An odd turn of events...


Advice


Hi guys!

So, long story short, my character (lvl 3 Grippli rogue) recently died in our campaign, and the party decided to bring him back to life using reincarnate. We all agreed (DMs idea) to use a custom table we found online, and i ended up being reincarnated as a Jiang-Shi vampire. I understand that living creatures cannot normally be reincarnated into an undead, but the list stated "If a non-undead is reincarnated into the body of an undead, apply the [native] or [living construct] subtype at your discretion (ignoring the convention that these subtypes normally apply only to Outsiders and Constructs, respectively)". Following this, I was allowed by the DM to keep my mind/mental state as it was from before my death, including my alignment.

So i am now a chaotic good lvl 1 undead jiang-shi grippli rogue...

Anyway, i have never really encountered this in the game before. This is my first game since i stopped playing about 6 or 7 years ago, so my recollection of rules is rusty at best. I therefore have a few questions!

1) i understand that one undead trait is that they do not need to sleep. I take it this is also applied to my character?

2) Ive read up about Jiang-Shi and their weaknesses. Most of which dont bother me, except the fact that when i reach 0HP and collapse to dust, i am gone forever if my dust is "scattered". What would count as "scatter", because depending on interpretation, a slight breeze or careless footstep may destroy me forever?

3) Would the Jiang-Shi chi-feeding ability be considered an evil act? As i am very much an exception to the alignment rule, i am not sure how their abilities affect my alignment.

4) Any other advice for me? Any items i could get that would help me? Any other ideas?

Thanks for the help ^^

Scarab Sages

Honestly, I feel that this is the definition of a "corner case". It's the kind of high weirdness that can happen in tabletop RPGs and is one of the reasons that people love playing them. Work out the details with your GM and have fun with it.


1). Correct. You do not need to sleep.
2). Correct. Though I'm guessing True Resurrection, Wish and Miracle are still options.
3). It's not marked as Evil as such. So I'm guessing it's like any other form of violence: not Evil when warranted or inflicted upon the deserving.
4). It seems doubly-iconic for this character to be hopping a lot, so I'd put some emphasis on that in your RP.


VRMH wrote:

1). Correct. You do not need to sleep.

2). Correct. Though I'm guessing True Resurrection, Wish and Miracle are still options.
3). It's not marked as Evil as such. So I'm guessing it's like any other form of violence: not Evil when warranted or inflicted upon the deserving.
4). It seems doubly-iconic for this character to be hopping a lot, so I'd put some emphasis on that in your RP.

Regarding point number 2, if I'm not mistaken, you would lose the undead template/associated powers and just come back as a regular grippli...


An "odd turn of events" is a very big understatement.

You seem to have lost two levels, but that doesn't matter, you are vastly more powerful than ever before. If you're gaming with other level 3 characters, you will be like a god amongst them. I hope your GM knows what he's doing...

As for answering your questions:

1. Yes. See below.
2. "Scatter" is not a game term; it's up to your GM to determine just what it takes to scatter your dust. Me, I would say that it takes at least the same amount of effort as mixing it with rice and holy water (or else why would anyone do this if they could just blow on your dust and solve the problem?)
3. No. It's a tool, like using a sword or casting a fireball. It's not the tool that determines the alignment, it's the way you use it - if you use it for good purposes (killing bad guys, protecting the innocent, etc.) then you're committing good acts, but if you use it to kill innocents and commit crimes, then these are evil acts. By comparison, the Enervate spell and the Vampiric Touch spells do not have "evil" descriptors.
4. Watch out for your party's cleric...

PRD, Universal Monster Rules, Undead traits wrote:

An undead creature possesses the following traits (unless otherwise noted in a creature's entry).

No Constitution score. Undead use their Charisma score in place of their Constitution score when calculating hit points, Fortitude saves, and any special ability that relies on Constitution (such as when calculating a breath weapon's DC).
Darkvision 60 feet.
Immunity to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms).
Immunity to death effects, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning.
Not subject to nonlethal damage, ability drain, or energy drain. Immune to damage to its physical ability scores (Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength), as well as to exhaustion and fatigue effects.
Cannot heal damage on its own if it has no Intelligence score, although it can be healed. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal undead creatures. The fast healing special quality works regardless of the creature's Intelligence score.
Immunity to any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless).
Not at risk of death from massive damage, but is immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hit points.
Not affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. Resurrection and true resurrection can affect undead creatures. These spells turn undead creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.
Proficient with its natural weapons, all simple weapons, and any weapons mentioned in its entry.
Proficient with whatever type of armor (light, medium, or heavy) it is described as wearing, as well as all lighter types. Undead not indicated as wearing armor are not proficient with armor. Undead are proficient with shields if they are proficient with any form of armor.
Undead do not breathe, eat, or sleep.

Grand Lodge

He said he was allowed to keep his mind, so he'll not be immune to all mind-affecting effects.


Thanks for the advice guys! It looks like i am going to have to find some way of filling my in-game evenings XD perhaps i could take up a profession and get training at a night class!

Another question! Do i rot? The circumstances behind my death meant i could have been dead for a maximum of 10 hours before i was brought back. Do i continue to rot after being brought back? Or am i now in a state of preservation?

Grand Lodge

Sparkleshark wrote:
Do i rot?

I see nothing in neither the Jiang-shi nor the undead traits that would imply that you rot.

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