First, go here to see the 3.5 SRD stats for elans.
I think that they are fine for Pathfinder as-is, except for the fact that their only ability modifier is -2 Cha. What other modifiers do you think elans should have?
I agree, I've always hated the Charisma penalty for elans. I hate Charisma penalties for any humanoid race of average Intelligence, actually--why would dwarves have difficulty socializing with each other? It makes no sense. And Charisma determines force of personality and sense of self, which I don't see being a problem for elans.
Personally, I would either give them no ability score adjustments, or treat them the same as humans (+2 to any stat.)
BTW, Dreamscarred Press has a version of elans that is decent. It applies a penalty to Charisma-based checks when dealing with non-elans rather than a negative Charisma score, which I like a little better.
*Sings*
"Stat stat stat... stat the race for Pathfinder"...
Sorry, couldn't resist.
*Sings*
"Stat stat stat... stat the race for Pathfinder"...
Sorry, couldn't resist.
In my games I do a single +2 in whatever attribute the player chooses, and leave everything else the same. Works out very well.
In my games I do a single +2 in whatever attribute the player chooses, and leave everything else the same. Works out very well.
But does that make them too powerful to be a zero level adjustment race? The only thing I'm concerned about is the fact that they're aberrations, which makes them immune to xxx person spells. If they were humanoids, it would be perfect — but is giving them both the ability score bonus and the aberration type too much?
Are they going to have more information on the mysterious Elan Council that actually does the conversion of humans into elans? The way I figure it, the process should involve the use of an 8th-level Psychometabolism power and an 8th-level Telepathy power to restructure the new elan's body and mind — and should strongly favor (but not require) multiple psions manifesting each power together. Something, perhaps, like this:
Elan Metamorphosis
Psychometabolism
Level: Psion 8 (not on Wilder list)
Display: Auditory, Material, Olfactory, Visual
Manifesting Time: 8 hours; see text
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)
Target: One willing human
Duration: Instantaneous
Power Points: 15
This power is used by the Cullers of the Elan Council to infuse the body of a human with the psionic energy needed to become a new elan. The subject must be placed within a crystal sarcophagus with a cost of 25,000 gp while this power and elan mentality (see below) are being manifested simultaneously. Multiple psions may manifest this power at the same time; this divides the manifesting time by the number of manifesters.
During the process, the subject suffers 1 point of Constitution drain per hour per manifester; this drain cannot reduce the score below 1 and is completely reversed when the process is completed. Attempting to manifest elan metamorphosis on a subject without elan mentality drains 1 point of Dexterity per hour per manifester.
Elan Mentality
Telepathy
Level: Psion 8 (not on Wilder list)
Display: Auditory, Material, Mental, Visual
Manifesting Time: 8 hours; see text
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./ 2 levels)
Target: One willing human
Duration: Instantaneous
Power Points: 15
This power is used by the Cullers of the Elan Council to infuse the mind of a human with the psionic energy needed to become a new elan. It must be manifest at the same time as elan metamorphosis to have the proper effect, and, like that power, multiple psions can manifest it together to reduce the duration. In any case, the duration of both powers must be the same, so if four psions are manifesting one, four psions must also be manifesting the other.
During the process, the subject suffers 1 point of Intelligence drain per hour per manifester; this drain is completely reversed when the process is completed. Attempting to manifest elan mentality on a subject without elan metamorphosis drains 1 point of Wisdom per hour per manifester.