increases by +2.
 * Fey: The save DCs for the evolutionist’s spell-like abilities derived from the druid spell list and all illusion and enchantment spell-like abilities increases by +2.
 * Giant: The evolutionist gains Powerful Build and his strength increases by +4.
 * Humanoid: The evolutionist gains a +2 bonus to three ability scores of his choice.
 * Magical Beast: The evolutionist gains an enhancement bonus on attack and damage rolls with all natural weapons equal to one fourth of his mutator level.
 * Monstrous Humanoid: The evolutionist gains another three additional mutations.

As a final benefit, upon gaining this ability, the evolutionist may redefine how his age categories advance. He must still follow the standard advancement rules for his type (meaning a non-true dragon can't change to that paradigm, he must stick to Mature, Old and Venerable and its usual bonuses and penalties), but can simply decide that he will never reach one of the later age categories or do away with his maximum age entirely.

 : A 20th level evolutionist is a thing of its own, he might be the most perfect exemplar of his kind or he might be the origin of an entirely new species. He gains two additional mutations and an ability depending on his creature type, lastly, he may chose to lose his augmented subtype (if he has one) severing the last ties to what he once was.


 * Aberration: Horrible, unnatural, alien. These are the words associated with aberrations. Their powers are varied and unpredictable as their shapes. The evolutionist gains two additional teratomorphisms of any level.
 * Dragon: Dragons will have you know that they are the most glorious and terrible beings that ever graced the world, they are probably right. The evolutionist’s base land speed increases by 30 feet (which can have an effect on other movement modes gained from mutations and teratomorphisms), the damage die of all his natural weapons and any breath weapon they have increases by one step, any resistances he has increase by 5 (but he does not gain any resistance he does not have), he gains damage reduction 5/magic or increases an existing damage reduction by 5 and any existing spell resistance increases by 5.
 * Fey: Graceful and wicked in the manner of mad courtiers, fey are a conundrum to many. The evolutionist gains a +5 bonus on all dexterity, wisdom and charisma based skill checks. He also gains two mutations that can only be spent on spell-like abilities, but he can take any two wizard/sorcerer or druid spells of up to 9th level with these abilities, they are useable twice per day each (or more if they are of 6th level or lower, see Spell-like ability mutation).
 * Giant: Whoever does not believe that might makes right has never faced a giant. Whoever thinks that the mighty of body are dull of mind has never faced a giant. The evolutionist gains a +4 bonus to all ability scores. He also grows one size category (up to colossal, gaining the same bonuses and penalties due to size change listed in the Size Increase teratomorphism) and gains an additional +2 to constitution.
 * Humanoid: As a paragon of his kind, the evolutionist is a beacon of glory to others of those meager - mostly hairless - often apes (but sometimes other things) known as humanoids. All humanoids within 60 feet of the evolutionist gain a +5 morale bonus on all attack rolls, damage rolls, skill checks and saving throws. They are not simply food for the greater monstrosities of the world, they have the right to be and they have the power to be more. He also gains a +2 bonus to all ability scores.
 * Magical beast: The magical beast is great and magnificent, something about these creatures just inspires those who look at them, their pride is not vain, and their might is not without finesse. The evolutionist’s natural armor increases by +5, he gains a +3 bonus on all saving throws and the save DCs for all his special attacks increases by +3.
 * Monstrous Humanoid: All brutality, all ferociousness, all canniness and ruthlessness is embodied in the monstrous humanoid. The evolutionist gains a +5 bonus on all skill checks, ability checks and attack and damage rolls.