Ok, these guys, in theory, seem not bad. Not bad at all. Their basic schtick is that they're a mystical race that gains different powers from the different runes buzzing around their heads, and they gain more runes as they gain more Hit Dice. At the very least, an Illumian Rogue gives up one Rogue level to eventually get 3d6 extra dice of Sneak Attack. Not too shabby.
My problem is that, if the race gets into Races of Destiny written exactly as it is in the link above, I think there's gonna be some problems. Let me show you:
preview wrote:Shel: This sigil, part of the Illumian word for "growth," enables the illumian to wild shape or polymorph into creatures with 1 more Hit Dice than the illumian has levels, per sigil. For example a 5th-level illumian druid with the shel sigil could wild shape into creatures of up to 8 HD.
I don't see any requirement to have any previous Wild Shape or Polymorph ability in there at all.
I'm sure that's what they meant, but I don't see it.
That's bad. A casual reader who couldn't read Mat Smith (or whoever wrote up this race)'s mind would probably rightfully conclude that this sigil gives you the ability to wildshape or polymorph, period.
I'm not just being hyperliteral here--it's only by reading the rest of the race's description that I can even guess that the general theme of the Illumian is to make existing class abilities better.
But this isn't the only problem ability:
preview wrote:Zill: This sigil, which forms the Illumian word for "death," grants extra dice of sneak attack damage equal to the number of sigils she has, divided by two and rounded up.
This seems problematic in that I don't see why you couldn't just take it with no levels of SA at all and then, y'know, get those levels from this sigil. Seriously, it's really easy to add a number to 0. Is there some general rule in D&D that prevents you from getting "extra" of something until you have at least one of it?
preview wrote:Illumian Words: Some combinations of sigils grant extra abilities when they spell Illumian words of great power. If an illumian has the sigils to form any of the following words, he or she gains the relevant benefit. Uurkrau: Illumians possessing both the uur and krau sigils have their arcane spell failure chance reduced by 10% for each sigil they possess. Many illumians with both uur and krau are fighter/wizards.
This is just neat, not really problematic per se. You pick up those runes, you won't have to worry about arcane spell failure again. Cool.
preview wrote:Cheahoon: Illumians with both the chea sigil and the hoon sigil can instantaneously convert potential spell energy into ki power for extra damage. When striking unarmed or with a special monk weapon, the illumian can sacrifice a spell slot (as if she cast the spell) to deal an extra 1d6 points of damage per spell level sacrificed. For example, an illumian who's a 6th-level sorcerer could sacrifice a 3rd-level spell slot to deal an extra 3d6 points of damage.
This seems beefy for a druid, or for anyone that's convinced their DM that the afore-mentioned Shel sigil just up and gives you shapechanging powers. Again, not a problem per se, but something worth noting.
preview wrote:Naenmao: Illumians with both the naen and mao sigils have unlocked the secret of converting positive or negative elemental energy into psionic energy -- and back again. As a free action, the illumian can make an attempt to turn or rebuke undead, instead channeling the energy into her own mind. The illumian then makes a turning check, and she can thereafter spend power points as if she were a psionic character with a level equal to the maximum Hit Dice she could turn. She can therefore spend more power points per round than she'd ordinarily be able to do so. The higher spending limit lasts for 1 round for each sigil the illumian has.
Back to the problematic stuff. This doesn't in any way list any previous turning ability as a pre-req, so even though it's problably against intent, I don't see why you'd need a class with the ability to turn in order to use it.
...so, am I on something, or will poor writing give these guys more juice than originally intended?