Ego Manifestation

Occult Lore
Author Keith Baker, Adam Bank, Chris Jones, Scott Reeves, and Elton Robb
Series Lore
Publisher Atlas
Publish date 2002

The ego is responsible for looking out for the interests of the individual – balancing the rampant desires of the id and the concerns of the superego with its own long-term goals. Of the three, the ego is the most concerned with the future.

But most of all, it is concerned with the well-being of the individual. The superego whines about issues like ethics and morality. The ego is simply interested in doing what’s best for itself; it is just capable of more subtlety and foresight than the brutal id.

An ego manifestation generally takes the form of the dream host. On the rare occasions when this is not the case, it will generally assume the shape of someone important to the dreamer – generally someone who looks after the dreamer; in these cases it still uses the statistics of the dreamer as a base template – it only looks like someone else. An ego manifestation is always an idealized appearance – perfectly groomed, well-clothed, presenting the dreamer as he would like to see himself. It can use all of the skills and abilities of the dreamer, and it is possessed of a high level of cunning; it will quickly evaluate the party and see if they can somehow serve a useful purpose (say, eliminating a rampaging id manifestation or getting the superego to shut up). If not, it will attempt to dispose of the party through trickery, sending them into a dangerous area or striking from surprise.

A party should never be able to trust the ego. It will say whatever it thinks they want to hear, and do whatever it has to do to accomplish its goals. Unless, of course, it has to deal with a superego chaperone keeping it in line –

‘Ego manifestation’ is a template that can be added to any entity with an Intelligence score of 4 or more. It uses all of the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here. An ego manifestation can only be encountered in the dreams of the base creature.

AC: Same as the base creature with a +2 natural armor bonus. An ego manifestation will use armor or any sort of protective equipment that is generally used by the base character.

Special Attacks: An ego manifestation possesses all of the special attacks of the base creature, plus those listed below:

Sneak Attack (Ex): Any time the ego manifestation’s target would be denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, the manifestation gets a bonus to damage. This bonus is equal to +1d6 for every three levels or hit dice possessed by the base creature.

This is identical to the Sneak Attack ability of the rogue class, and if the base creature possesses rogue levels, this bonus is added to any existing Sneak Attack damage.

Special Qualities: An ego manifestation possesses all of the special qualities of the base creature, plus those listed below:

Blindsight (Ex): A subconscious manifestation is intuitively aware of the nature of its surroundings; it is part of the dream, after all. The manifestation can sense its enemies and surroundings up to 60 feet away, and is not affected by darkness or invisibility.

Fast Healing (Ex): A manifestation receives constant succor from the subconscious. As a result, a manifestation recovers 4 hit points each round. This will not allow the creature to regenerate lost limbs, nor prevent it from being killed. This will also not restore damage caused by an oneiric bolt spell.

Single-Minded (Ex): The subconscious manifestation is only interested in itself. If it is affected by mind-altering magic, it may make a new saving throw every round to attempt to overcome the effect.

Spell Resistance (Ex): Subconscious manifestations are naturally resistant to magic; the force of the subconscious works to counteract a character’s attempts to harm the creature. A manifestation has a Spell Resistance value equal to 5 + the base creature’s hit dice or character levels.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): The ego is always looking out for itself. An ego manifestation retains its Dexterity bonus to AC even if it is caught flat-footed. It can only be flanked
by a rogue whose level is at least four greater than the total hit dice or levels of the manifestation.

Saves: Add +2 to all of the saving throws of the base creature.

Abilities: Increase from the base creature as follows: Strength +0, Dexterity +4, Constitution +4, Intelligence +0, Wisdom +0, Charisma +4

Skills: The manifestation possesses all of the skills of the base creature. In addition, it gains the following skills: Bluff +6, Innuendo +6, Listen +6, Sense Motive +6, Spot +6. If the base creature already possesses these skills, these bonuses are added to the creature’s existing skill values.

Climate/Terrain: Dreams of the base creature

Organization: Solitary

Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +2

Alignment: Generally neutral, with a slight bias towards the alignment of the base creature. An ego manifestation is most concerned with doing whatever will help it (and the base creature) get ahead in the world. The base creature’s bias towards good or evil will reflect the amount of influence the superego has over the ego – but left on its own, the ego is only interested only in itself.

Treasure: None