Do incorporeal creatures eat? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Do incorporeal creatures eat? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Exomnium
07-26-04, 11:31 AM Do incorporeal creatures eat?
lugnut71
07-26-04, 11:45 AM I suppose if they are magical beasts they do. If they are outsiders, undead, and elementals then know. My 2 cents.
Exomnium
07-26-04, 12:15 PM How do they eat? Also do they sleep? What about breathing it says the they function in water like they do in air.
lugnut71
07-26-04, 12:22 PM Well some incorpeal creatures are only incorpeal in one plane. Some don't eat food but other things.
Exomnium
07-26-04, 12:41 PM What about the others?
Wickerbull
07-26-04, 03:20 PM I'd say that they don't need to eat. They've got no body. They don't need to fuel a body that they don't have.

Oh, I just remembered, since incorporeal creatures can't use potions, that's a dead give away that they can't eat or drink.
Exomnium
07-26-04, 03:25 PM I remember that it says the incorporeal creatures can't use potions, but where does it say that? Also somewhere, I think in the nonabilities section, it says that incorporeal creatures don't have constitution, is that true?
dhaga
07-26-04, 04:17 PM From the MM: "A creature with no Constitution has no body (ex: a spectre) or no metabolism (ex: a golem)."

It would stand to reason that any creature with no body has no Con score. This would include incorporeal creatures.
Exomnium
07-26-04, 04:46 PM Then how come in the MM2 there is an incorporeal outsider with constitution.
kasthevampire
07-26-04, 05:19 PM considering most incorperal creatures are undead i would say no. i mean the food would just fall right though them. since they have no consitution score since they lack a physical body that can exert force they have no metabolsim.
Wickerbull
07-26-04, 05:21 PM Okay, my bad. I need to clarify. Incorporeal creatures do have bodies, but they're wispy, ectoplasmic bodies that don't interact well with the material plane.

Incorporeal Undead don't have constitution scores, because they're undead. Other incorporeal creatures do have Con scores, because they're alive.

But, no incorporeal creature has a Str score, because, like I stated before, they can't interact well with the Material Plane, or any plane for that matter, except the Ethereal Plane.

I hope that clarifies a few things.

Edit: This doesn't mean I'm going back on my other post. Incorporeal creatures won't need to eat, sleep or breathe, because they don't have bodies that require that kind of sustenance.
Gez
07-26-04, 05:39 PM Remember that not all creatures with the incorporeal subtype are incorporeal 24/7. If you have a creature with a very material body, but the ability to become incorporeal, then it will have the incorporeal subtype, even if the statblock will show a Str score and no Deflection bonus to AC.

See, for example, the Spectral Panther in the Monsters of Faerūn compendium, or the Spirit of the Land in the Monster Manual II. The former is a corporeal creature that can become incorporeal, the latter is an incorporeal creature that can become corporeal. Both have the incorporeal subtype, though.
Incenjucar
07-26-04, 06:02 PM Case by case basis, like skeletons vs. vampires. Some eat, some don't.
kasthevampire
07-26-04, 06:09 PM well incorpral creatures can go into solid materials and stay there with no need to breathe. if they can't breathe they shouldn't need to eat.
Incenjucar
07-26-04, 06:21 PM You do realize that there's an entire class of organism that doesn't breathe, in the real world, right? They still need energy.
kasthevampire
07-26-04, 07:26 PM well then what would they eat ectoplasmic cheesburgers? and i'm talking about the ones that are incropral 24/7. i would think that they somehow they can pull energy from there surroundings.
Incenjucar
07-26-04, 07:34 PM Like draining life force or heat or whatever.

The point is that being incorporeal doesn't automatically add or subtract the feature of requiring energy.
Not a monkey
07-26-04, 07:41 PM Originally posted by kasthevampire
well then what would they eat ectoplasmic cheesburgers? and i'm talking about the ones that are incropral 24/7. i would think that they somehow they can pull energy from there surroundings.

They eat other incorporeal things!

Incorporeal just means they don't interact well with the Prime Material Plane. If you go to whatever plane they're mostly in, like the Astral or the Ethereal, they're plenty physical. And there's other physical stuff there that they interact with.
Exomnium
07-26-04, 09:30 PM Good point. What about breathing? Is there incorpreal air that permiates water?
Shemeska the Marauder
07-26-04, 09:52 PM Most incorporeal creatures are only incorporeal as they're sandwiched between the Ethereal and the Prime. Many incorporeal undead for example are solid on the ethereal.
Wickerbull
07-26-04, 11:00 PM Why not just cop out and say that the bodies of incorporeal creatures are the source of the energy they need to survive? Or that they are pure energy.

To be honest, I don't see a problem just reasoning that ectoplasm (since that's what we're decribing they're bodies as being composed of) doesn't need the same sustenance that humanoid bodies do.

Although, there are guidelines for doing ghost touch equipment of any kind in Savage Species, so you could just eat ghost touch cheeseburgers.
Hand of Vecna
07-26-04, 11:12 PM Would Ghost Touch cotton candy be any different from regular cotton candy? ;)
Farealmer
07-27-04, 12:52 AM I think it would be a case by case basis as most incorporeals have a method of attack that could easily double as a method of "eating". Sleeping requirement(or lack of) is probably based on type. Breathing is a touchy subject though i would say that those with con scores breath like whales do but coming out of solid or liquid to breathe instead, they don't need the hold breathe quality because unlike whales they don't fight in an envirnment they can't breathe in but come out to attack and could breathe during attacks before going back in a solid object.
Exomnium
07-27-04, 08:12 AM You see I'm planning on desinging a incorporeal race. So the creature would be a Humanoid (Incorporeal). Do you think that would eat, sleep and breathe.
R.M.G.C.L.F.
07-27-04, 08:55 AM Originally posted by Shemeska the Marauder
Most incorporeal creatures are only incorporeal as they're sandwiched between the Ethereal and the Prime. Many incorporeal undead for example are solid on the ethereal.

No, ghosts are the only example of that.

For breathing, we can assume that the world is filled with some form of incorporeal air, otherwise your spectral panthers and spirits of the land and such would start suffocating whenever they went incorporeal.
Gez
07-27-04, 10:08 AM Not necessarily. By becoming incorporeal, they stop having a body. As long as they're incorporeal, they don't risk suffocating, no more than they risk spraining their ankles.

It's when the panther is in her natural, corporal form that she needs to breath.
kasthevampire
07-27-04, 12:55 PM as long as your incorpral you can stay in a solid object for as long as you want. and isn't the ethreal plane exacly like the material one except without life and its a bit hazy.

i also think that when incorpral you are pure energy such as sound. otherwise how can you travel though objects.
Exomnium
07-27-04, 07:51 PM Yea the etheral plane is like that.
Shemeska the Marauder
07-27-04, 08:12 PM Originally posted by kasthevampire
as long as your incorpral you can stay in a solid object for as long as you want. and isn't the ethreal plane exacly like the material one except without life and its a bit hazy.

i also think that when incorpral you are pure energy such as sound. otherwise how can you travel though objects.

Not at all. The ethereal plane is best described as a sea of perpetual fog, hence it's name 'The Trackless Sea'. Only where the Ethereal borders upon the prime material do you see the prime as a hazy, indistinct version of itself. That's the near ethereal, the Ethereal Deep is a dimly lit deep of fog, ethereal protomatter, raw potential and things swimming in the depths.

For the best information on the plane check out the 2e Planescape 'Guide to the Ethereal Plane' by Bruce Cordell, who also worked on the MotP and the Planar Handbook.
Wickerbull
07-28-04, 08:46 AM Exomnium, if you want an incorporeal race, look in Mythic Races, by Legends&Lairs. The race in there is like half-way in between.
Exomnium
07-28-04, 08:56 AM I want it to be fully incorporeal.
R.M.G.C.L.F.
07-28-04, 09:10 AM Originally posted by Gez
Not necessarily. By becoming incorporeal, they stop having a body. As long as they're incorporeal, they don't risk suffocating, no more than they risk spraining their ankles.

It's when the panther is in her natural, corporal form that she needs to breath.

They don't risk spraining their ankles because they have nothing to walk on.
Exomnium
07-28-04, 12:07 PM Thats another thing, It says that they can move in any direction at will, even up or down, but some incorproreal creatures have a base speed. Also the ritual of transmogrification from savage species doesn't give you a fly speed, otherwise it would be a +3 level adjustment (I think).
R.M.G.C.L.F.
07-28-04, 12:27 PM You know, technically there's nothing that says they can't sprain there ankles, of course there is no ruling on anybody spraining their ankles. We need a new end to rule ambiguity on ankle-spraining.
jasper
07-28-04, 01:43 PM Originally posted by Shemeska the Marauder
...

For the best information on the plane check out the 2e Planescape 'Guide to the Ethereal Plane' by Bruce Cordell, who also worked on the MotP and the Planar Handbook.

or just read the core books. make up your own mind. And laugh at the splat books. Saves money.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Exomnium 07-26-04, 11:31 AM	Do incorporeal creatures eat?
lugnut71 07-26-04, 11:45 AM	I suppose if they are magical beasts they do. If they are outsiders, undead, and elementals then know. My 2 cents.
Exomnium 07-26-04, 12:15 PM	How do they eat? Also do they sleep? What about breathing it says the they function in water like they do in air.
lugnut71 07-26-04, 12:22 PM	Well some incorpeal creatures are only incorpeal in one plane. Some don't eat food but other things.
Exomnium 07-26-04, 12:41 PM	What about the others?
Wickerbull 07-26-04, 03:20 PM	I'd say that they don't need to eat. They've got no body. They don't need to fuel a body that they don't have. Oh, I just remembered, since incorporeal creatures can't use potions, that's a dead give away that they can't eat or drink.
Exomnium 07-26-04, 03:25 PM	I remember that it says the incorporeal creatures can't use potions, but where does it say that? Also somewhere, I think in the nonabilities section, it says that incorporeal creatures don't have constitution, is that true?
dhaga 07-26-04, 04:17 PM	From the MM: "A creature with no Constitution has no body (ex: a spectre) or no metabolism (ex: a golem)." It would stand to reason that any creature with no body has no Con score. This would include incorporeal creatures.
Exomnium 07-26-04, 04:46 PM	Then how come in the MM2 there is an incorporeal outsider with constitution.
kasthevampire 07-26-04, 05:19 PM	considering most incorperal creatures are undead i would say no. i mean the food would just fall right though them. since they have no consitution score since they lack a physical body that can exert force they have no metabolsim.
Wickerbull 07-26-04, 05:21 PM	Okay, my bad. I need to clarify. Incorporeal creatures do have bodies, but they're wispy, ectoplasmic bodies that don't interact well with the material plane. Incorporeal Undead don't have constitution scores, because they're undead. Other incorporeal creatures do have Con scores, because they're alive. But, no incorporeal creature has a Str score, because, like I stated before, they can't interact well with the Material Plane, or any plane for that matter, except the Ethereal Plane. I hope that clarifies a few things. Edit: This doesn't mean I'm going back on my other post. Incorporeal creatures won't need to eat, sleep or breathe, because they don't have bodies that require that kind of sustenance.
Gez 07-26-04, 05:39 PM	Remember that not all creatures with the incorporeal subtype are incorporeal 24/7. If you have a creature with a very material body, but the ability to become incorporeal, then it will have the incorporeal subtype, even if the statblock will show a Str score and no Deflection bonus to AC. See, for example, the Spectral Panther in the Monsters of Faerūn compendium, or the Spirit of the Land in the Monster Manual II. The former is a corporeal creature that can become incorporeal, the latter is an incorporeal creature that can become corporeal. Both have the incorporeal subtype, though.
Incenjucar 07-26-04, 06:02 PM	Case by case basis, like skeletons vs. vampires. Some eat, some don't.
kasthevampire 07-26-04, 06:09 PM	well incorpral creatures can go into solid materials and stay there with no need to breathe. if they can't breathe they shouldn't need to eat.
Incenjucar 07-26-04, 06:21 PM	You do realize that there's an entire class of organism that doesn't breathe, in the real world, right? They still need energy.
kasthevampire 07-26-04, 07:26 PM	well then what would they eat ectoplasmic cheesburgers? and i'm talking about the ones that are incropral 24/7. i would think that they somehow they can pull energy from there surroundings.
Incenjucar 07-26-04, 07:34 PM	Like draining life force or heat or whatever. The point is that being incorporeal doesn't automatically add or subtract the feature of requiring energy.
Not a monkey 07-26-04, 07:41 PM	Originally posted by kasthevampire well then what would they eat ectoplasmic cheesburgers? and i'm talking about the ones that are incropral 24/7. i would think that they somehow they can pull energy from there surroundings. They eat other incorporeal things! Incorporeal just means they don't interact well with the Prime Material Plane. If you go to whatever plane they're mostly in, like the Astral or the Ethereal, they're plenty physical. And there's other physical stuff there that they interact with.
Exomnium 07-26-04, 09:30 PM	Good point. What about breathing? Is there incorpreal air that permiates water?
Shemeska the Marauder 07-26-04, 09:52 PM	Most incorporeal creatures are only incorporeal as they're sandwiched between the Ethereal and the Prime. Many incorporeal undead for example are solid on the ethereal.
Wickerbull 07-26-04, 11:00 PM	Why not just cop out and say that the bodies of incorporeal creatures are the source of the energy they need to survive? Or that they are pure energy. To be honest, I don't see a problem just reasoning that ectoplasm (since that's what we're decribing they're bodies as being composed of) doesn't need the same sustenance that humanoid bodies do. Although, there are guidelines for doing ghost touch equipment of any kind in Savage Species, so you could just eat ghost touch cheeseburgers.
Hand of Vecna 07-26-04, 11:12 PM	Would Ghost Touch cotton candy be any different from regular cotton candy? ;)
Farealmer 07-27-04, 12:52 AM	I think it would be a case by case basis as most incorporeals have a method of attack that could easily double as a method of "eating". Sleeping requirement(or lack of) is probably based on type. Breathing is a touchy subject though i would say that those with con scores breath like whales do but coming out of solid or liquid to breathe instead, they don't need the hold breathe quality because unlike whales they don't fight in an envirnment they can't breathe in but come out to attack and could breathe during attacks before going back in a solid object.
Exomnium 07-27-04, 08:12 AM	You see I'm planning on desinging a incorporeal race. So the creature would be a Humanoid (Incorporeal). Do you think that would eat, sleep and breathe.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 07-27-04, 08:55 AM	Originally posted by Shemeska the Marauder Most incorporeal creatures are only incorporeal as they're sandwiched between the Ethereal and the Prime. Many incorporeal undead for example are solid on the ethereal. No, ghosts are the only example of that. For breathing, we can assume that the world is filled with some form of incorporeal air, otherwise your spectral panthers and spirits of the land and such would start suffocating whenever they went incorporeal.
Gez 07-27-04, 10:08 AM	Not necessarily. By becoming incorporeal, they stop having a body. As long as they're incorporeal, they don't risk suffocating, no more than they risk spraining their ankles. It's when the panther is in her natural, corporal form that she needs to breath.
kasthevampire 07-27-04, 12:55 PM	as long as your incorpral you can stay in a solid object for as long as you want. and isn't the ethreal plane exacly like the material one except without life and its a bit hazy. i also think that when incorpral you are pure energy such as sound. otherwise how can you travel though objects.
Exomnium 07-27-04, 07:51 PM	Yea the etheral plane is like that.
Shemeska the Marauder 07-27-04, 08:12 PM	Originally posted by kasthevampire as long as your incorpral you can stay in a solid object for as long as you want. and isn't the ethreal plane exacly like the material one except without life and its a bit hazy. i also think that when incorpral you are pure energy such as sound. otherwise how can you travel though objects. Not at all. The ethereal plane is best described as a sea of perpetual fog, hence it's name 'The Trackless Sea'. Only where the Ethereal borders upon the prime material do you see the prime as a hazy, indistinct version of itself. That's the near ethereal, the Ethereal Deep is a dimly lit deep of fog, ethereal protomatter, raw potential and things swimming in the depths. For the best information on the plane check out the 2e Planescape 'Guide to the Ethereal Plane' by Bruce Cordell, who also worked on the MotP and the Planar Handbook.
Wickerbull 07-28-04, 08:46 AM	Exomnium, if you want an incorporeal race, look in Mythic Races, by Legends&Lairs. The race in there is like half-way in between.
Exomnium 07-28-04, 08:56 AM	I want it to be fully incorporeal.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 07-28-04, 09:10 AM	Originally posted by Gez Not necessarily. By becoming incorporeal, they stop having a body. As long as they're incorporeal, they don't risk suffocating, no more than they risk spraining their ankles. It's when the panther is in her natural, corporal form that she needs to breath. They don't risk spraining their ankles because they have nothing to walk on.
Exomnium 07-28-04, 12:07 PM	Thats another thing, It says that they can move in any direction at will, even up or down, but some incorproreal creatures have a base speed. Also the ritual of transmogrification from savage species doesn't give you a fly speed, otherwise it would be a +3 level adjustment (I think).
R.M.G.C.L.F. 07-28-04, 12:27 PM	You know, technically there's nothing that says they can't sprain there ankles, of course there is no ruling on anybody spraining their ankles. We need a new end to rule ambiguity on ankle-spraining.
jasper 07-28-04, 01:43 PM	Originally posted by Shemeska the Marauder ... For the best information on the plane check out the 2e Planescape 'Guide to the Ethereal Plane' by Bruce Cordell, who also worked on the MotP and the Planar Handbook. or just read the core books. make up your own mind. And laugh at the splat books. Saves money.