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For some psions, it's all about the preservation of life: their life. For these individuals, the thought of their existence ending is completely unbearable, and they go to any lengths to avoid the bleakness of death. It is ironic then to learn of how these psions solve this dilemma. They follow the dark arts and turn to the realm of the undead to escape the end. Though they pay a heavy cost for this new existence, for them, it is worth it, for they can exist forever.

The grim psion undergoes a physical change in becoming one of the undead. Her body desiccates and her skin stretches tight, showing her skeleton clearly. Her hair hangs in tatters until it either falls out or she removes it, and her eyes wither to nothing, leaving a pair of glowing red sockets. Eventually, her entire body rots away, leaving just a skeleton.

Requirements

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the grim psion prestige class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Grim psions gain no proficiency in any weapons or armor, but they retain any previous knowledge they may have had.

Power Points: When they gain a level, grim psions gain power points per day as though they gained a level of psion. These power points are added to the character's previous total. Grim psions gain bonus power points based on the key ability score for their primary ability. If the character previously could not gain bonus power points for high ability scores (as is the case for psychic warriors), she now chooses a primary discipline and can gain bonus power points based on the related ability score.

Powers Discovered: At 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 10th levels, grim psions discover powers as though they gained a level of psion. Powers are chosen from the psion power list. Their effective manifester level is increased by one for each level of the prestige class.

Psionic Combat: Psionic attack and defense modes are discovered as though the character were a psychic warrior of the same level as the prestige class. (Characters do not forget previously discovered attack and defense modes.)

0-Level Powers: Grim psion levels count toward the level of the psionic character for determining the number of free manifestations per day of 0-level powers.

Undeath (Ex): By embracing this path, the grim psion becomes an undead creature. She becomes immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, polymorphing, stunning, disease, death effects, and necromantic effects. She also ignores mind-influencing effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and moral effects), but she is still subject to psionic combat. Dread champions are also not subject to critical hits, subdual damage, ability damage, ability drain, or energy drain. She has no Constitution score and is therefore immune to any effect requiring a Fortitude save (unless it affects objects). A grim psion uses her Charisma modifier when making Concentration checks.

As an undead, a grim psion is no longer healed normally. She requires negative energy (such as an inflict wounds spell) to heal, though regeneration and fast healing effects work normally.

A grim psion is not at risk of death due to massive damage, but she is immediately destroyed if reduced to 0 hit points or less. She can no longer be raised or resurrected. She can be brought back to existence only through use of a wish or psionic reality alteration.

A grim psion gains darkvision with a range of 60 feet.

A grim psion can be turned. A grim psion can no longer use Psychometabolism powers and uses her Charisma modifier for Psychokinetic powers.

Hit Dice Promotion (Ex): At 1st level, each previous Hit Die gained promotes to a d6 if it was less than a d6. At 4th level, each promotes to d8, and then they promote to d10 at 7th level and d12 at 10th level. Any levels gained after becoming a grim psion use the current grim psion Hit Dice type to determine hit points gained.

Ability Gains (Ex): As the grim psion gains levels in this prestige class, her ability scores increases as noted in the class table. These increases stack and are gained as if through level advancement.

Damage Reduction (Su): At 2nd level, the grim psion's body toughens, giving her damage reduction of 2/-, this power improves to 3/- at 4th level, 4/- at 6th level, and to 5/- at 8th level.

Natural Armor Class (Ex): Due to the increasing toughening of her body, the grim psion gains the listed natural Armor Class bonus.

Fear Cone (Su): As a standard action, the grim psion can create a cone of fear 30 feet long. Creatures in the cone must make a Will save of DC 10 + the grim psion's class level + grim psion's Charisma modifier. Those who fail are panicked for 2d6 rounds.

Tainted Construction (Ex): The grim psion gains this feat even if she does not meet the prerequisites for it. Any construct she manifests will now be of tainted ectoplasm.

Turn Immunity (Ex): At 6th level, the grim psion becomes immune to turning effects. She cannot be turned, rebuked, or commanded, but she is still subject to spells and powers that affect undead, such as sever the tie.

Cold Immunity (Ex): At 7th level, the grim psion becomes immune to cold damage.

Paralytic Touch (Su): At 9th level, the grim psion completes her connection to the Negative Energy Plane. She gains a touch attack that deals 1d8 points of negative energy damage; a Will save with a DC 10 + grim psion's class level + grim psion's Charisma modifier reduces the damage by half. If the target fails this save, it is also paralyzed for 1d3 rounds. She cannot heal herself through use of this.

Mind Construct (Su): The grim psion learns a form of mind store power. She prepares a storage gem to capture her mind's essence if her physical form is destroyed. This gem must have a minimum value of 1,000 gp and takes a full day to prepare. The transfer from the destroyed physical form to the storage gem works over any distance, physical or extradimensional, unless some sort of special planar geometry supersedes the transfer. Upon transfer to storage crystal, the grim psion's psicrystal is lost, incurring the normal penalties. Once in the crystal, raw, tainted ectoplasm is drawn forth to surround the crystal with a Diminutive astral construct form. The grim psion now has the listed stats of this construct, but she still has full command of her psionic abilities. She has ten days to secure a new body, otherwise her essence will pass on. The new body must be humanoid and dead, and it must have been slain in the past 9 days. Upon making contact with the corpse, the grim psion wills the transfer and the storage gem shatters into dust. She is now helpless for 24 hours, as the body decays to match her skeletal state.

Mind Construct
Size: Diminutive.
HD: As the grim psion.
Speed: 30 feet.
AC: 20 (+4 size, +6 natural).
Attack: None.
Special Attacks: The grim psion loses all special attacks except psionic powers.
Special Qualities: The grim psion loses all special qualities except psionic powers.
Base Saves: As the grim psion.
Ability Scores: Str 4, Dex 10, Con —, Int as grim psion, Wis as grim psion, Cha as grim psion.
Alignment: As the grim psion.

The mind construct is a Diminutive tainted astral construct. It is humanoid in shape, and it is made of swirling black and purple ectoplasm with a pair of glowing red eyes.

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