Any Planeswalker'll tell ya that the Planes are full of
strange and wondrous creatures, and this is one of the
strangest. The positive energy symbiote typically looks like
a big blob of glowing energy, but you'll almost never see
one looking like that. See, these things like to get inside
a blood and set up kip. Once that happens there's no gettin'
it out of it's new case, and most won't want it out. Why?
Well, the symbiote works to keep its host alive, so it can
benefit longer.
Combat:
Symbiotes aren't all that much for fightin'. Most bloods
will go their entire lives without ever seeing one or
visiting its home Plane, and the symbiote would rather
partner up with a body than kill it. That don't always
happen, though. If pushed into a fight, the symbiote'll
extrude a tentacle and start lashing out at what's
threatening it. When it hits it infuses positive energy into
its target. At first this can seem like a benefit, since
it'll heal wounds and make a body feel better. A canny
blood'll know better than to ignore this, though. It's
positive energy and it can kill if you get too much [in
game terms, once the target's hit points reach twice his
maximum, he explodes--instant death, no save].
'Course,
when a blood encounters one, he's likely to think he's under
attack. The symbiote will choose a body at random (if
there's more than one around at the time) and try to engulf
him. The only way to avoid that is to dodge; armour won't
help a bit against this [in game terms, only dexterity
and magical armour class bonuses help]. Once it engulfs
the terrified basher it'll seep into his body through his
skin and disappear from sight. Once that happens, only the
death of the host or high-powered spells will get the
symbiote out.
Habitat/Society:
Positive symbiotes have no society. They don't appear
to interact with each other, or even acknowledge the
existence of each other. They're content to "ooze" through
their home plane. slowly searching for a body to enter.
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Ecology:
Y'can debate this one 'till forever comes. It's
unknown what kind of ecology the positive energy plane has,
but the symbiotes don't seem to interact much with whatever
there is. In fact, some canny bloods don't even think
they're really creatures. They think the symbiotes are a
kind of elemental life, like regular elementals.
Positive symbiotes cannot live outside of their plane,
unless they are within a host. If unprotected, the energy
they are composed of slowly disperses into the environment
and they die [in game terms, they lose 1 hit point per
round until they are dead or have found a new host; living
creatures nearby will become a little healthier, but not
enough to be represented in game terms]. They appear to
be able to reproduce only within a host, and that
reproduction kills the poor sod when it happens (see "The
Dark", below, for details).
The Dark: Positive
energy symbiotes provide a few benefits to their host.
First, the host is protected from the harmful effects of the
positive energy plane. He can live there indefinitely, and
will never explode. Second, the host doubles the hit points
he receives back from any healing at all, whether natural or
magical. Third, the host no longer needs to eat or drink to
live (although eating and drinking are still required to
heal naturally). Fourth, the host benefits from the magic
resistance of the symbiote.
There are some drawbacks as well. When the heals, if the
hit points recovered would take him above his normal
maximum, they do. While this may seem like an advantage, it
is not. Once this happens, a reproductive urge is triggered
in the symbiote, which channels its energy directly into the
host at the rate of one per round, until the host reaches
twice his maximum. He then explodes, dying instantly, no
saving throw. Afterwards, there are a number of new
symbiotes scattered around equal to one-fourth the host's
level, rounded up. The now-dead host cannot be restored to
life with anything less than a wish spell. This fate may be
evaded if the host suffers enough damage to bring him to his
maximum hit points or lower, which stuns the symbiote and
stops its reproductive drive. However, a save versus death
magic (with Wisdom saving throw bonuses) is required to
inflict damage upon one's own self.
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