D&D 4E 4e Kalashtar: My take on it

[BendBars/LiftGates]

Has anyone put up a fan conversion yet? Here's a crack at it. Perhaps some wiser soul than I can polish it.


Kalashtar
Dual-spirited freedom fighters with a psionic legacy.

Average Height: 5'6" - 6'6"
Average Weight: 130 - 200 lb.

Ability Scores: +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares
Vision: Normal

Languages: Common, Quor
Skill Bonuses: +2 Diplomacy, +2 Bluff
Defenses: +2 to Will defense against Charm or Fear attacks
Resistance: Psychic 5 + 1/2 your level

Racial Power: Mindspeak
At Will
Minor Action, Close burst 6
Target: Any allies within range
Effect: You may convey any short message to the targets, telepathically. This grants you no power or influence over the targets. You do not need to share a language with any targets.




I took liberties with Mindspeak.
1. It's at will. Letting your PCs speak telepathically, but only for 1 round/level per day seems needlessly cruel to me. Just give them what they want: telepathic communication.
2. It works with as many friends as you have. Why limit it to just one ally?
3. I hope specifying "allies" isn't needlessly limiting. I guess you can't telepathically call on your enemies to surrender, but hopefully you could theoretically use this with an NPC who isn't necessarily your ally in a combat sense.
4. I didn't want to have to get into what constitutes a "short message," but hopefully it's reasonable.

Also, should they get a bonus to Wisdom instead of Intelligence? I could see arguments for that, and it would save them from having the same ability bonuses as tieflings.

 

[malcolm_n]

Not in order, but:

Same racial stats as tiefling, not a problem. that said, Intelligence would likely be the Strength of psionics. I would actually say Int/Wis since they have a spiritual connection.

Short message should be pretty straight forward, but what does the power really do for the characters? It doesn't look like there would be much advantage to it other than as a free metagame card.

Otherwise, It looks good. How else would you tie the psionic aspect in besides telepathy?

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

[...] what does the power really do for the characters? It doesn't look like there would be much advantage to it other than as a free metagame card.

[...]
How else would you tie the psionic aspect in besides telepathy?

I like your suggestion of Int/Wis, and am tempted to change that. Kalashtar are also spiritual and vigilant, and they always made great monks. But they're always described as oddly beautiful, and able to manipulate others. Right now, I'm leaning toward Wis over Cha, since beauty isn't strictly a part of Charisma and their manipulation is already emphasized in their skill bonuses.

Do you feel like they don't have enough going for them? I hesitated to give them some kind of attack power, but maybe they need it to stay competitive.

Actually, I would love for them to get something like this:

Battle of the Minds Kalashtar Racial Power
Entering your foe's mind, you prey upon his mental vulnerabilities to strike.
Encounter * Free Action Personal
Effect: Declare use of this power before you make a melee or ranged attack roll. You may target an enemy's Will defense with this attack, if it targeted some other defense.


Additionally, I might change their defenses to
Defense Bonus: +1 Will
Quori Mind: +5 to saving throw vs. Fear or Charm

 

[malcolm_n]

Oh, cool other name: Psych Out. But, yeah, I like this ability. It can be worded like this for the same effect.

PSYCH OUT Kalastar Racial Power
Encounter (Special) ^
Minor Action
Effect: The next attack you make targets Will instead of any other defense.

Everything else looks fine.

 

[Henry]

I'd almost be tempted to give them one at-will power that's psychic in nature as an encounter power, to simulate the additional power points they have under 3.5e. Maybe even take away one of the ability bonuses as trade-off if it's too strong?

 

[Kaodi]

Given that the 3e kalashtar does not have any ability modifers, and given that they are basically augmented humans, I think the appropriate thing to do would be to give them a +2 bonus to any one of Int, Wis or Cha.

I am on board with Henry for them having a psychic at-will useable once per ecounter.

 

[malcolm_n]

I could see that, but then how could you implement it? Would it be in place of the encounter power or even out with other races by missing something else? If it takes the place of the encounter power, it'll need to be sufficiently powerful to make up the difference.

 

[Henry]

I could see that, but then how could you implement it? Would it be in place of the encounter power or even out with other races by missing something else? If it takes the place of the encounter power, it'll need to be sufficiently powerful to make up the difference.

I'd say just add it instead of substitute. The initial Multiclass feats do the same thing now, meaning it wouldn't be too out of line as an initial race benefit. We're just talking about an at-will bumped down to encounter status, so not very powerful, but enough to show that Kalashtar do have a stronger knack for Psionics than others.

 

[Kaodi]

It's basically identical to the ability half-elves get now, except that it would be limited to the psionic power source.