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View Full Version : D&D 3.x Other "Angels Aren't Real" [Race, Incarnum, PEACH]



Amechra
2014-12-03, 04:56 PM
Savesty


Aeons ago, the heavens split asunder; thunder cracked, and the sky burned. Under the broken clouds, angels fell; unlike their rebel brethren, they were not corrupted. Instead, they were left weakened by their ordeal. They were left weakened, "penance" for some misdeed done that day.

Those aeons have passed, and the descendents of those weakened angels, the Savesties, walk this world.

Or perhaps those are lies; the Savesties only emerged as a power of their own a few centuries after the heavens broke, so it could be true.

Maybe. Perhaps.

Personality: The only common denominator in the personalities of Savesties is a sense of gentleness, wrapped around a core of glass and iron - Savesties see the world in black and white, though white does predominate.

Physical Description: Savesties are easy to pick out of crowds; while they bear a stunning resemblance to half-elves, it is hard to ignore the tongue of pale blue flames that hangs in the center of their forehead like a third eye. And if they open their mouths, pale will-o'-wisps dance about their tonsils.
Savesty clothing tends to gravitate to pale blues and whites, with jewelry of coral and jade.

Relations: Most races regard the Savesties as fanatics - certainly, they have the best intentions at heart, but that is cold comfort when they've decided that you've broken one of the Codes of Heaven, the laws to which they hold the world.

Alignment: Surprisingly, Savesties have no tendency towards Good over Evil - however, they do have a strong impulse towards Law. They look at this world, and see a place that must be made righteous through the imposition of law.




L
N
C


G
15
10
5


N
20
15
5


E
15
10
5



Lands: Savesties prefer to dwell in the mountains, where they build their baroque structures and their meticulous terraced gardens. There, amidst well tended staircases and gallows-temples, cyclopean murals depicting alien stars (said to be from before the skies changed) are crafted from coral and jade.

Religion: One of the mysteries of the Savesties is that no one truly knows what religion they follow. While they may pay lip-service to any of a thousand gods, every Savesty household has a small, empty altar, hidden away in a closet or under a table. No sacrifice is made to this altar - it's surface never feels the blood of a goat, is never bathed in elderberry wines. But nevertheless, it is the holiest place in their homes.

Language: Savesties can speak any of a thousand languages, but most speak some variation of Common. Strangely, the Savesty racial language, Fahdya, shares certain unusual traits with Undercommon, implying that they are somehow connected.

Names: The Savesty people usually adopt names from nearby cultures; when they do so, they give no regard to their standard usage. A male Savesty might have a feminine Halfling name, while his sister might be given the surname of a local Human family as her given name.

Adventurers: Savesty adventure so that they may find new homes for their people, and new cultures to make righteous.



+2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2 Wis: The Savesty are a tall, slender people, with willowy limbs and slender fingers - the ever-burning spark of pale flame dancing on their brow and in their mouth, and their unblinking dedication gives them a certain unmistakeable presence, while the fanaticism in their eyes renders them deaf to the pleas of others.
Type: Savesties are Humanoids with the Incarnum and Planetouched subtypes.
Size: Savesties are medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to size.
Base Land Speed: Savesties have a base land speed of 30'.
Low-Light Vision: Savesties can see twice as far as normal in conditions of dim light.
Essentia Pool: If a Savesty does not have an Essentia pool, they gain one with a single point of Essentia. If they already have an Essentia pool, they increase it by 1.
Alien Morals (Ex): A Savesty's morals are bizarre and beyond the reproach of lesser mortals. If a Lawful Savesty is subject to an effect that would detect their Alignment, they are considered to be NG for the purposes of the effect. Simlarly, a Chaotic Savesty that is subject to such effects would be considered to be NE for the purposes of the effect.
Flame of Tongues (Su): The flame hanging between a Savesty's eyes is an Essentia receptacle; normally, it is so dim that it sheds no light. However, once at least one point of Essentia is invested in it, it sheds light like a candle, and the Savesty gains the Voice of the City (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20070228a) special ability, except the check is 1d20 + 2 * Invested Essentia + Wisdom (when attempting to understand others) or Charisma (when attempting to be understood by others).
Wings of Coral and Jade (Su): This racial feature is another Essentia receptacle; when at least one point of Essentia is invested in it, hummingbird wings of flame burst from the Savesty's back, each burning feather glowing the colors of coral and jade.


Each point of Essentia invested in this racial feature gives the Savesty a pair of wings, with the effects given below:
One Pair: The Savesty's wings are not strong enough to allow them to fly; however, they do allow them to glide, negating damage from falls of any height and allowing them to move 20' forward for every 5' of descent. They may glide 20' as a move action, with Average manoeuvrability; even if their manoeuvrability improves, this does not allow them to hover in place.
They cannot glide with a Medium or Heavy load. If they are knocked unconscious or otherwise become helpless in midair, their wings flair, allowing them to glide to safety in a tight corkscrew; they only take 1d6 falling damage, regardless of how far they fall.
Two Pairs: The Savesty gains a 40' Fly speed with Average manoeuvrability; however, flight is tiring, so the Savesty may only use this Fly speed every other round.
Three Pairs: The Savesty's Fly speed improves to 50', and they may use their Fly Speed every round.
Four+ Pairs: The Savesty's Fly speed improves by 10' for each pair of wings after the third.

Amechra
2014-12-04, 09:18 AM
Racial Feats

Birthright of Angels [Racial]
Prerequisites: Savesty
Benefits: Your putative heritage expresses itself in you to an incredible degree. Your type changes to Outsider [Incarnum][Native].
Special: You may only take this feat at 1st level.

Extra Anchovies
2014-12-04, 10:30 AM
Did I trip into some kinda taboo subject or something?

It's the christmas reference in the thread title. Bah, humbug!

The race looks fine. Good fluff (I like the Religion section), fairly interesting mechanics. I can see Alien Morals causing DM headaches, but only because they'd need to figure out the effective alignment of every Savesty NPC.

Feels a bit weak for an LA +1 (if your issue is the flight, remember; they can only invest 3 essentia starting at 12th level), but would be a bit strong for LA +0.

And now I see you've changed the thread title. I'm sorry! It was a joke! :smalltongue:

Amechra
2014-12-04, 10:45 AM
I changed the title to a Welcome to Nightvale reference. They're kinda more like that, anyway.

They started as more standard angels when I started the post, I swear.

And then I hit Relations, and decided to run with it. I'm glad you like the Religion section.

Hmm... I might make them Humanoid [Planetouched][Incarnum], and shift the LA down to +0.

Extra Anchovies
2014-12-04, 11:27 AM
I changed the title to a Welcome to Nightvale reference. They're kinda more like that, anyway.

They started as more standard angels when I started the post, I swear.

And then I hit Relations, and decided to run with it. I'm glad you like the Religion section.

Hmm... I might make them Humanoid [Planetouched][Incarnum], and shift the LA down to +0.

Removing the Outsider type would be enough to drop them to LA +0, yeah.

Also, nice reference. It's subtle enough that I didn't catch it until you pointed it out.

Amechra
2014-12-04, 02:37 PM
Alright, I dropped them to Humanoid [Planetouched], posted a racial feat, and simplified Alien Morality.

I'm thinking of doing Racial Substitution levels for 3 different classes; I've already decided that one of those classes will be the Incarnate, but I'm up for suggestions for the others (I already know that I don't want to do one for Paladins, mainly because I'm not satisfied with the core Paladin and I don't want to make Racial Substitution levels for a fix.)

dragonjek
2014-12-04, 04:32 PM
Hm... did you change the Alien Morals ability at some point since last night? I seem to remember it working differently, but I may simply have confused it with something else I've read at some point.

If you aren't going to do racial substitution levels for the paladin, what about other alignment-requirement classes? The chaos=evil and law=good could work interestingly with the barbarian, bard, monk, etc.

Other than that, what about a hexblade or warlock? With them being reduced versions of their former glory, either could work well. Same with the sorcerer.

Substitution levels for a spellcasting class that gives unusual abilities on spells with verbal components (or maybe just language-dependent effects?) might also fit.

I like the class and the unusual approach you took to an angelic race. Particularly the wings and language-flame parts.

Extra Anchovies
2014-12-04, 04:43 PM
I'm thinking of doing Racial Substitution levels for 3 different classes; I've already decided that one of those classes will be the Incarnate, but I'm up for suggestions for the others (I already know that I don't want to do one for Paladins, mainly because I'm not satisfied with the core Paladin and I don't want to make Racial Substitution levels for a fix.)

Maybe Crusader and, um... Druid, maybe?

Amechra
2014-12-04, 04:49 PM
Alright, sounds good.

I've got a surprise 4th one that I'll pull out.

EDIT: Hey, dragonjek, I missed your post!

Yeah, I changed Alien Morality; it used to flip around your Alignment in a weird way. I decided to simplify it. I might make a racial feat that gives them a stronger version than the current form.

Amechra
2014-12-04, 06:56 PM
Dang, my ideas for the Druid are too big to be limited to Racial Substitution levels, so I'll just dump it as an ACF:

(If you do not have access to the Book of Exalted Deeds, decide on an appropriate Domain with your DM.)

Unveiled Glory

Behold the unveiled majesty of the heralds! Those with crowns of flame and eyes of precious stone, skin of brass and voices as clarions!

Dreadful are they, with their judgement and mercy!

Prerequisite: Flame of Tongues, Wings of Coral and Jade
Levels: 1, 5, 6, 7, 10, 14, 18
Replaces: Wild Shape; you still gain the ability to Wild Shape into an Elemental at 16th level.
Benefits: At 1st level, you gain the granted power of the Herald DomainBoED, and add all the spells from that domain to your Druid spell list. However, the Summon Nature's Ally spells of each level are removed from your class spell list.

At 5th level, you may unveil your glorious angelic form, releasing you from the tyranny of your mortal form. Design an angelic form with your DM; it may look like anything as long as it is Medium sized and vaguely humanoid in form.

At-will, you may adopt the appearance of your angelic form as a Swift action; this follows all of the rules for Change Shape. Any armor, clothing, or jewelry you are wearing appears to become more ornate, fashioned from silk and elegantly carved coral or jade; this has no mechanical effect.

While in your Angelic Form, your voice can be heard with no difficulty by anyone within 50' per Druid level, to a maximum of 1000'. In addition, your Flame of Tongues sheds light like a torch; each point of Essentia invested in it grants you a +2 bonus to all Intimidate checks in addition to its normal effects.

Most importantly, your Flame of Tongues and Wings of Coral and Jade are considered to have either one point of Essentia invested in them or the actual amount invested, whichever is higher. At 6th level, you are considered to have at least two points of Essentia invested in each of those racial features; at 7th level, you are considered to have at least three. At 10th level, and every 4 levels thereafter, this minimum increases by 1.


Yes, being in your angelic form can result in having 6 Essentia "invested" in both your Racial Traits; I don't think an 80' (Average) fly speed, +12 bonus to Intimidate, and the ability to be heard within 1000' in perfect clarity are that strong, myself, but they sure are cool.