Pathfinder 1E Looking for OGC knock-offs of the WotC IP Deathless and Living Construct types

[VelvetViolet]

The Deathless and Living Construct types were never released as OGC by WotC. However, copyright doesn't protect the mechanics behind them. So, I was wondering if anyone had written OGC knock-offs that duplicated their functionality EXACTLY? I've been googling forever and I still haven't found any OGC text that can substitute for them without radically changing how they work.

Here's WotC text for reference: (fair use and all that)

Deathless Type
Deathless describes creatures that have died but returned to a kind of spiritual life. They are similar in many ways to both living creatures and undead. However, while undead represent a mockery of life and a violation of the natural order of life and death, the deathless merely stave off the inevitability of death for a short time in order to accomplish a righteous purpose. While undead draw their power from the Negative Energy plane, the deathless are strongly tied the Positive Energy plane, the birthplace of all souls. In fact, the deathless are little more than disincarnate souls, sometimes wrapped in material flesh, often incorporeal and hardly more substantial than a soul in its purest state.
Features: A deathless has the following features.

• 12-sided Hit Dice.
• Base attack bonus equal to 1/2 of total Hit Dice (as wizard).
• Good Will saves.
• Skill points equal to (4 + Int modifier, minimum 1 per Hit Die, with quadruple skill points for the first Hit Die.

Traits: A deathless has the following traits.

• No Constitution score.
• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charm compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).
• Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects.
• Not subject to critical hits, nonlethal damage, or ability drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution) as well as fatigue and exhaustion effects. Unlike undead, the deathless are subject to energy drain. Like living creatures, deathless are harmed by negative energy and healed by positive energy
• Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save, except for energy drain attacks, effects that also work on objects, and harmless effects.
• Cannot use the run action.
• Uses Charisma modifier for Concentration checks.
• Not at risk of death from massive damage, but when reduced to 0 hp or less, it is immediately destroyed.
• Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect the deathless if they are willing. These spells turn deathless creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming deathless.
• Evil clerics can turn or destroy deathless creatures as good clerics turn or destroy undead. Good clerics and paladins can rebuke, command, or bolster deathless creatures as evil clerics rebuke, command, or bolster undead.
• Deathless creatures gain the same benefits from consecrate and hallow as undead do from desecrate and unhallow, and they are hindered by desecrate and unhallow as undead are by consecrate and hallow. Hide from undead and undeath to death also work against deathless. Detect undead and deathwatch also reveal deathless and allow the caster to distinguish deathless creatures from undead. Evil casters can be stunned by overwhelming auras of deathless creatures as good casters can be stunned by overwhelming undead auras. Use "undead" line in the detect evil spell description when deathless are in the area of detect good spell. Deathless are healed by disrupt undead and damaged by unholy water as undead are by holy water. Deathless are not affected by disrupting weapons. Spells that have greater than normal effect against undead creatures - including chill touch, magic stone, searing light, sunbeam, sunburst, and wall of fire - do not have these enhanced effects against deathless creatures. Deathless take only 1d6 points of damage per two caster levels from searing light. Spells such as command undead, control undead, create undead, create greater undead, and halt undead do not affect or create deathless creatures.
• Proficient with its natural weapons and any weapons mentioned in its entries.
• Proficient in whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Deathless not listed as wearing armor are not proficient with armor.
• Deathless do not breathe, eat, or sleep.

Living Construct Subtype A living construct is a new subtype of construct, a created being given sentience and free will through powerful and complex creation enchantments. Living constructs combine aspects of both constructs and living creatures, as detailed below.

Features: A living construct derives its Hit Dice, base attack bonus progression, saving throws, and skill points from the class it selects.
Traits: A living construct possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).

• Unlike other constructs, a living construct has a Constitution score. A living construct does not gain bonus hit points by size but gains (or loses) bonus hit points through a Constitution bonus (or penalty) as with other living creatures.
• Unlike other constructs, a living construct does not have low-light vision or darkvision.
• Unlike other constructs, a living construct is not immune to mind-influencing effects.
• Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, and energy drain.
• A living construct cannot heal damage naturally.
• Unlike other constructs, living constructs are subject to critical hits, effects requiring a Fort save, death from massive damage, nonlethal damage, stunning, ability damage, ability drain, and death effects or necromancy effects.
• Unlike other constructs, a living construct can use the run action.
• Living constructs can be affected by spells that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs. Damage dealt to a living construct can be healed by a cure light wounds spell or a repair light damage spell, for example, and a living construct is vulnerable to a harm spell. However, spells from the healing subschool provide only half effect to a living construct.
• A living construct responds slightly differently from other living creatures when reduced to 0 hit points. A living construct with 0 hit points is disabled, just like a living creature. He can only take a single move action or standard action in each round, but strenuous activity does not risk further injury. When his hit points are less than 0 and greater than -10, a living construct is inert. He is unconscious and helpless, and he cannot perform any actions. However, an inert living construct does not lose additional hit points unless more damage is dealt to him, as with a living creature that is stable.
• Can be raised or resurrected.
• Does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from the effects of consumable spells and magic items such as heroes' feast and potions.
• Does not need to sleep, but must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.

 

[xiombarg]

What is stopping you from doing it? As long as your phrasing isn't identical to the WotC one, but still means the same thing mechanically, there's no copyright issues. Thus is what retro-clones are based on.

 

[VelvetViolet]

So how do these look as far as copyright and OGC is concerned? Anything I need to change, like maybe the names possibly?

The Deathless subtype basically exists solely so that players can play good-aligned necromancers without having to worry about the ickyness of negative energy and undead; yes, I am basically implying right here that positive energy is good and negative energy is evil but, since deathless are literally mirror universe undead and creating them is IIRC an inherently good act, the distinction is meaningless. The Living subtype is for having PC constructs without worrying about too many immunities (or at least not to anything important like negative energy or spells that require Fort saves) as well as for constructs that happen to be made of snakes or something.

Deathless Subtype: Deathless are undead animated by positive energy rather than negative energy. This subtype is applied only to good- or neutral-aligned undead, and all good- and half of all neutral-aligned undead automatically possess this subtype as per the cleric's channel energy class feature. A deathless creature has all the characteristics of undead, except as noted here.

• Deathless creatures are subject to energy drain, harmed by negative energy (such as an inflict spell or unholy water) and healed by positive energy (such as a cure or disrupt undead spell).
• Deathless creatures do not count as undead for the purposes of most spells and effects that affect or create undead creatures, such as disrupting weapons, holy water, chill touch, command undead, control undead, create greater undead, create undead, halt undead, magic stone, searing light, sunbeam, sunburst, and wall of fire. Instant death and warding spells or effects that affect undead, such as hide from undead and undeath to death, still work against deathless creatures.
• Divination spells and effects, such as deathwatch, detect chaos/good/evil/law and detect undead, will differentiate deathless creatures from undead.
• The Command Undead feat will force a deathless creature to flee as the Turn Undead feat and the Turn Undead feat will control a deathless creature as the Command Undead feat.

Living Subtype: This subtype is applied only to constructs. A living construct is a construct that is partly alive, whether because it is composed of a swarm of living creatures, created with its own “life force,” or some other means. A living construct has all the characteristics of constructs, except as noted here.

• A living construct has a Constitution score and does not gain bonus hit points based on size.
• A living construct is at risk from ability damage, ability drain, death effects, death from massive damage, effects that require a Fortitude save, and necromancy effects. A living construct retains all other construct immunities, and gains immunity to being nauseated, petrified and sickened.
• A living construct can be affected by spells and effects that target living creatures as well as by those that target constructs (such as a cure, inflict, or mending spell). Spells and effects that heal hit point or ability damage provide only half their normal benefit to a living construct.
• A living construct can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be.
• A living construct can be injured and killed just as other living creatures can be. However, a living construct is not subject to injury from strenuous activity while disabled and is automatically stable at negative hit points regardless of other effects (so a living construct taking continuous damage would not lose 1 additional hit point per round).
• Living constructs do not need to breathe, eat or sleep (although they can still benefit from consumables such as a heroes' feast spell or magic potions), but must still rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
• Note: Constructs, whether or not they possess the living subtype, lose their immunity to mind-affecting effects if they have an Intelligence score. An intelligent construct capable of speech can speak even without a mouth.

 

[Kramodlog]

Undying or abdead (from China Miéville's The Scar) might be good altenatives for deathless.

Life infused construct, animate or animated, created, fabricant, might be alternatives for living contruct.

 

[VelvetViolet]

I'm only asking if using the names would be considered copyright infringement. The OGC supplement for the "relluk" race (also on d20pdfsrd.org) has some guidelines for a "living construct" traits, so I suppose I could still use the term "living construct." Deathless is literally just a rearrangement of the word undead... as in, if you tried to translate them into any other language, they would be the same word: "not dead." Although the simplest solution is to have negative and positive subtypes for undead. Normal undead have the negative subtype or the undead type automatically assumes the negative subtype unless the positive subtype is used. Having the subtype be determined the same way the cleric's channel class feature is also simplifies matters.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

Although the simplest solution is to have negative and positive subtypes for undead. Normal undead have the negative subtype or the undead type automatically assumes the negative subtype unless the positive subtype is used. Having the subtype be determined the same way the cleric's channel class feature is also simplifies matters.

IIRC, prior to 3rd edition, Mummies were positive energy undead.

 

[VelvetViolet]

IIRC, prior to 3rd edition, Mummies were positive energy undead.

I was aware of that, and Van Richten's Guide to the Ancient Dead mentions this... in fact, vampires existed in the positive, negative and material planes simultaneously back then. 3e assumes good is just evil multiplied by negative one and invented the deathless type to allow for good undead (even though ghosts could be good). Pathfinder assumes that all undead are automatically evil, aside from a few 3rd-party supplements for good necromancers. Having the positive subtype, along with the risen subtype from Liber Vampyr (see below), would allow characters to play undead without having to worry about excessive immunities or being harmed by the cleric's healing.

I'm thinking that mindless positive undead would try to do good deeds in the absence of standing orders, in the same way negative skeletons and zombies attack and kill any living thing they see. Maybe the mindless positives would also perform dance routines or form traveling carnivals to entertain the living and violently massacre any orc and goblinoid villages and other evil creatures they encounter. Sort of an inverted circus of fear.

Undead of the risen subtype remain far closer to their mortality than most other types of undead, and so they do not
gain all of the features normally granted by the undead type. Undead with the risen subtype have the following adjustments
to the standard undead traits:
• Undead with the risen subtype still have a Constitution score. They do not use their Charisma score in place of
Constitution
• Undead of the risen subtype gain darkvision 60 ft., as normal for undead.
• Undead with the risen subtype do not gain a general immunity to any effect requiring a Fortitude save, though they
retain many other immunities of being undead (see below).
• Undead with the risen subtype are not immune to mind-affecting effects, but receive a +4 racial bonus against such
effects.
• Undead with the risen subtype are immune to bleed, death effects, disease, exhaustion, fatigue, paralysis, and poison.
• Undead with the risen subtype are not immune to ability drain, ability damage to their physical ability scores, energy
drain, sleep effects, or stunning, but receive a +4 racial bonus on saving throws made to resist these effects.
• Undead with the risen subtype are not immune to nonlethal damage.
• Undead with the risen subtype are harmed by positive energy and healed by negative energy, as normal for an undead
creature.
• Undead with the risen subtype are not immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points. Instead, an undead with
the risen subtype that is reduced to 0 hit points loses consciousness and is unable to act, effectively “hibernating.”
While in this state, the creature does not continue to lose hit points each round, and is not dying. If the creature
receives enough healing to increase its current hit points above 0, it “awakens” and can act normally, but the creature
does not heal naturally while at 0 hit points or fewer. If the creature is reduced to a number of negative hit points in
excess of her Constitution score, she is destroyed. Certain undead with the risen subtype can be revived from this
state through special means.