Living Image (3.5e Race)

Author: ErikOfWiki (talk) Date Created: Jan 24, 2023 Status: Completed Editing: Clarity edits only please

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Living Image

This species began when a formless spirit of law bound to an illusory figment was commanded to emulate being a living being. Over time that open-ended command enabled the original to evolve, procreate, and ultimately perish. Whether these creatures are actually self aware is debatable, but they seem to think they are.

Personality

A living image behaves as any living creature might, with some exceptions stemming from their unusual form. A living image is partially incorporeal and does not have much need for physical items, though they may have the desire to acquire them as many living things do. Living images have acquired a strong psychosomatic need to eat, sleep and breathe, and while their nutritional requirements are greatly reduced as compared to most creatures, if they are not met then they will suffer as other creatures normally would. Gaining new experiences may be a motivational force to a living image, though some find rarely comfort in a familiar or repetitive routine.

Physical Description

The form of a living image is an amorphous shape that roughly translates to a more slight outline of their adopted form. They emulate a form through which the world perceives them. Young living images are chaotic ever shifting illusions, but as they mature they settle on a singular form which they keep as their adopted form, only gradually changing as they age. A mature living image's actual form is small; however, its adopted form may be either small or medium, and resembling any creature that they desire. Most choose to be humanoid in general form usually between 3' and 7' tall or long, with a single head. Living images themselves have no gender or sex, but some may choose a gender for their adopted form.

While a developing living image may have many manipulating or ambulating tendrils, once they choose their adopted form they are limited to the number of manipulating and ambulating limbs of their adopted form.

A living image devours food and drink by absorbing it through its tendrils. Typically the act is masked by pretending to take sips of fluids or holding food up to its head while the limbs slowly dissolve the food. Partially eaten food looks like it was sanded down when devoured by this process.

Procreation occurs when a living image has acquired enough life experience that it can bud off an offspring. When this begins to happen is often unpredictable, though the living image can sense the process which takes months. The living image will have a desire to seek new experiences during this development to help foster the growth of the nascent living image.

Relations

Living images tend to get along best with more progressive races that don't revile living images for being atypical creatures.

Alignment

A living image may be any alignment.

Lands

Living images prefer to live amongst other creatures, and tend to have an urban inclination.

Religion

Religious worship varies amongst living images, if there is any particular worship that is more likely it would be worship of deities with a portfolio of the magic domain.

Language

Living images speak Common and one additional language that is native to their adopted form.

Names

A living image will have two names, one that they are given by their progenitor and its chosen name that it decides upon reaching maturity and the taking of an adopted form.

Racial Traits

• -4 Strength
• Aberration: Living images are mutated magical creatures that have evolved beyond their origins as an augmented spell. 
• Small: As a Small creature, a living image gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –4 size penalty on special attack (bull rushes, grapples, overruns, and trips) checks, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but it uses smaller weapons than humans use, and its lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• Living Image base land speed is 20 feet.  
• Darkvision: A living image can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and a living image can function just fine with no light at all. 
• Amorphous (Ex): A living image is not subject to critical hits. 
• Glamer (Su): A living image constantly projects a glamer of its adopted form which must be a creature between 3' and 7' in its longest dimension. As a free action the living image can alter its appearance in order to create outfits or cosmetic changes such as but not limited to appearing dirtier, producing blood, sweat, or tears. It can also subtly change its smell and texture, and uses the glamer to project its voice. This is a glamer illusion effect of a caster level equal to the living image's HD. In an area of antimagic the glamer is suppressed and the living image appears as a faint translucent skinny outline of its form with slender tendril-like limbs. If the glamer is dispelled with a targeted dispel magic then the glamer is suppressed for 1d4 rounds. While its glamer is suppressed the living image cannot speak as it uses the glamer to produce sound. 
• Illusion Mastery (Ex): A living image may concentrate as a free action to maintain any spell of the illusion school, though it may only do this for a single spell per round. For the purpose of Disbelieving illusions, a living image also is treated as having interacted with any illusion it perceives. 
• Minimal Sustenance (Ex): A living image only requires enough food and water each day to sustain itself as a tiny creature would require, 1/4 of a medium sized portion. If in a confined space of limited breathable air, then the living image also only consumes oxygen at the rate of a tiny creature's respiration. 
• Partial Incorporeality (Ex): Living images are partially incorporeal.
• Automatic Languages: Common, any one additional language (except secret languages, such as Druidic)
• Bonus Languages: Any (except secret languages)
• Favored Class: Any
• Level Adjustment: +0
• Effective Character Level: 1

Vital Statistics

Table: Living Image Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Simple	Moderate	Complex
1 years	+1d4	+2d4	+3d4

Table: Living Image Aging Effects

Middle Age1	Old2	Venerable3	Maximum Age
40 years	60 years	80 years	+2d20 years
At middle age, −1 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At old age, −2 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha. At venerable age, −3 to Str, Dex, and Con; +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha.

Table: Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	1' 6"	+1d6'	10 lb.	× (2d6) lb.
Female	1' 6"	+1d6'	10 lb.	× (2d6) lb.

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