Looking through the Lineages race rules from VRGtR, dhampir and reborn become humanoid and hexbloods become fey. The Ancestral Legacy feature for all three says, "If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it." I'm assuming this is because a dhampir owlin, aarakocra, or fairy would still have the same form (to include their wings). How does that work for a dhampir plasmoid? You are no longer an ooze and loose access to your race features like amorphous and shape self. I can't imagine the RAI is that dhampir wake up in a new body, or why would they maintain a flying speed?
I realize the DM can handle this by ruling that plasmoids are incapable of becoming a dhampir, hexblood, or reborn. The DM could also have table rules that allow the plasmoid to remain an ooze and keep the amorphous and shape self features.
What I'm looking for is an understanding of the RAW/official ruling. Is a dhampir/reborn plasmoid a humanoid, but also a blob that cannot take humanoid shape (because it loses shape self)?
Applying lineages to existing races is by its nature a highly idiosyncratic process. The rules tell us how the rules work. The narrative justification for those rules is up to the GM and the player. Story & Lore is probably the better forum for the question.
I would treat it as 'you were in a humanoid shape when whatever caused you to be a dhampir/reborn happened, and now you can't shift out of that shape any more.'
Again, I'm not looking for the narrative justification or the story behind the event, that's easy. I'm looking for the RAW/official way to handle this situation. The Ancestral Legacy feature of the lineages is meant to handle applying lineages to existing races. That feature as written seems to imply that the end result is a blob that cannot take shape but is classified as a humanoid. That rule was written before the plasmoid was an official player race, so I'm posting in this forum to inquire about the official way to adjudicate this process.
Again, I'm not looking for the narrative justification or the story behind the event, that's easy. I'm looking for the RAW/official way to handle this situation. The Ancestral Legacy feature of the lineages is meant to handle applying lineages to existing races. That feature as written seems to imply that the end result is a blob that cannot take shape but is classified as a humanoid. That rule was written before the plasmoid was an official player race, so I'm posting in this forum to inquire about the official way to adjudicate this process.
You are absolutely looking for narrative justification of the rules.
Here are the rules: you are a humanoid and you do not have the ability to change your shape. That's it. You already understand that, so you already have the entirety of the RAW. Anything about "being a blob" or not is narrative. What the character looks like is not rules, it is story. Does the character have two arms, two legs, and a head, like most humanoids? Or do they have oozey appendages? That's between the player and the DM. It's not a matter of rules.
Let me provide a scenario for clarity. Given a party of four consisting of an elf, dwarf, human, and plasmoid that travel to Barovia and are attacked by vampires. The event is intended to change the party into dhampirs. What we do for elves, dwarves, and humans is easy enough to understand in the rules. For a minotaur, the change could make their horns fall out, explaining why they lose access to the racial features associated with that physical aspect. The plasmoid is unique in the fact that its natural state is a limbless blob, so taking away its ability to take shape severely limits the character's ability to participate in the campaign. Another thing to keep in mind is that the definition of Humanoid in the Monster Manual says they have a bipedal form.
Can a dhampir plasmoid be a humanoid while being a limbless blob? Plasmoids don't have mouths, so how would Vampiric Bite work? Does the limbless blob occupy an enemy's space in an attempt to consume them through osmosis?
Making plasmoids immune to becoming a dhampir seems a little off balance, but the easiest ruling. If the intent was to limit which races could become dhampir, it would have specified that in the rules. Another easy ruling would be to say that plasmoids transform into a humanoid form, but that doesn't seem like RAI.
The way I would rule this at the table would be to allow the plasmoid to keep the Amorphous and Shape Self features, justifying that these are physical aspects of the race equivalent to the owlin's flying speed. Darkvision is the same for both, so that stays. The player loses Hold Breath and Natural Resilience from plasmoid and gains Deathless Nature, Spider Climb, and Vampiric Bite from dhampir. Due to how plasmoids consume food, Vampiric Bite works as a vampiric strike where the plasmoid attacks with an unarmored hand or foot, so they make physical contact with the target. We could discuss the balance effects of these choices, but it's homebrew, so I would save that for another forum.
The RAW seem to be contradictory in that the character will become humanoid, but the starting race is incapable of meeting the definition of humanoid in its natural state.
Let me provide a scenario for clarity. Given a party of four consisting of an elf, dwarf, human, and plasmoid that travel to Barovia and are attacked by vampires. The event is intended to change the party into dhampirs. What we do for elves, dwarves, and humans is easy enough to understand in the rules. For a minotaur, the change could make their horns fall out, explaining why they lose access to the racial features associated with that physical aspect. The plasmoid is unique in the fact that its natural state is a limbless blob, so taking away its ability to take shape severely limits the character's ability to participate in the campaign. Another thing to keep in mind is that the definition of Humanoid in the Monster Manual says they have a bipedal form.
Good find re: the Monster Manual. In that case, the plasmoid who has become a reborn is bipedal.
Can a dhampir plasmoid be a humanoid while being a limbless blob?
Well, since as you found, it's bipedal, it's not limbless. What we know is that it's a humanoid. If humanoid weren't defined as being bipedal, then yeah, sure, it could be a limbless blob and a humanoid.
Plasmoids don't have mouths, so how would Vampiric Bite work? Does the limbless blob occupy an enemy's space in an attempt to consume them through osmosis?
Vampiric bite works exactly the way the rules say it works. The reborn makes an attack roll, using Con instead of Str, it does 1d4 piercing damage, etc. etc. "Does the limbless blob... attempt to consume them through osmosis" is a question about how you narrate those mechanics, which is the point I was originally making.
Making plasmoids immune to becoming a dhampir seems a little off balance, but the easiest ruling. If the intent was to limit which races could become dhampir, it would have specified that in the rules. Another easy ruling would be to say that plasmoids transform into a humanoid form, but that doesn't seem like RAI.
Saying that plasmoids transform into a humanoid form isn't a "ruling," it's one option for you might narrate the mechanical fact that the character is now a humanoid.
The way I would rule this at the table would be to allow the plasmoid to keep the Amorphous and Shape Self features, justifying that these are physical aspects of the race equivalent to the owlin's flying speed. Darkvision is the same for both, so that stays. The player loses Hold Breath and Natural Resilience from plasmoid and gains Deathless Nature, Spider Climb, and Vampiric Bite from dhampir. Due to how plasmoids consume food, Vampiric Bite works as a vampiric strike where the plasmoid attacks with an unarmored hand or foot, so they make physical contact with the target. We could discuss the balance effects of these choices, but it's homebrew, so I would save that for another forum.
You can homebrew whatever you want. I think the actual rules are a lot easier to work with, but you do you.
The RAW seem to be contradictory in that the character will become humanoid, but the starting race is incapable of meeting the definition of humanoid in its natural state.
What the starting race is capable of is irrelevant. There's no contradiction, because the character is no longer a member of the starting race. They used to be a plasmoid with the type of ooze; now they're a reborn with the type of humanoid. You're the one who said it was "easy" to narrate how that happens.
I appreciate the feedback, thank you. I've been thinking about it from the perspective that the other races may have minor changes to their appearance to reflect their new dark nature, but the plasmoid would have to be radically transformed from its original state to be considered a humanoid and that seemed off. As you point out, that's a narrative discussion on how to get from one to the other no matter how drastic the change.
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Looking through the Lineages race rules from VRGtR, dhampir and reborn become humanoid and hexbloods become fey. The Ancestral Legacy feature for all three says, "If you replace a race with this lineage, you can keep the following elements of that race: any skill proficiencies you gained from it and any climbing, flying, or swimming speed you gained from it." I'm assuming this is because a dhampir owlin, aarakocra, or fairy would still have the same form (to include their wings). How does that work for a dhampir plasmoid? You are no longer an ooze and loose access to your race features like amorphous and shape self. I can't imagine the RAI is that dhampir wake up in a new body, or why would they maintain a flying speed?
I realize the DM can handle this by ruling that plasmoids are incapable of becoming a dhampir, hexblood, or reborn. The DM could also have table rules that allow the plasmoid to remain an ooze and keep the amorphous and shape self features.
What I'm looking for is an understanding of the RAW/official ruling. Is a dhampir/reborn plasmoid a humanoid, but also a blob that cannot take humanoid shape (because it loses shape self)?
Applying lineages to existing races is by its nature a highly idiosyncratic process. The rules tell us how the rules work. The narrative justification for those rules is up to the GM and the player. Story & Lore is probably the better forum for the question.
I would treat it as 'you were in a humanoid shape when whatever caused you to be a dhampir/reborn happened, and now you can't shift out of that shape any more.'
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Again, I'm not looking for the narrative justification or the story behind the event, that's easy. I'm looking for the RAW/official way to handle this situation. The Ancestral Legacy feature of the lineages is meant to handle applying lineages to existing races. That feature as written seems to imply that the end result is a blob that cannot take shape but is classified as a humanoid. That rule was written before the plasmoid was an official player race, so I'm posting in this forum to inquire about the official way to adjudicate this process.
You are absolutely looking for narrative justification of the rules.
Here are the rules: you are a humanoid and you do not have the ability to change your shape. That's it. You already understand that, so you already have the entirety of the RAW. Anything about "being a blob" or not is narrative. What the character looks like is not rules, it is story. Does the character have two arms, two legs, and a head, like most humanoids? Or do they have oozey appendages? That's between the player and the DM. It's not a matter of rules.
Let me provide a scenario for clarity. Given a party of four consisting of an elf, dwarf, human, and plasmoid that travel to Barovia and are attacked by vampires. The event is intended to change the party into dhampirs. What we do for elves, dwarves, and humans is easy enough to understand in the rules. For a minotaur, the change could make their horns fall out, explaining why they lose access to the racial features associated with that physical aspect. The plasmoid is unique in the fact that its natural state is a limbless blob, so taking away its ability to take shape severely limits the character's ability to participate in the campaign. Another thing to keep in mind is that the definition of Humanoid in the Monster Manual says they have a bipedal form.
Can a dhampir plasmoid be a humanoid while being a limbless blob? Plasmoids don't have mouths, so how would Vampiric Bite work? Does the limbless blob occupy an enemy's space in an attempt to consume them through osmosis?
Making plasmoids immune to becoming a dhampir seems a little off balance, but the easiest ruling. If the intent was to limit which races could become dhampir, it would have specified that in the rules. Another easy ruling would be to say that plasmoids transform into a humanoid form, but that doesn't seem like RAI.
The way I would rule this at the table would be to allow the plasmoid to keep the Amorphous and Shape Self features, justifying that these are physical aspects of the race equivalent to the owlin's flying speed. Darkvision is the same for both, so that stays. The player loses Hold Breath and Natural Resilience from plasmoid and gains Deathless Nature, Spider Climb, and Vampiric Bite from dhampir. Due to how plasmoids consume food, Vampiric Bite works as a vampiric strike where the plasmoid attacks with an unarmored hand or foot, so they make physical contact with the target. We could discuss the balance effects of these choices, but it's homebrew, so I would save that for another forum.
The RAW seem to be contradictory in that the character will become humanoid, but the starting race is incapable of meeting the definition of humanoid in its natural state.
Then again, as Saga said that is a narrative issue. The rules tell you what a dhampir is, no matter the source race/lineage.
Good find re: the Monster Manual. In that case, the plasmoid who has become a reborn is bipedal.
Well, since as you found, it's bipedal, it's not limbless. What we know is that it's a humanoid. If humanoid weren't defined as being bipedal, then yeah, sure, it could be a limbless blob and a humanoid.
Vampiric bite works exactly the way the rules say it works. The reborn makes an attack roll, using Con instead of Str, it does 1d4 piercing damage, etc. etc. "Does the limbless blob... attempt to consume them through osmosis" is a question about how you narrate those mechanics, which is the point I was originally making.
Saying that plasmoids transform into a humanoid form isn't a "ruling," it's one option for you might narrate the mechanical fact that the character is now a humanoid.
You can homebrew whatever you want. I think the actual rules are a lot easier to work with, but you do you.
What the starting race is capable of is irrelevant. There's no contradiction, because the character is no longer a member of the starting race. They used to be a plasmoid with the type of ooze; now they're a reborn with the type of humanoid. You're the one who said it was "easy" to narrate how that happens.
I appreciate the feedback, thank you. I've been thinking about it from the perspective that the other races may have minor changes to their appearance to reflect their new dark nature, but the plasmoid would have to be radically transformed from its original state to be considered a humanoid and that seemed off. As you point out, that's a narrative discussion on how to get from one to the other no matter how drastic the change.