Post/Author/DateTime	Post
grey muse 11-25-04, 01:19 AM	One of my players wants to play a psionic character in my upcoming Eberron game. Ever the roleplayer, she didn't want to play a typical kalashtar. Instead, she wants to play a kalashtar turncoat -- one who supports the Inspired and their mchinations. How viable is this? My first impression is that it doesn't really ring true, but I hate to say no to a player who's into their character concept. Also, she wants to play a healer, most likely in the employ of one of Jorasco's healing houses. Does anyone have any suggestions as to healing psionics powers that would be appropriate? grey muse
Zedium 11-25-04, 01:51 AM	Well, I think the Inspired would prefer to kill all the Kalashtar, although she might be tricked like Cypher was in the Matrix. They promise to give her back her quori shape if she helps them turn on her fellow Kalashtar. Of course this is all a lie ;)
Hellcow 11-25-04, 03:19 AM	It's certainly possible, and the idea of a small kalashtar fifth column who believe that they can somehow become true quori by aiding the Inspired is one that's been floating around (I don't remember if it's actually in Races of Eberron or just something I've had on a back burner). However, it implies a fairly sociopathic personality and a very weak bond with the quori spirit; this is a case of the human half of the kalashtar shutting out the desires and values of its quori ancestor. Other things to consider are that any kalashtar wh finds out about this will consider you an abomination - especially any kalashtar who shares your quori lineage - and that just because you're an Inspired sympathizer doesn't mean that the Inspired will go out oftheir way to help you out. As has been suggested,the Inspired want to kill all kalashtar -- and there's an excellent chance that the "quori ascenscion" is a pure fable. So possible, certainly - but very unusual.
hiryuu 11-25-04, 11:11 AM	I also don't know if I'd allow it; you're supposed to be playing heroes who get along with the group. If any member of the party is set about trying to conquer the world for the forces of evil, it's usually a firm indicator that the party member won't play well with others. This kind of thing is more apt for a misguided villain.
Sarlax 11-25-04, 12:33 PM	I also don't know if I'd allow it; you're supposed to be playing heroes who get along with the group. If any member of the party is set about trying to conquer the world for the forces of evil, it's usually a firm indicator that the party member won't play well with others. This kind of thing is more apt for a misguided villain. Why can't a PC be the misguided villian? Look at the Empire of Riedra. It appears to be a perfectly ordered and powerful nation. The humans who serve the Inspired are not only content, they love and revere their rulers. Someone on the outside might ask, "Why not?" ECS, Sharn, and the adventures don't really give much information on the kalashtar. Most significant information has to be gleaned from the board. From what I pick up here, I don't find anything that rules out a kalashtar crossing over. For someone who has spent their life living in siege conditions, the tranquility of Riedra might be appealing. The kalashtar may be blended with rebel "good" quori, but they're also prone to madness.
hiryuu 11-25-04, 05:14 PM	If they don't know about the whole "evil" thing, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but I prefer PCs that won't get themselves beaten up and thrown off a bridge by the rest of the PCs because they're dangerous to be around. I've played to much Shadowrun where that's happened, and now I prefer it if groups play well with everyone in the group (one of the responsibilites of a player: I will make a character that does not create a rift within the group or result in my death, and if I do, and the GM allows it, then I am not allowed to complain.). I'll let someone be misguided and discover he's been mislead later (oh, the terrible retribution he might plan for the Dreaming Dark), but the instant you snub your fellows and start trying to conquer the world for evil, it's a pretty clear sign you're heading down a path that can only end at the bottom of the Dagger tied to a series of rocks with multiple rug burns on your face. The problem is that I really don't see that happening with Kalashtar. That's like [a dedicated Mac user] wanting to join [Microsoft] because they're "so well organized." (I have a better analogy, but since the situation is political, so is the analogy, and I'd prefer not to open a can of worms) Certainly Eberron is all about being morally ambiguous, there's just nothing I find ambiguous or cool about wanting to be evil just so you can be "different."
grey muse 11-25-04, 07:52 PM	I'm not really worried about the player. Like I said, she's a heavy role-player, but she's not the type to screw over the party just for the sake of doing so. ...though now that I think about it, her last character was an anti-undead bigot with a construct bane intelligent sword, and we ended up having an undead and a construct in the party. (Good thing she never found out. :D) The party is pretty rough-and-tumble; I think almost all of the players have traditionally opted for rather self-serving characters, and it's never caused open conflict. Back to the matter at hand, though, how exactly does a kalashtar feel his/her quori side? Kalashtar are a true-breeding race, and there are only 23(?) quori spirits, which suggests the children have a bond with one of these original quori. (I think I heard this from you at some point, Keith.) But do the kalashtar communicate with them as intuitive urges, or hear them as voices in their heads? grey muse
Gurv 11-25-04, 08:18 PM	Back to the matter at hand, though, how exactly does a kalashtar feel his/her quori side? Kalashtar are a true-breeding race, and there are only 23(?) quori spirits, which suggests the children have a bond with one of these original quori. (I think I heard this from you at some point, Keith.) But do the kalashtar communicate with them as intuitive urges, or hear them as voices in their heads? I think they communicate on a more empathic level. One of the reasons that kalashtar tend towards good alignment is because their quori spirits are good aligned. When a kalashtar does something morally ambiguous, or considers doing it, they get a strong sense of guilt. Its like having a particularly strong subconscious. All those things that you might attribute to a human's subconscious, such as gut feelings, might be the quori spirit in a kalashtar. That is what makes them such a strong sense of self: there is literally more to it. They have stronger convictions, a better sense of who they are, and generally behave exactly the way you would expect from someone who has had a higher mind close at hand since infancy. An evil kalashtar would be rare because of this. It would indicate that his connection with his quori spirit is not very strong. If the character is powerful psionically, the bond could be close but it could indicate that the two parts of his spirit are not in harmony with one another: a sure path to madness. There isn't much that the spirit can do; its not in control of the kalashtar. Other kalashtar, especially those sharing the same spirit, might be very uncomfortable around such a kalashtar, as the spirit struggles to give them a sense of something being horribly wrong. :dice: On the subject of allowing an evil PC, that is something up to the individual DM. My take on the subject is to forget alignment...it doesn't have the same place in Eberron as in other games. Only the DM need to know a character's alignment, for the purpose of spells and such, and he can determine that for himself based on the character's actions. And whether a character is good or evil, a PC who hinders the party should be dealt with based on that, not on something as nebulous as alignment. :dice:
Hellcow 11-26-04, 02:21 PM	Back to the matter at hand, though, how exactly does a kalashtar feel his/her quori side? Kalashtar are a true-breeding race, and there are only 23(?) quori spirits, which suggests the children have a bond with one of these original quori. There are 66 kalashtar quori. A kalashtar inherits the bond to the spirit of the parent of the same gender. I believe that this is discussed in more detail in the Ask Keith FAQ, but Gurv is pretty much on top of it. The quori is a subconscious presence, much like remembering dreams; memories and thoughts surface occasionally, and the personality of two kalashtar of the same lineage are generally remarkably similar. The general conceit is that the stronger a bond the kalashtar develops to his quori spirit, the greater his psionic powers become -- so a high level psion is has strengthened this bond and may have a stronger sense of the desires of the quori. But the quori is never an active voice in the kalashtar's head or anything like that. So as I said, the kalashtar who aligns with the Inspired must have a very weak bond to his ancestral spirit, because the spirit would never condone such a thing. Personally, I'm also not much of one for evil PCs; following the premise of the pulps, the setting was originally designed with the idea that the PCs can become the heroes of the age. In mentioning the idea that there are some kalashtar who have cast in their lot with Inspired, I was generally thinking that it means PCs cannot always trust the kalashtar just because they are kalashtar; just as a red dragon can be good, a kalashtar can be evil. However, I do feel that PCs and DMs should be able to do whatever makes the game fun for them: if the DM can make good stories for the evil party in Eberron, more power to 'im.
Gurv 11-26-04, 03:39 PM	The quori is a subconscious presence, much like remembering dreams; memories and thoughts surface occasionally, and the personality of two kalashtar of the same lineage are generally remarkably similar. <slaps forehead> Like dreams. Duh. Thats what quori ARE. Can't believe I didn't see that simile. I had a player ask once why kalashtar don't dream. He wanted to know if the quori spirit was banished from Dal Quor, how was the human spirit avoiding the negative side-effects of not dreaming (he's one of those players who has to apply science to fantasy...). So I came up with a quick answer. My quick explaination at the time was the the kalashtar spirit handled that; as a creature of Dal Quor it can cover the basic functions of dreaming, just not the whole kabang. It made him happy and shut him up. Perhaps in the case of a kalashtar/quori-spirit breakdown, the weakened and/or negative connection not only produces the effects you would expect from conflicting desires, but compounds it with the problem a sleepless human would experince. It does suggest in the Races chapter that kalashtar "devote themselves to psychic and physical discipline in order to keep themselves safely sane". Psionic discipline, closeness to the quori-spirit, the need for dreams, and maintaining sanity are all closely linked for the kalashtar. You know, on the first read I thought the kalashtar were the least interesting Eberron race, thrown in for optional psionic flavor. Now I think they are the most interesting race of all.
Hellcow 11-26-04, 03:44 PM	I had a player ask once why kalashtar don't dream. He wanted to know if the quori spirit was banished from Dal Quor, how was the human spirit avoiding the negative side-effects of not dreaming (he's one of those players who has to apply science to fantasy...). So I came up with a quick answer. My quick explaination at the time was the the kalashtar spirit handled that; as a creature of Dal Quor it can cover the basic functions of dreaming, just not the whole kabang. It made him happy and shut him up. Pretty much my thought; he's carrying around his own personal dream. And yes, it would thus follow that a kalashtar with a weak connection would be more likely to become unbalanced. You know, on the first read I thought the kalashtar were the least interesting Eberron race, thrown in for optional psionic flavor. Now I think they are the most interesting race of all. Well, they are a very complex race, and we really didn't have the room to go into them in much detail in the ECS. A lot of questions will be answered in Races of Eberron (which, in fact, addresses this specific point!).