|
| 4 people marked this as FAQ candidate. |
If a neutral character, of a neutral god, becomes good, can he still channel negative energy? In reverse, if one goes evil, can he still channel positive energy? If not, what happens? Does the ability become useless, or does it automatically change to it's reverse?
I doubt you'll be able to find official notation of that beyond:
Channel Energy ... Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed.
If a neutral cleric of a neutral deity chose to channel negative energy and then became good aligned, I would rule that they have violated the code of conduct and loses class features including channel energy. Same for the reverse. But that's just one GM's interpretation.
Since it says that a neutral character chooses which way he will channel when created, and after that it can't be changed... I would rule that it stays which ever way he chose no matter what alignment he later became, after all it is the deity that is granting the channel ability, and the deities alignment is not changing.
|
Alignment shifting generally has far reaching consequences. Since Alignment changing is a rare thing in general, I don't know how much attention this would get to be official. The way I see it, if you follow a neutral god, and choose to channel negative and heal undead/ harm living, you are not leaning towards good. Shifting yourself that way is going against what the original build was aimed at, thereby having negative consequences. You feats dedicated to negative channeling, like control undead, would be rendered useless. You would not be able to freely swap them out. You would be able to have an atonement cast and restore your alignment, thereby restoring the feats to usefulness.
For an oracle of life it wouldn't matter. Their channeling isn't tied to their alignment.
If the pc is not out of alignment range for worship of the given deity and the deity permits channeling negative energy, most neutral deities, then I don't really see the problem.
Channeling negative energy is not considered to be an inherently evil act otherwise neutral pcs could not do it without risking alignment.
Edit: Why would it change? The channeling is a god given power. The god hasn't changed merely the player.
|
Officially (though I have no idea where to find this) the Cleric would automatically switch to Positive Energy. If they are Good, they no longer have the choice, it is automatic. It is not, however, a violation of their faith's ethics in any way, as Positive and Negative Energy are not at all aligned.
If a Good Cleric became Nuetral (and served a Neutral faith) they would also not get to choose to switch, which is what that "once made, can't change" line referes to.
If he could keep it, would he violate his code of conduct if he multiclassed into paladin or antipaladin then used his channel?
On that note it would depend on the rules of conduct that are being maintained as a paladin or antipaladin. An antipaladin could get away with channeling positive energy as long as his wicked plan came to fruition. A paladin I cannot see channeling negative energy without consequences without a fantastically good reason for it.
|
|
So, channel negative is evil and not evil, as channel positive is good but not good? RAW implies you can never change your channel choice, no matter what, but there could be some exception I don't now about. If an alignment is legit for both classes, how does using an ability from either class in line with the alignment, make one lose the ability to use any ability by either class.
So, channel negative is evil and not evil, as channel positive is good but not good? RAW implies you can never change your channel choice, no matter what, but there could be some exception I don't now about. If an alignment is legit for both classes, how does using an ability from either class in line with the alignment, make one lose the ability to use any ability by either class.
A rogue/paladin could steal, lie, and backstab effectively, as per the rogue talents list, but if he did so he might violate the law requirements of his given faith. Separate codes apply for separate classes.
I honestly believe there is no RAW on this. It's a corner case thats pretty rare, and they haven't either given it thought, or felt it was worth the space in the book.
Bottom line, if you're a player, ask your DM. If you're the DM, make a call.
I would not punish a player because his alignment changes.
However a strictly RAW reading says that he changes alignment, I believe.
Once the choice is made, it cannot be reversed. The choice cannot be reversed, not the class feature.
And a good cleric channels positive energy. There is no choice, that is the case, it's not implying that he only has to be good at the moment of taking up his faith.
So if he returns to neutral alignment, he would instantly channel negative energy again.
However, as RAI probably don't exist, because this reading is very strict, I would let the player keep his negative energy, makes for a great roleplaying opportunity and doesn't screw over his feats.
Edit: hitting FAQ button, to be sure, not that this should come up all to often and therefor needs errata.
I would not punish a player because his alignment changes.
However a strictly RAW reading says that he changes alignment, I believe.
Once the choice is made, it cannot be reversed. The choice cannot be reversed, not the class feature.
And a good cleric channels positive energy. There is no choice, that is the case, it's not implying that he only has to be good at the moment of taking up his faith.
So if he returns to neutral alignment, he would instantly channel negative energy again.However, as RAI probably don't exist, because this reading is very strict, I would let the player keep his negative energy, makes for a great roleplaying opportunity and doesn't screw over his feats.
Edit: hitting FAQ button, to be sure, not that this should come up all to often and therefor needs errata.
I support this reading.
A good cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships a good deity) channels positive energy... An evil cleric (or a neutral cleric who worships an evil deity) channels negative energy... A neutral cleric of a neutral deity (or one who is not devoted to a particular deity) must choose whether she channels positive or negative energy. Once this choice is made, it cannot be reversed.
You only get a choice if you're a neutral cleric of a neutral deity. If that's no longer the case, then that clause no longer matters to you, and one of the other two becomes relevant. If you start out as a good cleric of a neutral deity and then become neutral, you then immediately have to choose whether to channel positive or negative energy, and then that choice is permanent. (Both are reasonable: Staying positive could represent that you have the same connection to your deity, even if you're no longer as good a person, while switching to negative could represent that you've turned down a darker path.)
|
|
Allowing players to change alignment and change damage types is a slippery slope.
Fighter: Our next mission is to attack an undead stronghold.
Negative Channel Neutral Cleric: Lets go save a few orphanages so I can be good and switch to positive channeling. Better yet, let me just change right now since my god allows both.
By your logic, a cleric could change damage types on a whim day by day if neutral
Prerequisites: Channel energy class feature, necromancer or neutrally aligned cleric (see below).Benefit: You may make a choice whenever you use your channel energy class feature.
If you normally channel positive energy, you may choose to channel negative energy as if your effective cleric level were 2 levels lower than normal.
If you normally channel negative energy, you may choose to channel positive energy as if your effective cleric level were 2 levels lower than normal.
Having this feat means you qualify for feats and abilities that have "channel positive energy" or "channel negative energy" as a prerequisite (for example, you qualify for the Command Undead feat and the Turn Undead feat).
Note: This feat only applies to necromancers, neutral clerics who worship neutral deities, or neutral clerics who do not worship a deity -- characters who have the channel energy class ability and have to make a choice to channel positive or negative energy at 1st level. Clerics whose alignment or deity makes this choice for them cannot select this feat.
He could change it by use with the above feat from ultimate magic.
Allowing players to change alignment and change damage types is a slippery slope.
Fighter: Our next mission is to attack an undead stronghold.
Negative Channel Neutral Cleric: Lets go save a few orphanages so I can be good and switch to positive channeling. Better yet, let me just change right now since my god allows both.
By your logic, a cleric could change damage types on a whim day by day if neutral
Well, he could by ceasing to be neutral. Once he's chosen what he channels while he's neutral, he can never change that. He can only change by becoming good (if channeling negative while neutral) or evil (if channeling positive while neutral). He never gets to re-make that choice, even if he becomes good and then returns to being neutral. It just becomes irrelevant while he's good. I don't know why you even think we're saying that you can choose at your whim while staying neutral.
Also, there are specifically no mechanics for alignment changes.
There's no hard and fast mechanic by which you can measure alignment—unlike hit points or skill ranks or Armor Class, alignment is solely a label the GM controls.
...
Players who frequently have their characters change alignment should in all likelihood be playing chaotic neutral characters.
So if a cleric decides he wants to be good, he has to convince the GM that he's acting in a good manner to the GM's satisfaction. If he later changes his ways, it's the GMs call whether to let him go back to what he was, or to move him closer to chaotic neutral. If the GM lets characters change their alignment at will, that's his prerogative, but he has to be prepared for the repercussions of that, such as the one you gave as an example.