Re: Reverse Continual Flame Spell

On 30 Dec 2005 07:25:28 -0800, "Nikolas Landauer"
<nlandauer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>Tetsubo wrote:
>> Justisaur wrote:
>> > Tetsubo wrote:
>> > >
>> > > With Dwarves in the world I don't think a container to
>> > > hold steam would be hard to come up with. But a source
>> > > of continual heat that doesn't produce pollution nor
>> > > consume resources would be a miracle...
>> >
>> > I think you mean 'fire elemental'
>>
>> I've never liked the idea of binding an elemental spirit
>> to an object like that. Smacks a bit too much of slavery
>> to my mind...
>
>You need to be playing Eberron!
>
>For those who don't know: bound elementals are vital to the economy of
>Khorvaire. They are necessary for House Lyrandar airships and even
>their naval ships' superiority, and they are used in many different
>kinds of items and vessels. The question of "this is awfullly close to
>slavery, isn't it?" has been coming up with more and more frequency as
>bound elementals becomes more ubiquitous in use.
>
>There's even a faction of gnome elementalists (the Power of Purity) who
>prefer to negotiate service contracts with the elementals, instead of
>forcibly binding them, and they often encounter hostility from the
>other gnomish binders. For more information on the Power of Purity and
>a lot of the roleplaying aspects of elemental binding, see _Magic of
>Eberron_.

ISTM that it would depend on the intelligence of the elemental spirit.
Binding an INT 2 elemental with the intellect of a dog, horse, or
other animal IMO would fall under the moral category of "domesticating
an animal" rather than "enslaving a person."

The problem is that RAW elementals have INT 4, and so fall on the
person side of the person/animal divide.

Personally I think that the basic elemental types make more sense as
the wild and/or domesticated animals of the various elemental planes.
But that requires a rule zero.

Of course elementals-as-animals greatly reduces the "binding
elementals is slavery!" angst, but I consider that a feature, rather
than a bug. YMMV.

(And if you *want* a bit of slavery, you can have obviously sapient
creatures from the various elemental planes being bound as well, e.g.
the classic enslaved djinn.)

--
Erol K. Bayburt
ErolB1@xxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Reverse Continual Flame Spell
    ... >> Tetsubo wrote: ... bound elementals becomes more ubiquitous in use. ... There's even a faction of gnome elementalists (the Power of Purity) who ... forcibly binding them, and they often encounter hostility from the ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)
  • Re: Reverse Continual Flame Spell
    ... > I've never liked the idea of binding an elemental spirit to an ... Smacks a bit too much of slavery to my mind... ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)
  • Re: Reverse Continual Flame Spell
    ... >>> I've never liked the idea of binding an elemental spirit to an ... >> You assume, perhaps not unfairly, that elementals suffer from it. ... >> assumption which is wise to make in all campaign settings. ... Christopher Adams - Sydney, Australia ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)
  • Re: Reverse Continual Flame Spell
    ... >> I've never liked the idea of binding an elemental spirit to an ... Smacks a bit too much of slavery to my mind... ... > You assume, perhaps not unfairly, that elementals suffer from it. ... > assumption which is wise to make in all campaign settings. ...
    (rec.games.frp.dnd)