Seven Swords of Sin pg. 30
Acquired/Inherited Template Acquired
Simple Template No
Usable with Summons No
Granule construct swarms are the product of powerful artificers pushing the boundaries of their craft. Alone, each individual is a barely sentient construct so tiny as to be practically invisible, a speck of dust that moves under its own power. Brought together by the thousands into a swarm, however, the complex linking of simple systems creates an emergent consciousness of humanlike intelligence, although alien enough to make communication nearly impossible. Granule construct swarms exist solely to infest larger living organisms and reproduce in the relative safety and comfort provided by their bodies. Capable of repairing and replicating out of the raw elements around them, granule constructs within a host are almost unstoppable through physical means, burrowing their way into flesh and sending signals through the bloodstream. Once safely ensconced, granule construct swarms modify their hosts to maximize survival potential, a trait that leads certain people to intentionally cultivate granule construct swarms inside themselves, despite the resulting deformities. Energy damage to a host damages the granule construct swarm equally, but normal weapon damage does not. Granule constructs can vacate dead or dying creatures whenever they so choose, emerging as a standard swarm.
Environment: Although created in arcane laboratories, granule construct swawrms can travel anywhere safe to their host creatures.
Typical Physical Characteristics: Up close, each microscopic granule construct appears as a silver sphere with an all-purpose orifice at one end that it uses to gather information, take in nutrients, and focus the electromagnetic charges that propel it through the air. At the opposite end emerges a single manipulator claw. In a swarm, they appear as a dense cloud, somewhere between dust and a shadow, that constantly shifts shape and emits a faint hum. Once inside a host's body, a granule construct swarm makes a number of modifications which it finds beneficial, toughening it and making it more aware to ensure maximum survival.
"Granule construct host" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or vermin (referred to hereafter as the base creature). Granule construct hosts use all of the base creature's statistics except as noted below.
Armor Class: Creatures with this template gain +2 to their natural armor bonus as their skin thickens and toughens.
Attack: A granule construct host retains all the attacks of the base creature and also gains a claw attack if it didn't already have one. if the base creature can use weapons, the granule construct host retains this ability. A creature with natural weapons retains those natural weapons. A granule construct host fighting without weapons uses either its claw attack or its primary natural weapon (if it has any). A granule construct host armed with a weapon uses its claw or a weapon, as it desires.
Damage: Granule construct hosts have 2 claw attacks. If the base creatue does not have this attack form, use the appropriate damage value from the table below according to the granule construct host's size. Creatures that have other kinds of natural weapons retain their old damage values or use the appropriate value from the table below, whichever is better.| Size | Damage | | Fine | 1 | | Diminutive | 1d2 | | Tiny | 1d3 | | Small | 1d4 | | Medium | 1d6 | | Large | 1d8 | | Huge | 2d6 | | Gargantuan | 2d8 | | Colossal | 4d6 |
Special Attack: A granule construct host retains all the special attacks of the base creature and gains infest.
Infest (Ex): Once per week, a granule construct host may make a touch attack to allow the swarm inhabiting it to split and infest another creature. If it succeeds, both creatures become infested, otherwise the granule constructs remain in the pre-existing host.
Special Qualities: A granule construct host retains all the special qualities of the base creature and gains those described below.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Granule construct swarms retain an awareness of their surroundings even while inhabiting a body, and as a result granule construct hosts retain their Dexterity bonus to AC even if caught flat-footed or attacked by an invisible opponent, although they still lose their Dexterity bonus if immobilized.
Blindsight: To a range of 100 feet.
Hive Mind (Ex): While a creature hosting a granule construct swarm normally maintains free will, the swarm living inside maintains contact with any other granule construct swarms or hosts within 100 feet and shares this link in brief, painful flashes. As long as one of the connected creatures is not flanked, none of them are, and if one is aware of a foe, all are.
In addition, if at any point a granule construct swarm infesting a host body feels threatened, it may attempt to take over control of the host's body. At that point, the host must make a DC 15 Will save or obey the swarm's commands for 1d10 rounds, which normally translates to attacking or fleeing from the source of the overwhelming threat.
Abilities: Modify from the base creature as follows: +2 Con, -6 Cha (minimum of 1). A granule construct host's body twists into a monsterous mockery of its former shape, all bulging veins and dark shadows moving beneath their skin.
Challenge Rating: As base creature.
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