PDA

View Full Version : Mechanical Question



Jane_Smith
2009-06-18, 02:55 PM
Vampires, Lichs, Undead. In another thread speaking about lichs I realized most, truly powerful undead simply wish to be left alone to study, etc, and only react when someone trespasses on their property. Like any NORMAL person would do.

So... mechanically, in the rules, is it possible to have a non-evil intelligent undead? Like a lawful neutral lich, or true neutral vampire that just want to survive, etc? My curiosity is sparked. Also - would they show up as evil still even when good/neutral aligned due to the process of their creation? Like, would the above stated lich be subject to smite evil, detect evil, etc? I checked, it says "always evil", but i swear I read somewhere that just means roughly 95% of the entire species, so their are unique exceptions i believe?

Edit: And yes, im quite aware -flavor- and fluff wise its possible to be a good-aligned anything, but i mean crunch wise, is it legal?

cezyou
2009-06-18, 03:05 PM
Geez, this is one thing I dislike a lot about core. It treats Negative Energy as evil, and Positive as good, which is really a bunch of crap.

Personally, I think that all that there is in the OP is answered by whether the DM is treating Negative Energy as inherently evil or not.

PairO'Dice Lost
2009-06-18, 03:25 PM
So... mechanically, in the rules, is it possible to have a non-evil intelligent undead? Like a lawful neutral lich, or true neutral vampire that just want to survive, etc? My curiosity is sparked.

I believe there's one or two undead templates that don't gravitate to evil alignment (I'm thinking Necropolitan, though not 100% sure), but lich and vampire are Always Evil, I believe.


Also - would they show up as evil still even when good/neutral aligned due to the process of their creation? Like, would the above stated lich be subject to smite evil, detect evil, etc?

Only the evil subtype works that way--that is, Undead [Evil]--regardless of creation methods; otherwise, it's just the same as their actual alignment.


I checked, it says "always evil", but i swear I read somewhere that just means roughly 95% of the entire species, so their are unique exceptions i believe?

Right. "Always" simply means that by default they're that alignment, but there can be exceptions. I believe the percentages are "Always" is ~95% likely, "Usually" is ~50%, and "Often" is ~30%, but I may be wrong.


Geez, this is one thing I dislike a lot about core. It treats Negative Energy as evil, and Positive as good, which is really a bunch of crap.

Completely agreed. I prefer the 1e/2e take--positive and negative energy are no more aligned than gravity is, and healing spells are Necromancy as they should be, not put in Conjuration because Necromancy is icky.

Jane_Smith
2009-06-18, 04:35 PM
Eh, ive always wanted to make healing spells back into necromancy and actually giving wizards/sorcerers access to healing spells like clerics. Old-school necromancer = CAN BE HEALERZ. ._. It is the school of manipulating LIFE and DEATH, not undead and death... Anyway, thanks for the clarification.

Kiren
2009-06-18, 07:00 PM
I do remember a template for liches, who became liches in order to continue to do good deeds, I do not remember the book it was in however.

Mando Knight
2009-06-18, 09:48 PM
There's the Baelnorn and Archlich (might be the same thing?), setting-specific Not-Always-Evil liches...

And then there's the Cleric of Pelor who just happens to have been killed by a much-lower leveled vampire's Blood Drain...

Zeta Kai
2009-06-18, 10:04 PM
Necropolitans (from Libris Mortis, page 114) indeed have no alignment restrictions or alterations.