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So, I'm making a PC race for a campaign. The idea is that it is an outsider (native) or monstrous humanoid from the Plane of Air that is composed of lightning in essence. It is immune to electricity and when electric damage is dealt to them (regardless that it didn't hurt), they get fast healing 2 for a round like the RP trait "storm in the blood" but no limit. To balance, they cannot be healed by positive energy since they are made of physical lightning and weren't composed from the Positive Energy Plane. Yes, I'm playing an aerokineticist.
So, what is positive energy, how does it affect creatures, and when doesn't it affect creatures? All that jazz. I'm curious if that concept sounds legit or not. Are elementals affected?
The concept does not sound legitimate. Positive energy is the life force that powers all living creatures, the only ones who are excluded are undead, undead-related creatures and constructs. Elementals, even ones that are actually pure lightning are effected by positive energy.
Elementals have constitution scores, thus they are living creatures, thus they run on positive energy like oozes, humanoids, animals, devils, etc., unless the creature entry specifies otherwise.
...unless the creature entry specifies otherwise.Know of any?
Dhampirs and Sceaduinar. Why?
Looking for examples to draw inspiration from. I should have ask for nonundead-ish and negative energy based creatures.
Only negative energy based creatures and Constructs.
You're either powered by (un)life energy, or are a robot.|
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Maybe the race's natural electrical power sorta blocks and causes positive energy to just wash over them?
I'm grasping at straws but I would love to see this work... perhaps I'll have to settle with balancing it some other way.
Also, I realized this thread should have probably been in the homebrew section.
Maybe the race's natural electrical power sorta blocks and causes positive energy to just wash over them?
I'm grasping at straws but I would love to see this work... perhaps I'll have to settle with balancing it some other way.
Except why wouldn't that occur with lightning elementals or comozant wyrd?
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Except why wouldn't that occur with lightning elementals or comozant wyrd?Maybe the race's natural electrical power sorta blocks and causes positive energy to just wash over them?
I'm grasping at straws but I would love to see this work... perhaps I'll have to settle with balancing it some other way.
I know... well, any balancing ideas or don't do it?
What level of RP are you working with? If you need to balance electricity immunity with a drawback you might not even be in the RP category normally allowed to have the ability in the first place.
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What level of RP are you working with? If you need to balance electricity immunity with a drawback you might not even be in the RP category normally allowed to have the ability in the first place.
I want to balance Electric Immune and infinite Storm In The Blood. I'm assuming the campaign will go from levels 1 to 20.
I've played a construct before and one of their big balancing things was that they couldn't be healed normally. This balanced out when the rest of the party could use positive energy. I wanted something similar but lightning, and more lightning.
What level of RP are you working with? If you need to balance electricity immunity with a drawback you might not even be in the RP category normally allowed to have the ability in the first place.I want to balance Electric Immune and infinite Storm In The Blood. I'm assuming the campaign will go from levels 1 to 20.
I've played a construct before and one of their big balancing things was that they couldn't be healed normally. This balanced out when the rest of the party could use positive energy. I wanted something similar but lightning, and more lightning.
You did not answer my question.
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You did not answer my question.What level of RP are you working with? If you need to balance electricity immunity with a drawback you might not even be in the RP category normally allowed to have the ability in the first place.I want to balance Electric Immune and infinite Storm In The Blood. I'm assuming the campaign will go from levels 1 to 20.
I've played a construct before and one of their big balancing things was that they couldn't be healed normally. This balanced out when the rest of the party could use positive energy. I wanted something similar but lightning, and more lightning.
I misunderstood the question. What do you mean by RP level?
I misunderstood the question. What do you mean by RP level?You did not answer my question.What level of RP are you working with? If you need to balance electricity immunity with a drawback you might not even be in the RP category normally allowed to have the ability in the first place.I want to balance Electric Immune and infinite Storm In The Blood. I'm assuming the campaign will go from levels 1 to 20.
I've played a construct before and one of their big balancing things was that they couldn't be healed normally. This balanced out when the rest of the party could use positive energy. I wanted something similar but lightning, and more lightning.
Power level in the race builder, you know, standard, advanced, monstrous... Wait, how exactly are you building this race if you're not using the race builder? Are you attempting to arbitrarily create the race without any guidelines?
If that's the case I suggestion trying the guidelines in this link.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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I find this interesting because historically(earlier versions of D&D), the quasi-elemental plane of lightning is on the border or Air and the Positive energy plane. So elemental beings made of lightning would be partially made of positive energy. There were even lightning quasi-elementals in 1e.
If the idea is to make the race immune to healing by positive energy, just add in that ability. Call it "Alien metabolism" or something. Flavor it as they still have a "life force" but positive energy doesn't repair damage to their forms/bodies.
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So... eh, it's made of... physical lightning? I'm not building up a joke, I just find the term "physical lightning" strange. Are they more lightning than lightning elementals?
Mythology and Pathfinder
So... eh, it's made of... physical lightning? I'm not building up a joke, I just find the term "physical lightning" strange. Are they more lightning than lightning elementals?Mythology and Pathfinder
These creatures would be healed by positive energy.
Don't bother with the 'create new races' rules that Knitifine linked. They're really not accurate.
Do bother with them, the guidelines will help prevent you from weird and nonsensical racial concepts with limited applicability. Such as potentially putting electricity immunity on a race that's going to be played alongside humans.
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RP building as a guideline but overall, making things work as people ask for em. Keeping people at roughly the same power level though.
As for just saying "it works that way because it does," it's an option I really don't like to do, but an option.
Also, I want to play an aerokineticist. Lightning everywhere and always.
If you were going to give immunity to lightning and positive/negative energy, then you will need some pretty major drawbacks. It would need something on the order of double damage from metal weapons.
Use the already excisting races as guidlines and add/remove as much as you want.
That is a foolish way to proceed, and from experience both using and not using the guidelines, I urge against following the quoted advice.
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If you were going to give immunity to lightning and positive/negative energy, then you will need some pretty major drawbacks. It would need something on the order of double damage from metal weapons.
Bonus to attack for metal weapons works well. Probably going to need more drawbacks.
What if it was damaged by positive and negative energy by being "alive" through some otherworldly energy?
An elemental energy so pure that positive and negative energy cause impurities and shakes its fabric of existence. As a creature living through it, they feel their life ripped from them.
Would it still fit your flavor if you only received half damage and half healing from positive and negative energy affects?
Short answer: please don't.
Inmunity might be ok... it's not that common of an element. But don't give an aerokineticist "storm in the blood". Inhability to heal, even of both magicaly and naturaly, will never make up for it, as they can heal themselves with their own at will blast.
Inmunities (at least in their most common form, fire/cold) usualy come with the oposing vulnerability as a disadvantage. But electricity has no standard oposed element (vulnerabilty to acid would sound weird and not be too thematic). Geting a penalty to AC against metal, as sugested by some, seems like a good begining. Maybe inhability to cross bodies of water while mantaining body cohesion?
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Short answer: please don't.
Inmunity might be ok... it's not that common of an element. But don't give an aerokineticist "storm in the blood". Inhability to heal, even of both magicaly and naturaly, will never make up for it, as they can heal themselves with their own at will blast.
Inmunities (at least in their most common form, fire/cold) usualy come with the oposing vulnerability as a disadvantage. But electricity has no standard oposed element (vulnerabilty to acid would sound weird and not be too thematic). Geting a penalty to AC against metal, as sugested by some, seems like a good begining. Maybe inhability to cross bodies of water while mantaining body cohesion?
If I spent a round blasting myself, to heal 2 damage that round, I would be useless.
If I went unconscious from burn and nonlethal, I would be out for as long as it took to rest, which could be an unavoidable 8 hours. Useless.
And since positive energy doesn't work, its safe to say Stabilize doesn't either. My party would have to use an electric spell or something just to keep me alive.