Kalashtar

[Captain_Wizbang]

Surely you would think a race that resembles a human could & would be in DDO, ( Turbine most certainly will agree to this ) but, the roadblocks are a huge undertaking, for ANY developer, let alone the best in the business for bringing D&D to a game.


As much as any race I'd like to see here is the Kalashtar. BUT... There are 2 main reasons for not having them here. (in my humble opinion)

A) One of the biggest struggles newer players have in PnP are Psionics. For a multitude of reasons. Nuf said.

B) I also believe it would be a nightmare for the Devs to implement Psionics into the game to do the ability justice.

Such are the 2 major obstacles (as I see it) to the player/ race Kalashtar.
_______________________________________________


Let's take a look at Kalashtar




#1) Appearance, over a foot taller, and WAY better looking than an average human !
For rolling a new toon purposes, + 2 Cha & Int, + 1 Str. Kick asss numbers. *(modifiers for DDO, not D&D)*

#2) Ability modifiers, There are too many pluses to make the race fair without taking away from its inherent bonuses.

#3) Such a twisted & unfair manipulation to the Kalashtar as was done by the Quori, to make them so far superior than what it mocked, Humans!
Making a race that could "charm the skin off of a cobra" so good, it makes Cam 2 racing oil look like water.

#4) Psionic abilities so good, "Fred" is left in a permanent marshmallow state for the life of DDO, due to just saying hello to one of them.

#5) Charisma so high, all of us would give up all of our uber stuff, willingly, and be thankful for the chance to do so!

#6) Melee, Pffttt ! A 300 yr old nanny would make our best power gamers melee build crumble in less than 15 seconds in PvP

#7) No DREAMS !! Permanent madness !! Talk about wiggin!


I hold out hope that Turbine gives us at the very least a watered down version of Klashtar !! Imagine an SD III standing waist high to Horoth & Giving HIM the business!
_______________________________________________

The Back Story; (as quoted from D&D wiki)

The Quori are evil outsiders from the Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams, bent on the

destruction of Eberron. Forty thousand years ago they succeeded in opening up the gates

between Dal Quor and Eberron and nearly overran the world. It was only through the

intervention of dragons who provided arcane technologies to the giants of Xen'Drik that the

plane of Dal Quor was shunted away from its rotation so that it could never again become
coterminous with the material plane.

The quori are no longer completely cut off from Eberron. Starting about 1,800 years ago

(-802 YK) a rebel group of 67 quori fled Dal Quor and were able to permanently enter the

bodies of willing hosts on Eberron. These human/quori mergings became the race known as
Kalashtar.


Three centuries later, other members of the quori who had darker plans began to invade the

dreams of the people of the twelve nations of Sarlona. They manipulated people to bring about

wars, instability, and to direct the breeding of certain beings. After another two hundred years

they had perfected special vessels that they could enter despite their home-plane's

remoteness. Part elf, part fiend, and mostly human, these so-called "empty vessels" could then

be inhabited and controlled at will by quori hosts, becoming the Inspired. Under this guise they

strive to reopen the portals to Dal Quor under the auspices of an organization known as the Dreaming Dark.



Hence the recent additions of the game; Inspired Quarter & Dreaming Dark!
Let's first look at the main beings found in this setting;

Kalashtar: The kalashtar are a compound race: incorporeal entities from the alien plane of

Dal Quor, the Region of Dreams, merged with human bodies and spirits to form a distinct

species. They were once a minority among the quori, the native race of Dal Quor, hunted and

persecuted for their religious beliefs. About thirty-eight thousand years after the quori invaded

Eberron and the connection between their plane and the Material Plane was severed, the

kalashtar were the first of the quori to discover a means to reach the Material Plane once more

(-1,800 YK). Fleeing persecution, they transformed their physical forms into psychic

projections that allowed them to enter the Material Plane and merge in a willing partnership

with humans. It took centuries for the other quori to discover a similar means to psychically

project their spirits out of Dal Quor to possess human bodies, forming the Inspired, while

leaving their own bodies behind -- much as mortals project their minds to Dal Quor when they

dream. For 1,500 years now, the Inspired in their vast kingdom of Riedra have continued to

persecute and oppress the kalashtar.

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php...revenge+giants


Maya 2010, Daz Pro, Poser Pro, CS 5, Carrera, for all imaging, rendered in Maya

[ristretto93]

Maybe the best way to do this race justice AND put them into the DDO version of the Eberron campaign setting is simply just to use them as NPCs. If I were DM, thats what I would do - at least going by the info you presented as to how powerful they are or can be.

I don't know what alignment they are (though maybe you said it but I missed it) because I am completely unfamiliar with the PnP version of this campaign setting. As NPCs it seems you can use them as either enemies or quest givers or even one of those NPCs that appears in a quest and runs as an ally fighting along side the PCs for a certain period of time.

I would bet there are races that they would favor adding first as far as player character races for exactly the reasons you emphasized (they don't sound sort of powerful, they sound REALLY powerful).

Still, what you describe are beings that would add flavor to this game and help it to be even more consistent with the PnP setting. Because of this, I hope we will see them some day - maybe we'll even get to kill some!!

[Jaid314]

they really aren't that powerful. as i recall, they actually get something like +2 wisdom, a bit of resistance to enchantments, and the ability to use mindlink (basically telepathy). they might also get a bonus skill point per level or something as well.

but ultimately, it's pretty minor. not remotely close to what he's claiming.

[Memnir]

In the Eberron source book, Kalashtar have no stat modifiers (Chapter 1, first page, "Races"), but they have some saving throw (+2 will) and skill perks (+2 to Intimidate, Diplomacy, and Bluff). They are also only "slightly taller" then humans - not a foot.

They also have several psionic perks - and a favored class of Psion. So... until DDO implements psionics and a Psion class, I really don't see much of a call for them to be a playable race.


The other points are just hyperbolic noise that the books don't even hint at - let alone support with the exception of the "Back Story" bit, which is almost verbatim from the Ebrron source book.

[Bodic]

3.5 stats= Human
4E stats= +2 stat of you chioice

DDO is 3.5 so that stops the buck there

How could they have +5 stats and not a single negative We call that time to change the bongwater.

[Angelus_dead]

They also have several psionic perks - and a favored class of Psion. So... until DDO implements psionics and a Psion class, I really don't see much of a call for them to be a playable race.

In a campaign without psionic player classes, Kalashtars are favored class Sorcerer, and get bonus spell slots for any charisma-based casting.

The leverage to introduce Kalashtar to DDO would be alongside the release of a Psywar base class or Soulknife/Tashlatora racial prestige specialties. Those additions would only make sense if the designers had first completed nearly all announced prestige specialties and concocted ways for deep spellcaster multiclassing to function effectively... a tall order.

[Captain_Wizbang]

they really aren't that powerful.
not remotely close to what he's claiming.

In the Eberron source book,

, I really don't see much of a call for them to be a playable race.


The other points are just hyperbolic noise that the books don't even hint at - let alone support with the exception of the "Back Story" bit, which is almost verbatim from the Ebrron source book.

3.5 stats= Human
4E stats= +2 stat of you chioice
DDO is 3.5 so that stops the buck there

In a campaign without psionic player classes, Kalashtars are favored class Sorcerer, and get bonus spell slots for any charisma-based casting.

The leverage to introduce Kalashtar to DDO would be alongside the release of a Psywar base class or Soulknife/Tashlatora racial prestige specialties . Those additions would only make sense if the designers had first completed nearly all announced prestige specialties and concocted ways for deep spellcaster multiclassing to function effectively... a tall order.

As I said, I did NOT use the 3.5 rule set. It's tough posting lengthy threads, because people only really read 50% of the content, and important info like I just said gets overlooked.
Angelus hit on the money with reference to the Soulknife. The current version in 3.5 & 4.0 sucks, and thats the down side to what the average person sees, WotC had to do that, or the race would be out of line with the balance they have now.

The last part of the quote from Angelus is spot on !! + 1


I play in a group that uses psionics, and have for a very long time. (we use the pscionic original book form 77?) As PnP goes, it's the single hardest aspect of the game for people to grasp and use. That's why it got watered down to the way it's used in current publications.


We (my weekly v 2.0 group) tried to work one in to our campaign, it didnt work. We wound up with a version very similar to WotC's. And the DM for that group knows , A LOT. He's a game designer and has sanctioned Guidon, TSR & WotC publications. (He took a 2 car garage, and added laser lights, 7.1 audio, finished it off to look like a Gothic gaming room! And has "Frodo lives" bumper stickers)

[Memnir]

[redacted]

[Jaid314]

meh. 3.5 psionics isn't nearly as hard to understand as people claim. if more people didn't have tons of bad memories of earlier editions of psionics (or otherwise had less hatred for psionics), it would likely get used quite often.

i'm not even particularly convinced it would be that hard to make it work for DDO. a pain to code it all maybe, but i think the UI could handle making 3.5 psionics work.

i do agree that i don't see any urgent need for kalashtar though.

[Feralthyrtiaq]

Catchy right?

But lemme paint a short picture (lol)

Monks have abilities that mimic or simulate to some degree the Spells/Buffs of other classes in a unique way using Ki and Finishers

Artificers do the same with Infusions and Spell Points

We have the Tried and True Spells and Spell Points

The ground work is already partially laid for Psionics! Powers and abilities that mimic or simulate other powers and abilities in the game but pull from a reservoir of Psionic Strength instead of Spell Points or Ki.

Telekinetic Throws are in game and used by players (Scirroco, Triple Air GS) and mobs (Lailat the Demon Queen and Beholders)

And Mindflayers! Etc Etc

The Lore is there, the Coding can't be all that "Far-ish" behind.

<3 Psionics and all the other class abilities they are modeled from!

[Vanquishedfo]

I love seeing threads asking for things that would take alot of dev time, when DDOs lifespan is already on a short clock. We got maybe 2 years left in this game before WoTC stops turbine cold by not renewing thier lease on the D&D franchise. Which they wont as they are getting in bet with Perfect World, who bought up cryptic studios, along with star trek online, champions online, and thier current next to be released around the same time DDOs time is up. NeverWinter Nights Online. There is pretty much no way a company like Perfect world wouldnt require WoTC to stop renewing the rights for a potential rival the same year they plan to launch.

So instead of trying to waste dev time on the impossible ask for simple quick to make and add content we can revel in while we can.

[Zivon23]

I love seeing threads asking for things that would take alot of dev time, when DDOs lifespan is already on a short clock. We got maybe 2 years left in this game before WoTC stops turbine cold by not renewing thier lease on the D&D franchise. Which they wont as they are getting in bet with Perfect World, who bought up cryptic studios, along with star trek online, champions online, and thier current next to be released around the same time DDOs time is up. NeverWinter Nights Online. There is pretty much no way a company like Perfect world wouldnt require WoTC to stop renewing the rights for a potential rival the same year they plan to launch.

So instead of trying to waste dev time on the impossible ask for simple quick to make and add content we can revel in while we can.

Well, I'm glad your info was faulty (3 years later and DDO is still going strongish).

As far as Dev and such....All the framework has been laid for the Kalashtar and for Psionics. If DDO used the basic rule of "Magic is the same as Psionics, Psionics is the same as Magic". The Only thing Devs would need to work on would be visual effects. A Mental bolt(Energy Blast) could look like Magic missile, but launching from the head instead of the hand(for example).
The Soulknife's Mind blade is already in game with the Druid's Flame blade spell. Special Kalashtar feats from the Eberron books would be cool if added as a racial enhancement, as with any other "special abilities" they could get( Like Shield of Thought from "Races of Eberron page 113".

The easiest way to do Psionics is rename the current spell lists, change the Spell Point bar colour and call it good.

Here's to hoping for a Soulknife some day soon.

Cheers,

~Z~

SHIELD OF THOUGHT
[PSIONIC, RACIAL]
You wield your spirit as both weapon and shield.
Prerequisites: Kalashtar, ability to generate a
mind blade.
Benefit: As a move action, you can create a semisolid
shield composed of psychic energy distilled from your
quori soul. Functionally, the effect is identical to a
light shield sized to your current form (+1 shield bonus
to AC, –1 armor check penalty), and has a hardness
of 10 and 10 hit points. Like a mind blade, a shield
of thought dissipates the instant it leaves your hand.
You can wield a mind blade and a shield of thought
at the same time, but you must manifest each one as
a separate action.
If you have the mind blade enhancement class feature,
you can choose to apply any or all of the bonus
points from this ability to your shield of thought
instead of your mind blade. Each point that you apply
in this manner provides a +1 enhancement bonus to
the shield bonus and reduces the shield’s armor check
penalty to 0, but you cannot equip the shield with
armor special abilities in this way.
You are always considered to be proficient with your
own shield of thought.
(Taken Directly From Races of Eberron)

[TeacherSyn]

Well, I'm glad your info was faulty (3 years later and DDO is still going strongish).

As far as Dev and such....All the framework has been laid for the Kalashtar and for Psionics. If DDO used the basic rule of "Magic is the same as Psionics, Psionics is the same as Magic". The Only thing Devs would need to work on would be visual effects. A Mental bolt(Energy Blast) could look like Magic missile, but launching from the head instead of the hand(for example).
The Soulknife's Mind blade is already in game with the Druid's Flame blade spell. Special Kalashtar feats from the Eberron books would be cool if added as a racial enhancement, as with any other "special abilities" they could get( Like Shield of Thought from "Races of Eberron page 113".

The easiest way to do Psionics is rename the current spell lists, change the Spell Point bar colour and call it good.

Here's to hoping for a Soulknife some day soon.

Cheers,

~Z~

SHIELD OF THOUGHT
[PSIONIC, RACIAL]
You wield your spirit as both weapon and shield.
Prerequisites: Kalashtar, ability to generate a
mind blade.
Benefit: As a move action, you can create a semisolid
shield composed of psychic energy distilled from your
quori soul. Functionally, the effect is identical to a
light shield sized to your current form (+1 shield bonus
to AC, –1 armor check penalty), and has a hardness
of 10 and 10 hit points. Like a mind blade, a shield
of thought dissipates the instant it leaves your hand.
You can wield a mind blade and a shield of thought
at the same time, but you must manifest each one as
a separate action.
If you have the mind blade enhancement class feature,
you can choose to apply any or all of the bonus
points from this ability to your shield of thought
instead of your mind blade. Each point that you apply
in this manner provides a +1 enhancement bonus to
the shield bonus and reduces the shield’s armor check
penalty to 0, but you cannot equip the shield with
armor special abilities in this way.
You are always considered to be proficient with your
own shield of thought.
(Taken Directly From Races of Eberron)

ARISE, DEAD THREAD!

Welcome to the forums, friend.

Be sure to check the thread's last response date before responding. You successfully rolled a 20 on raising this thread from the dead after 3 years of inactivity.

[FranOhmsford]

ARISE, DEAD THREAD!

Welcome to the forums, friend.

Be sure to check the thread's last response date before responding. You successfully rolled a 20 on raising this thread from the dead after 3 years of inactivity.

From the first line of the post you quoted -

3 years later and DDO is still going strongish

I'd say that said person Necroed this thread on purpose to make a point about the doommongering on these forums!