Fractines appear as two-dimensional, mirrored, trapezoidal planes. When at rest, fractines resemble vast mirrors and can be manipulated to function as excellent scrying mirrors. Fractines are most commonly encountered in space in an active state, tumbling or folding and refolding like a piece of origami. They react to a variety of stimuli, being attracted to motion, loud sounds, and magical energy.
Combat: A fractine causes a variety of harmful, distortional effects. Physical attacks may be used to destroy or alter its course, but only silver, magical weapons, or spells cause any appreciable damage. Furthermore, a fractine must be struck on one of its two faces to cause any damage.
Area Attack (Ex): A fractine attacks by phasing through the victims in its flight path. This allows it to ignore both the armor and natural bonuses of its target's AC. Also if more than one creature occupies the same hex as the target of the fractine (or if a creature is caught flat-footed,
held, or purposefully interposes itself in the path of a fractine), then it may make an attack as a free action versus every such creature at its full attack bonus.
Blindsight (Ex): While fractine's do not “see” in the traditional sense, they are attracted to motion, sound, life and magic – especially magic involving light, darkness, and necromancy. They can unerringly sense any and all of the above stimuli within 600 feet of them.
Consume Energy (Ex): Fractines consume life, light, and darkness magical energy. Each level, Hit Dice, spell level, and bonus provides 1 point of food to it – a
Flarecantrip would give it 1 point of food (0-level spell [0]/–1 to hit penalty [1]) where as a
Sunbeam spell would give it 14 food points (7-level spell [7]/3d6 damage [3]/-4 Str & Dex check penalty [4]). When a fractine has consumed a number of points equal to its total hit points, it is full and leaves. Its movement rate is increased by 5 feet per point of light energy consumed and decreased by 5 feet per point of darkness (maximum of 120 feet and minimum of 0). A fractine with a 0 movement rate is rendered dormant and is considered “at rest” until a strong enough stimulus stirs it again. Large bursts of energy (such as a
Fireball or
Lightning Bolt) repulse active fractines for 1d4 rounds and have a 10% chance per die of damage of awakening a dormant one.
On a related note – since fractines are oblivious of the vast majority of the Prime Material plane and are spatial anomalies rather than creatures, they have no reach, do not threaten any hex other than the one they occupy, do not take advantage of attacks of opportunity and do not provoke attacks of opportunity by their actions.
Distortion (Su): A fractine passes through its victims, causing the listed damage and causing an odd effect to occur to the victim. Roll 1d20 for the effect and consult the following table. Any required save or ability check is made at DC 26 with success negating the effect but not the damage.
| Roll 1d20 |
Result |
| 1–3 |
Blink [random direction and orientation] |
| 4–5 |
Teleport [1d4x10 feet into the air] |
| 6–7 |
Deport* [Character's mind views his body from another plane; must roll Wisdom checks each round to control] |
| 8–9 |
Turn Ethereal [as per Ethereal Jaunt] |
| 10–12 |
Physical Distortion* [Character's form suffers a distortion, DM's choice - Effects may shorten or lengthen limbs, make fat or thin, flatten, stretch, etc. A Dexterity check must succeed each round to perform any desired actions.] |
| 13 |
Transpose* [Part of body is exchanged with that of another victim, or it vanishes. Roll an Intelligence check to control body part.] |
| 14 |
Reversed* [Any action the character takes becomes reversed] |
| 15 |
Duplication** [Creates a duplicate of creature as per Mirror of Opposition; duplicate attacks] |
| 16–20 |
Trap [As a Mirror of Life Trapping; there is a 25 % chance that another creature is released at the same time] |
* Effect lasts 1d4 minutes.
** Effect lasts 2d4 + 2 minutes.
Flight (Ex): A fractine's body is unaffected by the forces of gravity. This allows it to fly as per the spell, as a movement action, at a speed of 60 feet. Wind can alter a fractine's trajectory however. Spells affecting air can be used to control fractines. The caster must roll a successful Will save (DC 15) each round or lose control.
Reflection (Ex): Fractine's warp the space they surround as well as anything that contacts them. Any physical melee damage to a fractine causes damage to the attacker. The attacker suffers 1d4x25% of the inflicted damage (round fractions up), though he receives Fortitude save (DC 26) to suffer only half damage. A fractine always receives a saving throw vs. any magical effect, if the effect gets past its spell resistance. If the saving throw is successful, the magical effect is redirected at random.
Scry (Sp): Characters can use a dormant fractine as an excellent scrying device. To do so, a spelljamming scholar must focus his willpower on the subject he wishes to view, while touching a fractine. A Scry check (modified by a DM-selected difficulty class usually between 15 to 30) must succeed to view the subject. Failure results in 1d10 subdual damage and fatigue for a like amount of time in hours, and there is a 10% chance that the fractine is stirred into motion. If successful, one can examine a subject's past, future, and weaknesses using the right techniques. However, the fractine's distorted surface may blur the results, obscuring crucial information.
Shatter (Ex): Once per round there is a 1% chance per point of damage inflicted that a fractine shatters into 1d4 independent fragments, each with one-third of the remaining HD and hp (shattering releases any trapped creatures). Shattered fragments either follow divergent paths or merge once again.
Two-Dimensional (Ex): Fractines have length and width, but no depth. It is not known whether fractines are intelligent creatures or merely spatial phenomena. In addition to the qualities of a construct, they share many similarities to incorporeal creatures. A fractine has a deflection bonus equal to its Charisma bonus; however, Ghost Touch weapons offer no special benefits unless they possess an actual magical enhancement bonus. They can pass through solid matter at will, but not force effects. A fractine moves silently and cannot be heard with a Listen check; creatures must make a Spot check at DC 20 in order to notice a fractine for what it is. All attacks made at a flank of a fractine's facing miss 50% of the time; attacks made directly on a perpendicular (90º) to a fractine's facing automatically fail since the fractine does not have a “side”. Only attacks directed at one of the fractine's two faces have no “automatic” chance to miss.
Fractines have no way to hit something with force, other than inertial, so they do not add their Strength modifier in when determining attack and damage rolls; its Strength score is merely used to determine the approximate force needed to keep one immobile.
In the Spheres
Fractines appear as natural spatial anomalies that are absolutely oblivious of their surroundings, how they affect them, and even their own state of being. Fractines heal through extended energy consumption (i.e. the fractine's hit dice in hit points per day if in light) or by having another fractine shard merge with it; both fractine's hit dice and hit points are added together to determine the new fractine's statistics. They are only attracted to what they consider nourishment (see
Consume Energy).
Fractine