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Iliyan
Acolyte
Croatia
42 Posts |
 Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 08:19:20
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Hi everyone, my question today is, is it possible for a Elan to be made out of a non-human race?
Elans are fabricated from humans. However lets say a Drow Elan... would he regain spell resistance? Ability bonuses? Stuff like that?
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Na-Gang
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
348 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 09:34:44
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| What in the Nine Hells is an Elan? |
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GoCeraf
Learned Scribe
147 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 12:40:04
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It's a psionic race created (generally) from human stock. They can live over 1000 years and they have some racial abilities that are activated with the expenditure of power points.
Ergo, an Elan psion is a lot more powerful than an Elan wizard.
As far as other races, I couldn't say. |
Being sarcastic can be more telling than simply telling. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 16:29:31
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quote:
Originally posted by Na-Gang
What in the Nine Hells is an Elan?
é·lan
n.
1. Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.
2. Distinctive style or flair.
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"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
Edited by - Rinonalyrna Fathomlin on 31 Oct 2008 16:29:47 |
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Stormlord
Acolyte
USA
15 Posts |
Posted - 31 Oct 2008 : 16:30:53
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I would allow a player to be an elan made from drow stock. But the abilities gained would be that of an elan, you would just look like a drow. It would purely be a superficial change.
My reasons for that are; an elan is a totally new race with its own bonuses/penalties and you cease to be who and what you were.
This is just my opinion on the topic, yours may vary. |
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Lord Karsus
Great Reader
USA
3738 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2008 : 19:05:21
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| -Link 'em to some kind of ritual of transformation of some sort, and there you go. Make it such that anyone can cast it, of course. Were I the one making the ruling, they wouldn't retain original abilities, however. Humans casting it who become Elan, and they don't retain their special abilities, so... |
(A Tri-Partite Arcanist Who Has Forgotten More Than Most Will Ever Know)
Elves of Faerūn
Vol I- The Elves of Faerūn
Vol. III- Spells of the Elves
Vol. VI- Mechanical Compendium |
Edited by - Lord Karsus on 01 Nov 2008 19:06:34 |
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Brynweir
Senior Scribe
USA
436 Posts |
Posted - 01 Nov 2008 : 19:25:14
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Hah. When I first saw the topic I thought it was a reference to the Order of the Stick....
I have to agree with Stormlord - I'd allow it, but they'd simply look like a drow but in fact be a whole nother race. |
Anyone who likes to read something that's really dark and gritty and completely awesome ought to read The Night Angel Trilogy by Brent Weeks. You can check out a little taste at www.BrentWeeks.com I should probably warn you, though, that it is definitely not PG-13 :-D
He also started a new Trilogy with Black Prism, which may even surpass the Night Angel Trilogy in its awesomeness. 
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StarBog
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
152 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2008 : 10:48:11
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quote:
Originally posted by Brynweir
Hah. When I first saw the topic I thought it was a reference to the Order of the Stick....
You weren't the only one...
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Na-Gang
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
348 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2008 : 11:32:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
quote:
Originally posted by Na-Gang
What in the Nine Hells is an Elan?
é·lan
n.
1. Enthusiastic vigor and liveliness.
2. Distinctive style or flair.
Oh Rino. |
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Rinonalyrna Fathomlin
Great Reader
USA
7106 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2008 : 15:20:00
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| It's true. |
"Instead of asking why we sleep, it might make sense to ask why we wake. Perchance we live to dream. From that perspective, the sea of troubles we navigate in the workaday world might be the price we pay for admission to another night in the world of dreams."
--Richard Greene (letter to Time) |
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Markustay
Realms Explorer extraordinaire
USA
15724 Posts |
Posted - 03 Nov 2008 : 18:16:29
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I'm with everyone else here - DEFINATELY just a supeficial resemblance to the original race, and ONLY Elan abilites should apply (I'm thinking we have ourselves a power-gamer here).
You see, I once built a Firbolg Barbarian Shaman Runepriest in a 2e game, so I know a little something about taking from different rulebooks just to create an unstoppable juggernaught. 
On the other hand, a group of Drow who divorced themselves from normal Dark-Elven culture to persue psionics to it's extreme sounds like a fun idea for a setting.
Dro'lan?  |
"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me" --- Dudley Field Malone
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Edited by - Markustay on 03 Nov 2008 18:17:00 |
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Kilvan
Senior Scribe
Canada
894 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 12:49:54
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According to the elan's description in the EPH, non-human can't be made into elans, for no specified reason, they just can't. That said, it also says that any human becoming elan loses everything but their memories. That includes class levels, skills and any special ability granted to humans. So, if you decided to allow a drow to become an elan, he should lose everything too.
Alternatly, i'd say that a drow with all the elan and drow abilities could exist, through intense research and incantation and maybe with the help of a few illithids, but with a level adjustment +3. I would throw in a level of abberation though, or it's HP would be ridiculously low.
In other words, the DM word is law, do whatever you feel is right... and fun. |
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Kilvan
Senior Scribe
Canada
894 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 13:00:54
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Oh, and since nobody answered Na-Gang's question, allow me. An elan is a new race introduced in the expanded psionic handbook. It's a human that became an aberration and can now live forever, really, they are immortal (that's better than lichdom). They retain two things from their former self, their physical appearance and their memories, that's it.
As for the "crunch", they have a level adjusment +0 and gain a few psionics ability. Like human, they tend toward no particular alignment, not even neutral.
I could also add that they don't reproduce biologically, but psionically, and their "children" are fully-grown adults. Making me never want to be an elan, it's just not worth it.
Edit: oh, and GoCeraf had mostly answered already, sorry about that |
Edited by - Kilvan on 06 Nov 2008 14:58:25 |
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 16:35:08
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quote:
Originally posted by Kilvan
I could also add that they don't reproduce biologically, but psionically, and their "children" are fully-grown adults. Making me never want to be an elan, it's just not worth it.
Or they could adopt. Nothing wrong with that. And to toe a line I do not normally toe, it says nothing about their reproductive organs not working, just that to make more elan the aspirants have to undergo the same process they did. This actually could be a good plot point for someone who was not an Elan but carried the bloodline of one from Jhaamdath. And did I miss it, or did no one mention Eytan Bernstein's excellent Class Chronicles article on the subject? |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Hawkins
Great Reader
USA
2131 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 16:55:56
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Here is the crunch from the d20 SRD (of 3.5 days):
Elans
* -2 Charisma
* Aberration: Elans are not subject to spells or effects that affect humanoids only, such as charm person or dominate person.
* Medium: As Medium creatures, elans have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Elan base land speed is 30 feet.
* Elans (unlike most aberrations) do not have darkvision.
* Naturally Psionic: Elans gain 2 bonus power points at 1st level. This benefit does not grant them the ability to manifest powers unless they gain that ability through another source, such as levels in a psionic class.
* Resistance (Su): Elans can use psionic energy to increase their resistance to various forms of attack. As an immediate action, an elan can spend 1 power point to gain a +4 racial bonus on saving throws until the beginning of her next action.
* Resilience (Su): When an elan takes damage, she can spend power points to reduce its severity. As an immediate action, she can reduce the damage she is about to take by 2 hit points for every 1 power point she spends.
* Repletion (Su): An elan can sustain her body without need of food or water. If she spends 1 power point, an elan does not need to eat or drink for 24 hours.
* Automatic Language: Common. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages, such as Druidic). Elans past lives expose them to wide ranges of language.
* Favored Class: Psion.
* Level Adjustment: +0. |
Errant d20 Designer - My Blog (last updated January 06, 2016)
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back. --Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
"Mmm, not the darkness," Myrin murmured. "Don't cast it there." --Erik Scott de Bie, Shadowbane
* My character sheets (PFRPG, 3.5, and AE versions; not viewable in Internet Explorer)
* Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (PFRPG OGL Rules)
* The Hypertext d20 SRD (3.5 OGL Rules)
* 3.5 D&D Archives
My game design work:
* Heroes of the Jade Oath (PFRPG, conversion; Rite Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 1: Cantrips & Orisons (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Compendium Arcanum Volume 2: 1st-Level Spells (PFRPG, designer; d20pfsrd.com Publishing)
* Martial Arts Guidebook (forthcoming) (PFRPG, designer; Rite Publishing)
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Edited by - Hawkins on 06 Nov 2008 16:57:40 |
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Kilvan
Senior Scribe
Canada
894 Posts |
Posted - 06 Nov 2008 : 17:12:19
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quote:
Originally posted by HawkinstheDM
it says nothing about their reproductive organs not working, just that to make more elan the aspirants have to undergo the same process they did.
I quite agree, but the way I understand elans, they are above such "primal behaviour" and simply don't care about sex. It may be a mis-interpretation, but the way I see them, they think the body is nothing but a shell. They prefer intellectual and psychological rewards over material or physical. That would be an effect of losing their "humanity", they perceive things in a way beyond human's comprehension.
In other words, I think their way of viewing life is more akin to mind flayers, as described in "The Illithiad", meaning that the power of the body is nothing compared to the power of the mind. More than that, the body is nothing but an hindrance, a weakness, forcing you to feed, sleep, brings you pain ect.
Again, it's simply my interpretation of this strange race. |
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Elan in the FR
