Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Girlkitten 10-22-06, 04:08 PM	Newbie here, please don't hurt me if this isn't any good, or too cliched. (and any spelling misstakes I appologise for, I've not slept for 36 hours straight) Basic gamerule wise I'm thinking Elan as race, since being an aberation gives effective immunitys to some spells, while letting play go on as if unaware of any diffrence to normal humans, heck could even hide the race from other players to keep things interesting. Elaina is the daughter of a nobel family, the father, Eurdun, was known the practice dark sorcery and desperatly wanted his first born to be a boy. His heavly pregnant wife, fearing the he would use the dark arts to corrupt and warp the child in his own image, sought help, she hired mercenarys to find a minor artifact that granted the bearer a single, powerful wish. As her hired band searched she learned of Eurdun's plan, if his wife bore a daughter he would call forth a devil to warp and twist her flesh and make a man of her. The price would be steep, such a pact would warp the child forever into an evil shadow of what could have been. The mercenarys where good and true, and recoved the artifact in the last weeks of her pregancy. With her wish she asked for her child to be immune to Eurdun's plot. She hadn't counted her own desires. The power of the artifact twisted her wish, and made real her innermost desire, to have a daughter, the unborn boy was twisted and wracked with magical energy and in an instant, changed forever. It then followed the spoken wish, twisting the child further till she was immune to the powers her father would use to corupt her. ... And so Elaina was born, it was a difficult birth, but one that her mother survived. Though Eurdun was less than pleased at having a daughter and started gathering the materials to inact his plan. Elaina's mother, furious attempted to stop the ritual, but she could not stand aganst Eurdun's power, and in the end her blood, her life was used to power the spells that summoned Eurdun's devil. But Eurdun was no arch mage, he wasn't all powerful in the ways arcane, and he wasn't even very good, and he was quickly consumed, the devil returned to the underworld, two souls richer for it's effort. Local law dictated that the closest male relative would inherit the fortune and be responsible for Elaina's unbringing and conduct. Eurdun's death was the latest in a string of magical acidents and misfortunes on Eurdun's family, and his only surviving relative was his uncle, Tobahn. Tobahn had watched most of his family kill themselves, and each other over and through magical power, and rejected such power himself. He tried to raise Elaina to be a good nobleman's wife, but she rejected needlework, numbers and caligraphy, and sought more martial pursuits from an early age. This was of no concern to Tobahn, as long as she was content to play with swords she wasn't playing with magic. ... And I've hit writers block, but the idea is still there. Basics of the concept, Elaina trains to be a warrior, runs away from an arranged marrage taking on a male persona to avoid capture and return, enjoys the experience and keeps it up indefititly. Aim, join the party and never let them know any of the real backstory, and to keep the gender and race a secret.
Cherubaddon 10-22-06, 05:52 PM	Deceiving the party, eh? Can be great fun. Anyhow, what class do you aim at? I would advise psychic warrior, as it fits with the background and the concept of the elans as a psychic race. You should definitely play something psionic, otherwise, elan is about the worst choice you can make. The Backstory is fairly cool, I am just wondering...if you don't plan telling your fellow players about it, why write such a complex background? You'll have to tell them one day. Anyway, a great idea! Have fun with her!
The Smartest Lemming 10-22-06, 07:32 PM	I agree with Cherubaddon, and think that a psionic warrior would be a great choice for this character, if psionics are allowed in your campaign anyways. If psionics are not allowed you might consider going for a religious background and have her learn of her uncle "selling" her off to marriage, and decide to seek refuge within a religion. After she got acclimated to the monastery/nunnery, the church/religious order could recognize her natural aptitude for martial combat and she could become a Cleric/Paladin/Monk of that order. If however by warrior, you mean the Fighter class, you could have her just run after finding about the marriage. While she's on the road learning how to survive on her own, she notices a mercenary band, and enlists with them as a means to travel farther away from her homelands. But she notices that there are no women in this band, and so she disguises herself as a man to protect herself against the possible difficulties that might arise. She could meet up with the current group (fellow gamers) after just finishing her 2 year contract with the mercenaries. All the players would have to know if that she was a mercenary in her previous years, and because of that she could have been anything before that, so you are completely free to make up whatever false background for her that you want. She could also run away and survive by pickpocketing (Rogue/Bard) or run into a druid who tends for her (Druid/Ranger), or she could find no one in the wilderness and turn feral (Barbarian). Looks like you're going to have some fun with this character whichever route you choose. Good Luck
Fatalis_902 10-25-06, 08:48 PM	I just have one question for you: how did Elaina become an Elan? Elans are MADE, not born. So, did she run into a group of Elans when she ran, and request that they turn he into one, or what? Also, are you seriously considering going non-psionic with this Elan? If so, just go with an elf. Same sleep capabilities, some immunities, fits with what you've got there. Only major thing is the necessity to eat. But seriously, go with something psionic. Perhaps, as has been said, go with psychic warrior. Or maybe she began training with psionics when she became an elan, and now disguises it as sorcery. I.E., she's a psion, masquerading as a sorcerer. Just something to chew on.
Cherubaddon 10-27-06, 04:53 PM	I just have one question for you: how did Elaina become an Elan? Elans are MADE, not born. So, did she run into a group of Elans when she ran, and request that they turn he into one, or what? Also, are you seriously considering going non-psionic with this Elan? If so, just go with an elf. Same sleep capabilities, some immunities, fits with what you've got there. Only major thing is the necessity to eat. But seriously, go with something psionic. Perhaps, as has been said, go with psychic warrior. Or maybe she began training with psionics when she became an elan, and now disguises it as sorcery. I.E., she's a psion, masquerading as a sorcerer. Just something to chew on. Oh, sure. Know what? It's a matter of coolness. Who cares if Elan are made, not born? Chances are, in his' DM's world, there are no Elan; in this case, noone could tell the difference. Anyway, the point, as I understand it, is not to have the background of an Elan, but the rules. This character is not an elf mysteriously born from a human, it is a human-looking, yet ultimately alien creature created by powerful magic, in this case a wish. And no, elves do not have the same immunities: Okay, some are similar, but the simple fact that Elan are aberrations makes them immune to many effects - such as charm person - that could affect even an elf. Plus, if - as I guess - elves exist in his world, everyone is going to question how an elf was born to a human mother. Being in Elan is first less apparent, and second more mysterious. If that's what's wanted, go for it. Definitely. @ Girlkitten: Correct me if I misunderstood your character concept.
Fatalis_902 11-04-06, 11:08 PM	Oh, sure. Know what? It's a matter of coolness. Who cares if Elan are made, not born? Chances are, in his' DM's world, there are no Elan; in this case, noone could tell the difference. Anyway, the point, as I understand it, is not to have the background of an Elan, but the rules. This character is not an elf mysteriously born from a human, it is a human-looking, yet ultimately alien creature created by powerful magic, in this case a wish. And no, elves do not have the same immunities: Okay, some are similar, but the simple fact that Elan are aberrations makes them immune to many effects - such as charm person - that could affect even an elf. Plus, if - as I guess - elves exist in his world, everyone is going to question how an elf was born to a human mother. Being in Elan is first less apparent, and second more mysterious. If that's what's wanted, go for it. Definitely. @ Girlkitten: Correct me if I misunderstood your character concept. I said some not same, i.e. elves have some of the immunities elans have. But sure, let's continue with the idea that the character was changed into something by the wish spell. Why not some kind of warlock? That's equally possible. Also, elans are not immune to whatever powerful effects could change the sex of a being. Helm of Opposite Alignment, anyone? Or at least an -esque effect thereof. And obviously if she decides to make the character an elf, the mother and father would be elves also. It's really not that big a change, at least for something like this. One way or another, the fact stands: ELANS CANNOT BE BORN, EVEN TO OTHER ELANS. That's all there is to it. It doesn't matter what kind of artifact this is, or wish spell, or whatever, the child would be born human. Perhaps with some kind of shield to protect it from things like that, or an immunity to sex-changing effects, something that could not possibly affect game balance, but the child would not, could not be born as an elan.
Cherubaddon 11-05-06, 12:34 PM	First off: Sorry for the reading error. OK, Elans are not born. But you don't have to be an Elan, I mean, fluff-wise. You could just as well be a "magically altered human" or "Touched by the Astral Plane" or whatever, and use the Elan stats. My point is: He is born of a human, and there is no way either an elf or an Elan could spring from two humans (or, if it is possible, both are equally probable). So? You'll use the stats of any race, and call something different, basically making up a new race for only one person that has the stats of an already existing one. Of course you could take an elf, but In My Humble Opinion, Elan simply fits better, because they have more magic immunities.
bc4284 11-05-06, 06:10 PM	they keep saying that elan can be born this elan wasnt birn but was birthed, The original material was human and the human was warped within the womb this means thethe elan wasnt born but rather created from human matter. then when "born" the child was whatit was. Now the elan isnt being born just birthed, Birthing and being born are two seperate things, a human IRL can go to a special clinic and have another person's baby put into them the baby wasnt born from the woan that gives birth the child was Born from a fertalization of an egg. then the fetus was placed into another woman who gave birth to the child. Now in this case the fetus isnt swapped but rather morphed within the womb En elan wasnt borm an elan was created from a human and simply passed through the birthing passages and was pushed out like any normal baby. this would be as if an elan was created from a humn baby's matter while in a fluid filled membrane and at age to be brought into the world the membrane was opened and the "baby elan" was taken from the membrane. The womb in this case is just a vessel used to create an elan within and the baby was simply the matter which was used to create it. the birthing process was simply the way in which the elan was taken out of the body. Now I dont know about the stats on th creations and I an kind of a nwb as well but to me something cant be born dosent mean it cant be created within the womb of a human female. It simply means it cant be reproduced via sexual or asexual reproduction but only through creation. ((sorry for any spelling errors))
Fatalis_902 11-05-06, 09:01 PM	they keep saying that elan can be born this elan wasnt birn but was birthed, The original material was human and the human was warped within the womb this means thethe elan wasnt born but rather created from human matter. then when "born" the child was whatit was. Now the elan isnt being born just birthed, Birthing and being born are two seperate things, a human IRL can go to a special clinic and have another person's baby put into them the baby wasnt born from the woan that gives birth the child was Born from a fertalization of an egg. then the fetus was placed into another woman who gave birth to the child. Now in this case the fetus isnt swapped but rather morphed within the womb En elan wasnt borm an elan was created from a human and simply passed through the birthing passages and was pushed out like any normal baby. this would be as if an elan was created from a humn baby's matter while in a fluid filled membrane and at age to be brought into the world the membrane was opened and the "baby elan" was taken from the membrane. The womb in this case is just a vessel used to create an elan within and the baby was simply the matter which was used to create it. the birthing process was simply the way in which the elan was taken out of the body. Now I dont know about the stats on th creations and I an kind of a nwb as well but to me something cant be born dosent mean it cant be created within the womb of a human female. It simply means it cant be reproduced via sexual or asexual reproduction but only through creation. ((sorry for any spelling errors)) And it was rife with them. Now, this idea had crossed my mind, but I dismissed it. Why? Because it doesn't make sense. What you're proposing has the real world equivalent of trying to put a gorrila fetus in a human woman's womb. It just wouldn't work. IF the fetus survived to full term, which it wouldn't, it would be "birthed" with several mutations, as the human mother's body produced hormones and the like to allow it to care for this baby that was in its womb, but the hormones mutate the fetus because they are two different species. It just can't happen. For either to work, you would need to have the child at full term, with labor starting very soon, for it to have a chance of survival. Besides, the whole argument is moot anyway, as unless the DM houseruled it, wish can't change a creature's race, and unless it was an elan artifact, it would not know how to change the baby into an elan, no matter what. Now, perhaps this is something from the necrotic cradle, or a piece of the bastion of unborn souls, but those are a stretch at best.