Seekers (12 RP)

Many years ago, the god of secrets created a race of creatures who sought out and guarded the world’s secrets. These seekers were autonomous machines who did their job perfectly, until a trio of them came across a manifestation of the Chaos. Interacting with it changed the seekers, giving them free will and a mission; to overthrow and become the new gods of secrets.

To keep the information from him, the seekers were open about their intentions, never keeping them secret and, by proxy, informing him. At the same time, they secretly vied to become the gods of knowledge. Since Knowledge and Secrets were always opposed, the deities did not tell each other of the plots against them, so when the time came, both fell to the seekers, who changed the remaining mortal members of their race forever, ensuring that they had free will, but not the ambition to do the same.

Physical Description: Seekers appear mostly identical, with only sleight variations in height or build to distinguish them. Every seeker appears to be wearing a leather, form-fitting helmet, giant goggles, and a large-collared longcoat that splits enough at the bottom to allow them to move unhindered.

In truth, these garments are a part of the seeker. Beneath the coat, the seeker’s limbs move on ball joints that allow them to swivel into a variety of positions as the need arises. Their hands, which appear gloved, are sometimes malleable and able to form into weapons with which the seeker is proficient.

Society: Seeker society can be off-putting for other races. The hivemind shared by the race means they rarely talk openly to each other, preferring instead to intone their needs and expect them to be met as the rest become able to do so. They do only enough outside trade or work to pay for the little sustenance they require to survive.

Relations: Other races tend to ignore groups of seekers, who act with strange fluidity around each other. An individual seeker is usually able to portray enough of a personality that it can interact with those races without drawing too many stares.

Alignment and Religion: The only allegiance seekers have is to the gods of knowledge and secrets, who themselves were once seekers. Their alignment is rarely anything other than neutral, which can come off as evil when one dispassionately kills a threat to its companions or blatantly ignores the rules of a land because they contrast with its current mission.

Adventurers: Since three of their kind ascended to godhood, the seekers have been free to pursue whatever adventures they wish, so long as they occasionally return to the hivemind to share any secrets or knowledge they have collected in their recent outings. Their traits lend seekers to become accelerists, fighters, or rogues, but in pursuit of knowledge, a seeker may be any class.

Names: Seeker’s names are usually a jumble of letters and numbers that, when written out appear to be words. Members of other races will often use these interpreted words and call the seeker by the assumed name.

Random Starting Ages
Adulthood
Seekers are created as adults with a basic understanding of their class.

 

Random Height and Weight
Gender Base Height Height Modifier Base Weight Weight Modifier
Male 4 ft. 8 in. +2d4 in. 250 lbs. +(2d4×1 lbs.)
Female 4 ft. 6 in. +2d4 in. 225 lbs. +(2d4×1 lbs.)

Standard Racial Traits

Seekers usually have the following racial traits.

  • Ability Score Modifiers: Seekers are exceptionally dexterous, but they lack fortitude and personality. They gain +4 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, -2 Charisma.
  • Type: Seeker count as humanoids and constructs for the purpose of effects that would target either. They gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease, mind-affecting effects, poison, and effects that cause either exhaustion or fatigue. A seeker that dissolves (see below) cannot be raised or resurrected. They do not breathe (but, see failsafe below), eat, or sleep, unless they want to gain some beneficial effect from one of these activities. This means that a seeker can drink potions to benefit from their effects and can sleep in order to regain spells, but neither of these activities is required for the seeker to survive or stay in good health.
  • Size: Seekers are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
  • Base Speed: Seekers have a base speed of 30 feet.
  • Languages: Seekers begin play speaking Common. Those with high Intelligence scores can choose any languages they want (including secret languages, such as Druidic).

Defense Racial Traits

  • Spell Resistance: Seekers gain spell resistance equal to 11 + their character level.

Magical Racial Traits

  • Dimensional Swap: When two seekers are within 100 feet of each other, they can each cast dimension door at will to change places. Because of their hivemind (see below), the seekers are not required to see each other to use this ability, nor do both seekers have to be willing.

Senses Racial Traits

  • Hivemind: Seekers share a hivemind that connects instantly when within 1,000 ft. of one-another. All seekers immediately share all thoughts with their kin while attached to the hivemind.

Weakness Racial Traits

  • Dissolution: After being dead for at least 1 minute, a seeker dissolves into a puddle of acid that lasts for 1 minute. The puddle deals 1d6 points of acid damage per 2 character levels to any creature entering or starting its turn in that space. A successful Reflex saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 the seeker’s character level + its Constitution modifier) deals half damage instead.
  • Failsafe: A seeker that is prevented from moving (such as with an entangle spell, falling unconscious, grappling, or being swallowed whole) begins to drown. The seeker instinctively holds its breath before this occurs. A seeker that is sleeping to regain spells is not affected by failsafe.

Advanced Racial Traits (+9 RP)

There still exist a few hundred of the original seekers in the world. In addition to the traits above, these seekers gain the following. Other seekers can take these traits as feats for which they qualify.

  • Blindsight (Ex): Seekers are naturally blind, but they have blindsight out to 100 feet. A seeker’s blindsight relies on its ability to hear, via echolocation.
  • Malleable Weapons (Ex): A seeker is able to change its hands into any melee weapon with which it is proficient. Weapons formed in this way are considered masterwork and made of a common material, such as wood or steel.
  • Weapon Memory (Ex): Years of experience exists within the hivemind, granting seekers proficiency with every simple and martial melee weapon.

Favored Class Options

The following options are available to all seeker characters who have the listed favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the favored class reward.

  • Any Class: Add a +1 bonus to the character’s CMD when resisting a grapple and a +1 bonus to Escape Artist checks and CMB when attempting to escape a grapple.
    Accelerist: Add +1 damage to the accelerist’s attacks made after moving, to a maximum of twice the accelerist’s Strength or Dexterity bonus.
    Alchemist: Add +1/4 to the alchemist’s natural armor bonus when using the character’s mutagen.
    Barbarian: Add +1 to the barbarian’s base speed. In combat this option has no effect unless the barbarian has selected it five times (or another increment of five). This bonus stacks with the barbarian’s fast movement class feature and applies under the same conditions as that feature.
    Darkseeker: Gain 1/6 of a new darkseeker talent.
    Invoker: Add a +1/2 bonus to any Knowledge skill.
    Monk: Add +1 to the monk’s base speed. In combat this option has no effect unless the monk has selected it five times (or another increment of five). This bonus stacks with the monk’s fast movement class feature and applies under the same conditions as that feature.
    Rogue: Gain 1/6 of a new rogue talent.
    Truenamer: Add a +1/2 bonus to Bluff or Diplomacy.
    Witchblade: Add +1 to the witchblade’s energy resistance to one kind of energy (maximum +10).
    Wizard: Add a +1/2 bonus to a Craft or Profession skill.

Secrets and Knowledge (Invoker Otherworldly Patron)

The original seekers who ascended to godhood will occasionally reach out to one of their own through its hivemind, augmenting it and turning the seeker into an avatar of their power.

An invoker who makes a pact with Secrets and Knowledge adds the following spells to her invoker spell list.

Spell Level Spells
1st anticipate peril, detect secret doors
2nd locate object, obscure object
3rd nondetection, tongues
4th locate creature, modify memory
5th false vision, secret chest

At 1st level, the invoker treats all Knowledge skills and Sleight of Hand as class skills. She gains 2 additional skill ranks per invoker level.

At 5th level, the invoker becomes a master of secrets and can take 10 on any Bluff, Disguise, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth skill check that she has ranks in. An invoker can choose not to take 10 and can instead roll normally. In addition, once per day, the invoker can take 20 on one of the above skill checks as a standard action. She can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels she possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.

Starting at 9th level, the invoker gains a permanent detect thoughts effect as a supernatural ability. Once she has detected the thoughts of 1 creature per 2 invoker levels, the effect is suppressed until the invoker rests for at least 8 hours.

At 14th level, once per day, the invoker can reveal an enemy’s deepest secrets when she damages it with an attack or spell. A successful Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the invoker’s level + her Charisma modifier) negates this effect. On a failed save, the creature becomes permanently insane (as the insanity spell). On a roll of 26-50, the subject yells out a secret it has kept hidden. If the creature has no such secrets, or if nobody is around to hear, it babbles incoherently.

Seeker Armor Training (Armor Training Option)

A seeker who takes levels in fighter or another class which grants the armor training class feature gains a +6 armor bonus when wearing no other armor and treats her longcoat as medium armor. This bonus goes away if the seeker would lose its manufactured armor bonus (such as when using wild shape), and the seeker can enchant her long coat as if it were a breastplate. The seeker can use a feat or bonus feat to increase this bonus to +9, at which point her long coat counts as heavy armor and incurs a -2 armor check penalty.

A seeker who also has levels in a class that restricts armor (such as monk) must decide at the beginning of each day whether to apply her armor bonus or not. She can use a feat or bonus feat to gain the ability to change this decision once per day as a standard action.

Malleable Shield (Shield Proficiency Option)

A seeker with the malleable weapons racial trait who takes levels in a class that is proficient with shields can use that ability to form one of her hands into a shield, granting her a +2 shield bonus to AC. She can enchant the shield as if it were a heavy steel shield.

Any bonuses and special properties placed on the shield only function when the seeker uses her hand in that way.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

The Book of Many Things, © 2018,Samurai Sheepdog; author Kevin Glusing.

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