Raw psionic energy barely contained in a body of gleaming crystalline shards
AW at-will · ENC encounter · DLY daily |
Fields: Req requirement · Trig trigger · Tgt target · Atk attack · Hit/Miss/Eff · 1°/2° primary/secondary · Sust sustain · After aftereffect · Spec special |
Shorthand: Str/Dex/Con/Wis/Int/Cha = ability mod · EONT/SONT = end/start of your next turn · sq = square(s) · CA combat advantage · OA opp. attack · MBA/RBA melee/ranged basic attack · HP hit points · tgt target · [W] weapon dice
| ENC | Shard SwarmShardmind Racial PowerMove Close burst 1TeleportationTgt Each enemy in burst | You loosen your mental grip on your physical form, distracting your foes with a swarm of shards. You then re-form elsewhere. Eff Each target grants CA to you until EONT. You then teleport half your speed. |
Shardminds are sentient fragments of the Living Gate, which once stood at the pinnacle of the intricate lattice of the Astral Sea. Beyond that gate lay the alien Far Realm, and the gate’s destruction during the Dawn War resulted in the rise of the mind flayer empire. Though Ioun’s power holds the portal closed, shardminds seek to rebuild the gate and forever cut off the Far Realm’s ability to influence the world.
Shardminds are crystalline creatures consisting of hundreds of small shards of translucent green, white, red, or amber crystal assembled into humanoid form and animated by a force of pure psionic energy. Shardminds choose their forms to mimic the shapes of humanoids; some take on forms that seem more masculine, while others appear more feminine. A shardmind’s animating force glows dimly from within each of its component shards, emanating most brightly from where the eyes of a natural humanoid would be. This inner light sheds dim light in a shardmind’s space, but a shardmind individual can squelch the light with an instant’s concentration—in order to hide in the dark, for example.
The crystalline fragments making up a shardmind’s body are in constant, silent motion, almost like the circulation of blood. When a shardmind is stunned or unconscious, it might lose control of the tight mental reins that keep its body in humanoid form, a few shards slipping free into orbits around its body until the shardmind regains control.
Shardminds are living creatures only in the loosest sense. Their crystalline bodies require no sustenance, and they don’t breathe. They don’t need sleep, though they must still rest for six hours to gain the benefits of an extended rest. They don’t have gender and don’t reproduce, but the shardminds alive today aren’t the same ones that sprang to life during the Dawn War. Shardminds say that the Living Gate shattered into countless fragments, and each time an awakened shardmind is killed, another one somewhere in the universe stirs to consciousness.
Shardminds are fragments of pure thought given life and substance. They are logical, emotionally distant, and naive to the ways of society in the world. Some approach life with innocent curiosity, eager to embrace the wealth of experiences the world has to offer, while others remain reserved and aloof, bearing a higher purpose in mind at all times. Though they often seem dispassionate, when a strong emotion seizes them, they experience it powerfully. For example, shardminds don’t get annoyed; they become enraged.
Although the race as a whole shares a common goal of rebuilding the Living Gate, several philosophies disagree on how to accomplish that goal. The three most important sects are the Thought Builders, the God Shards, and the Shard Slayers. See “Shardmind Backgrounds” below for more information about each philosophy.
These shardmind background elements each represent a distinct philosophy, so it is unlikely that a shardmind would have more than one of them.
“My body is but one of many possible configurations of substance.”
A shardmind’s physical form is an amalgamation of crystalline shards that shardminds believe are fragments of the Living Gate, bound together by force of will into a humanoid form. Every shardmind has a limited ability to alter that form.
You, however, are a shard disciple; you have learned how to relax the bonds of your form to the point where your body becomes a swirling storm of crystalline fragments. You can disperse your body to protect yourself from attacks, and your shard swarm racial power lets you form yourself into a lethal cloud of crystals. As you advance in level, you learn to disperse your consciousness into your component fragments, allowing you to quickly recover from mortal injury or even maintain your consciousness in the form of a swirling storm of shards and psionic energy.
| ENC | Irruption of the Living GateShard Disciple Attack 11Std Area burst 1 within 10 squaresImplement, Psionic, ZoneTgt Each creature in burst | Ruby shards explode around your foes. With the expenditure of psionic energy, you can transport yourself into the middle of the storm. Atk Int vs Reflex · Hit 2d10 + Int dmg. Eff The burst creates a zone that lasts until EONT. The zone is difficult terrain for your enemies. |
Augment 2 (Teleportation)
Area burst 2 within 10 squares Effect: As above, and while the zone persists, you can teleport to a square within it as a move action.
| DLY | RecrystallizeShard Disciple Utility 12No Act PersHealing, Psionic, Teleportation | Your wounds have broken your mental hold on your physical form, but a flicker of psionic energy within you lets you reconstitute your body elsewhere. Trig You drop to 0 HP or fewer · Eff You spend a healing surge and then teleport 10 sq. |
| DLY | Shard StormShard Disciple Attack 20Std Close burst 3Implement, Polymorph, Psionic, Teleportation, ZoneTgt Each enemy in burst | The crystalline fragments of your body explode in a swirling whirlwind of psionic energy, forming a terrible storm to batter your enemies. Atk Int vs Fortitude · Hit 3d6 + Int dmg. Eff The burst creates a zone that lasts until EONT or until you leave it. The zone is difficult terrain for your enemies, and any enemy that ends its turn within the zone takes 10 dmg. While the zone persists, you take half dmg from melee attacks and ranged attacks, and those attacks can’t pull, push, or slide you. As a move action, you can teleport to a sq within the zone. Sust Minor The zone persists. |