Elemental Binding

Elemental bound items use a unusual fuel to power the magical energies necessary to operate them; a single, summoned, non-native outsider or another summoned creature with the extraplanar subtype, bound inside of a Khyber dragonshard. While the most common kind of outsider bound are elementals, hence the name of the item, there is nothing preventing summoning other non-native outsiders or summoned creatures with the extraplanar subtpe and binding them into the Khyber dragonshard. The general reason why this is not done is because elementals, as a whole, are more direct and not as devious as other extraplanar creatures when they strike back.

Creation

The creation of an elemental bound item requires a significant amount of effort at the initial start of the process to obtain a Khyber dragonshard large enough to hold a single extraplanar creature, summon that extraplanar creature and then bind it into the Khyber dragonshard. After that portion is done, the rest of the process can be somewhat hand-waived.

Feats

All elemental bound items require the Bind Elemental feat in addition to any other item creation feats required. Often, this is either Craft Magic Arms and Armor or Craft Wondrous Item.

Price

The final price of an elemental bound item is determined like a normal magical item. The cost for a successful binding of the extraplanar creature is not included in the final cost or the construction cost.

Cost

The cost in raw materials needed to create an elemental bound item is one half of the final price of the elemental bound item, minus the cost of the Khyber dragonshard listed in the talismanic cost, to a minimum of the Khyber dragonshard. The cost for a successful binding of the extraplanar creature is not included in the final cost or the construction cost.

Talismanic Cost

Every elemental bound item has one, and only one, Khyber dragonshard needed as part of its construction. To determine the minimum value of the Khyber dragonshard needed, as well as the Hit Dice range that a Khyber dragonshard can hold, compare the caster level of the elemental bound item against the following table.

Time

The time necessary to create an elemental bound item is equal to the time necessary to summon and bind the extraplanar creature, plus the same base time of 1,000 gp per day. While the time spent summoning and binding an extraplanar creature is usually only one day, that part of the construction time cannot be reduced, while the remaining base time can be reduced normally. It is possible to bind the extraplanar creature into the Khyber dragonshard and leave it, complete another item creation project, and come back to the elemental bound item later.

Effort

Before the creation of elemental bound can begin, a single, appropriate outsider or summoned creature with the extraplanar subtype, of enough Hit Dice, needs to be summoned and bound into an empty Khyber dragonshard of the appropriate worth. This process is identical to the Binding Outsiders rules (Ultimate Magic, pg. 101), with a few exceptions. A Magic Circle, attuned to the summoned extraplanar creature and focused inward, needs to be drawn around the empty Khyber dragonshard. The extraplanar creature must then be summoned into the inward Magic Circle and a Planar Binding, or similar effect, needs to placed on both the extraplanar creature and the empty Khyber dragonshard. If the Khyber dragonshard is not worth enough to contain the summoned extraplanar creature, the effect automatically fails and the inward focused Magic Circle breaks, releasing the extraplanar creature. Any other protections are still left in place.

Only one extraplanar creature can be placed in a Khyber dragonshard at a time and only one Khyber dragonshard can be placed in an elemental bound item at a time. As per normal binding rules, another Magic Circle, Dimensional Anchor, use of true names, bargaining and anathematic items are also used. If the extraplanar creature to be summoned is not a standard elemental, Knowledge (planes) checks may be needed to correctly determine the right kind of extraplanar creature to use, at the same DC to identify the needed extraplanar creature.

Assuming all is successful, the extraplanar creature is bound inside the Khyber dragonshard for as long as the Khyber dragonshard remains intact and no other effect removes the binding (see Complications). During this time, the bound extraplanar creature The person that binds the extraplanar creature to the Khyber dragonshard does not need to be the one that completes the magical item creation. Artificers often need other casters or the necessary scrolls to perform this part of the process.

Use

Elemental bound items are used much like other magical items, with some unusual benefits and complications, detailed below.

Benefits

All elemental bound items have the following benefits.

Dispel Immunity: All elemental bound items have the standard benefit of Dispel Immunity, as per Special Rules.

Outsider Hospitality: The extraplanar creature inside of a elemental bound item is usually Unfriendly or Hostile to the wielder (as per Diplomacy rules), but it does not have to be. If the extraplanar creature becomes Friendly or Helpful, the elemental bound item will actually assist the wielder in ways that other magical items cannot. In the simplest of terms, for Friendly elemental bound items, any standard or move action needed to activate a quality of a elemental bound will automatically activate without the wielder needed to spend the action. For Helpful elemental bound items, if the elemental bound item can act independently in some way, like an elemental bound wondrous vehicle piloting itself, it will do so in order to help the wielder.

In either case, any action taken by the bound extraplanar creature is always taken at the end of the round and it is considered blind but otherwise aware of what is going on around it.

Wondrous Vehicles: When determining the final price for a elemental bound wondrous vehicle, apply a 10% discount when compared to a normal magical item of the same abilities. Second, elemental bound wondrous vehicles can always be operated, if not maintained, by one individual. Lastly, a controlled elemental bound vehicle can ignore non-magical weather effects on movement (wind, currents, etc).

Complications

All elemental bound items have the following complications.

Effect Vulnerability: While all elemental bound items have the standard benefit of Dispel Immunity, they also all share a special vulnerability to effects that can undo summonings or other banish extraplanar creatures. The being bound inside the Khyber dragonshard is still bound, as per the Biniding Outersider rules, and thus is subject to the same spells and effects that could control or manipulate a bound extraplanar creature. Chief among these are Charm Monster, Dominate Monster, Banishment and Dismissal. Charm and Dominate effects can cause an Elemental Bound item to activate, deactivate or be suppressed, as desired by the caster. Likewise, a successful Dismissal will suppress the item for 2d6 rounds, while a successful Banishment will suppress it for 2d6 minutes. A Freedom spell will cause a bound outsider to be immediately sent back to its native plane. While this disenchants an elemental bound item, re-enchanting it only requires the summoning and binding of the same kind of extraplanar creature again.

Elemental Control: Elemental bound items still have an intelligent extraplanar being trapped inside. Under certain conditions, the bound extraplanar being can 'act out' through the item, based on what kind of item and what kind of extraplanar creature is in the item. A mobile elemental bound item that has not be under control for 24 hours will automatically act up, but keeping them under control while stationary requires only a minute of effort.

• Conditions:

  • Wondrous Vehicle: An elemental bound wondrous vehicle, or any elemental bound item that is capable of movement, requires regular control. Typically, such an item will act up about twice a month, as well as anytime it suffers 100 or more points of damage. Wondrous vehicles have also been known to act up while traveling near manifest zones or other areas of significant magical or planar energy.

  • Other: An elemental bound item that is small enough that it can be wielded or worn, and is not mobile on its own, cannot act out against the wielder unless the item has the broken condition.

• Available Actions:

  • Spell-Like Abilities: A bound extraplanar creature that has spell-like abilities that do not require a physical body can use those spell-like abilities with a caster level check against a DC equal to 10 + the Caster Level of the item it is bound into. If successful, the spell-like ability can be used as if the extraplanar creature was present in the same square the item is in, or in the case of wondrous vehicle, any square on the outer surface of the vehicle. The bound extraplanar creature is considered blind in either case.

  • Other: Bound extraplanar creatures that do not have spell-like abilities can only activate or deactivate the item (or any specific ability of the item). The bound extraplanar creature is considered blind in either case. In the case of wondrous vehicles, the driver or pilot must bring the extraplanar creature under control in order to perform any driving actions. Otherwise, the extraplanar creature will attempt to guide the vehicle into a a ramming maneuver against a random solid object.

• Bringing It Under Control Again:

  • Acting Up: Controlling a bound extraplanar being that is 'acting up' requires either an Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check of the wielder or operator's chose. This is usually Intimidate check, as success costs the pilot nothing. Diplomacy or Bluff can also work as well, but at the risk of either costing something to the wielder or pilot or another immediate and more difficult check. This is check is telepathic and language-independent, but requires the wielder or operator to be in physical contact with the elemental bound item or the controls, in the case of a elemental bound Wondrous Vehicle. The normal rules for retrying these skills apply, as does more direct means of control, like Charm Monster or Dominate Monster.

  • Out of Control: Any elemental bound item capable of its own movement that as be acting up for over a minute straight is now out of control. As per Acting Up, but with a -20 to the appropriate check.

  • Success / Failure: If successful, the elemental item is usable as normal again conditions occur again. If not, the elemental bound item remains 'acting up' until it is controlled again.

Locked Benefits: All elemental bound items have the standard complication of Locked Benefits, as per Special Rules.

Shard Vulnerability: If the elemental bound item is destroyed or otherwise permanently disenchanted, the extraplanar creature is freed and immediately appears in a square adjacent to the former Elemental Bound item, or Khyber dragonshard in the case of vehicles. The formally bound creature is usually immediately hostile to the wielder. It is possible to specifically target the Khyber dragonshard in a magical item, but this is considered a Challenging called shot (usually at -10 to hit). The Khyber dragonshard is usually considered to be part of the magical item for the purposes of hardness and hit points. The notable exception is Khyber dragonshards in elemental bound wondrous vehicles, which are located somewhere inside the vehicle. The exact location, hardness and hit points are detailed in the wondrous vehicle's description.

Theme Requirement: As only a single being can be bound into a Khyber dragonshard and only one Khyber dragonshard can be part of a elemental bound item, all of the enchantments and special qualities of the item must be related and that the extraplanar creature chosen to be bound must fit all of the appropriate themes of those enchantments and special qualities. While some of these will be obvious (fire elementals for Flaming weapons), otherwise will not be so clear. The being needed to supply the necessary energies for a number of different abilities might not even exist. Ultimately, it is GM's discretion to see if a combination of special qualities can be met with a single non-native extraplanar creature or summoned creature with the extraplanar subtype, and if so, what that being would be.

Examples

The following are examples of elemental bound items already in this conversion.

• Magical Armor

  • • Burning (Major Special Quality)

    • Earthplate Armor (Medium Specific Armor)

    • Stonemeld (Major Special Quality)

    • Underwater Action (Major Special Quality)

• • Whirlwind (Major Special Quality)

• Magical Weapons

  • • Earthbound (Minor Special Quality)

    • Finesse (Medium Special Quality)

    • Scorching (Medium Special Quality)

    • Waterborn (Medium Special Quality)

• Wondrous Items

  • • Bracers of Wind (Medium Wondrous Item)

    • Fiery Tunic (Medium Wondrous Item)

    • Gloves of Flame (Medium Wondrous Item)

    • Rock Boots (Minor Wondrous Item)

    • Water Cloak (Medium Wondrous Item)

• Wondrous Vehicles

• • Airship

  • Earth Sled

  • Elemental Galleon

  • Lightning Rail Engine

  • Tumbler