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Dear "daywalkers",
Congratulations, you've jumped on the cutting edge of Pathfinder play by grabbing hold of the latest new playable race to hit the market. I'm just wondering if you've thought this racial choice through.
I'm a cleric of Pharasma. I realize you're not undead, you mean me no harm, and you really want to be a contributing member of the party. However, you're rapidly becoming a special needs case that is cramping my style.
This whole "healed by negative energy" thing is really a pain. Normally, I can prepare any sort of spell I want. With all the channeling I can do during the adventuring day I hardly have to worry about spontaneously casting healing. Now you've come along, and I feel like I've become some goatee-wearing alternate universe version of the 2nd edition walking medi-kit. I'd like to prep some good spells for this upcoming part of the adventure, but I've got to make sure I have enough inflict spells packed away to keep you up and in the fight...both of you. The cleric-to-damphir ratio is way off whack here, and you're seriously harshing my mellow.
Might I suggest that you start taking all that treasure and investing in some negative energy dealing goodies of your own? Potions are affordable at our low level. (No, I'm not taking Brew Potion to keep your costs down; it's bad enough I'm taking Versatile Channeler, and that won't be for another two levels.) Maybe once you've recieved your legacy you can each buy yourselves a wand of inflict light wounds to give to me. Then I can get back to being the bad-ass undead slayer I was meant to be.
Seriously, guys, you need to work with me. There isn't a whole lot more of this I can take. If there isn't more cooperation on this matter, I swear I'm going to commit suicide and be replaced with a hagspawn witch. That'll teach you.
Love and hugs,
Your party cleric
I have to love this post since there's a dhampir character in the CC game I'm GMing. He was keeping his racial heritage a secret right up to the point where the bard went to heal him after a tough fight and before he could say anything blasted him into unconsciousness. Ah, it was priceless.
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"Your party cleric"?
You're not my dhampir character's party cleric. You're one of those bloodbags who worships that loser Pharasma "I don't like undead because they're so much better than my own worshippers".
My dhampir character has a proper cleric in his party. One that worships a deity that is worthy of worship.
All hail Urgathoa! Serve your hunger!
I just removed that. It is such a ridiculous hassle, and they don't particularly gain anything to make it worth it.
De-railing slightly, its the little thing like the cleric doing a burst of positive energy to heal the party as a mid combat HP boost could well be lethal to the Dhampir and yet, holding back, could be lethal to the party.
Channel doesn't work that way. When you use Channel, you have to decide whether you'll use positive energy to heal living creatures OR use it to damage undead creatures (and dhampirs). So, when Cleric uses channel to heal the party, Dhampir is just unaffected by it.
You're right, the other player should have just played a half orc.
I just removed that. It is such a ridiculous hassle, and they don't particularly gain anything to make it worth it.
You're not seeing the big picture. These guys might not be the best choice for good-aligned parties, but if you are in an evil game, With an evil cleric of an evil deity, it becomes a lot more interesting.
Suddenly the cleric who prefers negative energy is a lot more useful to you. Same if you are said cleric (and don't want to limit yourself to a certain domain that later lets you count as undead for channel).
Or maybe you're a necromancer working with the cleric - when he heals your undead, you are healed, too.
Even if we're talking about a neutral cleric who cares more about attack then healing, but does do healing on the side (with that feat that lets you channel both positive and negative energy, though the secondary is used weaker), you benefit.
And if the GM uses the common house rule that channeling is not either/or but just a burst of energy that will do what it does, some of these circumstances work even better for you. Priest doesn't have to make sure you're out of reach, or de-select you with Selective Channel - he'll just blast the infidels and you get invigorated by the whole thing.
It's all about circumstances. Other things like dwarves and paladins can be extremely disruptive in the wrong circumstances, too, and they're right there in the Core Rules.
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Channel doesn't work that way. When you use Channel, you have to decide whether you'll use positive energy to heal living creatures OR use it to damage undead creatures (and dhampirs). So, when Cleric uses channel to heal the party, Dhampir is just unaffected by it.
Sorry to be 'that guy,' but Dhampir are alive. They are Humanoids with a subtype, not Undead. The reason they are vulnerable to positive energy doesn't come from their type, it comes from their Special Quality: Negative Energy Affinity.
Therefore, if a cleric channels and chooses to affect the living, they target the Dhampir. A cleric channeling to effect the undead does not effect Dhampir. This is true regardless of the type of energy you channel, negative or positive. When checking for targets, Dhampir are bundled with the living.
The confusion comes from people thinking "I channel to heal" vs "I channel to harm." When in fact the actual decision is "I channel to effect the living," vs "I channel to effect the dead."
I hope this is helpful.
PS: Yes, this means if you are a negative-energy channeller and you "Channel to effect the living" you can damage all the bad guys AND heal all the dhampir at once. Sounds like fun until you're trying to stay interested in a party full of Dhampir after the thrid session...
PS: Yes, this means if you are a negative-energy channeller and you "Channel to effect the living" you can damage all the bad guys AND heal all the dhampir at once. Sounds like fun until you're trying to stay interested in a party full of Dhampir after the thrid session...
That sounds like a great idea - Dhampir fighter wades in with the cleric and they bust stuff up. I always giggle when people think that positive energy channeling not being available is a huge detriment to the party.
Sorry to be 'that guy,' but Dhampir are alive. They are Humanoids with a subtype, not Undead. The reason they are vulnerable to positive energy doesn't come from their type, it comes from their Special Quality: Negative Energy Affinity.
Channel doesn't work that way. When you use Channel, you have to decide whether you'll use positive energy to heal living creatures OR use it to damage undead creatures (and dhampirs). So, when Cleric uses channel to heal the party, Dhampir is just unaffected by it.
Which says "The creature alive, but reacts to positive and negative energy as if it were undead".
Therefore, if a cleric channels and chooses to affect the living, they target the Dhampir. A cleric channeling to effect the undead does not effect Dhampir. This is true regardless of the type of energy you channel, negative or positive. When checking for targets, Dhampir are bundled with the living.
No, because of the quality you mentioned: Dhampir is considered Undead for the sole purpose of being affected by positive and negative energy, thus when Cleric channels positive energy to heal the living or negative energy to harm living Dhampir is unaffected as he is considered Undead in such cases.
The confusion comes from people thinking "I channel to heal" vs "I channel to harm." When in fact the actual decision is "I channel to effect the living," vs "I channel to effect the dead."
Actually the decision is "I channel to heal living" vs "I channel to harm undead" for positive energy using characters and "I channel to harm living" vs "I channel to heal Undead".
I think that channel energy worked the way you describe during beta tests but was changed later.PS: Yes, this means if you are a negative-energy channeller and you "Channel to effect the living" you can damage all the bad guys AND heal all the dhampir at once.
No, because Dhampir is undead for the purpose of being affected by channel energy - which means that he is not viable target when you harm the living.
Have to go with Drejk on this one. Inflict spells heal undead and dhampir. Likewise, channeling negative energy to heal undead heals dhampir. Whereas, channeling negative energy to harm the living heals neither undead nor dhampir.
But... I said that already. :D
But... I said that already. :D
Okay, so I have to go with Drejk and you on this one. ;-)
Paladins and dwarves are roleplaying hassles. Roleplaying makes it a hassle and solves the hassle.
Dhampir energy flip-flopping is a mechanical hassle. I know for a fact that this character would have likely died four or five times so far in my Carrion Crown game (at level 14 now) _just_ because they'd need their own personal inflict wand and wouldn't be able to benefit from our channel-centric cleric's channels.
And as far as removing it went, though, I actually let our dhampir keep it and made him heal from positive as well. If anyone uses positive on living, he's healed. If anyone uses negative on undead, he's healed. If anyone uses an inflict spell on him with the purpose of healing, he's healed. So far, this has never come up.
Dhampir energy flip-flopping is a mechanical hassle.
Negative energy affinity might be a mechanical hassle. It depends on the circumstance. Playing a cleric that doesn't channel positive energy is a hassle, too, but for them, negative energy affinity is a godsend.
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it's not just dhampyrs. Everyone else in the party can take Negative Energy Affinity as a feat.
And the faithful of Urgathoa have amulets which allow them to be healed by either positive or negative energy.
Also, infernal healing does a great job of restoring health, regardless of energy affinities.
Why aren't they using the mouth in their hand to heal themselves? Newbs.
I don't see what the big deal is. I have a Dhampir Sorcerer in my party, and just buys himself wands of Inflict Wounds and tries to stand back in combat.
Other than that, he can heal himself with Vampiric Touch and Chill Touch.
Yes, it's tougher than being a normal PC, but it's the challenges like this that make the game more intresting.
Depending on your party make up others may be able to cast the inflict to cure him. Antipaladins, inquisitors and witches all have the inflict spells on their list. Also UMD can help.
it's not just dhampyrs. Everyone else in the party can take Negative Energy Affinity as a feat.
And the faithful of Urgathoa have amulets which allow them to be healed by either positive or negative energy.
Also, infernal healing does a great job of restoring health, regardless of energy affinities.
What book is this amulet in?
Other than that, he can heal himself with Vampiric Touch and Chill Touch.
Chill touch won't work. That spell doesn't involve negative energy damage when dealing with undead, it instead frightens them.
Chill touch won't work. That spell doesn't involve negative energy damage when dealing with undead, it instead frightens them.
Other than that, he can heal himself with Vampiric Touch and Chill Touch.
Vampiric Touch doesn't do negative energy damage, either. It just does damage.
You're right about Chill Touch, but Vampiric Touch works. It gives you temporary HP, doesn't have to do anything with Negative Energy Affinity.
Chill touch won't work. That spell doesn't involve negative energy damage when dealing with undead, it instead frightens them.
Other than that, he can heal himself with Vampiric Touch and Chill Touch.
Vampiric Touch doesn't do negative energy damage, either. It just does damage.
Vampiric touch works for healing because it heals the caster. That still works. But chill touch's 1d6 negative energy damage is only for non-undead. Undead are instead scared away.
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And the faithful of Urgathoa have amulets which allow them to be healed by either positive or negative energy.
What book is this amulet in?
It's in Gods and Magic, page 59, and I mis-spoke. It allows the wearer, if a worshipper of Urgathoa, to heal from both cure and inflict spells. It's a GM judgement call as to whether it has any effects on channelling positive and negative energies.
You're right about Chill Touch, but Vampiric Touch works. It gives you temporary HP, doesn't have to do anything with Negative Energy Affinity.
I was assuming you meant you were casting Vampiric Touch on yourself. Which, yeah, now that I think of it, it does give you temporary hp... for your actual hp.
You're right about Chill Touch, but Vampiric Touch works. It gives you temporary HP, doesn't have to do anything with Negative Energy Affinity.I was assuming you meant you were casting Vampiric Touch on yourself. Which, yeah, now that I think of it, it does give you temporary hp... for your actual hp.
I think you're thinking of "vampiring self-tough", a spell from the Twilight Campaign Setting ;-)
Why aren't they using the mouth in their hand to heal themselves? Newbs.
hehehe
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My party has a dhampir PC--who is the party cleric. Well, oracle, technically, but he channels positive energy. So when he channels, he just chooses not to include himself in the effect. Problem solved.
An interesting bit of fluff is that he's taken the Life mystery and Energy Body, and plays it as his body being an (unfortunate) conduit to the Positive Energy Plane. He also took the Wasting curse to reflect how this conduit is eating away at him; his cover story is simply that he's a leper, and he goes around wrapped up in bandages so people don't find out he's a dhampir.