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Tiefling race

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st92...@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu

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Feb 3, 1995, 9:54:53 PM2/3/95
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A friend of mine is making a character for a Planescape adventure. He
has chosen a Tiefling, and wishes to play a psionicist to compensate for
the negative effects of an abjure spell (or similar magic). However,
there are no level limits on Tiefling psionicists. His Tiefling is half
human, half extra-planar creature. He believes that it should be higher
than seven, since he has no elven blood, perhaps around 12 or 14. Anyone
have a reliable source of information on this one? Even guesses would be
welcome (long as you state it as such). Many thanks.

Rick Garner Sanders

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Feb 4, 1995, 4:02:21 PM2/4/95
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st92...@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu wrote:
: A friend of mine is making a character for a Planescape adventure. He

As far as I know, there is no reliable source of info on this (I've just
looked through both Planscape boxed sets that I own). It has occurred to
me that psionics is hardly ever mentioned in Planescape, and my guess is
that this is an oversight, meaning that even though *A Player's Guide to
the Planes* doesnot mention the psionicist class as one open to
tieflings, there's no reason not to have a psionicist tieflings. And
since tieflings seem not to have *any* level limitations (probably
because they don't live long, especially if they're role-played right ;)
), I'd rule that your friend's tiefling psionicist should have *no* level
limitations, either.

Here, incidentally, is the only word on psionicists I can find in
Planescape: "Psionicists are viewed simply as another kind of wizard."
*Shrug* (not in *my* Planescape).

--
/~_\ --Rick Sanders....rix@umich.edu--
/ /
| | /\_/\ 0------------------------------0
\ \ / o o \ { }
\ \~~____~~~~/ -X- \ { "Ignorance is the ground of }
{ \_ ,_/ { thought. Unproof is the }
{ / { ground of action." }
{ /~~___~~~\ __/ { --Faxe the Weaver }
/ /\ \ / / \ \ { }
\__\\__\/_/ \_\ --The Catspaw-- 0------------------------------0

David W. Knott

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Feb 4, 1995, 4:03:19 PM2/4/95
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That all depends on the power level of your campaign and the DM's own
attitude. I could make three possible arguments for how to handle a
tiefling psionicist:

1) If you regard tieflings as demi-humans, you could say that they are at
least as psionically gifted as halflings (the race with the highest level
limit), meaning that they can reach level 10, or slightly higher with the
right ability scores. They could be multi-classed fighter/psionicists or
thief/psionicists.

2) If your DM allows characters from a "Dark Sun" type campaign into his
world, the tiefling should have unlimited advancement, as all player
character psionicists in that world have unlimited advancement.

3) Another consideration is that a psionicist seems to have the psionic
ability of the less gifted parent (as half-elves have the same level limit
as full-blooded elves). So, what kind of level limit to extra-planar
creatures have? Since that question has no easy answer, you could simply
give the tiefling the unlimited advancement of a human psionicist. That
-1 penalty to wisdom should be enough to limit his power anyway.

Rick Garner Sanders

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Feb 4, 1995, 4:23:44 PM2/4/95
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A funny thing happened on my way back to my bookshelf: I looked up
Tiefling in hte Planescape MOnsterous Comendium Appendix. And guess
what? Acording to *it*, tieflings *do* have level limits (but again,
there are none mentioned in *A Player's Guide to the Planes* despite the
fact that it mentions level limits for bauriar and githzerai). Another
oversight? If so, here's my guess for a level limit for a psionicist
tiefling: tiefling have very high level limits, so choose the highest
level limit in the *Complete Psionics Handbook* (the halfling at 10) and
add two if the teifling is a single-classed psionicist, making a level
limit of 12. If your friend's tiefling psionicist is muliti-classed,
then keep his level limit at 10.

Sorry about any confusion: strictly speaking, it isn't my fault :P .
I'm not really sure which book to believe, *A PLayer's Guide to the
Planes*, which is from the boxed set, or the *Planescape Monstrous
Compendium Appendix*. If it were my campaign, I'd go with the appendix
since it came out later and is perhaps meant to correct the oversight in
the boxed set.

st92...@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu wrote:
: A friend of mine is making a character for a Planescape adventure. He

--

Ronald Krempetz

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Feb 6, 1995, 4:04:20 AM2/6/95
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--

Kill'em off long before they get out of hand. ;-)

My suggestion is be a DM, take a stand to maintain game balance. If she/he
requires an explination tell them that the character's mixed race
(conflicts in bio-chemicals perhaps) would most likely deture achieving
extraordinary levels (let's say 10th max), unless of course their
extra-planar heritage has inherant psyionic potencial. It's your
world/universe after all, weither or not TSR printed a book on it.

Another message to promote the powers of the imagionation, and to stop
pampering players.

Yours truely,
Raen

At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone...T.S.Eliot
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