D&D (2024) Lawful, Chaotic, and Neutral touched species.

[CreamCloud0]

because Necrotic has to do with Death rather than Evil, Beholders and Shadow Dragons do necrotic damage neither of which are Fiendish and neither are Undead.

That said balancing Radiant celestial energy against Necrotic negative energy does have a pleasing aesthetic and of course coming up with some other way to explain Negative Energy other than rot and enfeeblement isnt easy

Good supports life and light. But Evil is not death. Death is Death.

even if necrotic is death and not evil i don't think we need an actual 'evil' energy type for the direct mirror, and haven't undead always been considered de-facto evil? necrotic serves well enough for the evil energy type in my opinion, although i really wouldn't be opposed to a proper primal/nature/gaia energy type, the plant-nature themed spells don't have a coherent damage type to use and are scattered across the board: poison, slashing, bludgeoning, acid(primal savagery)

 

[Maxperson]

• one species from the Fiend "Evil" planes, including creatures from LEL, LE, ELE, TE, ECE, CE, CCE

Winninger: "We need a new race touched by the lower planes. Tiefling is good and all, but we need more!"
Crawford: "I've been working on that and have the race read to go."
Winninger: "Excellent! What is it called?"
Crawford: "I call it................ Lelleeleteecececce!"

 

[Maxperson]

And therein is my problem. What would it mean to have powers of the upper planes to draw on if you weren't good? And how would those powers be good if the one drawing on them wasn't? Why would heaven as it were be in opposition to itself?

It's the general idea. Healing tends to be viewed as a good thing. Does that mean evil beings should not be able to use abilities that heal? Of course not.

If your race is getting its abilities from a strain of blood from the upper planes, then the powers you have will be more holy/good in nature, even if you yourself are an evil PC.

The opposite makes sense for those races with strains of blood from the lower planes.

 

[Maxperson]

Yes, my pont is 4e and 5e shortened the list of evil gods so the lower planes aren't flooded with them.
The evil gods are in the Upper Planes because they aren't good. It's because they are either banished, imprisoned, or left.

The Upper Planes aren't good because its inherently good. It's because the good gods are the only ones still there.

It has nothing to do with the gods at all. The upper and lower planes represent concepts and beliefs, not godhood. Take away every divine being and those planes would still be there because mortals who die need somewhere to go that represents the beliefs that they held during life. The demons, angels, etc. are just the plane's caretakers that it spawned to manage things. So they hold the same alignment as the plane.

When it comes to gods, they can pick any plane they want to make their domains, but tend to go to the planes that more closely match their alignments. The gods are on the plane because they fit the alignment. The planes aren't the alignment because the gods are there.

 

[Corinnguard]

It has nothing to do with the gods at all. The upper and lower planes represent concepts and beliefs, not godhood. Take away every divine being and those planes would still be there because mortals who die need somewhere to go that represents the beliefs that they held during life. The demons, angels, etc. are just the plane's caretakers that it spawned to manage things. So they hold the same alignment as the plane.

When it comes to gods, they can pick any plane they want to make their domains, but tend to go to the planes that more closely match their alignments. The gods are on the plane because they fit the alignment. The planes aren't the alignment because the gods are there.

And alignments are a person's moral and ethical outlook in life. A person shapes their alignment over the course of their life through experience and by interacting with others. It makes a certain amount of sense that they would want to go to an afterlife that closely matches their alignment in life.

D&D's alignment system is pretty simple compared to what's in RL.

 

[Minigiant]

It has nothing to do with the gods at all. The upper and lower planes represent concepts and beliefs, not godhood. Take away every divine being and those planes would still be there because mortals who die need somewhere to go that represents the beliefs that they held during life. The demons, angels, etc. are just the plane's caretakers that it spawned to manage things. So they hold the same alignment as the plane.

When it comes to gods, they can pick any plane they want to make their domains, but tend to go to the planes that more closely match their alignments. The gods are on the plane because they fit the alignment. The planes aren't the alignment because the gods are there.

The formation of planes are not universal between settings.

Gods might create aligned planes. Or they might modify existing aligned or unaligned planes

The core point is that some mortal with a link to an aligned plane does not have to be the same alignment.

 

[Maxperson]

The formation of planes are not universal between settings.

Gods might create aligned planes. Or they might modify existing aligned or unaligned planes

Sounds like a cool homebrew for you to make, but in the D&D default the gods did not make the planes.

The core point is that some mortal with a link to an aligned plane does not have to be the same alignment.

No, of course not, but bloodlines going back to those planes would result in powers related to those planes. So you could have an evil Aasimar whose racial abilities are healing, radiant energy, etc.

 

[Yaarel]

Winninger: "We need a new race touched by the lower planes. Tiefling is good and all, but we need more!"
Crawford: "I've been working on that and have the race read to go."
Winninger: "Excellent! What is it called?"
Crawford: "I call it................ Lelleeleteecececce!"

I didnt reach this part yet.

I see a difference between the core species that are in the core books, versus other species that are more specific to a particular setting.

The core species are broader more flexible character concepts that are easier to fit within more settings.

The Tiefling "touched by" corruption can be easier to work within various settings, as opposed to a full-on astral planar Fiend.


Wait. Are they really using the term "race"?

 

[Minigiant]

Sounds like a cool homebrew for you to make, but in the D&D default the gods did not make the planes

Depends on the setting.

Gods either settle existing planes or create giant demiplanes.

No, of course not, but bloodlines going back to those planes would result in powers related to those planes. So you could have an evil Aasimar whose racial abilities are healing, radiant energy, etc.

Exactly.

What I want as people who have a racial connection to a Chaotic or lawful plane.

 

[Tonguez]

even if necrotic is death and not evil i don't think we need an actual 'evil' energy type for the direct mirror, and haven't undead always been considered de-facto evil?

undead kinda, except for Ghosts, Mummy, Revenants, Crypt guardians, Baelnorns, Goodl Liches, Reborn and Deathless. A lot of undead have been neutral a few even good.

Agreed that a primal/plant/growth themed energy would be useful