Doll Master (3.5e Class)

Doll Master

Doll Masters are curious mages with the power to animate figurines. Many start small with a Marionette, but some eventually grow powerful enough to command large statues and Golems.

Making a Doll Master

Strong points and weak points, and effectiveness with party members.

Abilities: Wisdom determines how powerful spells cast are and is necessary for a good Will Save needed to maintain control of the puppet. Intelligence affects the Craft skills needed to make their puppets. Constitution aids with Concentration checks made to keep control as well as giving the Doll Master more health.

Races: Most Doll Masters tend to be human, as it was human ingenuity that led to the first magically animated puppet of which the class is based.

Alignment: Any.

Starting Gold: 3d4 × 10gp.

Starting Age: Simple.

Table: The Doll Master

Hit Die: d6

Level	Base Attack Bonus	Saving Throws			Special	Spells per Day
		Fort	Ref	Will		0	1^st	2^nd	3^rd	4^th	5^th	6^th	7^th	8^th	9^th
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Pull Strings (Tiny), Weapon Focus (puppet)	5	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3		6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Crafting Bonus +1	6	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Bonus Crafting Feat	6	6	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Pull Strings (Small)	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
6th	+4	+2	+2	+5	Crafting Bonus +2	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—	—
7th	+5	+2	+2	+5		6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
8th	+6/+1	+2	+2	+6	Bonus Crafting Feat	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—	—
9th	+6/+1	+3	+3	+6	Crafting Bonus +3	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—	—
10th	+7/+2	+3	+3	+7	Pull Strings (Medium), Command Constructs	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—	—
11th	+8/+3	+3	+3	+7		6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—	—
12th	+9/+4	+4	+4	+8	Bonus Crafting Feat, Crafting Bonus +4	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—	—
13th	+9/+4	+4	+4	+8		6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—	—
14th	+10/+5	+4	+4	+9		6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—	—
15th	+11/+6/+1	+5	+5	+9	Pull Strings (Large), Crafting Bonus +5	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—	—
16th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10	Bonus Crafting Feat	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3	—
17th	+12/+7/+2	+5	+5	+10		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4	—
18th	+13/+8/+3	+6	+6	+11	Crafting Bonus +6, Mastery of Golems	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	5	3
19th	+14/+9/+4	+6	+6	+11		6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	4
20th	+15/+10/+5	+6	+6	+12	Long Range Manipulation, Bonus Crafting Feat	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6	6
Class Skills (6 + Int modifier per level, ×4 at 1st level) Bluff (Cha), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Heal (Wis), Hide(Dex), Knowledge (All, taken individually) (Int), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Search (Int), Sleight of Hand (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), Spot(Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha), Use Rope (Dex).

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Doll Master.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A Doll Master is proficient with club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff. He is also proficient with using his puppet to wield any weapon he himself is proficient with. A Doll Master is not proficient with any form of armor nor any shields.

Spells: Doll Masters have made it a point to study every arcane spell used to create Golems as well as many to defend themselves while controlling their puppet. Any Divine spells required for crafting Golems must be acquired through scrolls or wishes. The ability modifier for a Doll Master's spells is Wisdom. Doll Masters can spontaneously cast all spells in the following list, provided they have access to that level of spell:

0—Acid Splash, Arcane Mark, Detect Magic, Mage Hand, Mending, Prestidigitation, Ray of Frost, Read Magic, Resistance.

1st—Animate Rope, Identify, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Magic Mouth, Shield, Ventriloquism

2nd—Bear's Endurance, Bull's Strength, Cat's Grace, Eagle's Splendor, Fox's Cunning, Owl's Wisdom, Web

3rd—Fireball, Haste, Lesser Geas, Lightning Bolt, Melf's Acid Arrow, Slow, Spider Climb

4th—Break Enchantment, Crushing Despair, Greater Invisibility, Ice Storm, Otiluke’s Resilient Sphere, Shout, Stoneskin

5th—Cloudkill, Contact Other Plane, Fabricate, Lesser Planar Binding, Permanency, Transmute Mud to Rock, Transmute Rock to Mud

6th—Animate Objects, Antimagic Field, Disintegrate, Flesh to Stone, Geas/Quest, Planar Binding, Stone to Flesh

7th—Drawmij’s Instant Summons, Limited Wish, Mordenkainen's Sword, Project Image, Simulacrum, Statue, Symbol of Stunning

8th—Clone, Greater Planar Binding, Iron Body, Maze, Otiluke’s Telekinetic Sphere, Polymorph Any Object, Trap the Soul

9th—Bigby’s Crushing Hand, Energy Drain, Mordenkainen's Disjunction, Prismatic Sphere, Shades, Wish

Pull Strings (Su): The most important ability of the Doll Master. It allows the Doll Master to manipulate a Tiny size or smaller object or construct with a life-like shape (referred to hereafter as the puppet) through use of a control bar (similar to those used to manipulate a marionette.) It controls the puppet via invisible lines of Ethereal energy, which can be seen from the Ethereal Plane. The Doll Master can manipulate his puppet at a distance of 25 feet plus 5 feet per two every levels in Doll Master. While in control of a puppet, the Doll Master can use any abilities or actions the puppet could make normally if animated. Starting at level 5, and every 5 levels after, a Doll Master can manipulate constructs of one size category larger: Small at level 5, Medium at level 10, and a maximum of Large Size at level 15. Puppets have natural weapons appropriate to their form and size. They can also wield weapons made for their size, if the puppet’s design incorporates hands. The puppet may make use of any combat feats possessed by the Doll Master. They also have Hit Points and Hardness equivalent to an object of similar size and material. Puppets are crafted to design but cannot have their parts changed after creation unless designed that way (adding +10 to the Craft DC.). Anytime a Puppet would need to make a save to prevent damage or breaking, it uses the Doll Master's appropriate save modifier (ex. reflex against a fireball, fortitude against disintegration). Inanimate puppets can be enchanted with enchantments appropriate to their natural attack types (ex. Wounding for a puppet with a piercing or slashing natural weapon.). Any regular weapons must be enchanted separately. Because of the fine movements involved in performing an action with a puppet, puppet actions have a failure chance equal to the Doll Master's arcane spell failure chance when wearing armor or overburdened.

Weapon Focus (puppet): A Doll Master is trained to use his controlled puppet as a weapon. He gains the Weapon Focus (puppet) feat as a bonus feat, even if he doesn't meet the requirements. This provides a +1 attack bonus to attacks made using a puppet's natural weapons. This, however, does not provide the same attack bonus to weapons the puppet is holding. These instead require a separate, appropriate Weapon Focus feat.

Crafting Bonus: The Doll Master gains bonuses for crafting his own personal puppets. Starting at level 3, the Doll Master gains a +1 bonus to all skill checks made to craft a puppet or Golem. This bonus raises by +1 every 3 levels, (+2 at level 6, +3 at level 9, etc.). When manipulating a puppet or Golem he created himself, the Doll Master gains a bonus, equal to the crafting bonus he had when making the puppet, to all attack and damage rolls made by the puppet.

Bonus Crafting Feats: Every 4th level, the Doll Master may pick a bonus feat from the list of Item Creation Feats or the Skill Focus feat, choosing a Craft skill.

Command Constructs (Su): Starting at level 10, the Doll Master may attempt to take control of any creature of the Construct type. This ability bypasses a Golem's immunity to magic. In order to do so, the Doll Master must make a Will save (DC 10 + Hit Dice of the Golem or DC 10 + the controller's Wisdom modifier). If he succeeds, he gains control of the Construct until it manages to break free of the control. If he fails the check, the Construct retains its free will or remains under its previous control, and is immune to any more control attempts from the same Doll Master for 24 hours. While under the Doll Master's control, if either the Construct or the Doll Master take damage, the Doll Master must make a Concentration check against the damage or lose control. If control is lost, the Construct may make a Will Save against the Concentration check to become immune to the Doll Master's control for the next 24 hours. Every 24 hours after first taking control of a Construct the Doll Master must make Will save again with the DC increased by 2 for each day the Construct has been under control. If the Doll Master succeeds this check for as many times as the Construct's Hit Dice, the Construct submits to the Doll Master and no longer resists control.

Mastery of Golems (Su): Starting at level 18, the Doll Master has now mastered creating both forms of puppets. As such, all non-animated puppets created from now on are Masterwork creations with a +3 Enhancement bonus and an Enchantment of the Doll Master's choice with a cost modifier below +3. Golems and other animated constructs the Doll Master creates now cost half as much XP to animate, and the materials are no longer wasted upon a failure.

Long Range Manipulation (Su): At Level 20, the Doll Master has mastered control of any form of puppet. He is now able to manipulate any form of puppet over larger distances, 100 feet plus 10 feet per level in Doll Master. He is also able to perceive through the senses of his puppet (if any).

The Doll Master's Puppet: Starting Doll Masters are provided with a simple wooden doll. It is a Tiny sized humanoid biped with 2 arms and a head and does not have hands. It only has a Slam natural attack, with damage appropriate to its size. This is the basic design for a puppet. A basic puppet's movement speed is 20 ft. To create a new doll, the Doll Master must make a successful Craft check for the appropriate material. Different materials provide different bonuses and penalties, but at different costs. Making a doll requires a minimum of 3 pounds of material to make the Body for a light puppet. Puppets made of heavier materials require more material to make: double for medium puppets and triple for heavy puppets. To make a doll of greater size, double the raw material needed for each part per size category increase. The Craft DC for the entire Doll will go up by +5 per size category. The damage for the puppet’s natural weapons remains appropriate to the size of the finished puppet. The movement speed increases 10 ft per size increase. A puppet's armor class is equal to 10 + the Doll Master's Dex modifier + the puppet's size modifier + the puppet's armor (and shield) bonus (if any).

Puppet Crafting Table

Part	Material Required¹	DC Modifier	Special	Damage²
Body	3 lbs	+10	Slam Attack	1
Head	1 lb	+3	Puppet can see and hear, allows jaw and horns	—
Arm	1 lb	+1	Allows hand or claw	—
Hand	1 lb	+3	Allows puppet to hold objects and weapons	—
Claw	1 lb	+2	Claw Attack	1d2
Leg	1 lb	+1	2 required for normal movement	—
Extra leg	1 lb	+1	+5 ground movement speed per extra leg	—
Tail	1 lb	+2	Tail attack, +4 to puppet Balance checks	1d2
Jaw	1 lb	+2	Bite attack	1d3
Horns	1 lb	+1	Gore attack	1d2
Wings	3 lbs Leather or Dragonhide	+5	30 ft. fly speed (average), Wing attack	1

¹—Material requirements given are for light Tiny puppets
²—Damages shown are for Tiny sized puppets

Materials: Dolls can be made from almost any material. Each Material has its own advantage and penalty to the doll. All materials retain any special properties not listed here, such as overcoming damage reductions. Only puppets made of light materials are able to fly if given wings.

Common Materials Table

Material	Weight Type	Cost per Pound	Hardness	Hit Points per Pound	Special	Penalty
Wood	Light	1 sp	5	2	+0 Natural Armor	Fire Vulnerability
Clay	Medium	5 sp	5	3	+1 die size to Bludgeoning natural weapons, +1 Natural Armor	Water Vulnerability
Stone	Heavy	1 gp	8	3	+1 die size to Bludgeoning natural weapons, +3 Natural Armor	1/2 Movement speed
Leather¹	Light	1 gp	2	1	+0 Natural Armor	—
Iron	Heavy	5 gp	10	6	+1 die size to natural weapons, +3 Natural Armor	1/2 Movement speed, Rust vulnerability
Mythril	Light	250 gp	15	6	+2 Natural Armor	—
Adamantite	Heavy	1250 gp	20	8	+1 die size to natural weapons, +4 Natural Armor	1/2 movement speed
Dragonhide¹	Light	500 gp	10	2	+1 Natural Armor	—

¹—Requires 1 lb of another material per 3 lbs of leather as frame, if making a full puppet from this material.

Ex-Doll Masters

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Epic Doll Master

Table: The Epic

Hit Die: d

Level	Special
21st	Crafting Bonus +7
22nd	—
23rd	—
24th	Crafting Bonus +8
25th	Pull Strings (Huge)
26th	—
27th	Crafting Bonus +9
28th	—
29th	—
30th	Pull Strings (Gargantuan), Crafting Bonus +10
6 + Int modifier skill points per level.

Pull Strings (Su): The epic Doll Master continues to be able to craft and control larger puppets. Every five the Doll Master gains the ability to control puppets of an additional size-category, to the max of Gargantuan at level 30.

Crafting Bonus: The epic Doll Master's crafting bonus continues to increase by one every third level.

Bonus Feats: The epic Doll Master gains a bonus feat every three levels after 20th.

Human Doll Master Starting Package

Weapons: Simple Marionette

Skill Selection: Pick a number of skills equal to 6 + Int modifier.

Skill	Ranks	Ability	Armor Check Penalty
Concentration	4	Con	—
Craft (sculpting)	4	Int	—
Hide	4	Dex	-0
Knowledge (arcana)	4	Int	—
Spellcraft	4	Int	—
Spot	4	Wis	—

Feat: Combat Casting.

Bonus Feats: Toughness.

Gear: Backpack with waterskin, one day’s trail rations, bedroll, sack, flint and steel, three torches, spell component pouch.

Gold: 4d6.

Playing a Doll Master

Religion: Boccob (god of magic) is the god most commonly revered by Doll Masters. Evil Doll Masters may instead worship Wee Jas (goddess of death and magic) or Nerull (god of death), especially those who would rather use the souls of others to animate their golems.

Other Classes: .

Combat: A Doll Masters spend much of his time in combat finding a safe place to take cover while sending his puppet in to fight, taking advantage of its resilience as an object.

Advancement: Some Doll Masters may seek to learn divine magics, making it that much easier to craft stronger Golems.

Doll Masters in the World

“	Spend enough time with a puppet and you begin to wish they were real. My magic is the next best thing.	”
—Soran Quinn, Human Doll Master

Daily Life: .

Notables: .

Organizations: .

NPC Reactions: .

Doll Master Lore

Characters with ranks in Knowledge (arcana) can research Doll Masters to learn more about them. When a character makes a skill check, read or paraphrase the following, including information from lower DCs.

Knowledge (arcana)

DC	Result
5	Doll Masters magically control puppets.
10	Doll Masters specialize in magic used to create Golems.
15	A strong willed Doll Master can dominate golems they encounter and take control of them.
20	Many evil Doll Masters would rather steal your soul and use it to power their golems than use their own power.

Doll Masters in the Game

Adaptation: .

Sample Encounter: .

EL : .

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