Ok so what happens when/if this character dies?
and what race is it if it reincarnates or is reincarnated?
Ok so what happens when/if this character dies?
and what race is it if it reincarnates or is reincarnated?
In game terms, a Samsaran doesn't reincarnate as the spell, but more as a more traditional, long-term, come-back-as-a-newborn, kind of deal.
There are no given mechanics for dealing with a Samsaran's reincarnation. It's all flavor.
For the reincarnated Druid, there are mechanics and it specifically states what happens. Mechanics trumps flavor when dealing with mechanical issues. The Samsaran would reincarnate as the spell in a random form.
RP wise, it's an odd choice for a Samsaran to make, although I could see it working well for an evil Samsaran who had tipped the scales so far he's doomed if he dies normally and needs to interrupt his normal afterlife process.
Why is it an odd choice? Reincarnate Oracle is a Samsaran only archetype.
With reincarnate, you come back in a random body, but the Samsaran always comes back as a Samsaran. It says when it dies, it's born again as a young Samsaran.
I would have to agree with Ximen Bao...if you reincarnate using the ability you get from Reincarnated Druid then you act as if the spell were cast on you, so you would get a random chance to be whatever races are on the table. You could see if your GM would substitute one of the races for Samsaran so that you at least still have a chance.
And Ximen is again right as the fact that as a Samsaran it doesnt have any actual mechanics, like how long is it before you reincarnate, and stuff like that...so again I would fall back on the spell itself in this SPECIFIC situation since you are a Reincarnated Druid and it says per the spell Reincarnate
Thats me though...your GM may be perfectly cool with you living forever as a Samsaran
seems like samsaran would be pointless. How would you constantly be a samsaran? Samsarans come back as samsarans, but how do they do it? as commoners living to a ripe old age and then dying of natural causes? Only then would they reincarnate as Samsarans? But this reincarnation works differently than the spell/ability?
Seems off.
I would think this would need a FAQ/Errata that the Samsaran racial feature alters the way reincarnation works.
Otherwise. There wouldn't BE Samsarans as, they would randomly reincarnate as something else.
I'm not saying that Pendagast, although I agree with a FAQ maybe being put out on the subject.
I'm saying in this particular case its different since you are choosing the Reincarnated Druid. The Samsarans ability to reincarnate (since there are no listed mechanics) HAS to be different than those of the class you are choosing to let them come back as the same race every time...in the case of your druid, if you died and wanted to reincarnate 1 day later using the ability of your druid then I would say you have to do it the way the ability says, which is by the spell, giving you a random race
There ARE no clear cut rules on it...that's why I'm giving you MY interpretation of what I see after reading about both Samsarans and Reincarnated Druids.
If you were a Samsaran Fighter or even another druid that WASN'T a "reincarnated druid" then yea, you come back as a samsaran when you die but how long is it until you come back? There isn't a time frame listed for them to come back to life. The spell has a time limit but then again this clearly ISN'T the spell since you are always a samsaran right?
Again I agree with you on a FAQ or errata, but then again Samsaran is not a common race so there may not be a FAQ or errata for awhile (if at all)
I would think this would need a FAQ/Errata that the Samsaran racial feature alters the way reincarnation works.
What racial feature are you talking about?
There is nothing mechanical in the race. Flavourwise they are a race that reincarnate when they die, as per standard reincarnation (being reborn in a new body, the soul rather than the mind passing on), and they have some memories from previous lives.
Reincarnate as the spell (and druid ability) is something quite different than what is commonly known as reincarnation.
Is it a problem that the flavour isn't supported by mechanics? I don't think so. The different races have plenty of description that I choose to use, whether or not the mechanics support it.
so do two samsarans make another samsaran? Does a half elf die and get reborn somwhere as a samsaran?
so do two samsarans make another samsaran? Does a half elf die and get reborn somwhere as a samsaran?
Interbreeding isn't covered, but the general reproductive and reincarnation aspects is described here:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/uncommon-races/arg-samsaran
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
In game terms, a Samsaran doesn't reincarnate as the spell, but more as a more traditional, long-term, come-back-as-a-newborn, kind of deal.
This. Samsaran racial reincarnation is not the same thing at the Reincarnate spell or effect as included in the Reincarnated druid.
Samsaran racial reincarnation works exactly like reincarnation is believed to work by religions that believe in reincarnation. You reincarnate as a new child and must grow up again with a whole new life, new memories, new class. When a samsaran reincarnates, they are a new character.
Reincarnate the spell puts you back in a grown body with your memories, experience, class, etc all intact.
For a Samsaran, Reincarnate the spell would interrupt the normal samsaran racial cycle of reincarnation in the same way that Raise Dead would - you don't come back as an infant, you don't get a new life, instead you get a second chance with this one. But Reincarnate the spell explicitly gives you a new body as well.
The question is, does having Reincarnate cast on a Samsaran, giving them a non-Samsaran body, actually permanently remove them from the cycle of reincarnation, or do they still return as a Samsaran infant next time they die and it sticks? I'd be inclined to say that the cycle isn't permanently interrupted because that's a property of the soul, which Reincarnate the spell doesn't alter. However, it is both GM discretion and fairly moot from a PC's POV because once a Samsaran dies and it sticks, they're a whole different character. It's no different than any other unreversed character death.
For a reincarnated druid it's pretty difficult to get death to stick, so I'd assume that in this case the Samsaran racial cycle of reincarnation is just manifesting itself in a different sort of loop than normal in which the mind is constant but the body (race) keeps renewing itself. Who knows why that would happen, but it sounds like an interesting character concept. Wouldn't change the mechanics at all, though.
so do two samsarans make another samsaran? Does a half elf die and get reborn somwhere as a samsaran?
Samsarans can give birth, yet they do not give birth to samsarans—instead, they birth human children. Typically, samsarans give up their children not long after birth to be raised in human society, where the children grow and live their lives normally. Upon death, such offspring sometimes reincarnate as samsaran children, if they lived their lives in keeping with harmony.
Basically, the "Samsaran" race is actually a property of the soul, not the parent - it's not genetic at all. Two samsarans will not have samsaran children. Non-samsarans can give birth to samsarans if the unborn child happens to gain a samsaran soul. Half-elves could potentially be reborn as samsarans, but only if their soul has gained entry to the samsaran cycle of rebirth by being born to samsaran parents and also living in a "samsaran" manner in keeping with harmony - being exposed to some samsaran mystical energy and then nurturing it.
Samsarans have human children. Such a human might be reincarnated as a new samsaran if its life has been lived in accordance with samsaran principles.
A samsaran that dies and isn't magically resurrected is NOT born in the conventional sense to a mother of ANY race -- it "respawns" somewhere in the world as a small child of somewhat random age.
All word of James Jacobs, stuff he hasn't been able to fit into any of the actual printed products yet.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A samsaran that dies and isn't magically resurrected is NOT born in the conventional sense to a mother of ANY race -- it "respawns" somewhere in the world as a small child of somewhat random age.
All word of James Jacobs, stuff he hasn't been able to fit into any of the actual printed products yet.
Really? That's interesting. Leads to a lot of unsupervised Samsaran children running around, might be dangerous.
Since I don't play in Golarion I'm going to keep my Samsarans born normally to other races, especially since it didn't make it into the ARG.