Are Elementals "Corporeal"?

[thompur]

I am playing a Binder in a 3.X game and am using Zceryll. One of the abilities I get is
Summon Alien:
You can summon any creature from the summon monster list that a sorcerer of your level could summon. Any creature you summon with this ability gains the pseudonatural template. Thus, at 10th level you could summon any creature from the summon monster I-V list. When you reach 14th level, you can summon any creature from the summon monster I-VII list. You can only summon creatures that can be affected by the pseudonatural template. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again for 5rounds.

Now the Pseudonatural template states that it can be applied to any corporeal creature. So are Elementals corporeal?

[Nifft]

Their entry does not say that they are incorporeal.

I don't think there's any positive assertion of corporeality in stat blocks, so I think you have to understand that a lack of "is incorporeal" is the same as an assertion of "is corporeal".

[Keneth]

Elementals are corporeal. Yes, even fire elementals and other gaseous-ish cousins. Incorporeal creatures have the (incorporeal) subtype.

[frogglesmash]

Even air Elementals which I find incredibly bizarre.

[Eldan]

Presumably because incorporeals can move through objects like walls, which makes little sense for air elementals.

[Keneth]

Well, insubstantial and incorporeal aren't really the same thing.

[Psyren]

Elementals are corporeal, and furthermore elementals don't seem to get a bonus to squeezing or similar activities that would involve moving through a tight space. They can also be grappled. I don't think air elementals can slip through cracks or anything like that, though I wouldn't object to a monster feat being made to let them do that.

[Sagetim]

I am playing a Binder in a 3.X game and am using Zceryll. One of the abilities I get is
Summon Alien:
You can summon any creature from the summon monster list that a sorcerer of your level could summon. Any creature you summon with this ability gains the pseudonatural template. Thus, at 10th level you could summon any creature from the summon monster I-V list. When you reach 14th level, you can summon any creature from the summon monster I-VII list. You can only summon creatures that can be affected by the pseudonatural template. Once you have used this ability, you cannot do so again for 5rounds.

Now the Pseudonatural template states that it can be applied to any corporeal creature. So are Elementals corporeal?

Yes.



That said, psuedonatural elementals would probably look really messed up. Unless an elemental is specifically stated as incorporeal, it's corporeal. Even if it's made of snot. Or gas. Or good vibrations. Or taint. I think the only elementals that might be incorporeal are...maybe shadow elementals or taint elementals? But I'm pretty sure those are corporeal too.

[Mechalich]

Vacuum quasi-elementals - if one is incorporating the entirety of the traditional cosmology - would presumably be incorporeal, seeing as they are effectively made of nothingness. Radiance quasi-elementals also, possibly. All of the other forms are more or less representations of matter, so they should be corporeal, even if gaseous.

[Psyren]

Yes.



That said, psuedonatural elementals would probably look really messed up. Unless an elemental is specifically stated as incorporeal, it's corporeal. Even if it's made of snot. Or gas. Or good vibrations. Or taint. I think the only elementals that might be incorporeal are...maybe shadow elementals or taint elementals? But I'm pretty sure those are corporeal too.

Shadow elementals are incorporeal - you can find them in ToM.

Not sure about taint.

[Milo v3]

The only incorporeal elemental I know is the Cosmozant Wyrd.

[DrMotives]

Vacuum quasi-elementals - if one is incorporating the entirety of the traditional cosmology - would presumably be incorporeal, seeing as they are effectively made of nothingness. Radiance quasi-elementals also, possibly. All of the other forms are more or less representations of matter, so they should be corporeal, even if gaseous.

No, not even Vacuum elementals. I've only seen their stats in 2e Planescape, but they specifically have a slam attack by ramming their bodies (composed of an absence of matter) at enemies. The emptiness that makes up their bodies has a force that repulses matter much as if it was made of matter. Radiance elementals do have a touch attack though, they're a better candidate. But as others have said, if you're not specifically incorporeal, that means you are corporeal. The only non-corporeal elemental I can think of is the Earth Whisper, from Races of Stone. And those things act more like fiends or evil genie than elementals, personality-wise.

[Sagetim]

As Psyren mentioned, Shadow Elementals are incorporeal and have the subtype. Taint elementals are from Heroes of Horror, and I just looked them up. They are corporeal, which means you could potentially summon a Pseudonatural Taint Elemental just to be a **** to whatever you are fighting (because Taint Elementals deal Taint damage to things they hit, so even getting hit with one can be a losing battle).

[Eldan]

When I rewrote elementals, I gave them each unique movement rules, such as water elementals seeping through porous materials.

Of course, I just noticed that I deleted my homebrew link, so I can't find them now.