Kalashtar spirits/reproduction - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Kalashtar spirits/reproduction

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
Starsomava
Nov 11, 2011 13:12:49 Some questions arose from my game regarding one of my players. This character was a male kalastar that had a magical gender change and now that she is a "she" has acquired an NPC admirer and is considering keeping him around because a lvl18 fighter/ bodyguard of King Kaius is a useful minion.

Since Quori spirits are tied to the gender of the kalashtar what happens when a kalashtar gets a permanent magical sex change. also what happens if said kalashtar has a kid with a human? I'm assuming that kalashtar and humans are able to reproduce with each other since the kalashtar were once human several generations ago, and that any sons from this union would be of the same quori spirit as the kalastar, while any girls they might have would be human.
#2
Siberys
Nov 11, 2011 17:25:14 1) "Kalashtar can interbreed with humans and half-elves; if the gender of the child matches the kalashtar parent, it inherets the bond and is born a kalashtar. Otherwise, it matches the race of the mundane parent." (RoE p. 59)

2) Given that, there are a couple of possibilities;

• The bond is tied to the lineage's gender. If a male is born, it will be kalashtar. Otherwise, not.
• The bond is tied to the parent's gender. This will result in a bi-gender lineage. If a female is born, it will be kalashtar. Otherwise, not.
• The bond is not tied to gender at all. This will result in a bi-gender lineage. If any child is born, it will be kalshtar.

Alternatively, upon switching genders the kalshtar switches lineages, but I find that unlikely.

I could go with any of those, depending on the desires of the player. None of that is particularly for or against canon, given the rarity of genderbending effects.
#3
Hellcow
Nov 11, 2011 18:36:56 While we generally refer to quori spirits as male or female - for example, refering to Taratai as "her" - the fact of the matter is that quori are entirely spiritual beings who do not reproduce naturally, and "gender" is a somewhat arbitrary concept for them. In my opinion, the reproductive link is based on the gender of the host, and in the case given above, you'd end up with a female kalashtar child or male human child.

If you've got easily accessible sex-change magic/psionics floating around, it would be interesting to have a line that has changed enough of its members that they actually have an isolated lineage (IE so you can have two parents of the same lineage, assuring that the child will inherit that bond regardless of gender)... it seems like a hashalaq sort of thing to do. Of course, at that point you've got inbreeding issues to worry about.

With that said, I agree that any of the options Siberys has suggested would work fine, and I'd do whatever is best for the story.
#4
Siberys
Nov 12, 2011 0:07:05 Exactly what I was getting atwith the second bullet - which is what I'd personally go for unless the player wanted to examine one of the other branches.
#5
kopakanuva
Nov 13, 2011 16:35:05 Bow-chika-bow-wow
#6
Starsomava
Nov 14, 2011 3:42:44 thanks for the responses, I think I'll just go with any girls she has would be kalashtar, and any boys would be human, possibly creating a bi-gender spirit line in a few generations.

Sex change magic isn't common at all, I basically had that happen to show the party that Vol was playing around and scheming on other planes in her bid for godhood, and that the Genasi that live in Syrania have weird, foreign magic. It was also to help one of my female players that was playing a male paladin. At first she didn't realize how egalitarian D&D is with regards to gender roles, and had a problem remembering what gender her character was from one encounter to another. Of course this whole mess makes her an intense curiosity among the kalashtar community and giving her a chance to pull off her plan to unite the Kalashtar as a unified (though small) army/ Karnathi special forces unit.

I'm not even sure whether anything will happen between her and anyone else. Her NPC "romantic interest" was basically a side effect of her batting her eyes at one of Kaius' personal guards while being a triple agent and spying on Kaius.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Starsomava Nov 11, 2011 13:12:49	Some questions arose from my game regarding one of my players. This character was a male kalastar that had a magical gender change and now that she is a "she" has acquired an NPC admirer and is considering keeping him around because a lvl18 fighter/ bodyguard of King Kaius is a useful minion. Since Quori spirits are tied to the gender of the kalashtar what happens when a kalashtar gets a permanent magical sex change. also what happens if said kalashtar has a kid with a human? I'm assuming that kalashtar and humans are able to reproduce with each other since the kalashtar were once human several generations ago, and that any sons from this union would be of the same quori spirit as the kalastar, while any girls they might have would be human.
#2 Siberys Nov 11, 2011 17:25:14	1) "Kalashtar can interbreed with humans and half-elves; if the gender of the child matches the kalashtar parent, it inherets the bond and is born a kalashtar. Otherwise, it matches the race of the mundane parent." (RoE p. 59) 2) Given that, there are a couple of possibilities; • The bond is tied to the lineage's gender. If a male is born, it will be kalashtar. Otherwise, not. • The bond is tied to the parent's gender. This will result in a bi-gender lineage. If a female is born, it will be kalashtar. Otherwise, not. • The bond is not tied to gender at all. This will result in a bi-gender lineage. If any child is born, it will be kalshtar. Alternatively, upon switching genders the kalshtar switches lineages, but I find that unlikely. I could go with any of those, depending on the desires of the player. None of that is particularly for or against canon, given the rarity of genderbending effects.
#3 Hellcow Nov 11, 2011 18:36:56	While we generally refer to quori spirits as male or female - for example, refering to Taratai as "her" - the fact of the matter is that quori are entirely spiritual beings who do not reproduce naturally, and "gender" is a somewhat arbitrary concept for them. In my opinion, the reproductive link is based on the gender of the host, and in the case given above, you'd end up with a female kalashtar child or male human child. If you've got easily accessible sex-change magic/psionics floating around, it would be interesting to have a line that has changed enough of its members that they actually have an isolated lineage (IE so you can have two parents of the same lineage, assuring that the child will inherit that bond regardless of gender)... it seems like a hashalaq sort of thing to do. Of course, at that point you've got inbreeding issues to worry about. With that said, I agree that any of the options Siberys has suggested would work fine, and I'd do whatever is best for the story.
#4 Siberys Nov 12, 2011 0:07:05	Exactly what I was getting atwith the second bullet - which is what I'd personally go for unless the player wanted to examine one of the other branches.
#5 kopakanuva Nov 13, 2011 16:35:05	Bow-chika-bow-wow
#6 Starsomava Nov 14, 2011 3:42:44	thanks for the responses, I think I'll just go with any girls she has would be kalashtar, and any boys would be human, possibly creating a bi-gender spirit line in a few generations. Sex change magic isn't common at all, I basically had that happen to show the party that Vol was playing around and scheming on other planes in her bid for godhood, and that the Genasi that live in Syrania have weird, foreign magic. It was also to help one of my female players that was playing a male paladin. At first she didn't realize how egalitarian D&D is with regards to gender roles, and had a problem remembering what gender her character was from one encounter to another. Of course this whole mess makes her an intense curiosity among the kalashtar community and giving her a chance to pull off her plan to unite the Kalashtar as a unified (though small) army/ Karnathi special forces unit. I'm not even sure whether anything will happen between her and anyone else. Her NPC "romantic interest" was basically a side effect of her batting her eyes at one of Kaius' personal guards while being a triple agent and spying on Kaius.