Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Imsolost 02-09-07, 05:05 PM	Eternal I know its a lot of reading, but bear with me. Fluff Sometimes when a necromancer is building an army, he will stumble across a corpse that is unable to be raised. Most necromancers believe that the creature’s soul was unable to return to its body, thus preventing reanimation; however this is not always the case. It is said that in rare cases there are those who possess such a strong will to live that when they are slain and re-animated their soul returns to their body but fights off the reanimating forces of the necromancer. In these cases the corpse body is flooded with negative energy and makes a permanent tie to the negative energy plane. Sometimes the negative energy within their bodies is enough to reanimate the corpse. These stalwart souls are thus able to return to life as an Eternal; however it is unlike any life they had ever known. An Eternal’s blood flows, their organs continue to function, and they age, much like a normal human, but all of the processes keeping them alive are powered by negative energy instead of positive energy. Eternal no longer produce their own blood, so they need to feed off the blood of other living creatures. The large amount of negative energy that flows within their body carries a number of interesting side effects with it. For some unknown reason only humans are able to become Eternals. Personality: The Eternal have a similar personality to the humans from whom they came, yet they tend to be influenced by their more primal urges and the innate evil of the negative energy within them. There are some Eternal see their second life as a divine gift and attempt to bring good into the world. Although all Eternal must feed, there are few who actually end up killing their victims during the feeding process. Whether this is in fear of retaliation or because they prefer to go unnoticed one cannot say. It is convenient that the victims of an Eternals feeding rarely notice that they had their blood drained, aside from the obvious side effects of blood loss. Some of the more sinister Eternal however take delight in the pain of others and will often kill others in their feeding attempts. Physical Description: The Eternal appear almost exactly as they did in life with some minor physical changes. Most Eternal possess black, grey, or silver hair, and their eyes tend become unnaturally red. Their skin tends to turn pale. Relations: Eternal tend to get along well with other races, yet other races do not often enjoy the presence of the Eternal. Their unnatural features sometimes unnerve the more common folk. The fact that Eternals need to feed further complicates things for them. Additionally Eternal stand out to the inspection of detect evil and detect undead spells which tend to cause them many problems in highly religious areas. Alignment: Many Eternal remain whatever alignment they were in life however the strong forces of the negative energy flowing within them turn many Eternal to evilness. Abilities Humanoid (Unliving): As a humanoid with the unliving subtype an Eternal counts as both an undead and a humanoid. Any spell, feat, or ability that can affect undead or humanoids can also affect the Eternal. For example, an eternal takes 2d4 points of damage from holy water and can be detected by the detect undead spell. Similarly, the Eternal would be affected spells such as an anti-life shell. Turning however, affects an Eternal abnormally (see below). Eternals count as undead for the purpose of meeting prerequisites for feats and prestige classes. As a creature with the unliving subtype, an Eternal heals from sources of negative energy, but is harmed by sources of positive energy. Un-life: Normal resurrection spells have no effect on the Eternal as such spells use the forces of positive energy. Spells like raise dead and resurrection have no effect on an Eternal, however a revive undead spell will return an Eternal to its un-life. Evil Aura: Becuase an Eternal is a creature of undeath much like an undead, they are easily mistaken as such creatures. An Eternal has an evil aura equal to their HD like a cleric of an evil diety. Evil Exception: The negative energy that flows within them allows them to use items normally only available to evil creatures without suffering the consequences. An Eternal has he evil exception ability just like a hellbred. Ability Adjustments: Wisdom -2. Eternal are almost exaclty as they were while human, but the trip to the world of the dead and back has forever altered the Eternals mind. Medium: As medium creatures, eternals have no bonuses or penalties to their rolls due to their size. Eternals have a base land speed of 30 feet. Lifesense (Su): An Eternals eyes have died and now run on the negative energy that flows through their body. As a result, Eternals see almost entirely in black and white. Eternals can however detect the presence of living beings by perceiving the life aura of all living creatures. In addition to any normal light that may be present; your surroundings are illuminated by roving points of brightness created by living creatures. All living creatures are surrounded by a glowing golden aura that your negatively powered eyes can detect. Tiny or smaller creatures give off light in a 15-foot radius, revealing itself and all features and objects in range to your life-adapted sight. This light behaves like regular light, you can’t see into solid objects or past solid walls. A medium creatures give off bright illumination in a 30-foot radius and a large creature gives off life-light in a 60-foot radius. The radius doubles again for each size category larger than medium, up to a maximum radius of 480 feet for a Colossal creature. Although living creatures produce a large amount of illumination, the light is not overly powerful and does not adversely affect the Eternals vision. Bright light such as that from a daylight spell will however affect the Eternals vision. If an Eternal concentrates, they are able to tell how close creatures are to death by the measuring intensity of a creature’s light-light aura. If an Eternal uses a standard action to concentrate on this ability, the gain benefits as if they had cast the death watch spell. They receive the benefits of the spell only for a single round each time they concentrate. Light Blindness (Ex): An Eternal’s negatively powered eyes are not adapted for the land of the living and the vibrant colors of daylight. Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds an Eternal for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area. Racial Skill Bonus: An Eternal receives a +2 racial bonus to intimidate. Dark Vitality (Ex): The Eternals body runs of the forces of negative energy and thus functions in a different manner than normal humans. While they do not possess all the immunities that true undead have, they are more resistant to such attacks than most mortals. All Eternals gain the following abilities. • All Eternals gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against paralysis, poison, disease, stunning effects, and all spells from the Necromancy school. • Eternal do not need to make secondary saving throws for poison until an hour after their first save. • Eternal gain endurance as a bonus feat. • Eternals are also immune to the adverse effects of energy drain and immune to death effects. Despite being immune to the penalties associated with negative levels, an Eternal still receives negative levels and dies when their negative levels are equal to their hit dice. • An Eternal does not heal hit points as normal, nor does the heal skill have any effect on an Eternal. With 8 or more consecutive hours rest in a 24 hour period, an Eternal can recover a number of hit points equal to its Hit Dice. If the Eternal remains completely inactive for a full 24 hour period, they regain 2 hit points per Hit Die instead. An Eternal regains no hit points through rest or inactivity if their blood pool is not full. Living Will: Eternals gain Iron Will as a bonus feat. Eternals are unusually strong willed beings, so much so that they returned from un-death to life. Vulnerability to Good: Due to the nature of the negative energy that raised them, an Eternal is succeptable to good aligned effects. Eternals take 2 extra damage from any good aligned weapons. Additionally, an Eternal suffers a -2 penalty to all saving throws against good aligned spells and takes an extra 1 point of damage per die from any good aligned spell that deals damage. Eternal Life: An Eternal uses the aging table of an Elan. Turning Vulnerability: A turning attempt that would Turn or Rebuke an undead of HD equal to the Eternal’s causes the Eternal to receive a -2 penalty on attack rolls, saves, skill checks, and ability checks for 1 minute. If the attempt would have Destroyed or Commanded the Eternal, they instead receive a -4 penalty to those rolls for 1 minute. Blood Pool (Su): An Eternals blood is infused with negative energy. The energy stored in their blood powers their unliving existence. An Eternal may draw on the dark energy stored in their blood, but as their blood pool diminishes so too does their power. An Eternal must constantly feed to replenish their blood pool, or they grow too weak fight. • An Eternal’s blood pool is equal to their constitution score. An Eternal’s blood pool represents the maximum number of blood points an Eternal may have at any given time. An Eternal’s blood pool is considered full when they have blood points equal to their blood pool. • Each morning, typically at sunrise, two blood points are drained from the Eternal’s blood pool as their body drains the negative energy from the blood, allowing the Eternal to survive. • As long as an Eternal’s blood pool is full, they receive a +2 bonus to their strength score. • If an Eternal’s blood pool is less ½ full, the Eternal is automatically fatigued. The only way to recover from this fatigue is through regaining lost blood points. • If an Eternal has no blood points in their blood pool, they are automatically exhausted. The only way to recover from this exhaustion is to regain lost blood points. • An Eternal can only heal hit points naturally (through rest) when their blood pool is full. • The only way an Eternal can recover blood points is through their blood drain ability (see below). Blood Points (Su): An Eternal can draw on the hidden reserve of power they store in their blood, but releasing the negative energy destroys the blood in the process. An Eternal may spend blood points from their blood pool to gain a number of various effects. Unless otherwise stated spending blood points is an immediate action, but you may not use more than one of the abilities below on any given round. You may not spend blood points while you are feeding and for one round thereafter, as your body is working on filling the newly acquired blood with negative energy. • Might: You may spend a single blood point to grant yourself a +2 bonus to resist bull-rush, trip, and grapple attempts for 1 round. You also gain a +2 bonus to melee damage rolls during this round. • Speed: You may spend a single blood point to gain a +10 bonus to your base speed and a +2 bonus to initiative checks for 1 round. • Agility: You may spend a single blood point to gain a +1 dodge bonus to AC and a +1 bonus to all reflex saves and a +2 bonus to jump and tumble checks for 1 round. • Sustenance: By powering your body with negative energy you can sustain your body without needing to eat or drink for 24 hours. This ability costs a single blood point. • Rejuvenation: You may spend two blood points to remove fatigue from your body. If you are exhausted you instead become fatigued. If you are fatigued from lack of blood points in your blood pool, you suppress the effects of the fatigue for 1 round. • Rest: By spending a single blood point you can remove the need to rest for the next 24 hours. You must still remain inactive for at least 8 hours to regain hit points from rest. • Vigor: As an immediate action, you may spend any number of blood points to reduce the severity of damage you take. For each blood point you spend you reduce the damage you are about to take by 2. • Evil Eye: You can send dark power into your eyes, giving your stare the ability to fascinate weak willed opponents. By spending a single blood point you can fascinate opponents by looking into their eyes. This is similar to a gaze attack, except the Eternal must use a standard action, and those merely looking at the Eternal are not affected. Anyone the Eternal targets must make a will save (DC 10 + ½ your total HD + your Charisma modifier) or become fascinated for five rounds. Any creature that successfully saves against the Eternal’s evil eye ability cannot be affected by that Eternal’s evil eye for 24 hours. This ability has a range of 30 feet. An Eternal may use this ability once every five rounds. Blood Drain (Ex): If the Eternal successfully pins an opponent in a grapple he may choose to drain up to 2 points of Con from his victim each round he maintains the pin and replenish his blood pool, gaining blood points equal to the amount of Con drained. An Eternal may not drain Con if it would cause his blood points to be larger than his blood pool. An Eternal may only drain blood from humanoids or animals. Animals only provide one blood point per two Con drained. The first few seconds of Blood Drain give the target a euphoric sensation. Once you begin feeding, your target must make a will save (DC 10 + ½ your total HD + your Charisma modifier) or become dazed in pleasure for 2 rounds. Your target receives a +5 bonus to this saving throw if it perceives you as an enemy. This daze effect ends immediately if you stop feeding. If your target is under the effect of your Fascinating Gaze ability, and they failed their save against the daze effect of your blood drain, they will not remember the blood drain occurring. Blood Dependent (Ex): An Eternal must constantly feed and replenish lost blood points. If an Eternal goes too long without feeding, they feel a sickening pain that even drives some Eternals mad. After three days of not feeding, or when the Eternals blood points reach zero, the Eternal must immediately make a DC 15 will save or suffer 2d4 points of wisdom damage. Each day after this that the Eternal does not feed forces him to make a new will save or suffer another 2d4 points of wisdom damage. Also, each day after this that the Eternal does not feed increases the saving throw DC by 1. If the Eternal reaches a wisdom score of zero he has lost control and can take no other action than attempt to feed. The only way to heal this wisdom damage is to feed until you are at max blood points. After feeding in such a manner the Eternal does not need to make another save for 3 days and the save DC returns to 15. Additionally, an Eternal who goes for a week or more of not feeding is automatically sickened until they can feed again. Automatic Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (Except Secret Languages) Favored Class: Crusader(?) LA: +0(?)
Grod_The_Giant 02-09-07, 05:15 PM	LA+1 looks good. Cool idea, though. Instead of the +2 to will saves, you might want to give Iron Will as a bonus feat. Same effect, but it can get you into some PrCs and it does fit the idea.
ArochanoX 02-10-07, 03:16 AM	Wow! This race seems to be awesome. First I looked this and thought: "not again those half-vampires or lesser vampires", but this is actually quite good. The blood-point system is very good, I like it! However: You may spend a single blood point to reduce the amount of sleep you need for the day by 4 hours. If you spend another blood point to reduce the amount of sleep you need, you can go without sleep for the day. • You may spend a single blood point so that you do not need to eat food for 24 hours. You still lose blood points and must replenish lost ones however. • You may spend a blood point to gain 2 temporary hit points. You may not gain more than 8 temporary hit points at a time from this ability, and these temporary hit points last for 1 minute. • You may spend a blood point to increase your strength or dexterity score by 1 for a single round. You may not increase a single ability score by more than 4 in this way. The action to use blood point should be swift action for more flexible usage. This also reduces number of uses to 1/round. The limitations make no sense. Since the bloodpool is so small (constitution score), you can't break this very easily. Not to mention fatigued or exhausted conditions. I think that 1 blood point is enough to go without sleep for one day. There's already the drawback that you won't gain any hitpoints because of resting. Then the temporary hitpoints. There should be no maximum hitpoint cap. If spending blood point were a swift action, you could basically first see that an enemy hits you, then use blood points to gain temporary hp and after that the enemy rolls for damage, so you'd lose temporary hitpoints first. And lastly the increasing of ability scores. It should be spend 2 points for raising str or dex by 2. No odd ability increases!! And that restriction is quite useless. And for the level adjustment. This race hasn't overly powerful ability increases, but definetely useful and more or less powerful special abilities both offencive and defencive (death frenzy, blood points, blood drain, facinating gaze, lifesense). I wouldn't even think giving this race LA less than +2. +3 or even +4 could be appropriate. It's very difficult to give this race a solid estimation of La because of there are no other races that have abilities like this (exept the vampire, but it's too powerful for comparsion). The best way to see this race's LA is to give it a LA estimation maybe +3 for now, and then play it in various stages of experience (low levels, mid levels atleast). After some feedback and careful analysis of gameplay, the LA could be adjusted either up or down and then play and test again.
Imsolost 02-11-07, 12:15 AM	Anyone know the fp adjustment for this race using yabba's?
Imsolost 02-12-07, 01:37 PM	:bump:
okaynowa 02-12-07, 03:03 PM	The undead-but-not-Undead seem to be growing in popularity. The eternal presented here is a fairly comprehensive draft-- I'll take that "bump" as an invitation to criticism. :D Type and subtype: Making them Humanoid (Unliving) vastly simplifies things to begin with. The subtype's qualities are clearly defined, and make it useful (player can choose Undead feats) but with a significant trade-off (character vulnerable to a wider range of spells and effects, some quite common). I'm not too keen on the Evil subtype, though. Perhaps if they got something like the hellbred's Evil Exception quality from Fiendish Codex II... Ability Adjustments: If the eternal are going to receive a racial quality that allows them to boost ability scores, I'd stay away from initial ability score adjustments. One or the other is fine; together they might be too good. Dark Strength: This quality seems redundant. You've offered the eternal three different improvements to Strength-- I'd stick to one. Size, Speed, Vision, Skill Bonus: All perfectly normal. The Intimidate bonus is a little high, considering you've given the eternal a +2 to Charisma (so, it's a net +5 to Intimidate). Might want to lower that to a typical +2 racial bonus. Undead Vitality: I like the interaction with negative levels-- it's novel, workable, and useful without being overpowering. But a +4 to all Fortitude saves is too much, especially considering... Living Will: A +2 to Will saves and a +4 to Fort saves? An eternal rogue will have no weak saves; an eternal cleric will be wacky-tough. The mechanic you set up with the blood pool makes an eternal pay for their perks-- these freebies are distracting and overpowering. Good Vulnerability: I'm opposed to this primarily because I'm opposed to the Evil subtype. Eternal Life: Considered giving them the elan's aging rate? They have something in common as post-humans sustained by force of will... Light Blindness and Turning Vulnerability: These are "good" (I mean, playable) weaknesses because they deal with situations a character will commonly encounter (daylight, hostile clerics) but aren't total glass jaws. The character can choose to suffer the effects when they come up, or find a means to compensate. It's good to make players choose. Blood Pool/Points/Drain: For simplicity's sake you could combine all of these into one quality. Actually, the same goes for Dark Metabolism and Blood Dependency. These interacting qualities are really what define the eternal. As such, getting them down to a clear, manageable set of rules (like the killoren's variable aspects in Races of the Wild) would go a long way towards making the eternal attractive to potential players and DMs. Something along the lines of: Blood Pool (Su): An eternal's blood pool powers its unliving existence. An eternal's blood pool is equal to X. An eternal replenishes its pool by Y points every time it performs action A. Excess points are wasted. (For what it's worth, I prefer a hit point drain to a Con drain-- a Con attack is potent stuff.) When an eternal's blood pool is full, it experiences happy modifier Z. An eternal can spend W blood points to gain temporary quality B, C, or D. When an eternal's blood pool is empty, it experiences negative condition modifier Q.This should be the fun part of the eternal; the simpler the mechanics, the quicker they can be brought into play. Fascinating Gaze: This power infringes on the bard's class abilities. Lifesense: The eternal already have darkvision; lifesense effectively gives them see invisibility against living creatures. Kind of powerful. The deathwatch effect is the sort of thing they could power up through blood points. Life Leach: This will be a perk more often than a drawback. Again, it feels like a distraction from the more visceral blood pool quality. Death Frenzy: I'm generally opposed to drawbacks that take control of the character away from the player. Also, it offers yet another boost to the eternal's Strength and, like the fascinating gaze, treads on class feature territory. ---------------------------------- I think you could get the eternal down to +0 LA if you took away most of the freebies and focused on the Blood Pool mechanic. Give them three simple options to spend points on at first (sustenance, an ability boost, and a save bonus), and offer Blood Pool feats that allow more options later. Look at the elan (Expanded Psionics Handbook) and the aforementioned killoren for models of this sort of thing. I think it's really the aspect that sets the eternal apart. But all in all, it looks fun, Imsolost. Good luck!
Thief_of_Hope 02-16-07, 06:35 PM	I am always happy to see a race that combines flavor with playability. This looks to me to be such a race. I'm no pro at level adjustments, but it looks to me that the limits of the abilities have been thought out and that there's a good number of penalties for each of the bonuses. I personally think I will have a lot of fun playing an eternal in a future campaign. Good work. EDIT: Almost forgot to ask. What's a warblade?
Imsolost 02-16-07, 06:56 PM	Thanks okaynowa, i took your advice and added some changes to the race. Hopefully this version is even better. Oh, and the warblade is a cinematic version of the fighter.
Imsolost 02-19-07, 05:03 PM	Eternal Racial Feats Tougness An Eternal who possesses the toughness feat also increases their max blood pool size by 3. Empower Blood (Eternal) You can draw more power from your blood than normal. Prerequisite: Eternal character level 3+ Benefit:You may spend twice as many blood points on your might, speed, or agility abilities to gain double the benefit. Resistance (Eternal) You can use your the power stored in your blood to resist spell effects. Prerequisite: Eternal Character level 3+ Benefit: You may spend a single blood point as an immediate action to gain a +4 bonus to the next saving throw you make as long as it is made within one round of activating this ability. If the saving throw was a fort or will save, you do not experience the effects of the spell until the round after you were initially affected. Dark Fury While you are near death you have a stronger connection to the negative energy that flows through you. Prerequisite: Toughness, Empower Blood, Eternal charactler level 6+ Benefit: When you are at 1/2 max hp or less you may spend two blood points as an immediate action to enter a dark fury. While in this fury your strength score increases by 4, you gain damage reduction 2/- and receive a +2 bonus to all saving throws, but you also suffer a -2 penalty to armor class. You suffer all the restrictions that a barbarian does during a rage while you are in your dark fury. Your fury lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1+ your con modifier. After your fury ends you are fatigued for the duration of the encounter. Improved Blood Use You can increase the length that your blood pool abilities last. Prerequisite: Eternal Character Level 6+ Benefit: Any blood pool ability that has a duration of just one round now has a duration of 1+ your Con mod rounds. Blood Haste You can draw on the negative energy stored in your blood to gain an incredible burst of speed. Prerequisite: Empower Blood, Improved Blood Use, Character Level 12+ Benefit: You may spend 4 blood points as an immediate action to act as if under the effects of a haste spell for a number of rounds equal to 1+ your Con mod. After the haste effect ends you are fatigued for 10 minutes.
Imsolost 02-20-07, 06:18 PM	:bump: Anyone have any feedback, criticism, likes or dislikes?
Imsolost 02-22-07, 06:52 PM	:bump:
Ryusage 02-22-07, 06:59 PM	Very well done. You've taken a unique idea and made unique statistics for it, and so it is with pleasure that I award you this :cookie:.
Imsolost 02-25-07, 02:41 AM	Yes...but is it balanced? If not what needs some tweaking?
MaverickWolf 02-26-07, 10:00 AM	OK, I don't have much to say on balance, because I'm not overly good at it with races, but I too have to question the Evil subtype. I know the flavor says they gain it from the vast amounts of Negative Energy running through them, but Negative Energy is NOT inherently evil, just as positive energy is not inherently good. Energies are not aligned. There's a reason using Positive or Negative energy isn't automatically good or evil. Note that this is supported by the fact that both of the energy planes have the mildly neutral-aligned trait.
Imsolost 03-01-07, 05:07 PM	Hmm, i thought negative energy was evil but looking into it I discovered it was more neutral. I may get rid of the evil subtype and instead give them an aura of evil like a cleric of an evil diety. The act of making an undead is inherently evil and all undead show up as evil to a detect evil spell. If anyone has any information on the evil exception ability that would be nice as well, I may incorporate that into the race in place of the evil subtype.
Drewcifer9984 03-03-07, 05:11 PM	First off, i really like the class, and the work you put into it really shows. Question though, as far as the blood drain ability goes how do you see it happening? is it a bite like a vampire or a touch, energy blood drain kinda thing?
Imsolost 03-04-07, 10:30 PM	I intentionally didn't say directly how the blood drain ability was performed as I wanted the race not be tied down as too vampirish (although I do admit my original concept involved a vampire like blood draining, fangs and all). After doing some research into negative energy I feel that it should be more of an energy drain type thing. Imagine if you will the high concentration of negative energy in the Eternal pulling the positive energy life force out of the living creature. Then the life force energy from the living creature is infused with the Eternal's blood. The Eternal must however been very close to their foe to accomplish this, thus the necessity of pinning, although a good houserule would be to say a kiss (the kiss of death) could suffice. If you want however give the race the flavor of a half-vampire and let 'em have fangs.
Imsolost 03-07-07, 01:27 PM	Is this dead now? :bump:
okaynowa 03-07-07, 04:32 PM	It doesn't seem like there's a need for the Blood Dependent quality when the eternal can't regain hit points with a less-than-full pool. That alone will motivate the player to keep the points topped off-- no need to add further injury. The eternal have eight different ways to spend their blood points-- that's probably too many options to start with (compare with the elan and killoren, whose big racial features only offer three options). You could remove five of them and turn them into feats, and a player would still have plenty to work with. Lifesense still allows the eternal to see otherwise invisible living creatures. That's rather powerful, combined with all its other traits. The Blood Drain attack targets Constitution-- that can be a pretty potent attack. Dealing hit point damage would be simpler and safer, both for the player and the DM. All in all, there's still a sense of... clutter, which tends to edge the eternal beyond the simplicity of the +0 LA bracket. While these are all neat qualities, some of them could be pruned out and turned into feats, and others held in reserve for an Eternal Exemplar prestige class of some sort. But, that's purely my opinion. Cheers! :)
okaynowa 03-08-07, 01:35 PM	"Clutter" may have been to harsh a word to use without further definition. Here's an example of what I would call streamlined: Unliving subtype The unliving are quasi-undead creatures. Any creature except for Constructs, Elementals, Oozes, and Undead can have the unliving subtype. An unliving creature possesses the following traits: Unliving creatures are immune to death effects. Unliving creatures are not at risk of death from massive damage. Unliving creatures are healed by inflict spells, and take damage from cure spells. Unliving creatures cannot be affected by raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection spells or abilities. They can be affected by spells that revive Undead creatures. An unliving creature does not eat, breathe, or sleep.The subtype is where I put those qualities that fundamentally distinguish this race from other creatures of the same (apparent) type-- the funky metabolism, the weird reaction to healing spells, the global immunities, all that good stuff. Humanoid (Unliving): Eternal are Humanoids with the unliving subtype. Wisdom -2. Darkvision (Ex): Eternal can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and eternal can function just fine with no light at all. Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds an eternal for 1 round. On subsequent rounds, they are dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area. Revenant (Su): An eternal possesses 2 revenant points at 1st level. These points represent the negative energy that sustains the eternal’s existence, and can be spent to activate certain abilities. Revenant Alacrity (Su): As an immediate action, an eternal can spend 1 revenant point to gain a +4 racial bonus to its initiative check and remove the flat-footed status. Revenant Strength (Su): As an immediate action, an eternal can spend 1 revenant point to gain +4 Strength for one round. Revenant Will (Su): As an immediate action, an eternal can spend 1 revenant point to gain a +4 racial bonus to all Will saving throws for one round. Repose (Su): An eternal can restore its revenant pool by lying still in total darkness for eight hours. If an eternal can repose in a place that meets the following conditions, the time required is reduced to four hours: Consecrated or desecrated ground A square where a spell or ability of 2nd level or higher with the death or darkness descriptor has been cast within the past 12 hours Within 30 ft of undead whose total Hit Dice equal the eternal’s character level Starting Language: Common. Bonus Languages: Abyssal, Celestial, Infernal, Terran, Undercommon. Age: Use the age categories for the elan. Height and Weight: Use the height and weight tables for humans.Notice that I've given the starting eternal three things to spend points on, but only two points to spend. I favor scarcity because it forces the player to think carefully before powering up an ability (by the same token, I can make the abilities more potent than always-on qualities). The character still has to take a particular sort of action to regain points, but the process no longer requires converting one sort of resource into another. I also use explicit game terms when listing the criteria for point recovery, so what's required of the player character is clear. THE DEAD RIDE FAST [Eternal] Your mount surges forward as though Hell were at its back. Prerequisite: Unliving subtype, Ride 2 ranks Benefit: You gain 1 revenant point when you take this feat, and a +2 bonus to Ride skill checks. As an immediate action, you can spend 1 revenant point to increase your mount’s speed by +10 ft and its AC by +1 for a number of rounds equal to 3 + your Charisma bonus. If your mount has more than one movement type, you choose which type gains the speed increase. Uses of this feat do not stack. EVIL EYE [Revenant] Your opponent shudders as it glimpses the darkness behind your gaze. Prerequisite: Unliving subtype, Intimidate 2 ranks Benefit: You gain 1 revenant point when you take this feat, and a +2 bonus to Intimidate skill checks. As a standard action, you can spend 1 revenant point to cause fear as a spell-like ability (Will save DC 10 + half your character level + Cha bonus). Your caster level is equal to your character level. DEATH’S STING [Revenant] Your blade strikes not at your foe’s flesh, but at his very life. Prerequisite: Unliving subtype, sneak attack or sudden strike ability Benefit: You gain 1 revenant point when you take this feat. As part of a sneak attack or sudden strike, you can spend 1 revenant point to convert the extra damage dice granted by your attack into negative energy damage. This damage is considered a death effect. NERVE DEATH [Revenant] You feel your enemies’ blows as though they struck someone else’s body. Prerequisite: Unliving subtype, one other Revenant feat Benefit: You gain 1 revenant point when you take this feat. As an immediate action, you can spend 1 revenant point to gain damage reduction X/- for one round, where X equals the number of Revenant feats you possess. This damage reduction stacks with un-typed DR/- from other sources, such as barbarian class levels.The racial feats allow the player character to expand on the race's inherent abilities. I've followed the general principles of the Draconic and Shifter feats, which reward the player for developing a chain of "stereotypical" powers. These feats can emphasize the eternal's unliving existence (Nerve Death), or give a different spin to class features (Death's Sting). If the player expresses interest in taking a prestige class to further explore the unliving subtype/eternal race, it will be an easy matter for me to adapt a psionic, incarnum, or similar PrC by plugging in the new point mechanic. In every step, I've tried to build on existing game terms and mechanics. Doing so keeps my phrasing clear, makes it easier for the player to remember, and makes it simple for the DM to adjudicate. But then again, that's just my personal take on design. Cheers! Notice that the eternal's method of revenant point recovery is a racial quality, not a default feature of revenant points. Other creatures with revenant points might recover their pool in a totally different way, based on racial qualtiy, feat, or class levels. This is a good way to play around with different styles and legends of undead. For example, some sort of "drowned one" might have to immerse itself in water, rather than darkness, to recover points. An "ancestor spirit" might recover points at the faster rate if a second party performs a ritual of appeasement for it, which is a DC 10 Knowledge (religion) check. In any variation, I'd make sure there's a primary condition that the character can satisfy on its own, and three optional ways to reduce the time.
Drewcifer9984 03-08-07, 02:06 PM	So Imsolost, having read everyones responses and suggestions, have you re-vamped your template (if you haven't can you?) I really like this race and think you've done great and I'm really interested in playing an eternal. I think the other responses had a lot of merit So would you be able to re-post the template with the possible changes and upgrades?
Imsolost 03-08-07, 02:52 PM	I'll get on it. Thanks everyone for the input. Edit: Hmm, I'm seeing possibility of this as an acquired template...
okaynowa 03-08-07, 03:48 PM	They'd definitely work as a template with a little tweaking. In that case, watch out that the template isn't too beneficial for one race over another. For example, would eternal saving throw bonuses stack with or replace the racial bonuses already enjoyed by elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings?
Imsolost 03-08-07, 04:54 PM	Alright, here is just a basic idea for the unliving subtype. I based a lot of it off of the warfoged, but did not give them as many immunities. Instead I gave them bonuses to the saving throws for effects that normal undead would be immune to. I also gave them endurance to represent how difficult it is to exhaust an unliving creature (instead of outright fatigue and exhaustion immunity like the warforged.) I think a -2 penalty to wisdom may also fit in with the subtype as it is rather traumatic to come back to life and realize you are "undead". Unliving Subtype: The unliving are quasi-undead creatures powered by their will to live and the negative energy that returned them from death. Any humanoid, monstrous humanoid or giant may acquire the unliving subtype. An unliving creature possesses the following traits: Traits: • Unliving are immune to death effects and the adverse effects of energy drain. Despite being immune to the penalties associated with negative levels, an unliving creature still receives negative levels and dies when their negative levels are equal to their hit dice. • Unliving receive a +2 racial bonus to saving throws against paralysis, poison, disease, nausea, stunning effects, effects that cause the sickened condition, and all spells from the Necromancy school. • Unliving creatures gain endurance as a bonus racial feat. • Unliving are not at risk of death from massive damage. • Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) heals an unliving creature while positive energy (such as a cure spell) harms an unliving creature. • Unliving are affected by spells and abilities that effect undead as well as ones that effect living creatures. For exampe an unliving creature is affected by the disrupt undead and charm person spells, a disrupting weapon, and the favored enemy bonus of a ranger with favored enemy-undead. Spells that have a greater than normal effect against undead creatures- including chill touch, magic stone, searing light, and sunbeam- have this greater effect against an unliving creature. • Unliving are effected by turning and rebuking in an unusual way. If a cleric successfully Turns or Rebukes the unliving, they suffer a -2 penalty to all rolls for a minute. If the cleric would have Destroyed the unliving creature it instead takes damage equal to the clerics turning damage roll in addition to suffering the -2 penalty to all rolls. If the cleric would have Commanded the unliving creature, the unliving is affected as if the cleric had successfully cast charm person on the unliving creature. Evil clerics may also bolster an unliving creature the same way they bolster undead. • Unliving creatures cannot be affected by raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection spells or abilities. They can be affected by spells that revive Undead creatures. • Unliving are detected by the detect evil spell as if they were undead with HD equal to the unliving creatures total HD.
epifreak 03-08-07, 08:38 PM	A question about lifesense: This may be covered in some book somewhere, but I dunno. Without being around life, is the eternal capable of seeing at all, or is some living creature required before it can see? Also, on eternals not feeding, do you intend for there to be some sort of built in buff to this (when the wisdom hits 0)? (similar to White Wolf's Vampire setting, where the hunger fury makes a vampire temporarily stronger)
Imsolost 03-08-07, 09:25 PM	Life sense is taken from the feat in Libris Mortis. As for seeing I would say normal vision (it doesn't state that humans can see but we know they can). I may just replace life sense with darkvision and make the life sense thing an Eternal feat. It was brought up that lifesense may allow you to see invisible creatures. If the ability is kept I wouldn't allow it to negate the 50% miss chan ce of an invisible creature, just help you locate the square its in. I picture the wisdom being at 0 a frenzy enough. You may actually be weaker because you have been starving (aka less blood points so you might be fatigued or exhausted).
okaynowa 03-08-07, 10:40 PM	I picture the wisdom being at 0 a frenzy enough. Techincally, a creature whose Wisdom drops to 0 is unconscious-- that is, knocked out and helpless. The same thing happens if Intelligence or Charisma falls to 0.
Imsolost 03-09-07, 12:22 PM	Hmm...I would have thought Libris Mortis would have mentioned something about that, thats where I got the blood dependent from (although slightly tweaked). Well I guess I will have to add something like: "When your wisdom score reaches zero from not feeding, you go into a ravenous frenzy instead of falling unconscious. While in this frenzy you suffer all the penalties and restrictions of a barbarian in rage and you can take no other action than attepmt to feed off of the nearest living creature." Eh, sound good?
okaynowa 03-09-07, 01:11 PM	I'll have to review Libris Mortis-- was the mechanic they described one meant primarily for undead NPC foes? My personal advice is to remove the Wisdom-draining hunger altogether for any of the following reasons: If you want the eternal to "not be tied down as too vampirish," removing the blood-frenzy is a good way to distance them from that-which-is-WoD. Removing or limiting a player's control of their own character can easily lead to unfun gaming experiences. As pointed out before, you've already written in motivation to feed:• If an Eternal’s blood pool is less ½ full, the Eternal is automatically fatigued. The only way to recover from this fatigue is through regaining lost blood points. • If an Eternal has no blood points in their blood pool, they are automatically exhausted. The only way to recover from this exhaustion is to regain lost blood points. • An Eternal can only heal hit points naturally (through rest) when their blood pool is full.... that's motivation enough for the player character to go out and feed without the threat of Wisdom damage and frenzy. If they don't feed, they don't regain hit points. If they don't feed, they're fatigued or exhausted. Those are explicit, serious conditions which any player will strive to avoid. It's a complicated mechanic-- the player has to keep track of time elapsed, make saving throws, take variable ability damage, and factor in rage adjustments. The whole process takes time and attention from the player and the DM that could be spent dungeon-crawlin' and name-takin'. The IF:THEN conditions you already wrote for the blood pool are simple to remember and elegant to implement. This blood dependent quality is an example of what I meant by clutter-- it's a quality meant to promote a course of action that doesn't need further incentive. It has the side effect of boosting the eternal's Strength and combat effectiveness, but that's also the benefit of a full blood pool. Dropping this redundant, complicating quality won't diminish the eternal's flavor or appeal.
Imsolost 03-10-07, 10:55 PM	:bump: as I work on remvoing clutter and cleaning things up. Any other opinions?
Drewcifer9984 04-13-07, 01:42 PM	So how are things going with the revision? Hope things are going well. I'm anxious about seeing the completed version of the eternal !