Elan vs. Illumians, which ones better?

[Desdichado]

Elan is kinda dumb. I prefer Nale.

I have this burning need to make an elan character named Red Nales now.

 

[Desdichado]

When I saw Elans for the first time I thought of not as quite well done wraeththu.

Not quite as well done? Surely you jest.

 

[Klaus]

--double post--

 

[Klaus]

I did not know that about SoS- that is a pretty cool addition to their origin.

Illumians are pretty dumb, to me. I really don't see the need to create an entire race just to have what are, basically, humans with runes floating around their heads. If they ever revisit the Illumian concept, they should simply create some kind of mechanic (prestige class? racial paragon?) to allow the existing race of humans to adopt it, and say they're a secret society among their kind (mankind); which is basically how they stand now, just with some arbitrary and pointless "different race" demarcation.

SoS expands Eberron so much, you can have an entire campaign and not set foot on Khorvaire thanks to it.

Illumians could easily be converted into a starting, 1st-level, human-only feat that requires 4 ranks in a skill. Essentially, you'd be trading the human bonus feat and starting bonus skill points for illumian abilities.

 

[Voadam]

Mojh from Arcana Unearthed/Evolved are humans who undergo a draconic ritual to transform themselves as well. But they don't end up looking human anymore.

Planetouched are humans who got outsider blood in their bloodlines.

Half-most anything can be applied to humans.

Karsites from Tome of Magic look human but I forget their specific thing.

Half-orcs and half-elves were humans before the introduction of other racial blood into their blood lines.

Lots of options for formerly human people.

 

[Drowbane]

...I'll never forget the shock and horror of the PC assassin in an Ivalician espionage game who attempted to assassinate the wife of the Oligarch of Romanda - and found self-repairing roiling alien energy pulsing through her instead of lifeblood and viscera.

Of course, I didn't mention that she spent all her power points repairing the damage from his initial sneak attack...

Dood, you're my hero.

 

[Desdichado]

Elan.

Because Elan got refluffed in Eberron (Secrets of Sarlona) as being quori spirits forcefully anchored to a mortal body, as punishment for crimes against their kind.

I sure wish someone would run a Sarlona game for Sarlona natives set entirely in Sarlona for me.

Maybe as a play by post. On Circvs Maximvs. **ahem**

 

[Psion]

I sure wish someone would run a Sarlona game for Sarlona natives set entirely in Sarlona for me.

Maybe as a play by post. On Circvs Maximvs. **ahem**

Put me down for slot #2, Klaus.

(Cause you know I'm not up enough on Eberron, I know you weren't talking to me.)

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Two formerly human races.

In one corner we have the Illumians from Races of Destiny who are a secret society of former humans with glowing things around their heads. Their special abilities? To be really good at multiclassing along with having these orbiting glowing sigils...

They're a secret society of secret people with secret abilities...who stand out like a sore thumb.

"Hey, who's that guy with all the crap around his head?"
"Drat! Our cover has been blown! Go to ground!"

In the other corner we have the Elan from the Expanded Psionic Handbook, a secret society of generally red-headed former humans with psionic metabolisms. Their special abilities, they can become resilient to damage, resist poisons, not require food and water all with the expenditure of power points, and are able to live forever and have this ill-defined charisma penalty.

In my campaign, I tie this in with the mind flayer creation story. At the end of the universe, the mind flayers need some way to save themselves, so they cast themselves back in time. But they can't cast their bodies back, only their minds. These minds are sent to inhabit the bodies of humans and rebuild the illithid empire in the past (present). However, their calculations were a bit off, and the mind seeds that were sent back awakened without any knowledge of their past, their true selves, or their purpose. However, periodically, one of them will discover traces deep in the subconscious...traces that lead to the development of illithid heritage feats.

Obviously, more awesome than illumians, who are only good for tricking out Ultimate Magus builds.

 

[pawsplay]

Gee, there's a stretch for content in the Expanded Psionics Handbook.

I didn't suggest that was unusual. I was simply pointing out that they are in the Psi handbook, basically.

Good one. You had me going there. I had no idea that red hair was a defining characteristic given my willful desire to not know anything about this disgusting little wart on the butt of fantasy literature than I already do.

But a quick check on the wiki page makes reference to a tribe with black or silver hair and no other mention. I'm going to assume that means the red hair thing isn't as significant as you make it sound.

Actually, what you've discovered is that the different tribes do have various hair colors. And like elan, the original founders were chosen and transformed, not bred. Hence, exactly like elan, the hair color of different tribes is basically the taste or fashion particular to a particular group.

Oh, except for their defining characteristic. Gotcha.

Is that their defining characteristic? I think you could rewrite the first book without the, you know, and it would have been much the same. It feels pretty tacked on to me for a book about individuals who are, at the end of the day, really extremely human.