Then I suggest the design team issue errata instead of a FAQ, because that is not what is printed at all. It also runs counter to the "simpler option is usually the right one" philosophy Pathfinder claims to adhere to. In the meantime, I will happily ignore the FAQ in favor of RAW.In my game, it is all about targeting, not about whether or not the intent is to heal, or harm. The energy is always positive (or negative for evil bursters) - what matters is their choice of targets. They either target "living" (which includes the dhampir) - or they target "undead" which does not.That's your game. He was asking about Pathfinder rules in which you DO have to declare your intentions on channeling.You're both agreeing with each other, just saying different things.
What he's saying is, if you channel positive, you pick living (heal) or undead (harm), and Dhampir's and other NEA's are living. Or, if you're a negative channeler, you pick Living (Harm) or Undead (heal) and the dhampir is still living. You just end up healing instead of harming due to NEA.
*SIGH*
Please read the original quote. He said he's houseruling it in his own games to work like that, because it makes more sense that way. The offical FAQ is the opposite.
Then I suggest the design team issue errata instead of a FAQ, because that is not what is printed at all. It also runs counter to the "simpler option is usually the right one" philosophy Pathfinder claims to adhere to. In the meantime, I will happily ignore the FAQ in favor of RAW.In my game, it is all about targeting, not about whether or not the intent is to heal, or harm. The energy is always positive (or negative for evil bursters) - what matters is their choice of targets. They either target "living" (which includes the dhampir) - or they target "undead" which does not.That's your game. He was asking about Pathfinder rules in which you DO have to declare your intentions on channeling.You're both agreeing with each other, just saying different things.
What he's saying is, if you channel positive, you pick living (heal) or undead (harm), and Dhampir's and other NEA's are living. Or, if you're a negative channeler, you pick Living (Harm) or Undead (heal) and the dhampir is still living. You just end up healing instead of harming due to NEA.
*SIGH*
Please read the original quote. He said he's houseruling it in his own games to work like that, because it makes more sense that way. The offical FAQ is the opposite.
My mistake! I mistook this threadlet for the bit where you mentioned SKR and flipped the meaning head over heels.
Anyway, nothing about channeling in PF makes much sense to me. I suspect that the desire to nerf CoDzilla was considered more important than verisimilitude. Old-school channeling made more sense to me.
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Per the FAQ and SKR (Go do a search, this has come up a million times)
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
Current wording from the FAQ:
Negative Energy Affinity (Ex) The creature is alive, but is treated as undead for all effects that affect undead differently than living creatures, such as cure spells and channeled energy. Format: negative energy affinity; Location: Defensive Abilities.
As Jiggy suspected, this is NOT the wording in the OP, which only specifies heal by negative / harm by positive rather than the general "treated as undead."
The thread SKR posted in (first link) also explains the reason for confusion much more clearly. You do decide whether you target living or undead rather than deciding whether you heal or harm. It's just that the FAQ clarified that a creature with NEA is treated as undead in general with regards to channel - it changes targets as well as how that energy affects him (heal vs harm). So this:
In my game, it is all about targeting, not about whether or not the intent is to heal, or harm. The energy is always positive (or negative for evil bursters) - what matters is their choice of targets.
is correct while this:
They either target "living" (which includes the dhampir) - or they target "undead" which does not.
is incorrect, because for the purposes of channel energy, "living" does not include creatures with NEA (while "undead" does).
In my game, it is all about targeting, not about whether or not the intent is to heal, or harm. The energy is always positive (or negative for evil bursters) - what matters is their choice of targets.is correct while this:
They either target "living" (which includes the dhampir) - or they target "undead" which does not.is incorrect, because for the purposes of channel energy, "living" does not include creatures with NEA (while "undead" does).
No, he is 100% correct.
In his game, they are not using the FAQ.
Yes, by his own rules, he is correct.
Owner - D20 Hobbies
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Per the FAQ and SKR
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
This is how it reads to me. A Dhampir is NOT a living creature for the purposes of Channel.
This is how it reads to me. A Dhampir is NOT a living creature for the purposes of Channel.Per the FAQ and SKR
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
I personally find it much more logical to say they are alive (since they are), they just react the opposite way most living do when tareted (harmed by heal and healed by harm) rather than saying they are alive but not alive.
I personally find it much more logical to say they are alive (since they are), they just react the opposite way most living do when tareted (harmed by heal and healed by harm) rather than saying they are alive but not alive.This is how it reads to me. A Dhampir is NOT a living creature for the purposes of Channel.Per the FAQ and SKR
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
Same here especially since NEA says that it is a living creature.
Same here especially since NEA says that it is a living creature.I personally find it much more logical to say they are alive (since they are), they just react the opposite way most living do when tareted (harmed by heal and healed by harm) rather than saying they are alive but not alive.This is how it reads to me. A Dhampir is NOT a living creature for the purposes of Channel.Per the FAQ and SKR
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
The current FAQ actually means the channel somehow combines a diviniation spell (to tell they are NEA) along with the conjuration of energy. I don't like combining multiple 'schools' of magic in one power without a good reason. Especially when there's a perfectly simple way to do it that only requires one school.
The current FAQ actually means the channel somehow combines a diviniation spell (to tell they are NEA) along with the conjuration of energy. I don't like combining multiple 'schools' of magic in one power without a good reason. Especially when there's a perfectly simple way to do it that only requires one school.Same here especially since NEA says that it is a living creature.I personally find it much more logical to say they are alive (since they are), they just react the opposite way most living do when tareted (harmed by heal and healed by harm) rather than saying they are alive but not alive.This is how it reads to me. A Dhampir is NOT a living creature for the purposes of Channel.Per the FAQ and SKR
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
Calling it a divination is a bit of a stretch. Tossing fireball on a halfling wearing an illusion that makes him look like a fire elemental can act as a pretty good divination by that logic. It's just a property of dhampir biology--they react as if they were undead. It's PF's weird channeling rules that make this seem odd to begin with; in prior systems, there wouldn't even be a question.
Calling it a divination is a bit of a stretch. Tossing fireball on a halfling wearing an illusion that makes him look like a fire elemental can act as a pretty good divination by that logic. It's just a property of dhampir biology--they react as if they were undead. It's PF's weird channeling rules that make this seem odd to begin with; in prior systems, there wouldn't even be a question.
No it's not a stretch. Channel says you must pick to channel to either heal or harm, but when you do, you only affect one class of targets. Somehow, the dhampir, despite being completely and totally alive, is not targetted when you target alive. The channel somehow skips him as easily as it skips over the undead. And vice versa, when you channel to hurt undead, it somehow knows he's undead.
Because it only interacts with one or the other every time you cast. It literally cannot interact with living if you channel to heal undead. But somehow, it does interact with that one living dhampir.
It makes MUCH more internal sense to say it targets either living or undead, and then let the chips fall where they may.
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No, he is 100% correct.
In his game, they are not using the FAQ.
Yes, by his own rules, he is correct.
Fine, correct by his house rule. However, this is the Rules forum and people seemed confused about what the RAW was. Now that we've established RAW, feel free to discuss whether you like it.
On that point, blahpers is right, it's not divination, it's a question of dhampir biology. Channel Energy can already "tell" whether a target is living or undead in that it only targets one at a time. Unless you're saying that Channel Energy's normal ability to distinguish between a human wearing a cloak & hood and a vampire in the same getup is divination?
If anything, the FAQ weakens the "divination" ability of Channel since dhampir constitute a false result.
Calling it a divination is a bit of a stretch. Tossing fireball on a halfling wearing an illusion that makes him look like a fire elemental can act as a pretty good divination by that logic. It's just a property of dhampir biology--they react as if they were undead. It's PF's weird channeling rules that make this seem odd to begin with; in prior systems, there wouldn't even be a question.No it's not a stretch. Channel says you must pick to channel to either heal or harm, but when you do, you only affect one class of targets. Somehow, the dhampir, despite being completely and totally alive, is not targetted when you target alive. The channel somehow skips him as easily as it skips over the undead. And vice versa, when you channel to hurt undead, it somehow knows he's undead.
Because it only interacts with one or the other every time you cast. It literally cannot interact with living if you channel to heal undead. But somehow, it does interact with that one living dhampir.
It makes MUCH more internal sense to say it targets either living or undead, and then let the chips fall where they may.
That makes no more sense to me than the "he's basically an undead" mechanic that RAW uses. But that's subjective anyway.
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Owner - D20 Hobbies
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Channel says you must pick to channel to either
it somehow knows he's undead.
But you don't choose to heal or harm. You choose to affect living or undead.
used to cause or heal damage, depending on the type of energy channeled and the creatures targeted ... positive energy ... negative energy ... Channeling energy causes a burst that affects all creatures of one type (either undead or living)
The Dhampir's body absorbs the energy differently than other living, your channel isn't detecting anything. They are just responding differently.
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Per the FAQ and SKR (Go do a search, this has come up a million times)
Someone with NEA switches sides with regards to targeting. So if you target undead to heal them, you heal the NEA. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is unaffected. If you target undead to harm them, the NEA is hit as well. If you target living to harm them, the NEA is skipped.
Current wording from the FAQ:
Negative Energy Affinity (Ex) The creature is alive, but is treated as undead for all effects that affect undead differently than living creatures, such as cure spells and channeled energy. Format: negative energy affinity; Location: Defensive Abilities.As Jiggy suspected, this is NOT the wording in the OP, which only specifies heal by negative / harm by positive rather than the general "treated as undead."
thank you! this is exactly the clarification I was looking for. I knew this is how it worked, but I couldn't point to a ruling that backed it up.
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You're welcome, it was bugging me too. Here's the correct link to the FAQ, if you need it. I just noticed the one I gave you pointed back here instead.
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secondary question... I have channeling scourge. says I use my inquisitor level when determining dice when channeling to deal damage.
this would be a no brainer for my channel negative, it's 3d6 when using it against other characters. however, am I still receiving only 1d6 when channeling to heal my dhampir? herolab lists it as a flat 3d6, since it is channel negative.
while I would love to be able to pick up a 3d6 channel with a single level of cleric to heal myself, I doubt that's how the rule works? having trouble finding a concise ruling on this.
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secondary question... I have channeling scourge. says I use my inquisitor level when determining dice when channeling to deal damage.
this would be a no brainer for my channel negative, it's 3d6 when using it against other characters. however, am I still receiving only 1d6 when channeling to heal my dhampir? herolab lists it as a flat 3d6, since it is channel negative.
If you channel negative energy to harm the living, it has no effect on the undead or on dhampirs. The enhanced dice roll is not available to you for healing.