Elemental Archon, Mephit Alternatives??

[BladeHOJ]

My friend and I are playing a lower powered campaign (3.5 rules). I selected a non-optimized Fire-Gish build. We decided that Elemental Archon suited the character perfectly. Except for one thing....He follows a Lawful Good Diety of Fire and Mephits don't exactly fit (haveing 3 demon like creatures following him around isn't exaclty the image I had in mind).

We love the idea of him gaining followers from the fire plane, but I can't find any comparable fire creatures that are Good aligned (and less demony)

So.. does anyone know of a creature that could be from the elemental plane of fire that would be Good aligned and comparable to a mephit?

Homebrew is fine in fact I was considering changing a Lantern Archon, a Coure Eladrin and a Musteval into fire type creatures while losing thier celestial qualities but wanted to see if anyone had any other suggestions.

[Rathgar]

An easy fix is to simply change their appearance, but give them the same statistics. You could give him, say, a trio of flaming hawks, but have the stat block be the same. Also, by DM fiat, their alignment can be whatever you want it to be.

[BladeHOJ]

Yeah that is kind of what we are probally going with.

I was just wondering if there where any other options out there.

Thanks for the advice.

[LOTRfan]

Three races of Elemental Fire Archons were given 3.5e stats in their 4e article. Not sure if they are any good, though.

EDIT: Here you go. (http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/dreo/20071221a) It has some nice fluff, too. Weakest one has 8 HD, though. Yikes. :smalleek:

[BladeHOJ]

Very cool,

I havn't looked much at 4th edition (couldn't get passed the feeling that it was an MMO on paper)

But I definitly like the description of the Elementals in the article. I like how the elementals have more Personality and Background (probally another reson I am not to fond of mephits, not too much story or personality).

The Archons would fit my character very well, he is a Noble with a very militaristic background, and his deity is one of Fiery Justice so a warrior type elemental is perfect (Of course we will need to change it to a "Good" version as opposed to Chaotic Evil).

A little more powerfull then I think the Prc class should get, but I'll run it by my DM and see if we can't take a lower HD version. Or mabye as opposed to 3Mephits mabye 1 Archon.

I almost want to create a "mini" adventuring party with his elemental followers and his familiar(a Falcon soon to be changed into a Fire subtype). I think we may even play them exclusivily in a couple side quests. So the more background and story I can get with them the better.

Thanks

[blackjack217]

An archon is a LG outsider from Celestia right? Cause the sword archon has swords of fire come out of his arms. (BoED)

[LOTRfan]

Yeah, but in 4e they have been changed into elemental beings of pure chaotic elemental evil. :smallannoyed:

Don't get me wrong, I love the concept and they are brilliantly depicted in the Ecology article, but why did they have to kill the race of celestials in the process? Why not just give them a different name? I feel the same way about the Eladrin.

/rant

But this isn't what the thread is about. They are pretty cool monsters, and I definitely love the 3.5e stats.

[BladeHOJ]

I think these suggestions would make awsome Cohorts, especially in later levels when we start doing some plane hopping (this campaign is set to go well into epic levels)

But as for my original question, I think we want to keep the CR down around 2 or 3 (same as the mephits from the Elemental Archon class)

The class essentially gives you 3 elemental themed Familiars (with different progressions). I would like to keep with that feel.

So far, either we are making some "good aligned" less demony mephits, OR I am taking some minor celestials and converting them to Fire variants. I htink a team composed of a Coure Eladrin, Lantern Archon and Guardinal Musteval would be alot of fun RP wise. I would have to figure out which abilities/spells to convert over to Fire variants, but keep the general personality and "feel" of each race. After I look at it some more I may post the conversions and see what people think.

[hamishspence]

Fiery elemental beings of low power:

Elementite Swarm (Planar Handbook)- CR 4.
Fire Bat (MM2)- CR3 (unfortunately, Neutral Evil)

[Fizban]

I'd be wary of Elementite Swarms, or at least the fire and water versions. Fire has 4d6 unstoppable damage per round, and water makes you start rolling con checks for drowning as soon as it touches you-can't hold your breath, just pray.

Energons (also in Planar Handbook) are pretty cool, but they'd need some powering down. CR is only "5", but they're incorporeal and can throw down 12d6 damage per round. You could make a Lesser Energon with only 2 or 3 HD and one attack, or the same 4 attacks but with only 1d6. That should be close to the Coure Eladrin.

Fire Bats are actually an allowed choice for Improved Familiars, but you'll have to make a decision on their split/spawning ability in case it comes up.

[BladeHOJ]

So, in speaking with my DM we both agree that there is a serious lack of "good" elemental creatures. All the elements have evil monsters but no good.

Whether I pick them for my Elemental Archon class or not I htink we are going to make a race of "good" elementals.

Mabye we should make a new thread and see what people can come up with.

But for an easy start I am going with my current idea of converting a Coure Eladrin, Lantern Archon and Musteval into fire variants. They would lose thier celestial subtypes and gain the fire subtype instead, so thier resistances would change but overall I don't think much needs to happen except mabye swap a few spells as I did below. Everything else (aside form looks) would be more or less the same.


For the Coure Eladrin
Replace Magic Missle with Lesser Orb of Fire and Sleep with Color Spray.

Lantern Archon
basically becomes a floating ball of fire with a touch damage of 1d4 fire. Keep the Aura of Menace But exchange Teleport for Fire Strider and His beams would now be Fire based that ignores fire resitance and does 1/2 against creatures immune to fire.

Musteval would lose his Magic Missle spell and gain Produce Flame at will. He would lose his protection from evil spell (replaced with resist energy). And rather then having invisibiltiy I would give Him Gaseous Form. Not sure if he should keep his lay on hands. But definitly his Burrow speed and Focused movement

Any thoughts or comments?

[BladeHOJ]

And here is some fluff thrown in.

Prime Celestials (Primus)

In the ongoing planar battle between good and evil. Almost no place is left untouched. Wars rage from top of mount Celestia to the last level of the abyss. Everything in between has become a war ground of ideals, philosophy and bloodshed. Even the elemental planes have not been unaffected. In recent times there has been an insurgence of evil corrupting the very basic elements into sinister forces of destruction. The benevolent Celestials had hoped to keep the elements neutral and unaffected, however they could no longer turn a blind eye to the corruption seeping into those planes. To counteract the evil groups of divine beings volunteered to go to the elemental planes and establish outposts to ward against intrusion.

The celestials knew that their physiological makeup would alienate them from the denizens of those planes as well make dwelling there difficult. In order to better fit in and to be in a better position to defend the planes, these celestials underwent powerful transformations that removed there link to their celestial homelands and converted them into beings of elemental energy. They lost most of their divine abilities but attained the power of the elements. They became Primus or Prime Celestials, guardians of the basic building blocks of life. The Primus have not lost their devotion to all things good, and many still hold a bit of divine power within. Many have taken certain good aspects of there elements and seek to embody them

Each group of Primus was sent to establish an outpost to monitor and watch for evil corrupting those planes. They do not normally seek to convert the planes but to keep them safe from corruption. Although small in number, these former celestials will always help those seeking to use the raw elements for good purposes. Planar travelers can find refuge from the dangers of the elemental planes within these outposts as well as find sanctuary and refreshment from the evil that lurks on the planes. Spell casters that focus on a particular element may find contact/aid from a Primus as they seek battle the forces of evil. Sometimes a Primus may be summoned by such a spell caster if the cause is just and within that Primus’s jurisdiction. Although their primary responsibilities is to the elemental plane, sometimes a Primus will to other planes seeking to spread the good portion of the elements they represent.