Jowgen
2019-09-20, 02:15 PM
So for the longest time I've been under the assumption that all grafts except construct and undead can only be applied to living creatures.
Now discovered I've been somewhat off the mark.
In the case of the Eberron grafts, the general rules do define the process as "taking a portion of an existing creature and transplanting it into or onto the body of another living creature", but those rules are explicitly separate from the non-eberron graft rules rather than an update. Plus I am uncertain as to whether that rule can be applied wholesale of all the Eberron style grafts, or if there are any hidden exceptions.
In the case of all the older-style grafts, it seems like there is a lot of variance as to what sort of recipient a graft can be applied to.
Undead grafts define themselves as "nonliving flesh attached to a still-living body", both in the original fiend folio and LM updated versions, so they actually seem to be living only by RAW. Similarly, Draconic grafts make frequent reference to being only applicable to the living.
Silithar grafts seem rather special, in that they have an actual explicit rule against application to non-living recipients, stating that they do not function for the unliving and rot off in 2d4 days. None of the others have that.
Meanwhile, Fiendish, Aboleth and Yuan-Ti grafts specify that they are applicable to corporeal creatures (albeit with some restrictions on Aboleth), with me finding no mention that the target's alive-ness matters. Again, in the case of Yuan-Ti grafts, the 3.5 update keeps this.
Maug, Beholder, Illithid and Pirate do not specify one way or the other; which is a bit of an annoying discrepancy in the case of Maug, as those are construct grafts same as the eberron ones...
So this is as far as I got in trying to figuring this out. Does anyone happen to know any additional information, or find fault with any of the conclusions I have proposed herein?
Now discovered I've been somewhat off the mark.
In the case of the Eberron grafts, the general rules do define the process as "taking a portion of an existing creature and transplanting it into or onto the body of another living creature", but those rules are explicitly separate from the non-eberron graft rules rather than an update. Plus I am uncertain as to whether that rule can be applied wholesale of all the Eberron style grafts, or if there are any hidden exceptions.
In the case of all the older-style grafts, it seems like there is a lot of variance as to what sort of recipient a graft can be applied to.
Undead grafts define themselves as "nonliving flesh attached to a still-living body", both in the original fiend folio and LM updated versions, so they actually seem to be living only by RAW. Similarly, Draconic grafts make frequent reference to being only applicable to the living.
Silithar grafts seem rather special, in that they have an actual explicit rule against application to non-living recipients, stating that they do not function for the unliving and rot off in 2d4 days. None of the others have that.
Meanwhile, Fiendish, Aboleth and Yuan-Ti grafts specify that they are applicable to corporeal creatures (albeit with some restrictions on Aboleth), with me finding no mention that the target's alive-ness matters. Again, in the case of Yuan-Ti grafts, the 3.5 update keeps this.
Maug, Beholder, Illithid and Pirate do not specify one way or the other; which is a bit of an annoying discrepancy in the case of Maug, as those are construct grafts same as the eberron ones...
So this is as far as I got in trying to figuring this out. Does anyone happen to know any additional information, or find fault with any of the conclusions I have proposed herein?