PlanarTouched Toons

[Ailander]

Hello everyone! i am not sure in which section to write this, so i just in case put it here and if i was wrong, please moderators don't eat me

So, has been a while that this topic ended up being around everytime i RP it by the book and had...contrast opinions let's say, so i'd like for this to be clarified if possible: are the planar touched on the server being treated by the book in terms of "category" or are redifined in something else?

To clarify better my question, by the booktieflings and aasimars are "outsiders (native)" and what that means is defined in the Races of Destiny

"Native Outsider
Due to the strength of their divine or infernal bloodlines, each of the planetouched races possess the unusual characteristics of being an outsider native to Faerûn, not a humanoid. This has three principal effects:

First, spells or effects that affect only humanoids, such as a charm person or a dominate person spell, do not affect planetouched characters.

Second, spells and effects that target extraplanar creatures may affect planetouched characters. For example, the mace of smiting and the sword of the planes are more effective against outsiders, and are correspondingly more dangerous to a planetouched character. A spell that drives outsiders back to their home planes does not affect planetouched characters, but banishment – a spell that removes an outsider from the caster's plane without specifying a return to the outsider's native plane – would work just finde.

Finally, Faerûn's planetouched have lived on Toril long enough for Toril to become, in effect, their native plane. This means that planetouched characters can be raised or resurrected normally, whereas most outsiders cannot be brought back from the dead without the use of a miracle or wish spell."

Now, aside from the mechanic on the server, is all of this RPable or should i ignore it and just play it like a more human person? because that IC toons may be uncultured on the matter having a too low planar knowledge, is alright, but even OOC some people keeps telling me "they are more like half elf with infernal/celestial blood" and that is driving me a little bit nuts with what i always played with the books XD

[Wade]

I wouldn't read much into it. Planetouched are basically humans with a very minor outsider influence, they're not even half-outsiders. You can charm them, you can dominate them, you can't banish them with Planar Turning since, even despite their planar heritage, they were born at the Prime Material, aka Native outsiders.

[Rhifox]

I believe Charm and Dominate Person already mechanically don't work on them. Though you're not likely to ever see them used since Charm/Dominate Monster have higher DCs (and neither really gets used on players anyway).

Banishment meanwhile cannot do what it is supposed to on a PW like BG. Just treat Banishment as a stronger Dismissal rather than pnp Banishment... it sends to home plane (and thus doesn't work on planetouched).

[Louvaine]

Tiefling is not fiend. Aasimar is not celestial.

I believe mechanically they might as well be humans with extra abilities and it all comes down to RP flavor. But that's my take on it.

[Ailander]

I am not speaking about mechnically to be honest more about rp

and answering to Louvaine, is not specified that they are fiends/celestials excepts in few books of Planescape but not even sure if i could count them in FR, true, but that is besides the point: they are not human by definition if they are native outsiders.

Ranger "Favore enemy(human)" would not work on them, for istance. So, since they are not calculated as human, is unlikely they can be called as such. If you do not wish to call them celestial or fiend, fine, but also call them human is quite wrong from the books i have read

[yyj]

If you read here you can see that they are indeed humans.

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/planetouched.htm

I don't know what "half elves with celestial/infernal blood" means.

[Grendunor]

Planescape is a different setting.

[Ailander]

If you read here you can see that they are indeed humans.

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/planetouched.htm

I don't know what "half elves with celestial/infernal blood" means.

honestly not sure what to make of that page O.o true, it says in the fluff that they are "humans with celestial/fiendish blood in their veins"...and then right down in the sheet "medium outsider (native)".

It makes little sense, if you are human you "are" human, not "human with something else" and then count as something else...i am not sure if i managed to explain it as clear as i'd wish :/

I don't know what "half elves with celestial/infernal blood" means.

me neither, when i heard it left me confused to say the least...

[Winterborne]

Planetouched races generally have a very small amount of planar blood. An Aasimar or Tiefling may have had a planar ancestor many generations ago - they could be as small as 1/100 Celestial/Fiend. The most you can be I think in terms of rules is 25% and that would be pretty rare. Half fiends and half celestials are their own races with their own rules.

They have essentially the same lifespan and such as humans and some minor abilities caused by their heritage, as well as some features. They are absolutely not celestials/fiends.

They are not considered proper outsiders in terms of NWN mechanics because they have always existed on the prime material plane. They are the result of a pairing at some point in their lineage of a outsider and a human. The only thing that I know mechanically that even almost treats them as outsiders is ranger favored enemies.

I've always personally disliked the term "Native Outsider" as the rules use it (that is, to mean an outsider that is native to the prime material plane and thus who is technically not an outsider at all).

NWN2 treats them as human for the purpose of spells like Charm/Dominate (I am a tiefling and have had Charm Person used). Weapons and spells that deal bonus damage to outsiders do not work on planetouched.

Basically I pretty universally see it roleplayed on the server as someone being human with some minor additions, though. I have seen people play it otherwise but I just roll with it IC - if someone is claiming they are a half devil who lives for centuries and has the power of Avernus pumping in their veins, I will IC just treat them like a delusional nutjob.

The server goes by what Races Of Faerun says, basically, at least from what I've seen from players and DMs. Which is, verbatim:

Planetouched is a general word to describe someone who can trace his or her bloodline back to an outsider, usually a fiend or celestial.

The effects of having a supernatural being in one’s heritage last for many generations. Although not as dramatically altered as a half-celestial or a half-fiend, planetouched still retain some special qualities.

The two planetouched varieties described here are the most common. Aasimars are humans with some trace of celestial blood in their veins, and tieflings have some fiendishness in their family tree.

Outsider (Native) simply means they are native to our plane, not where their ancestor is from.

[yyj]

If you read here you can see that they are indeed humans.

https://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/planetouched.htm

I don't know what "half elves with celestial/infernal blood" means.

honestly not sure what to make of that page O.o true, it says in the fluff that they are "humans with celestial/fiendish blood in their veins"...and then right down in the sheet "medium outsider (native)".

It makes little sense, if you are human you "are" human, not "human with something else" and then count as something else...i am not sure if i managed to explain it as clear as i'd wish :/

I don't know what "half elves with celestial/infernal blood" means.

me neither, when i heard it left me confused to say the least...

This quote is from Races of Faerun page 112-114.

So yes, they are simple humans with a small fraction of outsider blood, like Winterborne said.

[Xorena]

How should planar turning work in this regard for RP (not mechanics)?

If aasimar/tieflings only have a fraction of outsider blood, then do we ignore the mechanical consequence when turning? Otherwise, I could see it as a sneaky way around the "don't smite people to see if they are evil" ruling.

[Shadowspinner70]

How should planar turning work in this regard for RP (not mechanics)?

If aasimar/tieflings only have a fraction of outsider blood, then do we ignore the mechanical consequence when turning? Otherwise, I could see it as a sneaky way around the "don't smite people to see if they are evil" ruling.

I'd probably explain it away for the same reason rangers can have half elves as an enemy, iirc. Aasimar and tieflings are NOT human. They're also not celestials or fiends. This is the same way half-elves are neither human or elven, or half-orcs are neither orc or human. I just pulled up the NWN2 wiki and half-orcs and half-elves have their own favored enemy feats.

Edit: tldr; even that tiny 1/100 of celestial or fiend blood screwed up their chances at being human. It makes sense. That tiny bit of blood changed their eye color, skin color, gave them horns and a tail for tieflings.

Edit 2: I talked with someone! They pointed out how for half-elves in orcs in PNP, both orc and human or elf and human favored enemies work on them, but don't stack. In NWN2, you might have that as an option as a favored enemy. In PnP, an aasimar and tiefling would probably get the double whammy of planetouched and human favored enemies.

[yyj]

How should planar turning work in this regard for RP (not mechanics)?

If aasimar/tieflings only have a fraction of outsider blood, then do we ignore the mechanical consequence when turning? Otherwise, I could see it as a sneaky way around the "don't smite people to see if they are evil" ruling.

I'd probably explain it away for the same reason rangers can have half elves as an enemy, iirc. Aasimar and tieflings are NOT human. They're also not celestials or fiends. This is the same way half-elves are neither human or elven, or half-orcs are neither orc or human. I just pulled up the NWN2 wiki and half-orcs and half-elves have their own favored enemy feats.

Edit: tldr; even that tiny 1/100 of celestial or fiend blood screwed up their chances at being human. It makes sense. That tiny bit of blood changed their eye color, skin color, gave them horns and a tail for tieflings.

Edit 2: I talked with someone! They pointed out how for half-elves in orcs in PNP, both orc and human or elf and human favored enemies work on them, but don't stack. In NWN2, you might have that as an option as a favored enemy. In PnP, an aasimar and tiefling would probably get the double whammy of planetouched and human favored enemies.

No... There is no favored enemy for half orc or half elf, they are both affected by favored enemy orc or favored enemy elf.

https://nwn2.fandom.com/wiki/Talk:Favored_Enemy

A very easy to see this rule in effect is why magical items that are only for orcs, can be activated by orcs and half orcs. Notice that most items that are elf exclusive, are also able to be used by half elves.

An aasimar IS a human, take another look at the favored enemy ranger list and roll a ranger, there is no half orc or half elf option.

Aasimar are affected by rangers that have favored enemy human and or favored enemy outsider.

[Shadowspinner70]

I did, someone else pointed it out to me. I just took a quick look at the wiki and saw that both favored enemies were listed, but didn't have links for the pages.

[yyj]

Actually If we go by pnp rules, favored enemy: Orc, helps against half orc, but favored enemy:Human, does not.

The favored enemy half orc and half elf feats have actually been removed from BGTSCC since they are a noob trap that only exists in the OC game and doesn't even exist in pnp. If you look at the pnp ranger favored enemy list from the player handbook, it doesn't show either half orc or half elf. This is only true for 3e and 3.5.

Further research reveals that your points are true for 5th edition. Half elves and half orcs are their own thing in 5e respectfully regarding the ranger rules, but this isn't the case in 3.5 edition.