Custom template and feats

[alientude]

I'm creating a custom template that removes the creature's Intelligence, similar to a zombie or skeleton, but I also want the creature to keep its skill points and feats. The feats are still there, but Hero Lab says that it has too many, while the skills are completely removed. Is there a way to have the template remove Intelligence but keep skills/feats?

 

[Mathias]

The definition of no intelligence score is that it's acting completely by instinct, so it can't be trained in complex tasks like feats and skills. If it has enough memory to remember how to perform a task, then it has an INT score.

 

[alientude]

I know why it happens, was just wondering if there was a way around it. If not, I can just ignore the errors on the feats and force the skills back in manually.

The reason I'm doing it this way, btw, is that the creatures that acquire this template become individually unintelligent, but part of a hivemind that absorbs the knowledge the creature already had - so while the creature itself doesn't have any intelligence, the hivemind that directs it does.

 

[Mathias]

I'd define recieving skills and feats from your hive mind as bonus feats and external skill ranks (the same sort of thing you'd get from a headband of vast intelligence) - they're not your own.

So, I'd have the hivemind ability bootstrap bonus feats and assign values to the field[skExtRanks].value on the appropriate skills.

This also means you only have to enter the list of skills and feats once - then, every creature with this template has the same list of feats and skills.