Playing an Elemental!

[Pinkcrusade]

Hi.

So, I am looking for -any- way to play a viable Elemental (any kind). This can be rites, spells, anything (not Savage Species Monster Class)

Please post with anything that might assist me

[Blackhawk748]

Well the capstone power of the Elemental Savant turns you into an elemental, its a bit late, lvl 15 without shenanigans but you do get to be an elemental.

[Extra Anchovies]

ETA: This is mostly a homebrew option, none of the suggested means of playing an elemental are RAW.

Hi.

So, I am looking for -any- way to play a viable Elemental (any kind). This can be rites, spells, anything (not Savage Species Monster Class)

Please post with anything that might assist me

The issue with the elementals is they all have some feature that makes them very hard to play as or to DM for. Fire elementals set everything on fire, so you can't be in cities or in areas high in foliage (such as forests). Water elementals can't go more than 180 feet from their home body of water, so they can't really be adventurers either. Air elementals have extremely fast, perfect maneuverability flight speeds, and flight shuts down a lot of potential challenges.

Thus, the earth elemental is the only one that I see as being viable for adventuring. Its ability (earth glide) is still game-breaking, but you could easily either remove it wholesale or limit it to passing through stone/dirt objects no wider than the elemental (similar to how incorporeal creatures pass through barriers). After that they don't have anything too powerful; if you removed earth glide entirely, it might be fair to allow a medium earth elemental with a +2 or +3 LA, and a small earth elemental with a +2 LA (in addition to their racial hit dice, of course). Reducing the ability score increases would balance them out some more (maybe +4 Str for small and +6 for medium, -2 Dex for both, +2/+4 Con, and -4 Int).

[Ruethgar]

This spell (https://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/sb/sb20011109a) can turn you into an elemental at a steep price and if you're DM is nice he'll let you level up still. There are also the Half Elemental and Elemental Denizen templates, but they all have a high LA. There is also this (http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/Elemental-Bodied_(3.5e_Race)) decently made homebrew race that is pretty much a slightly reworked Warforged. The partial elemental native outsiders (Gensai?) are also an ok choice.

[Urpriest]

I take it that since you don't want to use the Savage Species Monster Classes you don't actually want to play as an elemental, you just want to play as someone who takes the form of an elemental (through spells/rituals/etc.)? If so, any problem with just using Elemental Wild Shape?

[ShurikVch]

According to the Unapproachable East, medium-sized elementals (4 HD) are LA +4, because example Orglash (med. air elemental) and Thomil (med. earth elemental) are labeled as LA +5, and template by itself add only +1.

Also, Stone Spike (MMII) is 3 HD, LA +2;
Elemental Minions (Bestiary Of Krynn) are all 6 HD, LA +3 (cohort);
Ice Serpent (Monsters of Faerûn) is 6 HD, LA +4;
Galeb Duhr (MMII) is 8 HD, LA +5;
Breathdrinker (MMII) is 8 HD, LA +7.

Templates "... Elemental Creature" from Manual of the Planes and Dr#347 all have LA +4 or +5

PrCs to turn into elemental at the capstone:
Elemental Savant (Complete Arcane)
Elemental Archon (Faiths and Pantheons)
Winterhaunt of Iborighu (Frostburn)
Bonded Summoner (Miniatures Handbook)

[Pinkcrusade]

Thanks for the replies.

UrPriest, it's not so much that I don't want to be a true elemental (I do), it's more that the Savage Species Monster Class isn't very viable in combat, their main damage being a Slam attack that doesn't end up being that much damage.

[Urpriest]

Thanks for the replies.

UrPriest, it's not so much that I don't want to be a true elemental (I do), it's more that the Savage Species Monster Class isn't very viable in combat, their main damage being a Slam attack that doesn't end up being that much damage.

That's what elementals do, though.

I guess the question is, do you want to be a capital-E true Elemental, or do you want to be a creature of the elemental type?

[Pinkcrusade]

The main problem with the class is that it offers no advancement in size -or- slam damage, making it somewhat troublesome. I suppose either could work, though I do like this visual concept http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070618180420/wowwiki/images/3/32/Fire_elemental.jpg or http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070618180420/wowwiki/images/3/32/Fire_elemental.jpg, so obviously leaning towards a true elemental, but fluff retexture could fix that, perhaps?

[Urpriest]

The main problem with the class is that it offers no advancement in size -or- slam damage, making it somewhat troublesome. I suppose either could work, though I do like this visual concept http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070618180420/wowwiki/images/3/32/Fire_elemental.jpg or http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20070618180420/wowwiki/images/3/32/Fire_elemental.jpg, so obviously leaning towards a true elemental, but fluff retexture could fix that, perhaps?

It offers advancement in both size and slam damage, actually, up to the maximum of Large. Was your goal to be not just an Elemental, but a Huge Elemental? That's quite a bit trickier, playing Huge characters in general isn't easy.

[Extra Anchovies]

The fire elemental's Burn ability, the air elemental's crazyass flight speed, the water elemental's being limited to 180 ft from its home body of water, and the earth elemental's earth glide. Those are the four abilities that keep elementals from being workable characters for both player and DM. The fire elemental and water elemental give horrible limits to players (no touching/walking on/being next to flammable things; extremely limited area of operation), and the earth and air elemental kill a lot of challenges a DM can provide (absurd flight speed can outpace pretty much anything that's not a dragon, and earth glide lets you skip entire sections of a dungeon).

Earth glide and the water dependence are, IMO, the easiest one to remove without nerfing the fluff; air elementals without flight are dumb, fire elementals that don't light stuff up are dumb. Water elementals are probably the easiest to make playable; just remove the travel limitation (there's minute bits of water in the air and soil, after all). Earth elementals can either lose the earth glide entirely or have it limited to not being able to fully hide inside an object (i.e. it can only pass through spaces narrower than its armspan).

Elemental traits (esp. immunity to poison, stunning, sneak attack, and critical hits, but also not needing to eat/sleep/breathe) are worth at least +1 LA if not +2. Ability score bonuses (net of +14 physical, -4 mental for medium and +6 physical -4 mental for small) are worth probably +2 for medium and +1 for small. I'd say +2 LA for small and +3 LA for medium above and beyond the RHD would be fair. Unapproachable East, as ShurikVch pointed out, seems to say +4 for medium, but once you nerf earth glide (and realize that in most encounters, water mastery is going to be very bad; -4 on attack/damage if either you or your target is on land) dropping the LA by at least one seems fair to me.

[nedz]

There is this spell: Primal Form (Spell Compendium p161)l: Druid 3, Sorcerer 3, Wizard 3, Spellthief 3
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)

You get the elemental subtype, plus various features depending upon the element.
These are somewhat toned down from regular elemental.

It only does the four basic elements though.

[Fouredged Sword]

One thing I have done before is play a cleric IN an elemental. Note, you can control up to your HD in elementals with rebuke X. You can pick your type of elemental through domains. Then, planer bind a elemental of HD= your HD each level. Drain half of it's HD with fell drain magic missiles, then rebuke it.

Now you have a elemental of HD=your ECL. Ride it as a mount. Use it as a meat shield. It is one scroll away from being replaced, so you don't even have to worry about resurrection.

I totally did this with a halfling cleric (freedom and air domains). Level 6 or so. Never dismounted his air elemental the whole game. He popped around with a lance (martial weapon prof) and ride by attack. It was tons of fun, though my DM never really came up with a good solution to "I fly 200ft straight up" as a defense.

[Talionis]

Do you know about Elemental Scion of Zilargo? Pg 68 of Magic of Eberron. Its a strange, not well thought out class that needs some casting, but doesn't really advance it, but does. I feel like you could build a really interesting PC out of it, but I've never been able to figure out how to make it work in any sort of optimization sense. The main feature of the class is being able to jump into an elemental and control its actions. Your body disappears. So it effectively keeps your real body safe from most things. Its a good read, but like I said, I haven't been able to figure out how to optimize it.

[Fouredged Sword]

With those prereqs, I think it would be better to enter as a fighty class. Enter at level 6, be summoning large elementals by 10th level, and elder elementals by 15th. That is like throwing around a 9th level spell a few times per day. Get a means of curing con drain and exhaustion, and you can spam it every encounter.

It's not tier 1, but it wouldn't be bad. Get catalouges of enlightment for the matching domain keyed of your HD, and rebuke some elementals to follow you around and complete the flavor.