Ren Monolith (Apath)

Unofficial rules compendium

The ancient lands of the desert are rife with aged ruins guarded by stony sentinels from bygone days, whose implacable gaze can still the heart of a miscreant or scare off a would-be tomb robber. The ancient race of sphinxes is said to have endowed the first ren monoliths with their powers, raising statues to a semblance of life, but today, most of these paragons of justice are mortals who willingly take on the mantle of immortal wizard guardians through ritual and devotion, imbuing themselves with the patience and eternal strength of stone. The ren monolith is a living monolith of the scribe caste.

Class Information

This is a prestige archetype. Ren monoliths are immortal wizards with the might and resilience of stone.

Prestige Class: Living monolith from Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Sands.

Build Classes: Arcanist, psychic, sorcerer, witch, or wizard.

Role: Ren monoliths are sacred guardians, using magical powers to hinder and destroy tomb robbers. In a party, their role is essentially the same, to anticipate and destroy the enemies of the team.

Alignment: Any. Their alignment is generally similar to that of the noble whose tomb they guard. There are more lawful and good monoliths than chaotic and evil ones, because those taking up the task voluntarily are usually lawful and evil nobles tend to prefer undead guardians. Adventuring living monoliths need some unusual motivation to plunder tombs rather than protecting them.

Bonus Language: Sphinx. A ren monolith can pick sphinx as a bonus language, in addition to those allowed by her race.

Hit Die: d6.

Class Skills

Appraise (Int), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int).

Skill Ranks Per Level: 2 + Int modifier.

Class Features

These are all the class features of the ren monolith. The prestige archetype is open to many classes, with slight modifications. Because the archetype has so many abilities, it replaces all of the class features of whatever class it is taken with, except as noted under spells and build class, below.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Ren monoliths are proficient with the club, dagger, dart, sling, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor interferes with a ren monolith's movements, which can cause his spells with somatic components to fail.

Spells

The ren monolith learns and casts spells exactly like the build class, including the effect of ability scores on spellcasting and cantrips or knacks. Since the number of spells per day, spell slots, and known spells depend on the build class, these numbers are not given in Table: Ren Monolith.

Build Class

The ren monolith inherits just a few class features from the build class, as follows.

Arcanist The arcanist can meld his spellbook with his ren stone, causing it to disappear and become inaccessible and indestructible. Melding or taking out the spell book is a standard action.

Psychic The psychic ren monolith gains the psychic's psychic discipline class feature, including discipline spells and discipline powers. Because she lacks a pherenic pool, certain discipline powers do not work, notably those of the Enlightenment discipline.

Sorcerer The sorcerer ren monolith gains Eschew Materials as a bonus feat at level 1. She selects abloodline, but gains only bloodline spells and bloodline arcana from the bloodline; the rest of her power is channeled into the ren stone.

Witch A witch monolith stores her spells in her ren stone.

Wizard Same as the arcanist build class ability.

Fortified Flesh (Ex)

At 1st level, the flesh of a ren monolith takes on the hardness of stone. A ren monolith gains DR 1 and 10% immunity to critical hits and sneak attacks (as if wearing fortification armor). At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, this DR increases by 1 and the immunity to critical hits increases by 10%. When a ren monolith uses his ren stone to reduce his size, these defenses temporarily increase by an additional 1 and 10%, respectively.

Ren Stone (Su)

During his induction into this prestige class, a ren monolith has a stone scarab embedded in his forehead, often set with gems or inlaid with precious metals. This stone is inscribed on its inner side with the monolith's true name and his oaths to the gods and pharaohs. It cannot be removed without his permission, cannot be dispelled (though it does not function in areas where magic does not work), and does not use a magic item slot.

The soul stone grants the ren monolith a +2 bonus on saving throws against death effects, mind-affecting effects, effects that grant negative levels, and on saves to overcome negative levels.

Additionally, a ren stone can be used once per day to cast any one spell that the ren monolith has in his spell list and of a level he is capable of casting. This spell is treated like any other spell cast by the ren monolith, including casting time, duration, and other effects dependent on the ren monolith's level. This spell cannot be modified by metamagic feats or other abilities.

Figurine (Sp)

A ren monolith can invoke the power of his ren stone 3 times per day as a swift action, enabling him to shrink in size as if using reduce person (even if he is not a humanoid). This effect lasts until dispelled or dismissed by the ren monolith.

Scribe Scroll

At 1st level, a ren monolith gains Scribe Scroll as a bonus feat.

Stone Blood (Ex)

At 2nd level, the vital fluids and tissues of a ren monolith can selectively petrify in response to injury. A ren monolith automatically stabilizes when at negative hit points and is immune to continuous damage from bleed attacks (including weapons with the wounding special ability) and ability damage from blood drain.

Armor Bonus (Ex)

At 3rd level, a ren monolith receives +4 armor bonus to AC as a result of their ongoing petrification. This is an armor bonus (not natural armor) and does not stack with armor worn or effects like mage armor. It can be improved with magic vestment and similar armor enhancements.

Stability (Ex)

At 5th level, a ren monolith becomes exceptionally stable on his feet, gaining a +4 bonus to his CMD when he resists a bull rush or trip attempt while standing on the ground. This stacks with a dwarf 's stability trait and similar abilities.

Tombsight (Su)

At 6th level, a living monolith can perceive the balance of life and death within those he sees, as if using deathwatch and detect undead simultaneously.

This power can be used at will and lasts as long as the living monolith concentrates.

Immune to Disease

At 8th level, a living monolith becomes immune to all diseases, including supernatural and magical diseases (such as mummy rot).

Attunement to Stone (Sp)

At 11th level, a ren monolith can use meld into stone at will. The duration of this ability can be freely extended, and the ren monolith does not age, eat, drink, breathe, or sleep while so melded.

Summon Sphinx (Sp)

At 12th level the ren monolith gains a +4 bonus on Diplomacy checks to influence sphinxes, and can call upon the aid of the sphinxes. Once per day, the ren monolith can call a sphinx to his presence and bargain for its services as if using planar ally to call upon an outsider. At 17th level, this ability functions as greater planar ally.

Communion with Stone (Su)

At 14th level, a living monolith achieves a unique communion with the earth, gaining tremorsense to a range of 30 feet. Once per day, the living monolith can communicate with rock and stone as if using stone tell. He gains Terran as a bonus language.

Assumption of Stone (Sp)

At 16th level a living monolith becomes immune to petrification. Also, he may use statue as a spell-like ability with a range of personal at will. Add any damage reduction the living monolith has to its hardness in statue form. The duration of this ability can be freely extended, and the living monolith does not age, eat, drink, breathe, or sleep while using it. If he is using his ren stone to shrink himself, the duration of that ability does not count time in statue form against its duration.

Judgment of the Monolith (Sp)

At 18th level, a living monolith gains the divine authority to demand truthful answers. Once per day, a living monolith can conduct a ritual of inquisition. If performed on a dead body, this functions as speak with dead. Upon a living creature, it functions as a mark of justice that activates if the target lies to the living monolith. A living monolith can also use this power to entreat the spirits of the living and the dead to answer questions as if using contact other plane (treat as contacting a lesser deity).

Ageless Stone (Ex)

At 20th level, a living monolith becomes immortal. He ceases aging (though any aging effects already accrued remain in place) and becomes immune to energy drain and death effects, though he can still be killed by other means.

Table: Ren Monolith

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Special	Spells per Day
						0	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Cantrips, fortified flesh 1, ren stone, Scribe Scroll, shrink	3	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	Stone blood	4	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+1	+1	+1	+3	Armor bonus +4	4	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Fortified flesh 2	4	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+2	+1	+1	+4	Stability	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Tombsight	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+3	+2	+2	+5	Fortified flesh 3	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+4	+2	+2	+6	Immune to disease	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+4	+3	+3	+6	—	4	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—	—
10th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Fortified flesh 4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—	—
11th	+5	+3	+3	+7	Attunement to stone	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	—	—	—
12th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	Summon sphinx	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—	—	—
13th	+6/+1	+4	+4	+8	Fortified flesh 5	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	—	—
14th	+7/+2	+4	+4	+9	Communion with stone	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—	—
15th	+7/+2	+5	+5	+9	Assumption of stone	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1	—
16th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10	Fortified flesh 6	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2	—
17th	+8/+3	+5	+5	+10	Summon sphinx (greater)	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	2	1
18th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	Judgment of the monolith	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	2
19th	+9/+4	+6	+6	+11	Fortified flesh 7	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3
20th	+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Ageless stone	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4

Spells

This spell can be used to create a ren monolith.

Living Monolith Curse

Publisher Purple Duck games
Necromancy (curse) [earth]
Level: cleric/oracle 7
Components: V, S, M (stone scarab worth at least 100 gp per hit dice of the target)
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: touch
Target: touched creature with class levels
Duration: permanent
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: yes

The cursed creature is stunned for 10 minutes and gains a living monolith archetype. Immediately retrain all the creature's feats and all class levels to levels in a living monolith prestige archetype. The target is also subject to a quest of the caster's choosing, and this can be an open-ended quest without the usual time limit. This quest can only be removed by breaking the living monolith curse. When the curse is lifted, the creature returns to its previous class(es), and may immediately advance any levels it gained as a living monolith. If the quest is fulfilled or becomes impossible to fulfill (such as if a guarded tomb is desecrated), the target has the option to return to his old class, or to continue forever as a living monolith; in either case the curse ends.

Living monolith prestige archetypes include the ib monoloth, living monolith, ren monolith, and sheut monoloith.

The curse bestowed by this spell cannot be dispelled, but it can be removed with a break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish spell.

The text in this article is Open Game Content. It is covered by the Open Game License v1.0a, rather than the Action copyright. To distinguish it, these items will have this notice. If you see any page that contains OGL material and does not show this license statement, please contact one of the Action administrators. Please note that images used in article may have different copyright than the text.

Section 15 Addendum

Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Sands © 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Shaun Hocking, Rob McCreary, and Jason Nelson.