Thoughtless (3.5e Prestige Class)

Thoughtless
"You are burdened with the restrictions that your own mind and beliefs have placed upon you. Whereas I am free."

There are those in this world whose minds have maintained such intense focus and undergone such drastic mental changes that it almost seems that portions of their minds have been removed from existance. This is not far from the truth. These entities are known as the thoughtless, and are remarked for the fact that they can actually control portions of existance that shouldn't even exist, and that are entirely unquantifiable and beyond comprehension. The thoughtless are powerful beings who have been seen as monsters in the past due to their virtually uncontrollable mental ability.

Becoming a Thoughtless
The path of the thoughtless is one that requires extreme focus and certain mental qualities that few can possess. For, to become a thoughtless a being must clear their mind of all thoughts, down to the point that they seemingly have no activity in their mind at all. For some reason, while in this nearly unconcious state, the thoughtless can still perceive and understand things so well that most do not actually beleive that their mind is in such a state of low activity, until they actually see into the mind of the thoughtless, and find they they cannot comprehend anything.

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

You do not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained. If you had more than one manifesting class before becoming a thoughtless, you must decide to which class to add each level for the purpose of determining powers, manifester level, and powers known.

At first level, a thoughtless gains a 5 bonus power points. These 5 bonus power points cannot be used for anything other than the manifesting or augmentation of powers and cannot be transferred into cognizance crystals or otherwise moved.

Additionally, these power points cannot be drained or otherwise affected by powers such as psychic vampire or mind trap, or by the special abilities of creatures that affect power points. These power points can be regained naturally when the thoughtless meditates to regain lost power points. The thoughtless gains an extra 5 of these bonus power points every odd-numbered level after first.



 (Ex): Being beyond the mundane restrictions of a entities mental capacities, a thoughtless can attack the minds of others with a force that few can truly understand. At second level, a thoughtless gains a +1 untyped bonus to his manifester level when manifesting powers with the mind-affecting descriptor.

 (Ex): Eventually, the mind of a thoughtless become so intensely focused and clear of thought, that it actually seems to become a void in and of itself. At fourth level, a thoughtless gains an extraordinary version of the nondetection spell that is active upon him at all times and is considered to have been cast at a caster level equal to his (unmodified) manifester level.

 (Ex): Being without thought is a complex state that can lead to exceedingly paradoxial situations, such as the thoughtless being aware of events without actually remembering them. At sixth level, a thoughtless gains the ability to designate any number of facts that they know as 'forgotten' as a free action. Any fact that has been designated as 'forgotten' is effectively erased from their memory as though it never even happened, and the thoughtless can state that anything they have 'forgotten' never happened or isn't true and completely bypass all forms of magical lie detection, such as the spell zone of truth, since the event is not actually in his memory anymore. Though, the thoughtless can still recount in exact detail and talk about any event or fact that he has 'forgotten' as though it was still held within his mind.

 (Ex): Eventually, a thoughtless becomes so intensely aware of his own thoughts and mental faculties that he becomes truly impervious to any and all kinds of detection or attack. At eighth level, a thoughtless gains an extraordinary version of psionic mind blank that is active at all times, with one exception: not even metafaculty can bypass know your own mind, as the force that is the mind of the thoughtless pushes away all forms of perception and comprehension.

 (Ex): Eventually, a thoughtless achives a state where he can pierce through the laws of common logic and open a gate into utter void within his mind. At tenth level, a thoughtless gains the ability to active a surge of power as a free action once a day. A surge of power lasts for a number of rounds equal to half the characters thoughtless level, and, while active, allows the thoughtless to manifest or augment powers without using any power points. The thoughtless still cannot augment powers to the point that the total ammount of power points that would be spent exceeds his manifester level. Additionally, whenever the thoughtless activates a surge of power, he chooses one of his mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma), and gains his ability modifier in that score as a bonus to his manifester level (this increase in manifester level is treated in the same way as an increase in level would, and thusly, stacks with all other bonuses to manifester level that may be active).

The epic thoughtless gains a bonus feat (selected from the list of epic thoughtless feats) every 2 levels after 10th.

Epic thoughtless Bonus Feat List: Epic Expanded Knowledge, Epic Fortitude, Epic Manifestation, Epic Psionic Focus, Epic Reflexes, Epic Speed, Epic Will, Improved Manifestation, Improved Metapsionics

Playing a Thoughtless
Combat: Thoughtless can fill almost any role upon the battlefield, though, they most commonly fill the role of the aggresive devastator who moves forward and strikes down his foes without fear of retribution. This is mainly due to the fact that they are extremely well fortified characters that seem to be impossible to touch in a given situation, not to mention the fact that, at later levels, they gain the ability to crush their foes where they stand without so much as a second thought. The thoughtless are truly a terrifying breed of psychics.

Advancement: While the thoughtless generally seek to progress further down the path of the thoughtless to gain as much power as they can, some seek to find power at the end of other paths. For example, a paticular thoughtless may seek to shed their body as well as their mind, and take levels in psion uncarnate. In another situation, a thoughtless may seek to bend others to the path that they follow, and take levels in thrallherd. The paths that a thoughtless could travel down are nearly endless, and each one holds it's own unique promises.

Resources: The thoughtless do not necessarily have a direct connection with any organization or order just because of their capabilities. Though, they may forge connections with others with greater ease due to their strange powers. For example, an order of assassins could regard a paticular thoughtless with a respect that they have for few others, solely for the fact that that thoughtless has evade them for decades. In another situation, a order of arcane librarians may find the company of thoughtless to be intriguing, since they can percieve things with an exactness that others cannot muster.

Thoughtless in the World
"I've got nothing to lose."

Thoughtless are most commonly people who are remarked for their mental focus and psychic prowess, yet who cannot seem to be reached by those around them. Thoughtless tend to be somewhat isolated individuals who do not care for whats around them, instead veiwing everything as though they weren't actually in it. Of course there are also thoughtless who appear to be the exact opposite of these mannerisms, and appear to be much more calm, and almost friendly after they have emptied their minds. These thoughtless claim that the reason for this is that they no longer have the weight of the world bearing down upon them.

NPC Reactions: Those who recognize a thoughtless for what they are tend to react to them with a mixture of fear and respect, people becoming filled with aprehension at the realization that the thoughtless has such an alien psyche, and yet awe struck by the degree of power that they are capable of letting loose upon the world. People who do not know what a thoughtless is, or who don't recognize a thoughtless for being one, may glean that the thoughtless has power or is potentially dangerous when they feel the aura of the character.

Thoughtless Lore
Characters with ranks in Knowledge (Psionics) can research thoughtless to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Thoughtless in the Game
Thoughtless are terrifying individuals in any world, for they are the very incarnation of the unknown, of the void that rests beyond comprehension. Though, the path of the thoughtless is truly a path for someone who would wish to plunge themselves into the strangest portions of the mind, for a thoughtless walks freely amongst those regions of conciousness. Most commonly, a thoughtless can fill the role of the stranger, or the rogue element, or possibly even the unfeeling leader, though, they have followed other paths in the past.

Adaptation: Thoughtless can be fitted into any campaign, all that is needed is an entry. A thoughtless could be the strange newcomer to a backwater town, or possibly the terrifying elder in that same town, who is always seen with a numb expression on his face and an ancient book in hand. A thoughtless could perhaps be a quite, wandering merchant who who always appears whenever he is needed, no matter where that may be, or the villian in the campaign, someone who seeks to bring the tranquility that they know to the entire world.

Sample NPC: Maya Nay was a distant child growing up. She never went outside when she didn't absolutely have to, and kept to her books most of the time, reading about the strangest things for a child to wish to read about. She hardly ever ate anything, and seemed not to ever care for members of the opposite sex. One day, she left, after saying the few goodbye's she actually had to say, and began journeying across the world she had read so much about. During this time in her life, she learned many things about herself, and about the very nature of existance. Until, one day, she discovered something else, something new. If she meditated long enough, and deep enough, she could dissapear, not in actuality, but, she could make her mind fade into nothingness, yet still be aware. She was fascinated by this ability that she had, and she began writting about it, filling up page after page about how her mind seemed to fold in upon itself, about how reality seemed so much more expansive when she was meditating, and she began to write her own book. She has been writting this book for a long time, though, every time she comes close to finishing it, it seems she discovers something new to write a chapter about. Today, she still is writting it as she travels, still adding on new chapters, all while in that utterly calm state that she achived that one day, that state that inspired her to begin creating one of the things that had so fascinated her in her childhood.

EL 19: