Prismatic Creature (CR varies)[3pp]

Glowing and beautiful, prismatics have bright forms that belie their sometimes dark natures. Their bodies shift through the colors of the rainbow, and though most find them difficult to dislike, they run the gamut of good and evil.

A creature can become a prismatic by surviving exposure to great prismatic assaults, such as many color spray, rainbow pattern, searing light, or similar spells in a day. Alternatively, the transformation can occur after a creature has managed to survive all the terrible effects of a spell such as prismatic wall. The exact reason why such exposure should create prismatics baffles sages, but many suspect that some long-dead god’s essence might still be exerting influence through the release of such energies. Regardless of their origins, prismatic creatures are rare, since the effects that create them are hard to reproduce.

Creating a Prismatic Creature

Prismatic” is an acquired template that can be added to any creature with a Charisma score of 3 or higher (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A prismatic uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: 8 or fewer racial HD—same as the base creature; 9 or more racial HD—same as the base creature +1.

Senses: A prismatic gains low-light vision.

Defensive Abilities: A prismatic gains the following defensive abilities:

Prismatic Body (Su)

A prismatic’s body glows with a light equivalent to that of a candle, illuminating a 5-foot radius around itself. Each round, this light takes on a different hue, determined at random. While so lit, a prismatic creature cannot benefit from concealment due to darkness or shadowy conditions. Once per round, the prismatic may suppress its light or choose its color as a free action with a successful DC 15 Concentration check. The light resumes its random color changes on the prismatic creature’s next turn unless it succeeds on another DC 15 Concentration check.

Reinstating the suppressed light is a free action.

Prismatic Immunities (Ex)

The hue of the prismatic creature’s light grants it an immunity as given in Table 2-32: Prismatic Immunities. At the end of each round, roll on Table 2-32: Prismatic Immunities to determine the color of the prismatic creature’s light. While its light is suppressed, it does not benefit from any immunity granted by the prismatic body special quality.

Prismatics are immune to the adverse effects of spells with the light descriptor and those noted in the Spell-Like Abilities section. In addition, they are immune to all blinding, dazzling, or dazing effects caused by exposure to light. If the base creature suffers negative effects in bright light, the prismatic loses that vulnerability.

Table: Prismatic Immunities
d8 Color Immunity
1 Red Fire
2 Orange Acid
3 Yellow Electricity
4 Green Poison
5 Blue Mind-affecting effects
6 Indigo Cold
7 Violet Sonic
8 Two colors Roll twice rerolling results of 8

Spell-like Abilities: A prismatic gains spell-like abilities, depending on its Hit Dice, as indicated on Table 2-33: Prismatic Spell-Like Abilities. These abilities are cumulative. Caster level equals the prismatic’s character level, and the save DCs are Charisma-based.

Table: Prismatic Spell-Like Abilities
Total HD Abilities
1-2 3/day—dancing lights, At will—flare
3-4 2/day—color spray
5-6 1/day—hypnotic pattern
7-8 1/day—daylight
9-10 1/day—searing light
11-12 1/day—rainbow pattern
13-14 1/day—prismatic spray
15-16 1/day—scintillating pattern
17-18 1/day—prismatic wall
19-20+ 1/day—prismatic sphere

Abilities: Cha +4.

Skills: If the base creature gains a bonus on Stealth checks due to coloration, the prismatic loses that bonus. It also takes a -8 penalty to Stealth checks while lit.

Using the Prismatic Template

If you’re looking for another explanation as to why creatures become prismatics, consider the following options.

Prismatic Curse: A creature that survives being exposed to one of the prismatic spells may be cursed with the prismatic template. In this case, the prismatic gains a -4 penalty to Wisdom, cannot suppress its light, and may require rare magic or an artifact to cure.

Prismatic Curse (Su)type curse; save Fortitude DC is the DC of the prismatic spell exposed to; onset immediate; effect creature gains prismatic template.

Rainbow People: A certain race of creatures in your campaign world has always consisted of prismatics. These creatures do not shift colors as described in the prismatic template; instead, each color is a separate subrace that has a different culture and lives in a different environment. In this case, change the prismatic template to an inherited template.

Rainbow Rulers: Different races or cultures might give birth to prismatics within their royal lines. Each ruling family has a different color.

The End of The Rainbow: The end of the rainbow or the source of all rainbows is a place that truly brave adventurers can go. Creatures that go to such a place might come back as prismatics, or its many guardians might be prismatic monsters.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Advanced Bestiary, Copyright 2014, Green Ronin Publishing, LLC; Author Jeff Hersh, Developer Owen K.C. Stephens

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