Character Concept - half-celestial/half-fiend, but not...

[Herobizkit]

I have a character in the design process, and I would just like some general input.

My character is going to come into play as a result of Divine birth (ie no biological father). However, the infant is also going to experience a Taint of some kind, tampering with the child's Divine bloodline. When the child grows up, he will find that he has characteristics of both his Divine and his Tainted heritage.

Once concept of said heritage is to be able to employ "cursed" items/artifacts with less negative side effects, though he will constantly have to struggle with each item (as though it were intelligent) to keep it under control.

My question is this: How would you, as a DM, adjudicate such a character? My DM is very non-strict, pretty much anything goes, but I'm curious as to what the more, um, "dedicated" rules-lawyers might come up with in the way of stats, abilities, or ways to create such a being.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

One possible path is using the Weapons of Legacy system, in which a weapon is designed ahead of time and characters are able to unlock the powers of the thing by taking Feats.

In this case, you & your DM would design items with the PC's background in mind, many of them seemingly cursed- but as the PC gains levels & Feats, he'd be able to overcome the negatives of the items.

 

[Herobizkit]

I'm worried less about the items so much as the numbers-crunching of the character itself.

Edit: Spoke with my DM this morning. Decided on being an Aasimar Monk (to start) with the Vampire bloodline. We're also going to use the Taint rules if/when I come into contact with an Evil item/artifact.

Also, my 2nd character is going to be a Halfling Warlock. Fun times.

 

[rowport]

I am not a Planescape guru, but I thought that a half-celestial/half-fiend is a Cambion? If so, the 3.5 stats are in Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, which is also one of the WOTC web page previews. That said, it is filled with significant errata, so you might also want to search for the thread here on ENWorld with suggestions for improvement.

 

[Drowbane]

...iirc...

I am not a Planescape guru, but I thought that a half-celestial/half-fiend is a Cambion?

From before 3.x~
*Alu-fiends: half-succubi (almost always female).
*Aasimar: celestial-blooded (similar to how they are in 3e, except there was a table you could roll up some random abilities/traits on).
*Cambions: male half-demons (of a specific type of demon?.. I don't recall).
*Cambion, Marquis: rare, a stonger and generally more badass Cambion.
*Fey'ri: half-sunelf-cambion (FR)
*Tanarukk: half-orc-cambion (FR)
*Tiefling: see Aasimar

 

[rgard]

I have a character in the design process, and I would just like some general input.

My character is going to come into play as a result of Divine birth (ie no biological father). However, the infant is also going to experience a Taint of some kind, tampering with the child's Divine bloodline. When the child grows up, he will find that he has characteristics of both his Divine and his Tainted heritage.

Once concept of said heritage is to be able to employ "cursed" items/artifacts with less negative side effects, though he will constantly have to struggle with each item (as though it were intelligent) to keep it under control.

My question is this: How would you, as a DM, adjudicate such a character? My DM is very non-strict, pretty much anything goes, but I'm curious as to what the more, um, "dedicated" rules-lawyers might come up with in the way of stats, abilities, or ways to create such a being.

I think the LA for half-fiends and half-celestials (both templates) is +4. You could mod the templates to get a +2 LA for each by reducing the benefits from each in half...if the Wis Mod is +2, then take a +1. There are also various spell like abilities (IIRC) and you could halve the number per day or reduce the number of abilities gained for each template in half. Would be a cool mix and match.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Particle_Man]

Well if you are fully divine, instead of half-celestial wouldn't that just be Celestial (with the vampire bloodline)?

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As I recall, for some screwy reasons, the Celestial and Fiendish templates are less powerful than the Half-Celestial & Half-Fiendish templates- the latter are the offspring of powerful otherplanar beings, while the former are fully-blooded but less powerful otherplanar beings.

 

[shilsen]

As I recall, for some screwy reasons, the Celestial and Fiendish templates are less powerful than the Half-Celestial & Half-Fiendish templates- the latter are the offspring of powerful otherplanar beings, while the former are fully-blooded but less powerful otherplanar beings.

I've never had a problem with the distinction. Celestial and fiendish creatures are creatures born and raised on celestial and fiendish planes. While half-fiends and half-celestials are the immediate offspring of fiends or celestials. Which is why a half-celestial cow (whose mom was a cow impregnated by a really freaky angel) is a whole lot more powerful than a celestial cow, which just happens to live in the angel's cowshed and give celestial milk. Simple.

 

[rgard]

I've never had a problem with the distinction. Celestial and fiendish creatures are creatures born and raised on celestial and fiendish planes. While half-fiends and half-celestials are the immediate offspring of fiends or celestials. Which is why a half-celestial cow (whose mom was a cow impregnated by a really freaky angel) is a whole lot more powerful than a celestial cow, which just happens to live in the angel's cowshed and give celestial milk. Simple.

Or half-celestial sheep...in a land where angels are angels and sheep are nervous.