8 Element elementals - help please

[Fouredged Sword]

Ok, once again I ask the forum homebrewers for your amazing ability to homebrew stuff. i am again going back to build on my homebrew setting and I have hit a block that I don't have a lot of experence building monsters. Normaly this isn't a problem, but these monsters are going to replace the summons for summon monster 1->3.

The idea is an elemental world that magic is strongly influenced by one of 8 elements - wind, water, earth, fire, creation, destruction, sun, and rain.

I would like to build elementals to be summoned in place of summon monster spells, as celestial and fiendish things don't exist.

Some things to know about the world - healing is a creation spell and heals everything but elementals of destruction. This means cure spells heal undead (who are just elementals possesing bodies). The world is E6 with 2 extra HD that can never be class levels (all races have 2HD)

So I need elemetals of dimunitive through small. I intend to base them of the small elementals already avalable to SM3.

Also Dimunitive elementals are familiers to spellcasters.

The intent is to grant each elemental a point to summon it, like creation elementals heal so long as they exist, destruction elementals ingnore DR and hardness, Sun elementals use ranged attacks (rays of light), Air elementals are fast, earth elementals are tough, water elementals are fast in water (a common enviorment in the world, and fire elementals have high raw damage.

So playground, any thoughs to help me along? Any balance traps that I can fall into that you know of? The big thing I am want to do is provide unlimited healing to those with a creation elemetal familier, but I need the benifits of the other familiers to be balanced to that (spellcasting needs a little help to counter the max spell level of 3rd in am 8th level world. CL is 8th, but 3rd level spells are the highest level anyone not a dragon is running around with.)

[Sacrieur]

This (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/elemental.htm) takes care of half of them.

For the others, just modify them according to the above and viola, you have your elementals.

[Fouredged Sword]

A small elemental is summoned by SM3. That does take care of the 4 small elementals. The issue is building some that are A. smaller and B. in line with the power of a first and second level spell. Also makeing each something special to summon.

I am thinking of letting the Destruction elemental cause a damage aura that fortitude negates. 0ft for dimunitive (ie the spaec it's in), 5ft for tiny, 10ft for small.

I feel like I am turning summons into multi turn effect spells that can be destroyed and less meatshields to occupy space. I like where I am going though.

[Set]

For creation elementals, I'd give them fast healing equal to their HD, and the ability to spend a full round action pouring some of their own life-energy (1 hp / HD minimum, which would leave them not healing that round) into another living creature, or even an inanimate item, actings a cure wounds or make whole effect, but costing them hit points temporarily. (which they will just recover next round, if they weren't already at full hit points)

Rain elementals seem like the biggest question mark. Perhaps they go into a form like the whirlwind form of an air elemental, but that instead functions like a larger area obscuring mist effect that also drenches fires in it's area. Higher level rain elementals might have sleet storm like effects, or even be able to call down a lightning bolt in their area a certain number of times / day. (single target bolt doing d6 equal to it's Con mod and usable HD times per day?)

.

Using E6, where no larger than Small elementals could be summoned by traditional magic, perhaps there could be a 'expanded casting' option, where an elemental summoning spellcaster could spend a second round, and *another* spell slot worth of summon elemental, to boost the power of the previous summons (assuming it hasn't been killed, or he isn't interrupted), causing it to swell to size Medium. In theory, he could 'keep the portal open,' and try to spend another Summon Monster spell slot, and a third round, trying to force more elemental energy into it and make it a size Large elemental, but there should be some diminishing returns and / or chance of losing control and having a large and angry elemental coming to beat him down for his presumption...

[Fouredged Sword]

Rain elementals would be lightning. I was thinking maybe reach beyond what an elemental would normaly have for that size and combat reflexes.

Also I wonder if earth elementals could be re stated to be effective tripers or graplers? Size would be a problem, but that could be overcome with bonuses (as they are part of the ground you are standing on.)

[Ashtagon]

Is http://www.battleon.com/ your inspiration?

[Fouredged Sword]

Actualy this is a an extention of a world building project about trying to remove humans from a fantasy world. I started by takeing each of the four clasical elements and makeing a race for it. Gatortaur people for water, Birdfolk for air, Stonebones for earth, and Panther people for fire. From there I have been building on the elements and have created 4 sub elements.

I am, infact, experementing with makeing the whole world aligned not by good, evil, law, and chaos, but by the elements, with detection and turning abilites working on elements and elementals.

From there I have been working to reasign spells into the elements and rebuild the asumptions of DnD. It has been a lot of fun.

There are lots of ideas I have been playing around with.