Grr, Energy Types Make TS Angry!

[Tequila Sunrise]

I'm a world builder and a monster writer. I often rewrite monster stat blocks even if there's a WotC-approved version, both to make math fixes and to give monster groups more consistency.

Enter my campaign's newest character, Charan the psionic hawk. Charan has the Cerulean Adept PP, which is all about killing Far Realm beasties; Charan's player has flat-out invited me to dangle aberrants in front of him so that he can annihilate them. Awesome! Instant adventure hook and DM carrot.

But a problem immediately crop up: the only trait that aberrants really share is that they're all fraking creepy. Fine, I've decided that aberrants in my campaign are nightmare incarnate. They are literally created by mortals' fears. Intuitively, that means aberrants should use a lot of psychic damage and be resistant to the same.

But being a telepath, Charan mostly deals psychic damage. The notable exception is his Cerulean power, which deals radiant damage. Radiant damage? I did a double-take when I read that. By my way of thinking, radiant energy is a divine weapon that undead and demons are particularly vulnerable to. So it irks me that radiant damage pops up all over the place; in light-themed arcane spells, in the star pact. Seriously, who's responsible for this? Apparently radiant energy is not only a gift from Cthulhu (according to the writer of the star pact) but also a weapon to be used against Cthulhu's minions (according to the writer of the Cerulean Adept). Ironically, I can't think of a single WotC aberrant that deals or is vulnerable to radiant damage.

What the frak?

The Short Version: My player wants to kill aberrants with psychic and radiant damage. But if I rewrite my aberrants in a consistent fashion, I'll be punishing him for taking his class and PP at face value. Grr!

 

[Incenjucar]

Wouldn't a creature of nightmare be most susceptible to psychic damage?

Are not psychics the best able to conquer dreams?

--

It's true that the fluff of radiant damage has been ignored by like 30% of the powers its attached to. Whoever was in charge of consistency dropped the ball on that big time.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Couldn't you give him an Active Dreaming feat that lets him reduce resistance to psychic damage?

 

[GMforPowergamers]

i would make them the stuff of nightmares, and give them alot of fear attacks, and some necrotic, with some mix of other (based on individuel)

Then I would give them ressit insubstantial (half damage all attacks) based on being not real but nightmare. Then give them Vunrability 10/15/20(by tier) radiant damage, and special vunrability Psy, turns off insubstantial until the end of there next turn.

Then play them as hateing psi based characters, and always go for them first... make your defender work to keep them off the character.

If your players are as detail orranted as you, ask them what there characters fear, and nightmare about... then make them.

if they are not just take known epiclevel monsters (pit fiend, tarrasque) and make 'nightmare' monsters that look like scaled down versions

 

[S'mon]

I would make nightmare creatures vulnerable to psychic damage, if I were you.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Wouldn't a creature of nightmare be most susceptible to psychic damage?

Are not psychics the best able to conquer dreams?

I would make nightmare creatures vulnerable to psychic damage, if I were you.

Good point. I think this is the best option.

i would make them the stuff of nightmares, and give them alot of fear attacks, and some necrotic, with some mix of other (based on individuel)

I'm gonna stick with solid horrors, because I have a player who loves beholders and because I try to steer clear of traits that create grind. (Like insubstantial.) But I do like the idea of giving aberrants an additional wicked trick that Charan can shut down with psychic damage.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Some insubstantial creatures have only half the expected hit points. Said creatures are actually "anti-grind" if PCs figure out what bypasses their insubstantial trait.

 

[DracoSuave]

While the Divine power source has a lot of Radiant powers, it by no means holds the monopoly. There's quite a few Arcane powers that have it, many of which have nothing to do with divine energies at all.

As for the abberant vs psychic energy thing, remember that in the lore, psionic power is meant to be the power to oppose the Far Realm. Try to avoid the logical connection that 'Thing related to X must be immune/resistant to X'

This is actually a fallacy; why should a fire elemental, for example, be immune or resistant to weaponized fire? Is a creature of the natural world immune or resistant to weaponized trees or rocks?

How could the ifrit possibly wage war or control their lands if everything on it can't be harmed by them, and vice versa?

 

[S'mon]

I would have fire creatures possess fire resistance, but very Fiery areas like the City of Brass may also impose vulnerability (fire), evening it out. Likewise for cold.

Animals are often immune or resistant to their own venom, after all.

 

[Tequila Sunrise]

Some insubstantial creatures have only half the expected hit points. Said creatures are actually "anti-grind" if PCs figure out what bypasses their insubstantial trait.

This may be true, though all the insub monsters I've noticed have something like 75% normal HP. But I'm also thinking about future campaigns and groups where I may reuse my aberrants. Future parties may not have anyone who can deal psychic damage. The difference between an insub and not insub is too great for my taste.

I would have fire creatures possess fire resistance, but very Fiery areas like the City of Brass may also impose vulnerability (fire), evening it out. Likewise for cold.

Animals are often immune or resistant to their own venom, after all.

This is pretty much how I think of most energy types, though I've done a 360 concerning aberrants.

I've decided that my aberrants use both psychic and radiant attacks, and are vulnerable to the same types. Psychic for reasons already discussed; radiant because it's both a weird starry-far-realm weapon and a deific weapon used to annihilate all things which are an abomination unto the real nature.