Radiance Quasi-Elemental

Hello,

Just submitting a custom elemental for the plane of radiance from assembled bits of lore and other attempts. Please tell me what you think.

Radiance Elemental, Large
Size/Type: Large Elemental (Fire, Extraplanar, Incorporeal)
Hite Dice: 8d8+8 (44 hp)
Initiative: +8
Speed: Fly 50 ft. (perfect)
Armor class: 15 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +2 deflection), touch 15, flat-footed 11
Base attack/grapple: +6/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +9 melee (3d6 Fire)
Full Attacks: 2 Incorporeal touches +9 melee (3d6 Fire)
Special Attacks: Blinding Flash, Consume Darkness, SLAs
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60ft., Elemental Traits, Incorporeal traits, Light & Heat, immunity to fire, vulnerability to cold.
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +10, Will +2
Abilities: Str -, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 15
Skills: Spot +13* , Search + 1*, Hide -20*
Feats: Dodge, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative^B, Improved Natural Attack
Environment: Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance
Organization: Solitary or Pair
Challenge Rating: 6
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually Neutral
Advancement: 9-15 HD (Large)
LA: -

Native to the searing heat and blinding light of the Quasi-Elemental Plane of Radiance (the border between the Fire and Positive elemental planes), a Radiance elemental appears as a roughly spherical cloud of rainbow colors. Depending on the elemental's mood and intent, these colors swirl, spin, and combine into (literally) dazzling displays, sometimes slow and distinct and other times merging into intense white light. They enjoy nothing more than seeking out hidden and dark places to illuminate.

While still considered dim by humanoid standards, Radiance elementals are noted to be more intelligent and possess a more relatable temperament than other elementals.

Radiance elementals speak Ignan, though they rarely choose to do so. They communicate with each other using a sign language, which entails manipulating the color, speed, and patterns of their intangible light bodies.

Light & Heat (EX):
A Radiance elemental continuously radiates brilliant, multicolored light, shedding bright light in a radius of 40 feet (and dim light for an additional 20 feet). Creatures without the fire subtype that can see the elemental are Dazzled while they remain in the area of bright illumination. The elemental can choose to suppress this effect as a free action to only shed dim light in a radius of 20 feet.

Additionally, while the Radiance elemental is at full brightness, any creature within 120 feet that has line of effect to the elemental feels radiant heat (as if in direct sunlight).

The emitted light is full spectrum, and can act as a substitute for true sunlight in the metabolisms of plants and plant creatures.

Blinding Flash (SU):
Once every 1d8 rounds as a standard action, a Radiance elemental can release a 40 ft. cone of blinding light. Any creature that is not an elemental with the fire subtype within the cone that can see must succeed on a DC 16 Reflex saving throw or be temporarily blinded for 1d4 rounds. Undead, fungi, mold, oozes, and slimes caught in the cone take 4d6 points of damage, or half damage on a successful Reflex save. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Consume Darkness (SU):
As a swift action, a radiance elemental can dispel magical darkness (CL 8) within its area of illumination. After successfully dispelling darkness of at least 1st level, the next rainbow beam attack made by the elemental is empowered.

Spell-like Abilities:
At Will—light, rainbow beam [See Spell Compendium for details]. Caster level 8th.

*Skills:
A Radiance elemental has a +2 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks and suffers a -20 racial penalty on Hide checks.

Combat:

While they are free to do so as an Incorporeal creature, Radiance elementals prefer not to move into solid objects unless they are fleeing or attempting to reach otherwise inaccessible areas.

Most prefer to harry opponents with Rainbow Beam attacks from maximum range and use their superior maneuverability to make space as needed. However, if a particular combatant demonstrates they have an effective ranged attack, the elemental may choose to close, blind as many opponents as they can using Blinding Flash, and target the threatening combatant with incorporeal touch attacks.

Looks good in general. A few comments:

It should have one more feat.

I think its CR is probably 5, possibly 6.

-8 to Hide seems too low for that level of brightness, compare the spell Grace (SpC) which gives only slightly brighter light and has a -20 penalty.

First let me say that I like this a lot. Now for my nitpicky review:

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Originally Posted by Job

Attack: Incorporeal touch +10 melee (2d8 Fire)
Full Attacks: 2 Incorporeal touches +10 melee (2d8 Fire)

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If you wanted to, you could make the damage 3d6 rather than 2d8 because Large elemental attacks are normally 2d6. Improved natural attacks progress in a standard way.

Attack: Incorporeal touch +10 melee (3d6 fire)
Full Attack: 2 incorporeal touches +10 melee (3d6 fire)

Just some grammatical fixing below. Changed consuming to dispelling because it isn't eating the darkness.

Blinding Flash (Su): Once every 1d8 rounds as a standard action, a radiance elemental can release a 40-foot cone of blinding light. Any creature without the Fire subtype within the cone that can see must succeed on DC 16 Reflex saving throw or be temporarily blinded for 1d4 rounds. Undead, fungi, mold, oozes, and slimes caught in the cone take 4d6 points of damage, or half damage on a successful Reflex save. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Dispelling Darkness (Su): As a swift action, a radiance elemental can dispel magical darkness (CL 6) within its area of illumination. After successfully dispelling darkness of at least 1st level, the next rainbow beam attack made by the elemental is empowered.

Spell-like Abilities (Sp): At Will—rainbow beam (CL 6) [See Spell Compendium for details].

I agree that the penalty to Hide should be -20 rather than -8. These are literally made of light.

One question: Are you using the description of these as the one from Dragon Magazine 125? That reads: "Radiance quasi-elementals look like rapidly turning spheres of multicolored light. They are rarely found on the Prime Material plane, and then only in the area of spectacular events such as double-arched rainbows or multihued meteor showers in the night sky." You would take out the word quasi obviously.

Debby

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Originally Posted by Job

Radiance Elemental, Large
Size/Type: Large Elemental (Fire, Extraplanar, Incorporeal)

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Hey, I like these fellers! (Radiance is such an underrated plane.)

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Base attack/grapple: +6/-
Attack: Incorporeal touch +10 melee (2d8 Fire)
Full Attacks: 2 Incorporeal touches +10 melee (2d8 Fire)

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+9 to-hit, I believe (6 BAB, -1 size, +4 DEX).

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Skills: Spot +14* , Search + 1*, Hide -8*

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Spot should be +13*, unless I'm missing something (no WIS bonus, 11 skill points to spend overall).

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Originally Posted by Debihuman

If you wanted to, you could make the damage 3d6 rather than 2d8 because Large elemental attacks are normally 2d6. Improved natural attacks progress in a standard way.

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I know it's kinda RAW-legal, but isn't using INAtt on energy-based damage a little unusual too? (Also, I'm kind of not a big fan of INAtt in monster statblocks. I mean, the average specimen of the species hits harder than the average specimen of the species? So weird.)

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Just some grammatical fixing below. Changed consuming to dispelling because it isn't eating the darkness.

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I actually prefer Consume Darkness as a name for the SA. Sounds more badass. And it works just about fine if taken metahorically (I mean, explosions don't eat buildings either), not to mention that it actually derives "sustenance" for its SLA attacks from making darkness disappear. At most, I'd tweak the fluff there.

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One question: Are you using the description of these as the one from Dragon Magazine 125? That reads: "Radiance quasi-elementals look like rapidly turning spheres of multicolored light. They are rarely found on the Prime Material plane, and then only in the area of spectacular events such as double-arched rainbows or multihued meteor showers in the night sky." You would take out the word quasi obviously.

Debby

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Would recommend the same.

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Originally Posted by Debihuman

First let me say that I like this a lot. Now for my nitpicky review:

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Originally Posted by Metastachydium

Hey, I like these fellers! (Radiance is such an underrated plane.)

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Originally Posted by Biggus

Looks good in general. A few comments:

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Wow!

honestly thank you so much, fantastic input and corrections from everyone.

I’ve updated the entry with a general description and behavior section. I've not had the pleasure of reading Dragon 125 but my understanding when writing this was that a radiance elemental was a ball of light. I suspect I must have picked up on this via cultural osmosis when 3e was still the flagship, and I do have some very vague recollection of some 2nd ed. source.

Gonna go with 6 for the CR as incorporeal -anything- is a pain.

Added Combat Reflexes for the missing feat (thank you)

Updated the bonus to +9 (thank you) and also noticed that I forgot the -4 to hide for being large, also going to go with -20 racial penalty. I figured that if the elemental was going to hide they would dim themselves while doing so, and hence not need to take such a high burden (I’m not even sure that you can hide in bright light). But the more I mulled it over the more I came around to thinking that a radiance elemental would be inherently unable to countenance “hiding”, it’s just something outside their thinking.

Also yes on the +13 to spot.

Upped caster level to match HD.

Upped Damage to 3d6 fire to match standard progression (thank you)

Also gonna add that it can just cast 'light' for ecology reasons, doubt it would be an issue.

Also added a bit about the light being a replacement for sunlight vis-a-vis plants for fun.